Late in the forenoon the regimental line was formed, and a beautiful national flag was presented to the regiment by Honorable P. Emory Aldrich, Mayor of Worcester. In presenting the flag the Mayor said:-- "_Colonel Bowman_,--Your friends, and the friends of your command in this city, have procured this beautiful banner, and requested me to present it to you as the worthy commander of the Thirty-sixth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers for the war. It will be seen that its azure fold is studded with the full constellation of stars, representing the undivided Union, and that not one of the original stripes is omitted or erased, showing that, however much your friends may deplore the present unhappy condition of our distracted and bleeding country, they still firmly believe that, when the clouds of war that now lower upon us shall have passed away, these stars will again shine as from a clear and cloudless sky with none of their ancient lustre lost or obscured. And permit me to say that this flag, still unchanged and radiant, signifies, in the truest and highest sense, the kind of service expected of you and this noble regiment you are about to lead from this comparatively peaceful camp of preparation to the stern and heroic duties of the field; that you are to aid, by force of arms, in restoring the Union, which traitors have temporarily impaired, and in reestablishing the supremacy of the constitution and laws over every portion of territory lying within the acknowledged boundaries of the Union, from the great lakes to the gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, so that, when you and your brave comrades return, as we trust you will, with this flag, soiled and rent it may be by the smoke and leaden hail of battle,[1] you shall bring it back, not as the sign of a shattered constitution, and dissevered Union, but as the proud emblem of a reunited and indivisible republic, and then it shall continue to be known and honored throughout the civilized world, and everywhere become a free and safe passport to all men of every race who have the right to claim protection beneath its ample folds. [1] "Soiled and rent," its staff shattered, this flag, which was carried by the regiment throughout its entire period of service, is now preserved in the State House, in Boston, with the flags of the Massachusetts regiments.