"Flag Question" Topic

Did Brigades, Divisions, and Corps on either/both sides have their own individual flags, in addition to the ones carried by Regiments and Companies? Were they just national flags, or did they have individual ones as well? Did Union use two flags bearers at those levels, too, or just one, assuming they have any at all? Or, for that matter, did Confederates carry both National and Brigade/Division/Corps flags into battle?

Brigade, division, and corps HEADQUARTERS had flags in the Army of the Potomac, beginning when Hooker was commander. They were designed by Dan Butterfield, his chief of staff. Surely you've seen the corps emblems (circle, trefoil, diamond, etc.) Those were first used on division flags, and only later as patches for each soldier to wear. The corps flags at first all looked alike, being blue swallow-tailed guidons with white crosses, each arm of which ended in a trefoil, but with the corps number in red over the center (Arabic number, not Roman). The division flags were rectangular. The first division having a red corps emblem on a white background; second division, white emblem on blue; third division, blue on white. Then brigade flags were devised. Each was a triangular guidon in the same colors as their division flags, but the second brigade had a stripe of the third color by the staff, and the third brigade, a border of the third color.

These were NOT carried by every regiment in the brigade/division/corps, just one at each HQ. Some generals had them carried by an orderly wherever they went; others left them to mark their HQ (where the staff was located); the Iron Brigade's flag was carried by a special 100-man detachment drawn from all 5 regiments.

Other Union armies had other systems.

National flags were often used to mark an army's HQ. In the Wilderness Meade used a purple swallow-tailed guidon with a gold eagle-and-wreath emblem; Grant used a plain national flag.

The Army of the Potomac had specific flags for Army, Corps, Divs and Brigades by 1863. They are outlined in several sources including Ospreys and the Atlas of the Civil War. These were unique and not National flags. By 1864 similar systems were being introduced in other Union armies.
The Confederates had nothing similar although certain formations had command flags such as Lee's HQ. Again you need to do some reference work starting with the Ospreys on ACW flags.

When Lee took command of the ANV, one of his first General Orders was to ban the use of State flags in the field. Regiments, regardless of stste, were only allowed to display the Confederate Battle Flag when under amrs in the field. There were, on occasion, a few times when units broke that order, such as the 4th Texas at Gettysburg. However, they were isolated examples.

Even in the west, in the main, state flags had all but disappeared from regiments by 1863, with regimental battle flags, such as the "Hardee" pattern, the "Dalton" pattern, etc being the norm, along with variants of the CS Battle flag. In many cases (but certainly not all) CS Battle Flags of the "St. Andrew's Cross" style were issued in a rectangular pattern from western depots, while the square pattern was the norm from the Richmond depot.

For federal regiments, it all depends. For example, the 3rd Maine infantry left the state with a Federal flag, and was presented with a Tiffany-produced Maine State flag when passing through New York City. It also carried (as virtually every Federal, and most CS regiments) a pair of marker flags for the left and right general guides. In Maine's case, every surviving guide flag is of a silk swallow-tail US National pattern. The markers also had the regiment's name in gold on the center stripe.

The 3rd Maine lost it's state flag at Chancellorsville, when the colour sergeant and the adjutant became separated after dark from the unit while retiring, and were captured by Confederates.

At Gettysburg, the unit had only the national flag. That flag was lost in the melee with the 21st Mississippi at the peach Orchard, along with every member of the colour guard and colour company.

Shortly afterward, a new national colour was procured, and that one was carried through until muster out in June of 1864, along with both guide marker flags. All three survive today in Augusta.

So, it's all about the who, when, and where. Not every federal regiment carried two flags. Many only carried the national colour.

respects,

Thanks for the very informative responses, and definitely thanks for pointing me in the right direction for more information!

The Army of the Cumberland also had a unique system of corps, division, and brigade HQ flags beginning in 1863, just not as well known as the Army of the Potomac's system.

Each corps had its own color or color scheme.

14th- blue
20th- red
21st, red, white, and blue horizontal stripes
Reserve- red, white and blue diagonal stripes

Each corps flag had an eagle with a shield on it. Inside the shield was the corp number. The Reserve Corps had an emblem instead of the eagle.

Each division in the corps had a black star on the corps flag in place of the eagle. 1st Division had 1 star. 2nd had 2 stars. 3rd had 3 stars.

Each brigade had the division flag, but the number of the brigade was printed in gold numbering inside each star. So for example, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 20th Corps would have a red flag with 2 stars, with each star having a gold 3 on them.

Here is an example of the flag of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Corps. Its the only surviving AoC brigade or division flag that I know of.

link

Benandorf, if you can find a copy, _Civil War Battle Flags
of the Union Army and Order of Battle_, Knickerbocker
Press, New York, NY 1997, ISBN 1-57715-007-4 will have
all the info you want on the Union Army, all theaters,
all commands.

Colored illustrations of Army, Corps, Brigade HQ flags,
and 'branch' flags/banners (QM, Ordnance, etc.) as well
as 'special' flags (such as Sheridan's Cavalry banner).

The second element of the book are listings of the OB's
of each Army and Corps, listing commanders (with dates
of service) down to Brigade level, with notes on dis-
banding dates, consolidation dates, etc.

This is a compiling and reprints of two books originally
published in 1887 by the US Army's Office of the Quarter-
Master General.

As you can see in the example on Cleburne's link, the flags of corps/etc. in the Army of the Cumberland were rectangular, but with the long sides on the vertical axis.

These flags only obtained until the reorganization after Chickamauga/Chattanooga. There were new flags for the 14th and 4th Corps (the former now including what had been the Reserve Corps, and the latter the merged remains of the old 20th and 21st Corps); while the new 20th Corps (the old 11th and 12th Corps from the Army of the Potomac, brought west under Hooker) used the old 12th Corps Army of the Potomac style flags (but with "20" replacing "12" on the corps flag).

Which flag did the 4th texas use at gettysburg?

Dennis,

There is some speculation on that. My post above is incorrect. I mis-typed 4th Texas, when it should have been 5th Texas. The 5th Texas had returned their badly tattered flag to the state in late 1862, and used a Texas State Flag until late 1863, when they drew a regulation battle flag.

However, the 4th texas also sent back their flag at about the same time as the 5th did. The 4th's flag was approx 66" square, with a faded red silk background (almost pink). The Blue cross still retained a bright hue, and there were 12 5.5" stars placed three to a bar of the cross. In the center was a 9" wide white star, point down. The flag had an edging of approx 4" in yellow silk. It still exists today.

The question is what they used to replace the flag with. Some claim they used the Texas State Flag, same as the 5th Texas. Others claim they quickly drew a standard pattern battle flag. I'm still delving into the records to try and find the answer. I'm going back to washington, to the LoC this summer for a few days and hope to have better results this time.

Respects,

Thanks Tim,
It's amazing how much one can learn by just asking.