National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-03-05
TORN BATTLE FLAGS.
WRECKS AND RELICS OF THE WAR.
Where the Tsttered Union and Confederate Stand
ards Are Slowed AWay-Incldents Of the
Capture of Many Of Them-Some-
thing to Interest Soldiers.

Ing, on Seventeenth street. opposite the new struc
ture for the accommodation of the State, War, ant
Navy Departments, has attached to it a museum
Werthy of visitation.
Besides a large amount of warlike material
models of arms, accoutreInents, Calling and othe
repeating guns and relics of the olden times,
contains the historic stump Of the oak tree Gu
down by bullets ut Spotsylvania and several nun
dreds of captured confederate flags. In an snne'
. few doors north, and upon the same side OF TIT
street, are stored yet more Of these reminders o
the late unpleasantness,' together with quite;
collection of National ensgns, captured from thi
"Boys in Blue" by their no less gallant foeneI
who wore the gray,
As ensigns of an unholY cause the confederate
flags are, and of right ought TO be, sodious to tn
eyes of loyalty; but as the opponents of mani.
daring foritHde and devotion to an idea (althougl
wrong one) they are entitled to the respect of al
men, and well worthy the reverence Of those VIII,
upheld them so bravely upon the hot conteste.
fields of mortal strife. They are well worth lock
ing ct. Upon this point the men of the North anC
the men Of the South. who beheld them waving
amid the smoke of battle, can agree. Though diff
fering widely in matters of politics, there is one
broad platform upon which all true soldiers ma,
safely siand-the platform of valiant deeds; ant
there is one banner-that of high courage an6
manly valor-to which the soldierly spirit may dc
homage, although the heart may condemn the
cause in which it was foated to the breeze.
The collection to which reference has beer
made comprises confederate flags proper, battle
flags, State flags, and those belonging to local
organizations, together with several which be-
longed to the signal service corps of the con-
federacy, and incladesrepresentati Of regiments
or smaller bodies of troops from every one of the
late rebellious States, not excepting Tennessee
Kentucky, which, so to speak, were upon both
hides. And each flag has its history, oftentimes
written down in blood, and each one tells story
Of gallant deeds, of harishipS and privafions en-
dHred, and of wanderngs and death, glorious and
ennobling, though sad-a story of which, eschew-.
ing politics. no American need feel ashamed
Virginia and North Carolina lost the largest
number of flags in action, and New York and
Pennsylvania troops in the order named, made
the largest number of eonquests.
The first flag captured, so far as the record kept
In the museum shows is a hattle-ffag taken
at Phillip, Va, Jphe 8, 1861, by Lieutenant
William B. McCs5tney, COMPANY &, Sixteenth
Ohio mfantry.zs feo1fse It was;a matter of neces-
Ety that the first eaptor should have hailed from
Ohio-the State which, since them has taken
pretty much everything worth having, from the
Presidency down, captured the Government, in
fact. How else could the war have gone on?
The last capture made was that of the flag be-
longing to the ;" Dixie Rangers" taken by the
Fourth Indiana Cavalry near Columbus, Ga, April
10 1867 four years to day from the date of the first
bloodshed in the streets of Baltimore.
Another historic flag is that formerly carried by
the Forty sixth Virginia, and which was captured
at Appomattox Court house, April g, 1867 at quar-
ter past eight a. m, by the One hundred and
twenty-frst and One hundred and forty second
Pennsylvania Volunteers under the command of
Colonel West Funk.
The First Virginia CUnion) Cavalry appear to
have made the largest number OF eonquests hay
ing seOoped in seven flags viz: One taken by Levi
Shoemaker, place not given; one each by Captain
II. F. Boon and Private William Holton. at Sailors
Creek, april 6, 1865; three taken at Appomattox
Station April s. 1865 lone belonging to the Sumter
Flying Artillery, another TO the Eighteenth
T40rida), names of captOrs not given; and the
State flag OF the Fourteenth Virginia Cavalry cap
tured by J. f. Adams, of Company D. November
II, 1861. 80
The Sixth New York Cavalry and One hundred
and fourth Ohio are set down as having taken
five each; the First New York Dragons three.
