{"id":223,"date":"2013-05-15T15:30:16","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T19:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=223"},"modified":"2024-12-12T10:30:31","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T15:30:31","slug":"shattered-old-flag-returns-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/shattered-old-flag-returns-home\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Shattered old flag\u2019 returns home"},"content":{"rendered":"

By James Breig<\/a><\/p>\n

The continuing 150th<\/sup> anniversary of the four-year Civil War provides an opportunity to focus on regimental flags<\/a> \u2013 and what happened to them. They were carried by troops into battle to mark where their unit was located, to see where they were moving and to provide a rallying point.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A torn battle flag, like the 14th Indiana’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a touching letter, penned on May 20, 1863, one officer paid tribute to a flag of the 14th<\/sup> Indiana Volunteers. Second Lieutenant John A. Stannis of Company B wrote home to a woman to explain why he was returning the flag. She was among women from five Hoosier towns, including Vincennes, who had presented the flag to the regiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI send you to-day, by Express, our time-worn and bullet-worn flag,\u201d Stannis wrote. \u201cWe part with it reluctantly, for it has been with us through sunshine and shadow, has waved over us, while we lay quietly in camp, and while engaged in battle with the enemies of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described the flag as \u201cno longer serviceable in the field\u201d because it was \u201cso completely riddled with bullets, and torn by service\u2026.We deem it right that it should be returned to those who so kindly presented it to us, when we enlisted in the service of our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back over his unit\u2019s history, Stannis affirmed that \u201cthe same feeling that animated us when we received the flag from your hands still remains. Time, hardships, and the loss of many of our brave comrades have only made us more determined to uphold that flag, surrounded as it is by so many hallowed memories, and dear to the heart of every true American.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flag, he explained, had been taken into battle \u201cand received a full charge of \u2018grape\u2019 [multiple metal balls fired from a cannon] in the late battle of Chancellorsville, rendering it useless to us. We return the shattered old flag of \u2018Company B\u2019 to the Ladies of Vincennes and leave it with them to do as they think proper with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stannis asked the women to \u201chold it with reverence, while they bear in mind that of the one hundred and four true men who started out under that flag, but thirty-eight are now left with us, and eleven of those are wounded and in hospital, or broken down with the severe service of an active campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quoting from \u201cHamlet,\u201d the lieutenant closed with the hope that \u201ceven if we are all called to \u2018that bourne whence no traveller e\u2019er returns,\u2019 you may live to see the \u2018Old Flag\u2019 triumphant.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By James Breig The continuing 150th anniversary of the four-year Civil War provides an opportunity to focus on regimental flags \u2013 and what happened to them. They were carried by troops into battle to mark where their unit was located, to see where they were moving and to provide a rallying point. In a touching… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[64,65,63,43],"class_list":["post-223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-14th-indiana","tag-america","tag-battle-flag","tag-civil-war"],"yoast_head":"\n'Shattered Old Flag' of the 14th Indiana Volunteers Returns Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about what happened to the regimental flag of the 14th Indiana Volunteers following the Civil War.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/shattered-old-flag-returns-home\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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