[snippy_about_it]

Loss of Colors

1. There is no official definition of the term "loss of colors." However, the term, in common usage, refers to the capture of a unit's colors (flags) by the enemy in battle, or the taking away of a unit's colors as a punishment or disciplinary measure.

2. "Colors" or unit standards have historically served as a means of identifying units of the battlefield. During the Civil War, men were trained to follow their colors in battle, to "rally" around them, and generally to use them to maintain unit cohesiveness. Unit colors were a great source of pride, and victories or defeats were often expressed in terms of colors being captured from or lost to the enemy. During the Civil War, many awards of the Medal of Honor were made for the capture or defense of colors. Even then, however, units which lost their colors remained intact and continued to fight.

3. Modern warfare tactics do not call for rallying points in the open, with large numbers of men performing intricate maneuvers. Therefore, today's armies use colors in ceremonies but do not carry them into battle.

4. Official Army records contain no mention of any unit of the United States Army having lost its colors to the enemy during World War II, the Korean War, or the war in Vietnam. There is also no record of any unit having its colors taken away as a punishment for any action at any time in the history of the United States Army.

5. There have been several rumors concerning various units losing their colors. These are generally false. Some of these include:

a. The 1st Cavalry Division in Korea. The incident that apparently gave rise to this false rumor appears to be the Unsan Engagement which took place on 1 and 2 November 1950 at Unsan, Korea. In that battle, the 8th Cavalry, a component of the 1st Cavalry Division, was pushed back from positions in and around the town of Unsan by vastly superior Chinese forces. The regiment was severely battered, suffering heavy casualties and losing a considerable amount of equipment. This was one of the first major Chinese operations in the Korean War and, like the Changjin (Chosin) Reservoir Battle of this same period, it took the United Nations Command by surprise. Considering the circumstances, the 8th Cavalry fought very well, and it has never been criticized for its conduct in this operation.

b. The question of the loss of colors by the 7th Cavalry at Little Big Horn has also generated considerable debate. Although this office has no conclusive evidence one way or the other, it has been suggested that Custer's personal flag along with several troop guidons were taken, but that the regimental flag was not captured. A regimental flag subsequently turned up at the Custer Battlefield National Monument in Crow Agency, Montana, but it has never been verified that this was the flag at Little Big Horn. There is also a rumor that the 7th Cavalry lost its colors in Korea. This can be tracked back to the 7th's association with the 1st Cavalry Division and the incident detailed in para 5a (above).

c. It was also suggested that the 27th Infantry lost its colors. This rumor was traced by Mr. John Wike, [a historian in] this office, to a request made by the regimental commanding officer, August 19, 1919, on the basis that the old colors, which were fourteen years old, had become "so rotten that [they] cannot be repaired." The replacement colors somehow were missent to the Philippine Islands Quartermaster Depot, where they were discovered during an inventory nine years later. Meanwhile, on April 21, 1922, the 27th's commanding officer again made a request for new colors. In doing so, he stated that the regimental colors then in use were so tattered and torn as to present an unsightly appearance, having been in service for more than sixteen years.

These are not the only units rumored to have lost their colors. They are, however, the ones most frequently mentioned regarding the issue of "loss of colors."

Originally prepared by DAMH-HSO [laterDAMH-FPO] 12 October 1989

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Educational Sources: www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/Loss.htm www.nps.gov/mana/education/Rally%20Around%20the%20Flag.pdf

[snippy_about_it]

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[Jaysun]

The 28th Alabama Infantry Regiment was organized March 29, 1862 at Shelby Springs (located about half way between Calera and Columbiana) to serve for three years or the duration of the war. The recruits were to report to Shelby Springs, the site of a large Confederate military training camp known as Camp Winn, on 13 March; they remained there until 18 April 1862.

It was captured November 23, 1863, at Bald Knob, near Chattanooga, after a fight that depleted the command and gave it the same glory that fell to the famous Light Brigade. Union and Confederate alike tell of the glorious fight it made when under the impression that it had been ordered to hold the position taken at all hazards. Some of the best men of Alabama were on its rolls, and many of them never came back to tell of its glories.

