The Battle Flag of the 4th Texas Infantry

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4th Texas Infantry.jpg


Having presented the 1st Texas Infantry with the famous "Wigfall flag" in summer of 1861, then Brig. Gen. and former Texas senator Louis T. Wigfall's family set out to provide both the 4th and 5th Texas Infantry of the Texas Brigade with battle flags as well. Sewn by his wife Charlotte, the two flags were in the pattern of the official Confederate Battle Flag (or "St. Andrew's Cross") but with an especially large Lone Star at center.

The Fourth's surviving flag measures 4 x 4 feet. Two streamers with battle honors were later added, and a spearhead flag staff finial was also fitted to the top of the staff, engraved with the motto: "Fear not, for I am with thee. Say to the North, give up, and to the South, keep not back."

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The finial was later hit by a bullet at Second Manassas.

The two flags were presented to the regiments while the Texas Brigade was encamped at Dumfries, Va., in winter of 1861-62; however, Mrs. Wigfall and her daughters were not there to present the flags in person, so that was left to the colonels.

The 4th Texas formed on the parade ground for the presentation ceremony; Colonel John Bell Hood then stepped to the front and gave a short speech to the regiment: "I feel no hesitancy in predicting that you will discharge your duty, and when the struggle does come that this proud banner, placed by the hand of beauty in the keeping of the brave, will ever be found in the thickest of the fray. Texans, let us stand or fall together beneath this silken flag."

The Fourth's flag was presented in the name of the Wigfalls' oldest daughter, Miss Louise "Lula" Wigfall, who was ceremoniously named the "daughter of the regiment."

The flag was then carried throughout the Peninsula Campaign, the Seven Days battles, Second Manassas, South Mountain, and Antietam. Edward M. Francis of Co. A was appointed regimental color sergeant on May 12, 1862. Miraculously, he made it through the 4th Texas's famous charge at Gaines' Mill without a scratch, running at the head of the regiment through a hail of fire and planting the colors atop the hill.

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"Desperate Valor" by Dale Gallon. Hood personally leads his old 4th Texas in their charge that breaks the Federal line at Gaines' Mill.

Francis was, however, severely wounded at Second Manassas and missed Antietam while recovering. In the latter, Color Cpl. William A. Parker was shot down carrying the flag as the regiment withdrew from the field; it would've been captured if it had not been for Capt. Stephen H. Darden of Co. A, who was said to have rushed back to pick up the banner. Returning to the ranks, he then handed it to Pvt. John J. Stacey of Co. G, who bore the colors throughout the rest of the battle - thereafter appointed color corporal and served as the bearer until Color Sgt. Ed Francis returned.

After passing through the battles of 1862, Chaplain Nicholas A. Davis of the Texas Brigade noted that by October the Fourth's flag was marked by 65 bullet holes and three other tears from shell fragments. He had this illustration of the flag made which better illustrates the damage:

4th Texas Infantry 2.jpg


Since they were so shot up, and also perhaps due to the loss of the 1st Texas's flags at Antietam, it was then decided that October to retire the 4th and 5th Texas's battle-worn flags and send them back home for preservation. Entrusted to the care of Capt. Stephen H. Darden, he made the trip back to Texas and presented them to Governor Francis R. Lubbock; they were then deposited in the state archives in Austin. To the folks back home, the banners would also serve as a testament to what the Texas Brigade had been through over those last few months - and to all the boys who had fallen beneath them while representing the Lone Star State in Gen. Lee's army.

The 4th Texas was issued a Richmond Depot Third Bunting Issue battle flag after their first flag was retired. Color Sgt. Ed Francis bore the replacement at Gettysburg, surviving the charge on Little Round Top. His luck, however, ran out at Chickamauga and he was killed in the action at the Viniard Field on Sept. 19, 1863 - far in advance of the regiment. Capt. James T. Hunter of Co. H quickly ran over and lifted the flag from under Francis's body before it could be captured, narrowly escaping himself.

It's not known what ever became of that replacement flag or any other the Fourth carried throughout the remainder of the war. One veteran recounted surrendering their colors at Appomattox, while another claimed that it was torn up and divided among the men. Nevertheless, the only known surviving flag of the Fourth is their first.

In 1865, as Federal troops marched into Texas at war's end, members of Co. B, 4th Texas, Capt. William C. Walsh and Sgt. R. R. Robertson took the battle flag from the state archives, wrapped it in a piece of oil cloth and buried it on the banks of Barton's Creek near Austin, thus keeping it from possible capture as the Federals occupied the city.

The Fourth's old flag remained buried there for six years until finally reclaimed by veterans of Company B (the company having been recruited in Austin and Travis County) on the ninth anniversary of Gaines' Mill, June 27, 1871. It passed into the possession of Val C. Giles, veteran of Co. B and author of the memoir Rags and Hope, until he later donated it to the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1905. Today it is in the collection of the Texas Civil War Museum in Fort Worth.

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Texas Brigade reunion at Floresville, Texas, October 13, 1915. Capt. Frank B. Chilton (left) and Capt. James T. Hunter hold the battle flag of the 4th Texas.
 
The following letters are from Chaplain Davis and Hood's Texas Brigade, ed. Donald E. Everett, pp. 135-38.

This is the letter by Lt. Col. Benjamin F. Carter to Governor Lubbock that accompanied the flag when it was sent home:

HEADQUARTERS 4th TEXAS REGIMENT,
NEAR WINCHESTER, VA., OCT. 7th, 1862.

To his Excellency, F. R. Lubbock,
Governor of Texas.

