12th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment - National Flag

This 45-star silk flag traveled with the regiment during it five-months of stateside military service. It was used mainly in camp and unfurled for military drill and parades.

The Twelfth Minnesota was organized in May 1898—one of four state units that served in the Spanish-American War. The regiment, made up largely of recruits from southern Minnesota, moved to Camp Thomas at Chickamauga National Park, Georgia, for training. Less-than-adequate living conditions resulted in an outbreak of typhoid fever. The regiment moved to Camp Hamilton in Lexington, Kentucky, where it remained until September 1898 when the Spanish-American War ended.

While serving as the regiment's quartermaster, John Lind announced his intention to run for governor in 1898. He was elected the state's 14th governor, and was the only Spanish-American War veteran to hold that office.