Category: Confederate Flags Heritage

The Confederacy had many outstanding officers, who are are due all honor and respect. But by far, the makeup of the rank and file of the army was mostly privates. Those men marched and fought. Some lived, some died, and today their descendants wish to gratefully remember them.

As Sam Watkins of the 1st Tennessee Regiment wrote:“The generals risked their reputation, the private soldier his life. No one ever saw a private in battle. His history would never be written. It was the generals that everybody saw charge such and such, with drawn sabre, his eyes flashing fire, his nostrils dilated, and his clarion voice ringing above the din of battle…”Yes, we honor the exceptional officers that led men in battle, exposing themselves to as much danger as did the private.  But we also remember the Confederate foot soldier.  As Watkins also wrote:“The private’s tread is light—his soul is happy… Well, you have come here to fight us; why don’t you come on? We are ready; always ready…. Come, give us a tilt, and let us try our metal. You say you going to flank us out of the Southern Confederacy. That’s your plan, is it? Well, look out… You will be a picked chicken before you do that.”No doubt, that pluck lives on to this day.

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The recent news carried an article about how someone was very offended by a flag.  To hear the fellow’s words, you would think his life had just about been destroyed because he saw it. The flag in question had been followed by men whose constant companions were hunger and disease, who for years were vastly outnumbered, suffering pain and deprivations. Although often ill-equipped, these men were nonetheless armed with  a weapon of a different kind – grit and determination. Confederate General John B. Gordon tells a story about a night march. Late to arrive was an Arkansas regiment, a regiment Robert E. Lee once called “the great old Third Arkansas.”  Gordon described how an Arkansas soldier leaned his rifle up against a tent pole, and muttered the following:“This is pretty hard. I fight all day and march all night. But I suppose I can do it for my country. I can go hungry. I can march when I’m sick, because I love my country. I can always fight because there’s always another yankee somewhere who needs to be whipped. I do all this and I’m glad to do it because I love my country.”Gordon understood this. He was shot four times at Antietam, but continued to command his men. It took a fifth bullet that day to bring him down. Wounded at Shepherdstown, blood streaming from his head, he again carried on with his command. He was shot again near Appomattox, but kept right on fighting. Is it any wonder so many today still honor these men and the flag they followed?

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American cavalry has a long and proud tradition.  These troops trained to fight on horseback were used effectively in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and the War with Mexico. The Civil War saw a significant change, with Cavalry heavily used as Mounted Infantry.  They were soldiers who used their horses for maneuvers and moving fast, then dismounted to the fight.  There was very little “cavalry vs. cavalry” in the Civil War, and even fewer mounted charges against infantry.

Surprisingly some Union cavalry units were mounted on mules.  Why mules? They were  especially feisty animals that could endure conditions that a normal horse could not.

The Confederacy began the war with an advantage over Union horsemen.  The entire South was horse country, with few roads and rough terrain. Many Southerners owned a horse of some sort, and were at home in the saddle.

The North caught on after a while, and made effective use of their own cavalry. George Custer’s men certainly had their share of success in battle.  The flamboyant young Custer, with his long blond hair, wide-brimmed hat, and velvet jacket, made a name for himself long before his famous last stand against Crazy Horse in 1876.

In a charge at the Battle of Yellow Tavern near Richmond, his 5th Michigan cost the South one of its greatest generals, J.E.B Stuart.  One of Custer’s men shot and killed Stuart.

On the Confederate side, Nathan Forrest‘s cavalry was known for its fast travel.  Union General Sherman reported that Forrest’s men and horses “could travel one hundred miles in less time than it takes ours to travel ten.”   They could fight well when mounted, but usually fought on foot.  

Military strategists still study and write about Forrest’s operations and leadership. A paper from the Naval War College includes the statement that he was “…an unlettered military genius in the operational art of war at the tactical level. Without a formal military education, he became one of the leading cavalry figures and greatest operational leaders of the war.”  

This same paper went on to say,

“Generals Robert E. Lee and William T. Sherman and other leaders on both sides ultimately declared him the most remarkable soldier of the Civil War.”  He was known for using a Battle Flag with only 12 stars, instead of the usual 13, so his opponents knew who they were facing.

