Flags captured in the Battle of Jonesborough

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Valiant Sons of Arkansas, Rick Reeves.jpg

Artwork by Rick Reeves depicting the consolidated 1st & 15th Arkansas Infantry during the Atlanta Campaign.

The battle of Jonesborough, GA, took place on August 31 - September 1, 1864 — the last battle of the Atlanta Campaign. In a major operation to sever the Confederate supply lines to Atlanta and hopefully force Hood's army out of the city, Sherman sent six of his seven corps to cut the Macon & Western and Atlanta & West Point railroads to the south and southwest. Hood, eventually learning of the maneuver, dispatched William J. Hardee with two corps to halt the Federal advance.

The forces met just north of the small town of Jonesborough (now spelled Jonesboro), 15 miles south of Atlanta. After Confederate attacks on the first day failed to rout the two initial Federal corps to arrive on the field, Hardee then entrenched his troops and awaited the Union offensive the following day. Hood, believing Atlanta itself was under threat, had recalled S.D. Lee's corps back to the city; that left Hardee with only his own corps to hold the position, unbeknownst that he was actually facing the bulk of Sherman's army.

Jonesboro 2.jpg

Map of the second day of the battle from William R. Scaife's The Campaign for Atlanta.

Though depicted on the above map, the IV Corps was tearing up the Macon & Western R.R. most of the day and didn't arrive on the field until later.

While the XV Corps made a demonstration to the Confederate front, the XIV Corps attacked Hardee's right flank, concentrating on the bend in the Confederate line held by Daniel C. Govan's Arkansas Brigade of Patrick Cleburne's Division and Joseph H. Lewis's Kentucky Orphan Brigade to their right.

The initial assaults were repulsed, although a second massed charge managed to break through the position. Govan's and Lewis's men fought stubbornly at close range, often hand-to-hand, but some troops were soon overwhelmed and surrendered; the Federals then rolled up the line, capturing Govan's Brigade en masse.

Cleburne and Hardee quickly shifted brigades from other sections of the line to check the Federal breakthrough and hold the right flank together. Fortunately for them it was late in the day before the IV Corps got into position and no other coordinated assaults were made, allowing Hardee to withdraw his corps south to Lovejoy's Station. However, the supply lines to Atlanta were severed and Hardee was cut off from the city, so Hood was forced to evacuate the army from Atlanta that same night.

Jonesborough prisoners.jpg

Period illustration of the prisoners captured at Jonesborough being marched from there to Atlanta. Harper's Weekly Magazine.

Govan and about 600 of his Arkansans were taken prisoner, as well as part of Lewis's Kentuckians. Five battle flags were captured from the infantrymen, all but one of them from Govan's Brigade. Also among the captured were the guns and many of the men belonging to Key's Arkansas Battery and Swett's Mississippi Battery bolstering the position, including both their colors.

A prisoner exchange was almost immediately agreed upon by Hood and Sherman, and only a few weeks later on September 18 the Confederate troops were exchanged for Northern prisoners at Andersonville, eventually rejoining their commands. Govan's Arkansans (or "Joshes" as they were known by the Texans in the AoT) were so ashamed of their capture that, upon returning to camp, they put out a petition to Granbury's Texas Brigade ("Chubs") asking if they had lost confidence in them, and if so, were prepared to request a transfer. But the Texans forgave them for their misfortune, visiting their camp en masse to give the Joshes a hearty welcome back.

1st and 15th Arkansas Infantry.jpg

Hardee flag of the consolidated 1st & 15th Arkansas Infantry, Govan's Brigade. Captured by the 14th Michigan.

The flags captured at Jonesborough, on the other hand, were forwarded to the U.S. War Department and held in the basement there with other captured Confederate colors, until later returned to their native states in 1905.

6th and 7th Arkansas Infantry.jpg

Consolidated 6th & 7th Arkansas Infantry, Govan's Brigade. Captured by Pvt. Henry B. Mattingly, Co. E, 10th Kentucky.

