While working on a recent miniature project, I found myself searching for images of the battle flag of the 13th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers from the American Civil War. Eventually, I found one rather grainy image, and I felt darn lucky. The truth is that many of these flags have been lost, and many more are slowly deteriorating in basements and back rooms of museums across the US.

But there is still time to save many of them, and at least one museum is looking for help. The North Carolina Museum of History is currently running an adopt an artifact program, and asking us regular folks to help contribute to the cost of repairing and preserving many historical artifacts. One artifact that can currently be adopted is the standard of the 23rd North Carolina Regiment, a unit which served in major actions throughout the Civil War.

Civil War Flag

Being a history buff, an American Civil War fan, and a good North Carolina boy, I have decided to donate 25 cents toward the preservation of the flag for every Civil War miniature I paint this year. It\'s not a lot, and it certainly isn\'t going to raise the $7,000 needed to save the flag, but it is what I can afford. I\'d love if some fellow American Civil War wargamers would band with me and make a similar pledge and see if together we can make a difference towards saving a little piece of history.