[Jaysun]

In 1993 eighty-three-year-old Father John Hardy and his ninety-seven-year-old sister, Sister Frances Claire, presented Governor John Engler with the flag their father, Captain John Hardy, a color guard with the Second Michigan Infantry, carried during the Civil War.

Second Michigan Infantry Regiment

[Jaysun]

This battle flag of the 33rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment was captured by the 26th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment on July 20 1864, at the Battle of Peach Tree Creek. It is the Second National pattern, a white field with the square Army of Northern Virginia battle flag in the canton. The canton is red with dark blue diagonal stripes with white stars along the stripes. The flag was returned to the state of Mississippi 25 Mar 1905.


33rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment

[Godebert]

26th South Carolina Volunteers
(my g-g-grandfather's regimental flag)

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on November 21:
1495 John Bale England, bishop/anti-catholic playwright (Kynge Johan)
1694 Voltaire [Francois-Marie Arouet], France, thinker
1729 Josiah Bartlett US physician/judge/signer (Decl of Independence)
1785 William Beaumont surgeon (studied digestion)
1787 Sir Samuel Cunard founder (1st regular Atlantic steamship line)
1817 Richard B Garnett Brig Gen, killed during Pickett's charge
1828 William McComb Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1918
1831 John Franklin Miller Bvt Mjr Gen (Union volunteers), died in 1886
1834 Joseph Jackson Bartlett Bvt Mjr Gen (Union volunteers), died in 1893
1854 Benedict XV 258th Roman Catholic pope (1914-22)
1863 Arthur Quiller-Couch editor (Oxford Book of English Verse)
1904 Coleman Hawkins virtually created tenor saxophone for jazz
1907 Charles Korvin Piestany Hungary, actor (Berlin Express, Ship of Fools)
1907 Jim Bishop author (The Day Lincoln was Shot)
1908 Franz Pfnor Germany, slalom (Olympic-gold-1936)
1912 Eleanor Powell Springfield MA, actress/tap dancer (Broadway Melody)
1916 Sid Luckman NFL QB (Chicago Bears)
1920 Ralph Meeker actor (Anderson Tapes, Night Stalker)
1920 Stan Musial outfielder (St Louis Cardinal, 7 times NL bat champ)
1921 Vivian Blaine Newark NJ, actress (Guys & Dolls, Skirts Ahoy)
1927 Joseph Campanella NYC, actor (Dr Steffen-The Nurses, Lou-Mannix)
1932 Jim Ringo NFL center (Green Bay, Philadelphia)
1933 Henry Hartsfield Jr Birmingham AL, astro (STS-4, STS 41-D, STS 61A)
1933 Jean Shepard Pauls Valley OK, country singer (Ozark Jubilee)
1937 Marlo Thomas Detroit MI, actress,[Mrs Phil Donahue](That Girl!, Jenny)
1939 Richard Lenz Springfield IL, actor (Hec Ramsey, Scandalous John)
1940 Natalia Maskarova Lenningrad, ballerina (Kirov) defected 1970
1941 Juliet Mills London England, actress (Nanny & the Professor, QB VII)
1943 Larry Mahan Oregon, rodeo champ (1967-70)
1944 Earl "the Pearl" Monroe Philadelphia PA, NGA Guard (NY Knicks, Baltimore Bullets)
1945 Goldie Hawn Takoma Park MD, actress (Laugh-in, Private Benjamin)
1950 Alberto Juantorena Cuba, 400m dash (Olympic-gold-1976)
1953 Tina Brown journalist publisher (Tatler)
1961 Nadia Comaneci [Gheorghe] Romania, gymnast (1st 10/Olympic-gold-1976)
1963 Nicollette Sheridan Worthing England, actress (Paige-Knots Landing)
1964 Marjorie Judith Vincent Oak Park IL, Miss America (1991)
1975 Cherie Johnson Pittsburgh PA, actress (Cherie-Punky Brewster)