All of the Hardee pattern flags captured were issued out to Cleburne's Division in spring of 1864. While his division was allowed to retain their famous banner when the rest of the army switched to the standardized Confederate Battle Flag after Joe Johnston assumed command, Cleburne's entire division was, however, issued new Hardee flags to replace their old tattered ones. These new flags were then carried into the Atlanta Campaign.

8th and 19th Arkansas Infantry 1.jpg

Consolidated 8th & 19th Arkansas Infantry, Govan's Brigade. Captured by 2nd Lt. Jerry Kuder, Co. A, 74th Indiana.

Most of these were decorated with the crossed cannons honor, which was awarded for capturing enemy artillery pieces in battle. That honor was unique only to the Army of Tennessee. The cannons were supposed to be inverted (muzzles facing downward) so as not to be mistaken for an artillery unit, but they are all right-side up on these Hardee flags.

3rd Confederate.jpg

3rd Confederate Infantry (aka Marmaduke's 18th Arkansas Infantry), Govan's Brigade. Captured by the 113th Ohio. The 3rd Confederate was so-named because it consisted of men from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Key's Battery.jpg

Capt. Thomas J. Key's Arkansas Battery (aka the Helena Artillery). Captured by Pvt. Gilbert S. Fleming, Co. B, 52nd Ohio. This battery served in Cleburne's Division or alongside it as part of Hardee's Corps throughout most of the war.

All of the above flags are now in the collection of the Old State House Museum, Little Rock, Ark. Also to note: the other numbers on the flags, like the 231 above, are the U.S. War Department capture numbers.

Key's Battery, Rick Reeves.jpg


Swett's Battery.jpg

Capt. Charles Swett's Mississippi Battery (aka the Warren Light Artillery). Captured by the 16th Illinois.

Swett's battery also served with Cleburne's Division through most of the war. This flag is now on display at the Old Courthouse Museum in Vicksburg.

6th Kentucky Infantry.jpg

6th Kentucky Infantry, Kentucky Orphan Brigade. Captured by the 10th Michigan.

The Orphan Brigade was in William Bate's Division, so they were issued the standardized Confederate Battle Flag in early 1864 like the rest of the AoT. This flag was manufactured in Augusta, GA, either by the Augusta Clothing Depot or civilian contractor J.B. Platt & Co. Today it is in the collection of the Kentucky Historical Society.

The Orphans, Rick Reeves.jpg

"The Orphans" by Rick Reeves.
 
Jonesborough was the last battle that the Orphan Brigade fought with the Army of Tennessee. In the reorganization that followed the Fall of Atlanta, Lewis's brigade was converted into mounted infantry and transferred to Wheeler's corps when it operated in Georgia. By the time of the surrender at Bentonville, Lewis's Orphans were detached on duty in Greensboro and not with the main army when it moved into North Carolina.

A lot of those 600 Arkansawyers who returned to service would end up falling at Franklin just a couple of months later. Govan's brigade gave good service, but it is not as storied as Granbury's Texans or some of the other brigades in the army, such as Cockerill's Missourians or the Orphans.
 
Govan's Arkansans may not be as well known but they served in the AoT from Shiloh on through to the Carolinas Campaign - first under Hindman & Shaver at Shiloh and later St. John R. Liddell prior to Govan assuming command.


One thing I didn't mention was that at Jonesborough the consolidated 5th & 13th Arkansas managed to escape capture intact along with their colors. In his report, Col. Peter V. Green of the regiment (assuming command of the brigade after Govan's capture) mentions that he withdrew the 5th/13th after noticing the 3rd Confederate on his right get surrounded. I don't remember where at the moment, but recall reading that some 200 men of the brigade escaped capture at Jonesborough.

And although the 5th/13th's flag was carried out of the fight there, it was later lost at Franklin. The 88th Illinois claimed its capture but it was never turned over to the War Department, thus never returned to Arkansas and today remains in a private collection.