Today’s U.S. Army Cavalry carries on the tradition that started in 1775, operating with much of the same tactics as the Mounted Infantry of the Civil War. Of course, the Cav gets there much faster today using motor vehicles, armored tanks, and helicopters  

Appropriately, the motto of the 1st Cavalry Division is “The First Team.”   One of the unofficial mottos is, “If you ain’t Cav, you ain’t…”  

The history of American cavalry gives them every reason to stand tall and proud.

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“I am sure that it was the grandest charge that was ever seen by mortal man.”

Those are the words of Union Colonel Worthen, whose men at Gettysburg tried to stand against the Mississippi brigade commanded by General Barksdale.  Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, and there are many tales of the brave men that fought there.

This is a tale of the “grandest charge.”Longstreet needed to create an opening in the Union lines, but attacks by four of his brigades had failed in the face of a Union artillery battery.

Brigadier General Barksdale approached Longstreet with a request:

“I wish you would let me go in, General; I would take that battery in five minutes!”   

The order was given, and true to his word, Barksdale’s men swiftly overwhelmed the artillery. But the Mississippi Brigade was not done.  They raced onward to where the 68th Pennsylvania awaited them. The 68th collapsed in 30 minutes.

Onward went the charge of the Mississippi Brigade, shattering the 57th Pennsylvania next.  But this was the “grandest charge,” and not quite over. Racing into the 141st Pennsylvania, the clash was ferocious, with 70 percent of the Federals lost before they retreated.

The Mississippi boys had driven a hole a mile deep into the Union lines. One of the Confederate soldiers reported that a Federal soldier from Pennsylvania insisted on shaking hands

“with one of the men who made the most splendid charge of the war.”

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It was the autumn of 1863, and Confederates were in the middle of a bold assault on a Union fort near Knoxville, Tennessee. The Rebels reached a defensive ditch surrounding the fort, but were pinned down.  

One of the men volunteered to make a dash back across the wide open field to get water. Somehow, he managed to make it back without being shot, but now he had to make it to the ditch, carrying the load.

Confederate General Gordon later recalled the following:

“Laden with the filled and heavy canteens, he approached within range of the rifles in the fort and looked anxiously across the intervening space. He was fully alive to the fact that the chances were all against him; but determined to relieve his suffering comrades or die in the effort, he started on his perilous run for the ditch at the fort.”

Gordon, from Georgia, was no stranger to daring himself. He was already battle-scarred before he was shot four times at Antietam, and continued to lead his men. It took a fifth bullet to bring him down that day. Later wounded at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, blood streaming from his head, he again carried on with his command.

Here is the rest of the story he told of that day:

“The brave Union soldiers stood upon the parapet with their rifles in hand. As they saw this daring American youth coming, with his life easily at their disposal, they stood silently contemplating him for a moment. Then realizing the situation, they fired at him a tremendous volley–not of deadly bullets from their guns, but of enthusiastic shouts from their throats. If the annals of war record any incident between hostile armies which embodies a more beautiful and touching tribute by the brave to the brave, I have never seen it.”

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Johann Heros von Borcke was a lieutenant in the 2nd Brandenburg Regiment of Dragoons of the Prussian Army when news arrived of the beginning of the American Civil War.

He managed to get released from his unit, and crossed the Atlantic to the island of Bermuda. From there he managed to get onto a Rebel Blockade Runner and sailed into Charleston Harbor in 1862.

Von Borcke brought with him a massive Solingen straight sword, which would become famous during his military  career. Standing 6′ 4″tall  and weighing in at more than 240 pounds, he was a conspicuous sight to see on the battlefield, wielding his extremely large sword.   He  became known as the “giant in gray.”

Von Borcke became a Confederate Captain and a close confidant and aide to Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart who praised him for his bravery and skill.  Stuart wrote,

“Capt. Heros von Borcke, a Prussian cavalry officer, who lately ran the blockade, assigned me by the honorable Secretary of War, joined in the charge of the First Squadron in gallant style, and subsequently, by his energy, skill, and activity, won the praise and admiration of all”.

