The 97th Pennsylvania Infantry was a Union infantry regiment which fought in multiple key engagements of the American Civil War, including the Siege of Fort Pulaski, Bermuda Hundred Campaign, Battle of Cold Harbor, Siege of Petersburg, and the Carolinas Campaign.

[1][2] Following this organization's muster-in during late August 1861, its leaders were presented the regiment's First State Color on November 4 by Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin.

Manufactured by Horstmann Brothers and Company, this flag was initially carried by the regiment's first color-bearer, Sergeant John D.

[3] The 97th Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at West Chester, Pennsylvania by West Chester resident Henry Ruhl Guss, who received approval from the U.S. Secretary of War in late July 1861 to begin recruiting men to enroll for three-year terms of service.

Muster-in took place on October 28 at Camp Wayne near West Chester.

The initial roster of commanding officers included the regiment's founder, Henry R. Guss, who had been commissioned as colonel; Augustus P. Duer, lieutenant colonel; and Galusha Pennypacker, major.

[4][5] Transported by rail to Washington, D.C., the regiment was initially stationed at Fort Monroe and attached to the Department of Virginia to December 1861.

The remainder of the regiment's duty assignments were: Wright's 3rd Brigade, Sherman's South Carolina Expedition, to April 1862.

Stevenson's brigade, Seabrook Island, South Carolina, X Corps, to July 1863.

1st Brigade, 1st Division, Morris Island, South Carolina, X Corps, July 1863.

2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Terry's Provisional Corps, Department of North Carolina, to March 1865.

Butler's operations on south side of the James River and against Petersburg and Richmond May 4–28.

Demonstration on the north side of James River at Deep Bottom August 13–20.

Mustered out August 28, 1865, at Weldon, N.C.[11][12] The regiment lost a total of 322 men during service.

[13] In 1884, a dozen former members of the 97th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers gathered together at the Green Tree Hotel in West Chester, Pennsylvania on Saturday, February 23, 1884 in order to begin planning for a reunion of the surviving members of their regiment.

Present that day were: David Jones C. C. Fahnestock, the regiment's quartermaster and fife-major; F. M. Guss and Leonard R. Thomas, captains of Companies A and C; sergeant Isaac A. Cleaver and privates Oliver B. Channell, Samuel A.

Following further planning sessions, during which the organization's name was established as "The Society of the Ninety-Seventh Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers", and annual dues were set at $.50 plus a one-time entrance fee of $1.00 per person, the regiment's first annual reunion was held on October 29 of that same year at Camp Wayne in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

The stated purpose of the gatherings was to promote "kindly feeling, the revival of old associations, and the collection and preservation of records of the services rendered by this Regiment during the 'War of the Rebellion'".

They then engaged in a business meeting from 11 a.m. to noon, during which the surviving members discussed explored ways to memorialize their service to the nation, including publishing a regimental history and erecting a battlefield monument, and listened to the day's keynote speakers who recalled key moments in the 97th Pennsylvania's history before enjoying a dinner of roast beef, lamb and turkey with rolls and butter, chicken salad, oysters on the shell, chowchow, cranberry sauce, an assortment of fruit, followed by ice cream and cake with coffee and a series of toasts.

The event ended at 4 p.m. with a march by the veterans to fife and drum music from Church to High to Market to Gay streets.