Here is Col. Peter V. Green's report for September 1:

On the morning of the 1st instant the brigade was aroused at 3 o'clock and immediately moved by the right flank through Jonesborough and about one mile beyond and northwest of the town, and were placed in position on the extreme right of our line. We arrived in rear of our position about daybreak, but, owing to the unsettled condition of the brigade on our left, did not commence work until between the hours of 8 and 9. We had just succeeded in throwing up works of sufficient strength to protect against minie-balls, when we were ordered to built a work running from the right of the brigade to the railroad, almost perpendicular to the first line. About this time a heavy artillery fire was opened upon us from points opposite the right, left, and center with such effect that Colonel Smith, Sixth Arkansas Regiment, who had supervision of the work, deemed it advisable to suspend the work temporarily on account of the exposure to which the men were subjected, several having been killed and wounded.​
In the mean time the enemy were engaged in massing their troops in front of our right, and at 3 p. m. drove in the pickets along my entire front, in half an hour advancing in heavy column upon the front of the right of the brigade, also upon the flank. They charged to within from thirty to sixty yards of the works and were repulsed, with heavy loss, the Sixth and Seventh Arkansas Regiments capturing about 20 prisoners. The enemy retired in great confusion beyond the brow of the hill and reformed, and being heavily re-enforced charged again from three directions, converging upon the angle formed by the two lines above mentioned, and carried the works occupied by the Sixth and Seventh Arkansas Regiment, and, forming a line at right angle with the works, advanced square down the flank and rear of the brigade.​
Although the odds were very great, the men gallantry contested their advance, fighting the enemy with clubbed guns and at the point of the bayonet, and thus a great many lost the opportunity for escaping. The advance of the enemy was so rapid, and the woods on the right being so dense as the screen their movements it was impossible to form any combinations to resist it. Thus it was that our gallant Brigadier General D. C. Govan and his equally gallant assistant adjutant-general (Captain G. A. Williams) were captured almost before aware that the enemy had broken the line. In this way, advancing down the works, they arrived in rear of the Third Confederate Regiment, which was on the right of the Fifth and Thirteenth Arkansas Regiments, and which was engaging a line of battle 100 yards in their front, [and] it was forced to surrender almost en masse.​
The commanding officer of the Fifth and Thirteenth Arkansas Regiments seeing this, and being closely engaged with a line of battle in his front, ordered a retreat, and thus saved his regiment, some 300 yards in rear of the works, this regiment was rallied and formed. The balance of the brigade by this time having been formed, for the most part to the right, was marched by the left flank and formed on this regiment.​
General Govan having been captured, and Colonel Smith, of the Sixth Arkansas Regiment, the next senior officer, either captured or killed, I took command of the brigade and charged the works, my left striking them on the right of Granbury's brigade. Owing to the disorganized state of the brigade and the enemy's superiority in numbers, we failed to reach the works, except on the left, and fell back a short distance, where we remained in position to protect Granbury's right till Vaughan's brigade came to our support. We joined this brigade in its charge, went into the works, and there remained until after dark, when the men were drawn off and the brigade reformed on the railroad rear of Granbury's left.​
It affords me much pleasure to mention the gallant and efficient conduct of Lieutenant Colonel E. A. Howell, of the Fifth Arkansas Regiment; Lieutenant W. S. Sawrie, adjutant of the Second Arkansas Regiment; Lieutenant J. G. Warfield, assistant inspector-general; Lieutenant F. H. Govan, aide-de-camp; Captain W. B. West, Thirteenth Arkansas; Captain W. H. Scales, First Arkansas; Captain V. M. McGehee, Second Arkansas, wounded in the first charge, and Lieutenant F. M. Cogbill, Fifth Arkansas, who fell mortally wounded just as he reached the works, in their almost unprecedented efforts to rally and encourage the men and to lead them in the charge.​
The brigade sustained a loss during the day of 6 officers and 20 men killed, 7 officers and 61 men wounded, 43 officers and 575 men missing. My impression is that a good proportion of those reported missing were either killed or wounded. Our loss in the first attempt to regain the works was quite severe.​
I have the honor to be, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,​
P. V. GREEN,​
Colonel, Commanding.​
 
All of the above flags are now in the collection of the Old State House Museum, Little Rock, Ark. Also to note: the other numbers on the flags, like the 231 above, are the U.S. War Department capture numbers.
Great article. I always liked the fact that unlike the Army of Northern Virginia, the Army of Tennessee allowed units that could claim the capture of a Federal battery to decorate their flags with the "crossed cannons, inverted," signifying that their regiment had captured an enemy battery. I don't think a regiment carrying such a flag would be questioned on its bravery in battle.
 