He rode with Stuart as his Chief of Staff and adjutant general during the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Maryland Campaign, further adding to his reputation for bravery in the face of the enemy.

During the Battle of Middleburg,  early in the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, von Borcke took a bullet to his neck and could not fight for the rest of the of the year.  But he did recover enough to return to staff duties in the following spring. He was present at the Battle of Yellow Tavern where Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart was lost.

Where von Borcke was wounded

Von Borcke was voted the official thanks of the Confederate Congress. President Jefferson Davis even sent him on a diplomatic mission to England.

After the war he returned to Germany, but never forgot his Southern friends, even returning to visit them.  He named one of his daughters Virginia.  Johann inherited the family castle, where it was his “delight to fly the Confederate flag from its battlements”.

His headstone over his grave in Giesenbrügge was destroyed by the Soviet army during World War II. The Sons of Confederate Veterans purchased a new headstone for his grave. It was reinstalled in  2008.

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Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson is one of the most famous military men in history. He came from tough stock. His great-grandfather was born in England, but fought against the British in the American Revolution. Jackson graduated from West Point in 1846, was a hero in the Mexican American War, and taught at the Virginia Military Institute. Jackson wanted his home state of Virginia to stay in the Union, but when he was called to Confederate service, he was decisive. One of his most outstanding qualities was to be decisive and resolute. He made decisions with no second guessing. No one was better at it.

Jackson also excelled at deception and had the astounding ability to understand terrain and maneuver his army to be at the right place at the right time.

How Jackson got his nickname “Stonewall” is one of the most repeated battlefield stories. The first major battles of the Civil War was First Manassas (Bull Run to the Feds). When he learned the Federal were advancing to try to break the Confederate line he called out,  “We will give them the bayonet!” Confederate General Bee saw how the brigade took the shock of battle with great steadiness, and exclaimed, “There is Jackson, standing like a stone wall.”                                                                                          Jackson’s battle style and tactics have influenced war in the 20th century, with its ultra-fast movements and quick strikes. The German blitzkrieg is partially based on Jackson and his style of fighting.

Jackson’s Valley Campaign of 1862 has never been surpassed in the view of many military men, and has been taught in military courses around the world since. One British officer, who taught strategy at a great European college, used this campaign as a model of strategy and tactics, dwelling upon it for several months in his lectures. When Jackson died in 1863, there was the greatest outpouring of grief for a fallen hero in American history. His casket was draped with the Confederate Second National Flag (in fact the first one produced). His death touched every heart and hearth in the South and took away one of their great heroes. Robert E. Lee said, “I have lost my right arm.”

 

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Here’s the story of how Confederate Private Sam Watkins got promoted to corporal. You may remember from earlier stories that Sam was a Rebel, in uniform from one end of the Civil War to the other. It seems that one day he was involved in several charges at the Battle of Atlanta. On the final charge, Sam was shot in his ankle and heel. He took cover in a ditch, but managed to pick up a flag from the battlefield. Sam got patched up and then promoted. Here is how he tells it. You’ll see that he as quite a sense of humor:

“Why, hello, corporal, where did you get those two yellow stripes from on your arm?” said Sloan.

“Why, sir, I have been promoted for gallantry on the battlefield, by picking up an orphan flag, that had been run over by a thousand fellows, and when I picked it up I did so because I thought it was pretty, and I wanted to have me a shirt made out of it.”

“I could have picked up forty, had I known that,” said Sloan.

Sam goes on to explain:

“Reader mine, the above dialogue is true in every particular. As long as I was in action, fighting for my country, there was no chance for promotion, but as soon as I fell out of ranks and picked up a forsaken and deserted flag, I was promoted for it. I felt ‘sorter’ cheap when complimented for gallantry, and the high honor of fourth corporal was conferred upon me… had I only known that picking up flags entitled me to promotion and that every flag picked up would raise me one notch higher, I would have quit fighting and gone to picking up flags, and by that means I would have soon been President of the Confederate States of America.”