SIR: I have the honor to present to you, by the hand of Captain S. H. Darden, the battle-flag of the 4th Texas Regiment, borne by them in the battles of Eltham's Landing, Seven Pines, Gaines' Farm, Malvern Hill, Freeman's Ford, Manassas Plains, Boonsboro Gap and Sharpsburg. From its torn and tattered condition, it can no longer be used; and it is returned to you, that it may be preserved among the archives of the State, as a testimonial of the gallantry of her sons, who have fought beneath its folds. I need not dwell upon the services of my Regiment. Its deeds in battle will go into the history of our country, and speak for themselves. And this silent witness bears eloquent evidence, that the men who followed it in action, were where shot fell thick, and death was in the air.

You will readily believe, Governor, that we part from the old flag with painful feelings. More than five hundred of our comrades in arms have fallen beneath its folds. And it is to us an emblem of constancy under multiplied hardships, gallant and dauntless courage in the storm of battle, and devotion unto death to our cause. Let it be preserved sacredly, that the remnant of our little band may, in future days, gaze upon its battle-stained colors, recall to mind the sufferings they have endured in their country's cause, and their children incited to renewed vigilance, in the preservation of those liberties for which we are contending.

Our General has presented us with another "battle-flag," and we hope to be able to acquit ourselves as well with that, as we have done with the old one.

Respectfully your serv't,

B. F. CARTER.
Lieut. Col. Commanding.

Lt. Col. Benjamin Franklin Carter 1.jpg

Photo of Lt. Col. Benjamin F. Carter. An attorney and mayor of Austin before the war and originally captain of Company B "Tom Green Rifles." He was later mortally wounded at Gettysburg.

Letter by Lt. Col. Carter to Miss Louise "Lula" Wigfall:

HEADQUARTERS 4th TEXAS REGIMENT

CAMP NEAR FREDERICKSBURG, November 26, 1862.

Miss Louise Wigfall—

In February last our regiment had the honor of receiving from your hands a battle flag, and of adopting you as the Daughter of the Regiment.

In the few eventful months that have elapsed since then, our regiment has passed through hardships not often paralleled in history; and the torn and tattered old flag bears few traces of its original beauty. How well the 4th Texas has redeemed the promises made by our then Colonel, (now Major-General Hood,) on the reception of the flag, let history tell, but in a communication of this character a recital of some of its deeds may be pardoned.

Upon its folds are now inscribed the ever-memorable names of Eltham's Landing, Seven Pines, Gaines' Farm, Malvern Hill, Freeman's Ford, Manassas Plains, Boonsboro Gap and Sharpsburg. In the last named battle its colors were so torn and the staff so shattered by hostile shot, as to render its further use as a regimental standard impossible, and it has accordingly been transmitted to the Governor of the State of Texas, with a request that it be sacredly preserved among the archives of the State, where the name of its fair donor will be linked with the ever-living memory of the gallant dead who fell in its defence. I speak from the record in saying that in the three greatest battles of the present campaign in Virginia, that flag was seen floating in the very front ranks of the Southern army; that it was the first carried through the entrenched lines of the enemy at Gaines' Farm; that it waved over the first battery captured from the foe on the classic plains of Manassas, and that on the bloody heights of Sharpsburg, where the feeble remnant of the Texas Brigade struggled in the face of death for hours against overwhelming numbers, it longest maintained its position, and was the last to leave the field, supported and defended by the feeble arms but stout hearts of but sixty members of its regiment. Is it too much for me to assert that not one of that sixty would ever have left the field without it? Endeared to us as the gift of a daughter of our State, it has been baptized in the blood of our fallen comrades, and is hallowed by memories that will linger with life. When we have passed away it will stand a silent witness to heroic deeds, and cast an imperishable lustre over the humble names of those who died beneath its folds.

Daughter of the Regiment! have the soldiers of the "Fourth Texas" acquitted themselves as become Texans, and as men worthy of their flag? In their names I am commissioned again to thank you for its gift, and to assure you that in future days the few surviving members of our little band will ever hold in grateful remembrance its fair donor, and will approach with reverence to gaze upon its folds, consecrated to us by so many recollections that can never perish.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,

B. F. CARTER,
Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding.
Miss Lula Wigfall.jpg
 
The 4th Texas was issued a Richmond Depot Third Bunting Issue battle flag after their first flag was retired. Color Sgt. Ed Francis bore the replacement at Gettysburg, surviving the charge on Little Round Top. His luck, however, ran out at Chickamauga and he was killed in the action at the Viniard Field on Sept. 19, 1863 - far in advance of the regiment. Capt. James T. Hunter of Co. H quickly ran over and lifted the flag from under Francis's body before it could be captured, narrowly escaping himself.
From the Confederate Veteran vol. 14. Capt. James T. Hunter, acting major of the 4th Texas at Chickamauga, recalls the death of Color Sgt. Ed Francis in the battle and saving the flag after he fell.

The Hard Fighting of Fourth Texas, CV 14, p. 22 1.jpg
The Hard Fighting of Fourth Texas, CV 14, p. 22 2.jpg


After Color Sgt. Ed Francis was killed, Fred M. Makeig then served as color bearer.

From a couple different rosters of Company E:

MAKEIG, FRED MILLER Ensign/Lieut. Orig. Pvt., Co. E: Co. Color-Bearer, 1863-64: Appt. Ens.-Lt., June 25, 1864: W. (both thighs) & POW, Darbytown Rd. (Oct. 7, 1864): Confined at Pt. Lookout, Md.: Paroled, June 14, 1865.

LT MAKEIG, FREDERICK MILLER Original private in Company; Color Bearer, 1863-1864; Wounded, Chickamauga; Sick in hospital, Apr 26, 1864; Elected LT, Jun 26, 1864; Wounded, White Oak Swamp, Aug 16, 1864; Discharged.
 
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