{"id":279,"date":"2013-07-11T13:37:06","date_gmt":"2013-07-11T17:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=279"},"modified":"2024-06-13T14:33:19","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T18:33:19","slug":"flags-fly-amid-battles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/flags-fly-amid-battles\/","title":{"rendered":"Flags fly amid battles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"Flags<\/a>
Flags fly during Gettysburg battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The just-concluded 150th<\/sup> anniversary of the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg brought renewed attention to the role flags played during Civil War conflicts.<\/p>\n

When cannons and muskets began firing, regimental and other flags became essential ways of communicating amid the smoke and chaos. The banners rallied troops to common points on the battlefield, for example, or indicated the way toward \u2013 or away from \u2013 the enemy.<\/p>\n

As a result, flags were targets for the other side to shoot at or to seize in the hopes of triggering confusion, dismay and surrender in enemy forces.<\/p>\n

In \u201cGettysburg,\u201d his 2004 account of that battle, author Stephen W. Sears caught the importance of flags in these words: \u201cA dense blanket of battle smoke hung low among the trees and in the valley\u2026making it difficult to separate friend from foe; the battle flag<\/a>s visible above the smoke clouds drew torrents of fire. The flag of the 14th<\/sup> Tennessee twice disappeared into the smoke and twice rose again\u2026.<\/p>\n

\"Flag<\/a>\u201cThere was a bitter, desperate struggle for the colors of the 2nd<\/sup> Mississippi. Yankees \u2018kept rushing for my flag and there were over a dozen shot down like sheep in their madly rush for the colors,\u2019 the Mississippi color bearer, W.B. Murphy, remembered. Finally, \u2018a large man\u2026made a rush for me and the flag. As I tore the flag from the staff he took hold of me and the color.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So precious were the flags, regimental as well as national, that soldiers were willing to die to capture them, protect them or keep them from enemy hands. In \u201cGettysburg: The Last Invasion,\u201d which was just published, Allen C. Guelzo recounts the desperation of a close-in fight and the primal urge to defend precious flags.<\/p>\n

\"Col.<\/a>
Col. Charles Tilden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the members of his regiment about to be killed or overwhelmed, Colonel Charles Tilden of the 16th<\/sup> Maine \u201cordered the regiment\u2019s colors<\/a> torn from their staffs and cut up into patches the men could hide \u2018about the persons of the survivors,\u2019 before finally surrendering. The Confederates\u2026were only able to seize a \u2018very fine flag-staff and tassels,\u2019 and some scraps of \u2018a fine Yankee flag\u2026lying in different places.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Even in defeat, the flag had been saved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By James Breig The just-concluded 150th anniversary of the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg brought renewed attention to the role flags played during Civil War conflicts. When cannons and muskets began firing, regimental and other flags became essential ways of communicating amid the smoke and chaos. The banners rallied troops to common points on the… 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":[43,42,98,76],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-civil-war","tag-gettysburg","tag-regimental-flags","tag-vicksburg"],"yoast_head":"\nFlags fly amid battles - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\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\/flags-fly-amid-battles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flags fly amid battles - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By James Breig The just-concluded 150th anniversary of the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg brought renewed attention to the role flags played during Civil War conflicts. 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