Thought this was a cool photo in the book, Echoes of Battle: The Atlanta Campaign. At center is Corporal Orville B. Young, color bearer of the 10th Kentucky Infantry (US), who carried the same flag in the charge at Jonesborough.

In Col. William H. Hays' official report he says: "Corpl. Orville B. Young, the color bearer, deserves special mention for the manner in which he discharged his duty when the regiment was checked by a murderous fire within twenty yards of the enemy's works. He ran forward with the flag, calling on his comrades to rally to it. It was the first flag placed on the enemy's works."

10th Kentucky.jpg
 
Thought this was a cool photo in the book, Echoes of Battle: The Atlanta Campaign. At center is Corporal Orville B. Young, color bearer of the 10th Kentucky Infantry (US), who carried the same flag in the charge at Jonesborough.

In Col. William H. Hays' official report he says: "Corpl. Orville B. Young, the color bearer, deserves special mention for the manner in which he discharged his duty when the regiment was checked by a murderous fire within twenty yards of the enemy's works. He ran forward with the flag, calling on his comrades to rally to it. It was the first flag placed on the enemy's works."

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Shredded. :thumbsup:
 
Here's a an account of the second day of the battle by 6th & 7th Arkansas veteran, Stan C. Harley.

The Arkansas Democrat, Sept. 4, 1904.

