Regimental flags

[Kurtlg]

When regiments were on the march would the flag bearer carry the regimental colors or would they be stored on a wagon ? Also if carried by the flag bearer would they be cased? If so when would the colors be uncased ? This is one of those many things that I've been wondering about.

 

[RedRover]

The color bearer carried the colors cased. particularly in bad weather or wind. They were uncased on parade, and of course in battle...

 

[Stryker65]

I remember there was some battle (I forget the name) ... where the Union troops were outnumbered six to one or some ungodly ratio. However, it was rainy that day, and the Confederates wrapped their flag in black cloth. Of course, the Union troops saw that as a "black flag," a sign that no quarter would be given, and fought so savagely in the battle that they almost annihilated the Confederate attackers.

 

[DixieRifles]

I remember there was some battle (I forget the name) ...

I would like to hear more about this story. Just sounds interesting.

 

[Stryker65]

After intense searching, I found the original reference. Wikipedia, but corroborated by most references to the Second Battle of Boonville.

 

[Stryker65]

Page 170 of V3 of the OR has the one report for the battle; however, the "black flag" is not mentioned, of course, by the higher-ups.

 

[Tom Elmore]

While on the march, flags might be uncased for a special occasion. When Union troops moved northward on the Gettysburg campaign, flags were brought out and the bands started playing when the various units crossed the border into Pennsylvania. The Confederates often did the same while traveling through larger towns, where they could impress an audience of civilians and boost their own morale. Regiments on both sides must have carried their colors with them because their baggage wagons traveled separately, at a slower pace and sometimes on parallel roads.