Sam Watkins

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The Battle of Olustee, also called Ocean Pond) was the largest Civil War battle in Florida. The battle lasted for six hours in the woods close to Olustee station on February 20, 1864. It has been described as one of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War. Nearly 3,000 men out of the 11,000 who fought were lost.

The Union army’s goal was to  launch an expedition from the coast to cut off supply lines to the Confederates. A second goal for them was to find African Americans to join their side. Three regiments of African American troops did fight well in this battle on the Federal side, but many of these men were lost.

Union Brigadier General Truman Seymour with 5,000 men began moving towards Lake City, west of Jacksonville, to destroy a railroad bridge and secure northern Florida. Confederate General Joseph Finegan with his 5,200 men met him near Olustee railroad station. A fierce battle raged on.

The Confederates, close to breaking the Yankee lines, were running low on ammunition. But more cartridges arrived and the attack continued. By late afternoon, Seymour realized the fight was lost and retreated back toward Jacksonville.

One of the men who fought at Olustee, Henry Shackelford of the 19th Georgia Infantry wrote home,

“The Yanks couldn’t stand before ‘Georgia Boys’ and finally gave way and ran, our boys pursuing. We got all their artillery, 8 pieces, took about 400 prisoners…”  

He continues,  “…we built big fires and then how we did enjoy captured coffee, sugar, hams, bread and everything else. We…then returned to our old camps ‘kivered’ with honor and glory.”

“To sum the whole thing up, we whipped the Yankees badly and they acknowledge it themselves. Our brigade did honor to themselves and their country. Proud old Georgia will never have cause to be ashamed of Colquitt’s Brigade.”

Brigadier General ALfred Colquitt, praised as the “Hero of Olustee” for his leadership during the battle reported:

”The gallantry and steady courage of officers and men during this engagement are beyond all praise. For more than four hours they struggled with unflinching firmness against superior numbers until they drove them in confusion and panic to seek safety in flight.”

The massive Confederate victory at Olustee ended the first major Union attempt to penetrate the interior of Florida. The Confederates kept control of Florida’s interior for the rest of the war.

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The Confederacy was growing. South Carolina started it all in December 1860, followed by Mississippi, and Florida. Alabama would be the fourth to secede from the Union. Within a month Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas would follow. A great Civil War between the Union and the Confederates was beginning.

In January of 1861 delegates met in Montgomery, Alabama. They debated for several days, but ultimately wrote a document declaring, “…the State of Alabama now withdraws from the Union…”  Russell Smith was one of the delegates, and wrote: “When the doors were thrown open, the lobby and galleries were filled to suffocation in a moment… Simultaneously with the entrance of the multitude, a magnificent Flag was unfurled in the centre of the Hall….  Gentlemen mounted upon tables and desks, held up the floating end…”

The ladies of Montgomery had sewn the flag, and it was one of a kind. The Alabama Secession Flag has a field of blue.  The front shows Liberty holding both a sword and a flag, one in each hand.  The reverse side has a rattlesnake underneath a cotton bush.  The rattlesnake is a traditional symbol of American independence and willingness to fight for liberty, dating from well before the Revolutionary War.  The Latin words “NOLI ME TANGERE” are written on the reverse.  A warning against meddling or interference, it is a translation of a Greek phrase meaning, “Cease holding on to me.”The flag was flown over the Capitol in Montgomery for a month after secession. It survives today, preserved by the State of Alabama.

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A high spirited and handsome young colt with the name “Jeff Davis” seemed destined for greatness.  And he certainly was. Described as a flashy dappled grey horse with a black mane and tail, he was striking and regal.

When Confederate General Robert E. Lee spotted the colt in the Virginia mountains, he knew he had to have him.  Lee later renamed him “Traveller” because of the horse’s ability and eagerness to walk quickly. They would would ride over 40 miles a day during campaigns. Lee rode a number of horses during the war, but Traveller was by far his favorite.

Traveller was difficult, high strung, a bit unruly, “pranced or jigged wherever he went.” One day Traveller reared when surprised by artillery fire. Just at that very moment, “a cannon ball passed directly under the steed’s belly,” saving his own and General Lee’s life.

