In 1777, the New Hampshire Committee of Safety provided each of the state’s regiments with funds to purchase flags. These are the two flags purchased for the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment that year.      

Captain Samuel Blodgett hired Fanny Johonnot Williams, a milliner (maker of women’s hats and accessories) in Boston, to provide four yards of buff silk for the flags, while his brother Nathan supplied blue silk. With the fabric secured for the flags, Williams sewed them together before handing them over to Daniel Rea Jr. to paint.     

On one flag, Rea painted the “Chain of States” with the motto “We Are One” to represent unity among the states. Benjamin Franklin had developed the “Chain of States” symbol, which also appeared on Continental currency from the same period. However, this flag has retained a British union, which is stitched in its canton. The second flag features a shortening of a verse written by 16th-century English poet Sir Phillip Sydney, “In victory, the hero seeks the glory, not the prey,” as well as the unit’s designation and a British union in the canton.  

By May 1777, the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment’s flags reached the unit at Fort Ticonderoga, where the soldiers prepared to defend the vital waterways linking Canada and the Great Lakes to New York. Outmaneuvered, the Continental Army abandoned Ticonderoga on July 5. The 2nd New Hampshire Regiment marched with the rear guard of the army and engaged the British at the Battle of Hubbardton (July 7) in present-day Vermont. The regiment’s colors, however, moved separately from the unit with the baggage of the army. As the regiment fought at Hubbardton, the British 9th Regiment of Foot captured the 2nd New Hampshire’s flags 30 miles away at Fort Anne in a bloody encounter with Continental soldiers.  

Sent to England as war trophies, the flags were donated to the New Hampshire Historical Society in 1913.    

In 1777, the New Hampshire Committee of Safety provided each of the state’s regiments with funds to purchase flags. These are the two flags purchased for the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment that year.      

Captain Samuel Blodgett hired Fanny Johonnot Williams, a milliner (maker of women’s hats and accessories) in Boston, to provide four yards of buff silk for the flags, while his brother Nathan supplied blue silk. With the fabric secured for the flags, Williams sewed them together before handing them over to Daniel Rea Jr. to paint.     

On one flag, Rea painted the “Chain of States” with the motto “We Are One” to represent unity among the states. Benjamin Franklin had developed the “Chain of States” symbol, which also appeared on Continental currency from the same period. However, this flag has retained a British union, which is stitched in its canton. The second flag features a shortening of a verse written by 16th-century English poet Sir Phillip Sydney, “In victory, the hero seeks the glory, not the prey,” as well as the unit’s designation and a British union in the canton.  

By May 1777, the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment’s flags reached the unit at Fort Ticonderoga, where the soldiers prepared to defend the vital waterways linking Canada and the Great Lakes to New York. Outmaneuvered, the Continental Army abandoned Ticonderoga on July 5. The 2nd New Hampshire Regiment marched with the rear guard of the army and engaged the British at the Battle of Hubbardton (July 7) in present-day Vermont. The regiment’s colors, however, moved separately from the unit with the baggage of the army. As the regiment fought at Hubbardton, the British 9th Regiment of Foot captured the 2nd New Hampshire’s flags 30 miles away at Fort Anne in a bloody encounter with Continental soldiers.  

Sent to England as war trophies, the flags were donated to the New Hampshire Historical Society in 1913.