Philadelphia Auction House To Put Historic Flag Up For Bidding
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - In conjunction with Flag Day, a venerable Philadelphia auction house is announcing availability of a piece of history.
No stars, no stripes on this flag, about 41 by 45 inches, but Samuel M. Freeman II, chairman of Freeman Auctioneers, says it's plain that it saw action in the American Revolution.
"It was carried in battle and it was created in 1776 and it was called the 8th Virginia Regiment. Peter Muhlenberg joined the American Army and went to garner young German immigrants and people who had moved there, to join the service."
The 8th Virginia took part in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth and the flag has been in the Muhlenberg family, pending its sale at auction November 14th. Freeman has no idea how much it will bring.
It's very rare but comes with the Peter Muhlenberg back story, a minister said to have been reading from Ecclesiastes in early 1776 when he mentioned a time for war, and pulled aside his clerical garb to reveal a uniform.
