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"OLD GLORY!
This famous name was coined by Captain Stephen 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 Tennessee
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. Relieved 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, said 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. At 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.
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