Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-07-10
FIGHTING FOR FLAGS
COLORS THAT UNION AND cONFEp-
ERATE SOLDIERS DIED FOR.

Changes Made In the Official Flag of the
south-The "Owld" Flag Of Ireland and
tho "Bonny Blue Flag" Of Texas-Breast-
works Msdc OF Eentuckians.
The custom in the Union army was to
have each regiment carry two flags-a 1egi-
mental, with tho state coat Of arms EN-.
blazoncd upon plain blue field, and ma
tional, the stars and stripes, with the name
and number of the regiment. The regi-
mental flags of the Irish brigade New
York;, for instance, were Of deep green,
emblazoned with the harp, sunburst and
shamrock. All Irish regiments in the serv.
ice carried such flags: How deeply Celtic
enthusiasm could be stirred by the banner
Of green was illustrated during the repulse
Of Pickett at Gettysburg. Cowan's First
New York battery was ordered in to re.
lieve Cushings about the time that Arm
istead's men had reached the stone wall
A simultaneous movement was made BY
the Irish brigade from the left toward the
threatened point. One Of Cowan' 8 drivers
an Irishman not especially brave, hesitated
about urging his team forward where the
missiles flew thick ard fast. Suddenly
Erins banner flashed from behind ledge
Of rock and caught his eye. Rising in his
stifrups, he exclaimed, "Mithcr of Noses
the ovid fag!" and dashed and spurred
his horses on with a display of zeal that
his captain by the most profane appeals,
had never been able to arouse. "
All that can be said of northern battle
flags can be said of southern ones too.
Each seeding state sent out troops on its
own account, and with them, as symbol,
1u ho Of ~
the state on plain field Among such
wcrc the famous Palmetto Of South Caro-
lima, the Pelican of Louisiana and the
Lone Star or Bonny Blue Flag Of Texas.
Tho flag of the Forty seventh North Caro-
lima bore the dates May 20, 1875, and
May 20, 1861, the dates of the revolt Of
tho colony against England and of the
secession of the state.
The first official flag of the south was
the stars and bars, q flag partly copied
from the Union banner and bearing such
a strong resemblance to it that the two
were not distinguishable in the field. In
battle the opposing commands became
hopelessly entangled, as in the first Bull
Run, and though the results were bloody
enough to suit the occasion the southern
ers thought tho slaughter was not well
colors as battle flags leaving the stars and
bars for civil and headquarters use. A flag
known as battleflag' appeared in 1862,
and tho cross, similar to that Of the Cries.
cent City flag Of 1851, was its principal
emblem. This flag consisted of a rcd fly,
with two blue diagonal bars, having mar
row white borders crossed in the center.
The bars were white stars numbered &C
%<,f nf ff,<,H nj,
ned their bars with single star. The
famous flag song, ~
Hurrah for the bonny blue Gag
That bears q single star, Z.
was suggested by the flag of Texas. The
original Texas flag had been Il blue fly,
with q white star in the center, and when
the Texan troops took the cross they re-
tanned the lone star. i
The cross made the Confederate flag con-
spicuous in battle, and it was retained to
the end, being twice modified. On the bat
tlelag of 1862 the crossed bars extended
from corner to corner, making an easy
target for Union guns, and that arrange
ment gave place in 1868 to one with
white fly, having u reduced battlet1agas a
cornerpiece. But the white so prepondel"
ated in mass that the color became almost
luVlS1Dlo LII d AUIOlIS DASCAC, e'AA oAAs1 Acs5
looked like signal of truce. To remove
this objection a wide, vertical bar of red
was placed on the other edge of the fly.
There was no installing this symbol, and
it satisfied tho south, as the features OF
the old flag still remained-the stars, and
the red white and blue.
The flags of the Forty ninth Georgia
and the Sixth kentucky are types Of the
Confederate battlefags of the east and
west, as they were first designed with the
mammoth blue cross, with white stars and
borders, on red ground.
The Sixth Kentucky belonged to there
nowned Orphan brigade of that state, a
name bestowed by General Breckenridge
after the battle of Murfreesboro. Previous
to the battle these rnen had been referred
to as orphans, because they were expatri-
ated sons Of Kentucky, disfrarchiscd and
disowned by their native state for joining
the Confctcracy: At MUrfrecsboro they
lost their leader, Colonel Hanson, the ia
Their of the brigade, who was killed while
leading them, under the fire Of 81 Union
cannon-a fire that not only moved down
ranks of men, but laid the trees of the for
est low rs with tho shifting hand of a tor
nado. Thus they became doubly orphaned.
Professor Shaler Of Harvard, in his study
Of "Man and Nature In America speaks
of the men composing this brigade as H.
lustrating the highest type Of American
manhood. Numbering originally 5000,
after three years of service in the hardest
f3alds If tho west. the "Orphans" entered