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This famous name was coined by
Captain William Driver, a shipmaster of Salem, Massachusetts, in
1831. As he was leaving on one of his many voyages aboard the
brig CHARLES DOGGETT - and this one would climax with the rescue
of the mutineers of the BOUNTY - some friends presented him with
a beautiful flag of twenty four stars. As the banner opened to
the ocean breeze for the first time, he exclaimed "Old
Glory!"
He retired to Nashville in
1837, taking his treasured flag from his sea days with him. By
the time the Civil War erupted, most everyone in and around
Nashville recognized Captain Driver's "Old Glory."
When Tennesee seceded from the Union, Rebels were determined to
destroy his flag, but repeated searches revealed no trace of the
hated banner.
Then on February 25th, 1862,
Union forces captured Nashville and raised the American flag
over the capital. It was a rather small ensign and immediately
folks began asking Captain Driver if "Old Glory" still
existed. Happy to have soldiers with him this time, Captain
Driver went home and began ripping at the seams of his bedcover.
As the stitches holding the quilt-top to the batting unraveled,
the onlookers peered inside and saw the 24-starred original
"Old Glory"!
Captain Driver gently gathered
up the flag and returned with the soldiers to the capitol.
Though he was sixty years old, the Captain climbed up to the
tower to replace the smaller banner with his beloved flag. The
Sixth Ohio Regiment cheered and saluted - and later adopted the
nickname "Old Glory" as their own, telling and
re-telling the story of Captain Driver's devotion to the flag we
honor yet today.
Captain Driver's grave is
located in the old Nashville City Cemetery, and is one of three
(3) places authorized by act of Congress where the Flag of the
United States may be flown 24 hours a day.
A caption above a faded black
and white picture in the book, The Stars and the Stripes, states
that " 'Old Glory' may no longer be opened to be
photographed, and no color photograph is available."
Visible in the photo in the lower right corner of the canton is
an appliqued anchor, Captain Driver's very personal note.
"Old Glory" is the most illustrious of a number of
flags - both Northern and Confederate - reputed to have been
similarly hidden, then later revealed as times changed. The flag
was given to his granddaughter or neice and she later donated it
to the Smithsonian. |
