Someone You Should Know: Civil War Historian Who Stitches
PALATINE (CBS) -- He spent a career in the FBI, but his passion is the Civil War and recreating something that was special to soldiers on both sides of the conflict.
Dick Stilling of Palatine is someone you should know, CBS 2's Harry Porterfield says.
Over the 145 years since the end of the Civil War, it has not ceased to fascinate us. For years, Stilling has been interested in the flags that were taken into the conflict by the various fighting units.
The former FBI agent has recreated many of the flags in needle work. He wants to preserve them because of how critical the flags were to soldiers in the field.
"In the fog of battle, with the sounds and the smoke and the confusion, it was difficult to communicate," Stilling says. "So flags became important."
So many of the regimental flags have been lost to history; recreating them has taken a lot of research.
"When I do the research, I get everything as perfect as I can," he said.
Among his work is a depiction of the flag carried by the 69th Regiment Irish Brigade from New York. That unit sustained the highest number of casualties of any fighting group in the war. Stilling is currently working on an embroidered map of the Battle of Petersburg.
Stilling loves what he does, but needlepoint for a man is a lonely pursuit.
"I'm the only one I know who's doing it," he says.
His hobby has taken up a lot of his time. He has been researching the flags, creating them, not to mention actually learning how to do needlepoint and embroidery.
Why does he do it? He says the Civil War strikes a chord with him because there's so much to learn from it, especially in these divisive times.
"We have got to be one," Stilling explains. "U.S. – United States stands for us, 'We the People.'"
