" HQ flag Brig. Gen. Jerome B. Robertson Texas Brigade" Topic

Does anyone know the flag of General Robertson's headquarters in Gettysburg?

Thank you very much

I don't believe he ever had one. First I've heard of such a thing.

I am willing to be wrong, though, but I don't think the Texas Brigade ever had a brigade/HQ flag.

None that I am aware of.

Did some work in that area back in the days of Col. Simpson's Confederate Research Center and couldn't find any. The South doesn't seem to have a system like the Yanks.

This article may be of some use in your research

link

Hi,

It's been a while since I did the research on this, but I recall that according to at least one eye-witness, the Texas Brigade did have a "new headquarters guidon" at Gettysburg. Please consult the book, "Touched by Fire: Letters from Company D, 5th Texas Infantry, Hood's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia 1862-1865" edited by Eddy R. Parker (Hillsboro, 2000), p. 58, in which the brigade headquarters flag is described as bearing a "crimson Lone Star on a field of white."

I cover this specific issue and some other of the Texas Brigade flag information at Gettysburg in my book, "Last Chance for Victory: Robert E. Lee and the Gettysburg Campaign" (New York, 2001), pp. 280 and 394.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Scott Bowden

FWIW, in the Texas Confederate Museum Collection, there is this entry (Including assession number):

94.1.1465 52 ½" x 17 ¼" 19th Texas Cavalry Parson's Brigade
–
In the museum records this flag has been listed as one of the 1stTexas, described as a white field with a red star. Thus, based on the written account, every photographic image taken of this flag was pieced to fit such descriptions.
However, when fragments were sent to the conservator and pieced together, the real identity of this flag came to be known.

The full pdf can be read here:

PDF link

The flag in question may have been a case of mistaken identity,or faulty memory. Depends upon when the author wrote the account, and who he reached out to for other information. I'm not saying their COULDN'T have been a brigade HQ flag, just that in all the volumes I have read, from memoirs to studies, etc, no one has ever mentioned such a thing.

Tim, thank you for the PDF link. I've added it to my files.

The Texas Brigade flag is described in a letter written by John Mark Smither to his mother. It is dated May 30, 1863. Smither enlisted as a private in Co. D, 5th Texas Infantry and ended the war with the rank of Sergeant Major.

The letter is reproduced in Eddy Parker (ed.), Touched By Fire: Letters From Company D, 5th Texas Infantry, Hood's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia, 1862 – 1865, (2000), pp. 58-59. In the letter Smither writes about a recent review of the division by General Hood and includes the following:

"Gen. Robertson carries about with him a beautiful Guidon, a present to the Brigade from a young Lady (Miss Ewell) a refugee from the old city of Williamsburg Va. It is a beautiful Crimson Lone Star on a field of white. We are all very proud of it."

Many thanks to all, for your great information

Ryan,

Thanks for the update.

From the way that it is written, I would venture that the flag, being newly presented, Would be appropriate only from the date of that letter (plus or minus a couple weeks, perhaps).

Certainly it seems that it must be relatively new for Smither to have written about it.

Here's the thing. Men tend not to write about the mundane they encounter, unless specifically asked about it by someone. What they write about is the unusual, the new or interesting things they encounter, that might give some color or be of interest to the person(s) they are writing too.

Thus, the comment about the brigade flag.

Tim,

I agree that the mention of the "Brigade Guidon" was something to give colour to the events described in Smither's letter. It is part of a larger description of a review carried out in front of General Hood. The flag added to the pageantry of the event.

I think the flag was most likely presented to the Brigade during the winter of 1862-63. How long it was used is unknown but I strongly suspect it was still in use a few weeks later at Gettysburg.