[. . . .]​

The morning of September 1 dawned clear and hot. There was continuous skirmishing all the forenoon, portending that there would be "a hot time in the old town" before night. Everyone was on a tiptoe of expectancy. Gen. Sherman was uncoiling his army like a huge anaconda, extending his line to our right, which necessitated the extension of our line to single rank one yard apart to cover his front. Govan's Arkansas brigade was on the right, occupying an angle with Lewis' Kentucky brigade to our right. About the middle of the evening a brigade of Thomas' corps assaulted the line occupied by the Sixth and Seventh Arkansas regiments consolidated. The Eighth and Nineteenth Arkansas consolidated, was on the left of the Sixth and Seventh, when it was apparent that the attack would be on the flank, our line war retired on the right, which came very near causing us to be without any fortifications, but we quickly carried our logs to the new line and in a measure were ready for the storm which we now knew was coming. In a very short time after we got our new works ready the enemy came at us with a will and we sent them back as quick, if not quicker, than they came. This was a brigade composed of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth regulars, and the Seventeenth New York Zouaves, as well as I remember.​
Occupying an angle, as we did, exposed us to a galling enfilading fire from a four-gun battery on our left, and it secured an almost perfect range of our line, to guard against which we built transverse works between each company. We occupied a plateau covered by large trees and thick underbrush. About 150 yards to our right and front there was a sudden drop in the surface of the ground, which furnished excellent protection to troops preparing to make an assault. They were out of sight and range until they came upon the plateau. I am particular in giving the details because Govan's brigade has been adversely criticised for not holding this position, notwithstanding the great odds they had to meet. This criticism is within itself a compliment, for Govan was expected to hold any place under any circumstances. In the first assault, which we repulsed so handsomely, they left many dead and wounded in our front. They retreated behind the drop is the plateau in our front, and there was a lull in the storm for a short time. During this lull two men from each company were sent forward as videttes, the writer being one of the two sent from his company. We went forward fifty or seventy-five yards and had been out probably a half hour or longer when the second assault was made.​
If you will excuse me, I will relate my personal experience just at this juncture. I could not see beyond the drop in the plateau to my right or front, but to my left I could see a line of men standing in the field, the rear rank holding the guns, while the front rank did the gopher act. I was entertaining them, having my sight raised to, 200 yards, when suddenly there came upon the plateau to my right and rear, as I was standing, a line of bluecoats which seemed to rise out of the ground, a veritable cyclone, armed and equipped for business. I had my gun loaded and was just in the act of firing when I saw them, and I lost no time in getting back to our line. On they came at a fast run, without firing a gun, with bayonets fixed and guns atrail. How their bayonets glistened in the evening sun!​
I became very much interested and made a run for my home base that would have done full credit to the most noted baseballist, and because of my intense desire I succeeded in getting there first, notwithstanding the start they got of me, but just did. The videttes being in front, and coming on so close in front of the enemy, was an advantage to them, because our men held their fire somewhat to keep from killing us. I got into the works, and when I turned around they were not twenty feet away. The Eighth and Nineteenth Arkansas were enfilading the front of our regiment (Sixth and Seventh), making it pretty hot, and some of the enemy squirreled it from their fire. I was with the left company of the Sixth and Seventh, and had run in with a loaded gun, and as I brought my gun to an aim at a color bearer about ten feet away, who was squirreling from the fire from the left, which brought him in plain view to me, I noticed that my sight was raised to 200 yards. I lowered it a little and fired and he fell limp at the root of the tree, whether killed or not I never knew.​
I dropped to my knees to load, and when I looked up to import the cartridge, to my horror there were two men standing above me with cocked guns and fixed bayonets. In the excitement and scare I thought I had loaded my gun. I jumped up almost between their guns, placed my gun near to the breast of one of them and snapped it at him, and then ran like a rabbit to the rear. The danger of doing that never occurred to me until I was under full headway; then I was too far gone to stop. I continued to run as fast as I could—how fast that was I can't tell you. You would have had to see me to have an idea about the pace I was going. Suffice it to say so fast that I was soon out of danger. There were four others of my company who ran out, one of whom was killed. The enemy came with such force that it was impossible for as weak a line as ours was to stop them, and they ran over and captured our entire brigade except a few who did the rabbit act, as I did. I used to think, and am not convinced yet, but what I was correct, that when the time came to run I could glide over the ground with as much ease and as rapidly as any man I ever saw, and I was not hard to convince that the time had come to run, either. Occasionally I meet soldiers who say that "their regiment never turned its back to the enemy at any time or place during the war." This may be so. I ran a number of times, fast and furious; so did my command, and I am glad I did, for if I had been killed I never would have got over it.​
Those of us who ran out met Vaughn's brigade of Tennesseans coming in to reinforce us, but they were too late. We reported to Gen. Cleburne, who was not far in our rear, and he ordered us to take our places in Granberry's Texas brigade, which we did. That night we retreated to Lovejoy, four miles south, and remained there until Gen. Sherman recalled his men to Atlanta and vicinity. We reoccupied our position at Jonesboro, and it was very gratifying to us to find a good deal of evidence that all of our shots had not gone wild, as we found a goodly number of graves to our front where the fallen had been buried.​
The Tenth Kentucky infantry (Federal) captured the flags of the Sixth and Seventh Arkansas regiments there and I have often wondered whether I killed their color bearer or not on that day. It would be a satisfaction to know. This was forty years ago today, and many incidents of that battle are as fresh in my mind as if they had occurred yesterday. To write of those stirring times is very pleasant to the writer, and he hopes it is interesting, entertaining and instructive to those who read it.​
STAN C. HARLEY.​
P. S.—By special arrangement between Gen. Sherman and Gen. Hood, our brigade was exchanged on the 19th of September. They were not carried further north than Nashville. Our colonel, Sam Granville Smith [below], died while a prisoner. After exchange we went with Hood to Franklin and Nashville, and many, very many of us went to their long home at Franklin.​
S. C. H.​
Colonel Samuel G. Smith of the 6th & 7th Arkansas Infantry, featured in Georgia Backroads Magazine, Winter 2014.
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View attachment 202733
Artwork by Rick Reeves depicting the consolidated 1st & 15th Arkansas Infantry during the Atlanta Campaign.

The battle of Jonesborough (now spelled Jonesboro), GA, took place on August 31 - September 1, 1864 — the last battle of the Atlanta Campaign. In a major operation to sever the Confederate supply lines to Atlanta and hopefully force Hood's army out of the city, Sherman sent six of his seven corps to cut the Macon & Western and Atlanta & West Point railroads to the south and southwest. Hood, eventually learning of the maneuver, dispatched William J. Hardee with two corps to halt the Federal advance.

