"Number of Flags carried" Topic

Under what circumstances,if any,would/could units of Infantry in the Confederate Army carry more than one flag.
Cheers G

Under what circumstances

Many/most would probably reply "rarely" after 1861 I believe.

However, FWIW, my Antietam CSA had both, looked nice [I did brigade level, state flags based on majority of state units in the given brigade].

Also an aid in relatively quick recognition of brigades on the tabletop…"wargamer's license".

Having said all that I'll get me coat and take cover…

Hi,
Would a unit carry its State flag rather than a Battle Flag or would it always prefer a BF ?
G

Generally speaking individual regiments carried just the single battle flag. There are a few exceptions here and there but they are rare enough that ALL of my Confederates carry just the single BF.

Generally most regiments carried just one flag. My primary area is late war eastern theater (1863 on), so most (not all) have the battleflag. Even at that late date, some regiments still carried their state flag. As always, you'll find exceptions to the rule (that's one of the fun things about the ACW)

In the eastern theater, when Lee took command of the ANV, one of his first orders was to prohibit the carrying of any flag OTHER than the unit's battle flag when on the field.

The philosophy behind this was to present, politically, a united front o federal units. It was a show of unity that meant it was an actual country, the CSA, which the federals were fighting against,and not just Georgia, and Mississippi,and Virginia, etc.

As Charlie 12 notes above, you can find exceptions for everything if you look hard enough.For example,at Gettysburg,the 1st Texas also unfurled it's State flag when it went forward with Hood's division. Both JB Polley, Val Giles,and Henry Simpson comment about it, the 2 former authors being contemporary witnesses to the event.

Everyone seems to agree that 1 standard was the norm, at least starting the Lee and the ANV, but while I've never found a reference to two at once, you find a steady stream of non-ANV sightings. There were 1st Nationals still carried in 1863, and I ran across a "Hardee" taken near Petersburg in 1864-5. When I did my 54mm Confederates, I painted 9 ANV, 1 1st National, 1 Texas and one slightly "off" BF I saw in a museum in the Valley--rectangular, and with no white line around the cross. They look, I tell myself, harmonious without being excessively uniform.

But remember as soon as you go west, you've got the different corps flags, and the battle flag--when it's there at all--is rectangular instead of square like the ANV version. And there are lots of little Confederate contingents--think New Market--answerable to neither Lee nor the Army of Tennessee. Anything you do with Confederate battle flags will be wrong for most battles, so I'd say accept that and do what you're happy with.

I have found example of flags other than approved ANV style Confederate Battle Flags being carried in battle by units of the ANV after Lee took command. For instance certain North Carolina units were known to have carried state flags in some battles. Aside from Texas troops I have not seen accounts of an ANV unit carrying multiple flags into battle. Does anyone have an example.

To return to the original question,

Confederate infantry regiments would have been most likely to carry more than one color in 1861, before regulations had been issued on the subject. The most likely combination would be a First National variant and a state variant, including the several state versions of the Bonnie Blue (palmetto device for South Carolina, pelican for Louisiana, cotton boll for Alabama, white or yellow star widespread, other devices were also used).

Regulations for infantry colors were issued by army command, and the subject was addressed later in the west than the east, so multiple colors might linger out west longer into 1862. There were also individual regiments, brigades and divisions serving in dispersed locations that were not subject to army command, and carried colors as per their commanders' orders. Sometimes these formations were added to field armies as the war progressed, and brought their non-standard colors with them, at least at first.

Everything you always wanted to know about the flags of the confederacy. I kid you not, this is an excellent resource.

link

For instance certain North Carolina units were known to have carried state flags in some battles.

Some NC regiments were new to the ANV at the time of Gettysburg: Pettigrew's Brigade, and, IIRC, 1 regiment of Joe Davis's brigade. Also Robertson's two cavalry regiments.

They might have brought state flags with them, but that's only a guess on my part.

In reading about Chickamauga lately, I notice that some Union units were not only confused by the dark blue-gray uniforms of many of Longstreet's units, but also by their red flags; most of the AoT's flags at that time were basically blue -- Hardee's (then D.H. Hill's) Corps having a white circle or oval on blue, Polk's Corps mostly red crosses with white stars on blue.

Yes, I have seen those British made blue grey uniforms on the reenactment field. They can very easily be confused for Union uniforms in the heat of the moment.

Sears in "a Landscape turned Red" tells of Lee requesting an artillery Lieutenant to use his telescope to identify a distant column of troops. The Lieutenant was able to tell Lee that "They are flying the Virginia and Confederate flags" which enabled Lee to identify them as A P Hills Light Division arriving from Harper's Ferry.
So if this is correct, then some Virginian regiments were carrying state flags in the Maryland campaign. It also suggests that they could be a useful tool in troop recognition. A couple questions arise from this. At the time observation Hill was not engaged (I think), so perhaps the state flag was removed in combat. And secondly, By the confederate flag, did the Lt mean the Battle Flag or the Stars and Bars

As the war progressed and regiments fell far below nominal strength, sometimes (and this was pretty common in the Army of Tennessee) 2 regiments were consolidated -- in which case MAYBE they carried the flags of both regiments.

I have my doubts about that grahambeyrout. While A.P. Hill's command did include a brigade of Virginia infantry, my understanding was that it was towards the end of his column and didn't make it onto the field until the battle was dying down. From Lee's position it is most likely it would have been the head of Hill's column that was observed. If Virginia flags were observed at the head of Hill's column, they most likely were carried as battery guidons by Virginia artillery batteries that were part of Hill's command.

Good point Bill N. I was unaware of the position of the Virginian infantry in A P Hills order of march and had discounted the possibility of the flags relating to the Virginian artillery. I know, the initial query from Grognard66 referred only to infantry, but if Sears recounting is accurate, some Virginian NVA units, albeit only artillery, retained state flags on the Maryland campaign.

A few of mine carry two, but most have one.

Mine all have two. I like the way it looks and gives me the flavor of the War Between the States.