Minnesota Kept Virginia's Confederate Flag

Minnesota still keeps the Confederate battle flag of the 28th Virginia Infantry, which a Union private named Marshall Sherman captured during Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg in 1863. The Minnesota Historical Society stores the flag out of public view and withholds its exact location for security. Virginia groups and officials repeatedly demanded its return, while reenactors threatened legal action in 1998 without ultimately filing a lawsuit. When Virginia legislators tried again in 2000, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura refused, saying, "Why? I mean, we won. We took it. That makes it our heritage."

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