The forces met just north of the small town of Jonesborough, 15 miles south of Atlanta. After Confederate attacks on the first day failed to rout the two initial Federal corps to arrive on the field, Hardee then entrenched his troops and awaited the Union offensive the following day. Hood, believing Atlanta itself was under threat, had recalled S.D. Lee's corps back to the city; that left Hardee with only his own corps to hold the position, unbeknownst that he was actually facing the bulk of Sherman's army.

View attachment 202723
Map of the second day of the battle from William R. Scaife's The Campaign for Atlanta.

Though depicted on the above map, the IV Corps was tearing up the Macon & Western R.R. most of the day and didn't arrive on the field until later.

While the XV Corps made a demonstration to the Confederate front, the XIV Corps attacked Hardee's right flank, concentrating on the bend in the Confederate line held by Daniel C. Govan's Arkansas Brigade of Patrick Cleburne's Division and Joseph H. Lewis's Kentucky Orphan Brigade to their right.

The initial assaults were repulsed, although a second massed charge managed to break through the position. Govan's and Lewis's men fought stubbornly at close range, often hand-to-hand, but some troops were soon overwhelmed and surrendered; the Federals then rolled up the line, capturing Govan's Brigade en masse.

Cleburne and Hardee quickly shifted brigades from other sections of the line to check the Federal breakthrough and hold the right flank together. Fortunately for them it was late in the day before the IV Corps got into position and no other coordinated assaults were made, allowing Hardee to withdraw his corps south to Lovejoy's Station. However, the supply lines to Atlanta were severed and Hardee was cut off from the city, so Hood was forced to evacuate the army from Atlanta that same night.

View attachment 202734
Period illustration of the prisoners captured at Jonesborough being marched from there to Atlanta. Harper's Weekly Magazine.

Govan and about 600 of his Arkansans were taken prisoner, as well as part of Lewis's Kentuckians. Five battle flags were captured from the infantrymen, all but one of them from Govan's Brigade. Also among the captured were the guns and many of the men belonging to Key's Arkansas Battery and Swett's Mississippi Battery bolstering the position, including both their colors.

A prisoner exchange was almost immediately agreed upon by Hood and Sherman, and only a few weeks later on September 18 the Confederate troops were exchanged for Northern prisoners at Andersonville, eventually rejoining their commands. Govan's Arkansans (or "Joshes" as they were known by the Texans in the AoT) were so ashamed of their capture that, upon returning to camp, they put out a petition to Granbury's Texas Brigade ("Chubs") asking if they had lost confidence in them, and if so, were prepared to request a transfer. But the Texans forgave them for their misfortune, visiting their camp en masse to give the Joshes a hearty welcome back.

View attachment 202724
Hardee flag of the consolidated 1st & 15th Arkansas Infantry. Captured by the 14th Michigan.

The flags captured at Jonesborough, on the other hand, were forwarded to the U.S. War Department and held in the basement there with other captured Confederate colors, until later returned to their native states in 1905.

View attachment 202726
Consolidated 6th & 7th Arkansas Infantry, Govan's Brigade. Captured by Pvt. Henry B. Mattingly, Co. E, 10th Kentucky.

All of the Hardee pattern flags captured were issued out to Cleburne's Division in spring of 1864. While his division was allowed to retain their famous banner when the rest of the army switched to the standardized Confederate Battle Flag after Joe Johnston assumed command, Cleburne's entire division was, however, issued new Hardee flags to replace their old tattered ones. These new flags were then carried into the Atlanta Campaign.

View attachment 202728
Consolidated 8th & 19th Arkansas Infantry, Govan's Brigade. Captured by 2nd Lt. Jerry Kuder, Co. A, 74th Indiana.

Most of these were decorated with the crossed cannons honor, which was awarded for capturing enemy artillery pieces in battle. That honor was unique only to the Army of Tennessee. The cannons were supposed to be inverted (muzzles facing downward) so as not to be mistaken for an artillery unit, but they are all right-side up on these Hardee flags.