Recounts of battle action include this story:

“Some of the most dramatic incidents involving Lee and Traveller occurred during the Overland campaign in 1864, when soldiers literally grabbed the horse’s reins to prevent their commander from personally leading attacks on six occasions…”

“The most notable incident occurred in the Wilderness…, when soldiers of the Texas Brigade surrounded Traveller and shouted, ‘Lee to the rear!’ That day Traveller carried Lee until well after midnight, and when they finally returned to camp, Lee dismounted, and overcome with exhaustion, he threw his arms around Traveller’s neck to hold himself up.”

It seems the love and respect between man and beast was mutual. Here’s what Traveller thought about Lee in this recount. One day Lee escorted his daughter’s friend back to the boat dock.

“He dismounted, tied Traveller to a post, and was standing on the boat making his adieux, when someone called out that Traveller was loose. Sure enough, the gallant grey was making his way up the road, increasing his speed as a number of boys and men tried to stop him.”

“General Lee immediately stepped ashore, called to the crowd to stand still, and advancing a few steps gave a peculiar low whistle. At the first sound, Traveller stopped and pricked up his ears. The General whistled a second time, and the horse with a glad whinny turned and trotted quietly back to his master, who patted and coaxed him before tying him up again.”

“To a bystander expressing surprise at the creature’s docility the General observed that he did not see how any man could ride a horse for any length of time without a perfect understanding being established between them.”

Traveller served the General well in battle after battle, throughout the entire war, coming through relatively unscathed. Traveller became increasingly famous after the war. Even his hair was a sought after memento of the war. Lee wrote to his daughter,  

“The boys are plucking out his tail, and he is presenting the appearance of a plucked chicken.” While travelling, he would write home and ask,  “How is Traveller? Tell him I miss him dreadfully,” Lee would ride his famous grey gelding for the rest of his life.

One of the most famous images of General Robert E. Lee was taken astride Traveller, “a Confederate grey.”

Traveller outlived Lee by a year. The stable where he lived his last days stood with its doors left open to “allow Traveller’s spirit to wander freely as he did when he was alive.” They are painted in  “Traveller Green.” His remains are buried a few feet away from where his master’s body rests.

“The great Traveller was considered gorgeous and difficult.  But, he was greatly loved, and still is.”

The Confederate Monument in Stone Mountain, Georgia showing Lee astride Traveller in center

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The legendary Terry’s Texas Rangers is named for the man who formed the unit, Benjamin Franklin Terry. The group’s official name was the 8th Texas Cavalry.  Every man who joined had to bring a shotgun or rifle, Colt revolver, and a Bowie knife (this was Texas, after all). They pinned a five-pointed star, the one worn by the original Texas Rangers, to their hats as you can see in the above photo.

These formidable, high spirited Texans displayed their valor in Civil War battles at Shiloh and Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Chattanooga, just to name a few. They excelled at conducting lightning raids in Kentucky, and cleverly harassed Sherman as he burned his way to the sea.  

For a time, they served under Lt. General Nathan B. Forrest.  Forrest intimidated the commander of the 9th Michigan to surrender, telling him that he had “…five hundred Texas Rangers he couldn’t control in a fight.”  The Federals considered this, and “to a man, they voted to surrender.”

Captain Shannon led the Rangers’ scouts, nicknamed “Shannon’s Scouts.”  The Scouts followed and ran raids on Sherman’s troops across Georgia and the Carolinas.  One of their aims was to disrupt Sherman’s “bummers,” the general’s men that “requisitioned” food from Southern homes. Though often outnumbered, the Scouts were very successful, capturing many of the bummers.

One of the Scouts wrote about how his unit of 18 men encountered a force of hundreds of Federals:

“We were quite as much surprised as they were, but rather than let them discover our weakness in number, we began yelling and shooting as we came, making enough noise and bedlam for several times our number … they evidently thought the entire Confederate army was after them, for they started to run.”

The tradition of these men lives on in today’s rough and ready Texas Rangers, members of one of the world’s most respected law enforcement agencies.

Texas Ranger Badge

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