Nearly 150 years after its creation, a flag with Wheaton roots is still stirring a cause.

The DuPage County Historical Museum is hard at work raising money to restore a guidon flag once carried by a DuPage County regiment during the Civil War.

Once flown on Civil War battlefields and now stored in a Springfield museum, the flag is in need of restoration after years of wear and tear, according to Sara Arnas, curator with the DuPage County Historical Museum.

It's a process that will involve re-threading of the flag inch-by-inch, Arnas said, with a cost in upward of $20,000.

“It's a very strange process,” she said of the restoration work. “It has to be because the flags are so delicate.

The person who restores the flag actually has to be suspended above the flag in order to work on it. They literally work with a microscope and go inch-by-inch.”

The guidon flag was once hoisted by the 8th Illinois Cavalry regiment — a unit that played a vital role in the Civil War and included 121 soldiers native to DuPage County, 52 of which hailed from what is Wheaton today, according to Alberta Adamson, president of the Center for History in Wheaton.

The flag is made of precious silk — the material commonly used to sew flags back in the mid 1800s, according to Arnas. Its swallowtail shape was predominate with flags carried by units during battle, as swallowtails were lighter than a typical flag, she said.

The guidon was actually damaged more during the 1930s while it was on display in a museum than the war itself, Arnas said.

“In the 1930s it was actually hanging in the museum in Springfield, and then they attempted to restore it with a black netting that did more damage than good,” she said. “Eventually, they took the flag down and stored it away.”

Adamson explained the 8th Illinois Cavalry was important to the Union's cause during Civil War for several reasons. One of its soldiers, Wheaton's own Marcellus Jones, is credited with firing the first shot at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg. Soldiers from the 8th were also charged with guarding the body of the assassinated Abraham Lincoln, and also with hunting down John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, according to Adamson.

“The men from the 8th were really important to the war,” Adamson said. “And many of them, some from right here in DuPage County, had great stories.”

Adamson explained that only 250 of the company's 1,200 men were casualties during the war — a low number compared to most company's losses.

“These men were known as great soldiers. Some say one reason for that was they were farmboys who knew their way with horses, which helped them greatly,” she said.

The guidon flag was the cavalry's symbol of pride. It was also the only flag the group carried to and from battlefields, Arnas said, making it “priceless.”

The flag is currently in possession of the Illinois State Historical Society, but because of its local roots, Arnas and other DuPage
County historians are leading the charge to raise money to preserve the flag. And, according to Arnas, the drive is well on its way.

The group raised nearly $9,000 after an April 30 fundraising event at Adams Park that included drills and presentations by the 8th Illinois Cavalry re-enactors.

“We've been doing really well. We're almost at the halfway point, and an anonymous donor whose relative served in the 8th has agreed to match however much is raised,” Arnas said.

Still, the DuPage County Historical Museum will host a raffle now through Veterans Day to ensure the flag is restored.

“Sometimes there are unexpected costs, so we’ll prepare for that,” Arnas said.

When the $20,000 is raised, the flag will be hand-delivered to New York for restoration.

Once work on the flag is completed — a process that will take months — the flag is likely to make its way back to Wheaton, where it once called home.

“We've already talked to (the Illinois Historical Society) about displaying it here in Wheaton. They’re happy to work with us,” she said.

“We want to share it with the community.”