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3rd Confederate Infantry (aka Marmaduke's 18th Arkansas Infantry), Govan's Brigade. Captured by the 113th Ohio. The 3rd Confederate was so-named because it consisted of men from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

View attachment 202729
Capt. Thomas J. Key's Arkansas Battery (aka the Helena Artillery). Captured by Pvt. Gilbert S. Fleming, Co. B, 52nd Ohio. This battery served in Cleburne's Division or alongside it as part of Hardee's Corps throughout most of the war.

All of the above flags are now in the collection of the Old State House Museum, Little Rock, Ark. Also to note: the other numbers on the flags, like the 231 above, are the U.S. War Department capture numbers.

View attachment 202731

View attachment 202730
Capt. Charles Swett's Mississippi Battery (aka the Warren Light Artillery). Captured by the 16th Illinois.

Swett's battery also served with Cleburne's Division through most of the war. This flag is now on display at the Old Courthouse Museum in Vicksburg.

View attachment 202727
6th Kentucky Infantry, Kentucky Orphan Brigade. Captured by the 10th Michigan.

The Orphan Brigade was in William Bate's Division, so they were issued the standardized Confederate Battle Flag in early 1864 like the rest of the AoT. This flag was manufactured in Augusta, GA, either by the Augusta Clothing Depot or civilian contractor J.B. Platt & Co. Today it is in the collection of the Kentucky Historical Society.

View attachment 202732
"The Orphans" by Rick Reeves.
Cool. I visited there in Sept.
 
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An indirect ancestor, Capt. Jesse Wynne, was captured in this battle. He served with the 3rd Texas Cav. Wynne and Adj. Gregg tricked their guards into taking them back into CS lines. He lived in NE Arkansas after the war, then set up a business in Memphis.
Wynne, Dennis and Beck.jpg
Wynne is seated on the left. The other two are his partners, Mr. Dennis and Mr. Beck.
 
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View attachment 202733
Artwork by Rick Reeves depicting the consolidated 1st & 15th Arkansas Infantry during the Atlanta Campaign.

The battle of Jonesborough, GA, took place on August 31 - September 1, 1864 — the last battle of the Atlanta Campaign. In a major operation to sever the Confederate supply lines to Atlanta and hopefully force Hood's army out of the city, Sherman sent six of his seven corps to cut the Macon & Western and Atlanta & West Point railroads to the south and southwest. Hood, eventually learning of the maneuver, dispatched William J. Hardee with two corps to halt the Federal advance.

The forces met just north of the small town of Jonesborough (now spelled Jonesboro), 15 miles south of Atlanta. After Confederate attacks on the first day failed to rout the two initial Federal corps to arrive on the field, Hardee then entrenched his troops and awaited the Union offensive the following day. Hood, believing Atlanta itself was under threat, had recalled S.D. Lee's corps back to the city; that left Hardee with only his own corps to hold the position, unbeknownst that he was actually facing the bulk of Sherman's army.

View attachment 202723
Map of the second day of the battle from William R. Scaife's The Campaign for Atlanta.

Though depicted on the above map, the IV Corps was tearing up the Macon & Western R.R. most of the day and didn't arrive on the field until later.

While the XV Corps made a demonstration to the Confederate front, the XIV Corps attacked Hardee's right flank, concentrating on the bend in the Confederate line held by Daniel C. Govan's Arkansas Brigade of Patrick Cleburne's Division and Joseph H. Lewis's Kentucky Orphan Brigade to their right.

The initial assaults were repulsed, although a second massed charge managed to break through the position. Govan's and Lewis's men fought stubbornly at close range, often hand-to-hand, but some troops were soon overwhelmed and surrendered; the Federals then rolled up the line, capturing Govan's Brigade en masse.

Cleburne and Hardee quickly shifted brigades from other sections of the line to check the Federal breakthrough and hold the right flank together. Fortunately for them it was late in the day before the IV Corps got into position and no other coordinated assaults were made, allowing Hardee to withdraw his corps south to Lovejoy's Station. However, the supply lines to Atlanta were severed and Hardee was cut off from the city, so Hood was forced to evacuate the army from Atlanta that same night.

