7-9-21 Don't Be Suspicious, Don't Be Suspicious

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Which unit shredded its own flag at Gettysburg, hiding the pieces among its members--and why?

credit: @fairf
 
1) 16th Maine
2) to keep it from falling into Confederate hands, after they would be captured

Snip-it_1625832115797.jpg


"Civil War Librarian: Other Voices---Portion of the 16th Maine's Battle Flag Comes Home; Last Seen In One Piece on July 1, 1863" http://civilwarlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/12/other-voices-portion-of-16th-maines.html?m=1
 
Which unit shredded its own flag at Gettysburg, hiding the pieces among its members? 16th Maine Infantry.
Why? On July 1 the 16th Maine was ordered to hold its position at all costs to cover the retreat of Robinson's First Corps Division from Oak Ridge. Surrounded and forced to surrender, the survivors tore the flag to pieces to prevent its capture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Maine_Infantry_Regiment
 
Which unit shredded its own flag at Gettysburg, hiding the pieces among its members--and why?

credit: @fairf
16th Maine Volunteer Infantry. On July 1, 1863, when overwhelmed and their capture inevitable, they tore the colors into pieces which the men hid to prevent them from being captured as battle trophies by the rebels.
 
16th Maine Volunteer Infantry. Ordered to caver the retreat of their division as it left Oak Ridge, they were nearly surrounded and about to become prisoners of war. They wanted to save their colors and avoid the ignominy of surrendering their flags. I use the plural because they would have had both a US flag and a Maine flag. I have read that some pieces of the flags were preserved all through their prison camp experiences, and that some pieces still exist in Maine as museum pieces and family heirlooms.
 
16th Maine.
They tore up their flag and hid it the pieces in their clothing to prevent it from falling into Confederate hands when it became certain that they were about to be captured.

" With their capture imminent during the Battle of Gettysburg, 16th Maine soldiers tore up their flag and hid the pieces to keep their banner out of Confederate hands."

https://civilwarlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/12/other-voices-portion-of-16th-maines.html
 
The 16th Maine

Abner Small - “For a few last moments our little regiment defended angrily ithopeless challenge, but it was useless to fight longer. We looked at our colors, and our faces burned. We must not surrender those symbols of our pride and our faith.” The color bearers “appealed to the colonel and with his consent they tore the flags from the staves and ripped the silk into shreds; and our officers and men that were near took each a shred.”

The Confederates were denied the trophy of capturing the colors when the regiment was overwhelmed. 11 men were killed, 62 wounded, and 159 captured, with only 38 escaping the Confederate vise.

Earl Hess stated that these actions showed the flags’ “very, very deep symbolism for Civil War soldiers” since it represented the “esprit de corps” of the regiment and “a larger entity - the country, the cause.”
 
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