Other regiments were probably equally or per-
haps more successful even than those named and
no invidious distinction is intended by not men
tiening them. Want of data alone prevents due
credit being given
In the list of captures every State having Union
troops in the field, with, it may be- California, Ore
gon, Nevada, the Territories and possibly Rhode
Island excepted, is represented
E. A. Briggs, Second Connecticut Heavy Artil-
lery, captured battle flag at Petersburg, April .
1865.
J. B. Mayberry, of the First Delaware, got away
with the standard of the Seventh North Carolina
On the Sd of July, 1863, at Gettysburg
Y
nois Cavalry took in the flag ofthe Eighteenth Ala
bama at Mission Ridge, November 25, 1863.
Captain Blake, Ninth Indiana captured the flag
Of the First Georgia at Cheat River, July 49, 1851
J. P Miller, Company D, and Charles A. Swan,
Company K, Fourth Iowa. captured the colors and
color bearer of the Twelfth Mississippi at Selma,
Ala, April q 1863.
The Seventh kentucky Cavalry (Union} in a
gallant charge against double their numbers of Bu-
ford's tconfederatel brigade, near Montgomery,
Ala, April 2, 1865, made itself the posSeSsor of
stand of co1ors, and April Il preceding, near
Blakely, in the same State, Thomas Riley, of Com
pany D, First Louisiana (Union) Cavalry, did the
same for himself
+. c. Anderson, of the Eighteenth Massachusetts
Infantry, captured the cOlors of the Twenty sey-
enth South Carolina and the Thirty-second Mas
Sachusetts gobbled up n similar trophy on the lst
Thirty seventh Massachusetts did itself honor at
Winchester, on prior occasion, by capturing the
celOrs of the Second Virginia, then a part of the
Did "StonewaH Brigade
The Fifth Maine Infantry made several con-
quests, and o. C. Roberts, of the Sixth Maine III
hand-to-hand conflict at Rappahannock Station
took possession of the flag belonging to the Eighth
Louisiana.
Pat McCTaD, of Company c., Third Maryland,
captured the flag of the Second Georgia Battery,
which is pierced by twenty eight bullets, three
through the staff
The First Michigan Cavalry captured South
ern CrosS" from the Fortieth Virginia at Falling
Waters, Nd, November q, 1868; Ulrick Croker
Of the Sixth Michigan Cavalry, took the standard
Of the Eighteenth Georgia, and the Tenth Michi-
gan Infantry followed suit by taking that of the
Georgia December 10, 1862.
Albert Essen, of the Second Minnesota, captured
he flag of the "Yallabusha Rifles near Cumber-
and, Nd, January 19, 1862.
At the battle of SharpsbuEg, September II, 1862,
Isaac Thompson, of the Twentieth New York State
Militia, after shooting down the bearer, ran for
ward and brought of stand of the enen1ys colors
The One hundred and twenty-sixth New York
captured two flags, one at Champions Pass, Nd,
he other at Gettysburg
At the battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee,
Sergeant F. n. Potter, Company E, One hundred
md forty ninth New York, engaged in a hand to-
hand fight with the bearer, and brought off con-
federate standard, to place beside another one
which his regiment had captured but a few min
aieS earlier.
July Is, 1864, near Malvern Hill, Virginia, s. L.
Hallick, of the Ninth New York Cavalry. made a
Tophy of the celors carried by the Twenty-eighth
North Carolina, and at Winchester September 10.
If the same year, A. J. Lorish, commissary ser
geant, and Chester 3. Bowen, Company l. First
New York Dungeons, each captured confederate
,attle-iag, as did Lieutenant W. ". Winnegar, of
Company B, of the same regiment, at Five Forks
april of the succeeding year.
At Champions Pass, Nd, September H. 1862, the
Fourth New jersey took possession ofthec olors be-
onging to "Cobbs Legion " Georgia. and the flag
'fthe Eighteenth North Carolina fell into the hands
# Frank Fesey, Fortieth New Jersey, April 2, 1865
An Ohio man was never vet known to refuse to |