View attachment 202734
Period illustration of the prisoners captured at Jonesborough being marched from there to Atlanta. Harper's Weekly Magazine.

Govan and about 600 of his Arkansans were taken prisoner, as well as part of Lewis's Kentuckians. Five battle flags were captured from the infantrymen, all but one of them from Govan's Brigade. Also among the captured were the guns and many of the men belonging to Key's Arkansas Battery and Swett's Mississippi Battery bolstering the position, including both their colors.

A prisoner exchange was almost immediately agreed upon by Hood and Sherman, and only a few weeks later on September 18 the Confederate troops were exchanged for Northern prisoners at Andersonville, eventually rejoining their commands. Govan's Arkansans (or "Joshes" as they were known by the Texans in the AoT) were so ashamed of their capture that, upon returning to camp, they put out a petition to Granbury's Texas Brigade ("Chubs") asking if they had lost confidence in them, and if so, were prepared to request a transfer. But the Texans forgave them for their misfortune, visiting their camp en masse to give the Joshes a hearty welcome back.

View attachment 202724
Hardee flag of the consolidated 1st & 15th Arkansas Infantry, Govan's Brigade. Captured by the 14th Michigan.

The flags captured at Jonesborough, on the other hand, were forwarded to the U.S. War Department and held in the basement there with other captured Confederate colors, until later returned to their native states in 1905.

View attachment 202726
Consolidated 6th & 7th Arkansas Infantry, Govan's Brigade. Captured by Pvt. Henry B. Mattingly, Co. E, 10th Kentucky.

All of the Hardee pattern flags captured were issued out to Cleburne's Division in spring of 1864. While his division was allowed to retain their famous banner when the rest of the army switched to the standardized Confederate Battle Flag after Joe Johnston assumed command, Cleburne's entire division was, however, issued new Hardee flags to replace their old tattered ones. These new flags were then carried into the Atlanta Campaign.

View attachment 202728
Consolidated 8th & 19th Arkansas Infantry, Govan's Brigade. Captured by 2nd Lt. Jerry Kuder, Co. A, 74th Indiana.

Most of these were decorated with the crossed cannons honor, which was awarded for capturing enemy artillery pieces in battle. That honor was unique only to the Army of Tennessee. The cannons were supposed to be inverted (muzzles facing downward) so as not to be mistaken for an artillery unit, but they are all right-side up on these Hardee flags.

View attachment 202725
3rd Confederate Infantry (aka Marmaduke's 18th Arkansas Infantry), Govan's Brigade. Captured by the 113th Ohio. The 3rd Confederate was so-named because it consisted of men from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

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Capt. Thomas J. Key's Arkansas Battery (aka the Helena Artillery). Captured by Pvt. Gilbert S. Fleming, Co. B, 52nd Ohio. This battery served in Cleburne's Division or alongside it as part of Hardee's Corps throughout most of the war.

All of the above flags are now in the collection of the Old State House Museum, Little Rock, Ark. Also to note: the other numbers on the flags, like the 231 above, are the U.S. War Department capture numbers.

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Capt. Charles Swett's Mississippi Battery (aka the Warren Light Artillery). Captured by the 16th Illinois.

Swett's battery also served with Cleburne's Division through most of the war. This flag is now on display at the Old Courthouse Museum in Vicksburg.

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6th Kentucky Infantry, Kentucky Orphan Brigade. Captured by the 10th Michigan.

The Orphan Brigade was in William Bate's Division, so they were issued the standardized Confederate Battle Flag in early 1864 like the rest of the AoT. This flag was manufactured in Augusta, GA, either by the Augusta Clothing Depot or civilian contractor J.B. Platt & Co. Today it is in the collection of the Kentucky Historical Society.

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"The Orphans" by Rick Reeves.

Hello,

Jacob Platt of Augusta Georgia made the rectangular battle flags for the Army of Tennessee starting in late December 1863. He did so under contract from the Augusta Depot. In October 1863 he wrote a letter to the CS War Department offering to make these flags - I have a copy of that letter. Platt also made the designating HQ flags for Hood's and Hardee's Corps used for the rest of the war. Only the Army of Tennessee had such special flags.

Flag Guy
 
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