Organized at Portage, New York, with recruits drawn from Allegany, Livingston, and Wyoming counties, the 130th Regiment NY Volunteers mustered into service in September 1862. Nearly one year later, in August 1863, the regiment converted to cavalry and officials initially redesignated the unit as the 19th Regiment Cavalry. The designation changed a month later to the 1st Dragoons. This blue silk regimental color dates to the unit’s initial service as infantry. During the Battle of Deserted House, or Kelley’s Store, January 30, 1863, Brigadier General Michael Corcoran arrested the 130th Regiment’s commander, Colonel Alfred Gibbs, over Gibbs' objection to Corcoran’s disposition of troops in the line of battle. Corcoran’s mistake led to confusion and a retreat until Colonel Gibbs seized the colors, presumably the regimental color seen here, and led the regiment in a desperate charge that broke the enemy’s line and forced a retreat. The regiment retained the flag until they were redesignated and they deposited the flag into the collection by February 1, 1864. The blue silk flag includes 34 stars and the Arms of the United States painted in the center with the unit’s infantry designation below. The flag received a netting treatment in 1960s-70s. The netting treatment included removing the fringe, machine stitching the flag between two layers of nylon net, and then reattaching the fringe. Although the work followed common practice at the time, the netting actually damaged the fabric and accelerated the flag’s deterioration.