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Deaths which occurred on November 21:
1555 Georgius Agricola mineralogist, dies in Germany at 61
1624 Jakob Bohme German philosophical mystic, dies
1899 Garret Augustus Hobart 24th VP, died
1916 Franz Josef of Austria, dies
1941 Juanita Spellini first woman executed in California
1958 Mel Ott NY Giant baseball star (1926-1947), dies at 49
1959 Max Baer US, heavyweight boxing champ (1934), dies at 49
1982 Lee Patrick actress (Henrietta-Topper, Maltese Falcon), dies at 75
1987 James E Folsom (Alabama-Gov, 1947-51, 1955-59), dies at 79
1991 David "Sonny" Werblin AFL owner (NY Jets), dies at 81
1993 Bill Bixby, actor (My Favorite Martian), dies of prostate cancer at 59

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1964 NIPPER DAVID---ATLANTA GA.
1965 TOMS DENNIS L.---ROCK MN.
[FELL OFF SHIP?]
1967 REYNOLDS DAVID R.---BUFFALO NY.
1972 STAFFORD RONALD D.---OXFORD NE.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0235 St Anterus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0496 St Gelasius I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1620 Leaders of the Mayflower expedition frame the "Mayflower Compact," designed to bolster unity among the settlers
1654 Richard Johnson, a free black, granted 550 acres in Virginia
1783 Pilstre de Rozier & Marquis d'Arlandes make 1st free balloon flight
1787 Andrew Jackson admitted to the bar
1789 North Carolina ratifies constitution, becomes 12th US state
1794 Honolulu Harbor discovered
1818 Russia's Czar Alexander I petitions for a Jewish state in Palestine
1824 1st Jewish Reform congregation established, Charleston, SC
1837 Thomas Morris of Australia skips rope 22,806 times
1847 Steamer "Phoenix" is lost on Lake Michigan, kills 200
1871 Moses Gale patents a cigar lighter
1877 Tom Edison announces his "talking machine" invention
1902 1st night football game, Philadelphia Athletics beats Kanaweola AC, 39-0
1917 M Gorki calls Lenin a blind fanatic/unthinking adventurer
1917 Polish soldiers organize a pogrom against Jews of Galicia Poland
1925 Red Grange plays final Univ of Illinois game, signs with Chicago Bears
1933 1st US ambassador to USSR, W.C. Bullitt, begins service
1934 Yanks buy Joe DiMaggio from San Francisco Seals
1935 1st commercial crossing of Pacific by plane (China Clipper)
1945 General Motors workers go on strike
1946 Harry Truman becomes 1st US President to travel in a submerged sub
1952 1st US postage stamp in 2 colors (rotary process) introduced
1953 "Pitdown Man," discovered in 1912 proved to be a hoax
1959 Jack Benny (violin) & Richard Nixon (piano) play their famed duet
1967 Phillip & Jay Kunz fly a kite a record 28,000 feet
1968 Supremes & Temptations release "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"
1970 NY Knicks 1st game against Cleveland Cavalier, Knicks win 102-94 at MSG
1971 NY Rangers scores a NHL record 8 goals in 1 period
1975 Linda McCartney drug charges in US are dropped
1977 1st flight of the Concorde (London to New York)
1980 Dallas' "Who Shot JR?" episode (Kristen) gets a 53.3 rating
1980 Fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas kills 84
1980 Gene Michaels replaces Dick Howser as Yankee's 25th manager
1980 John & Yoko pose nude for photographer Allan Tannenbaum
1981 Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," single goes #1 & stays for 10 weeks
1986 The Justice Department begins an inquiry into the National Security Council into what will become known as the Iran-Contra scandal.
1990 Michael Milken is sentenced to 10 years for security law violations
1990 Signing of Declaration of "End of Cold war" in Paris
1992 Oregon Sen Bob Packwood issues apology for unwelcome sexual advances
1993 Neo-fascists MSI win 36% of municipal elections in Rome
1995 Israel grants jailed US spy Jason Pollard, citizenship
1995 China jailed well-known dissident Wei Jing-sheng and charged him with trying to overthrow the government.
2000 In a setback for George W. Bush, the Florida Supreme Court granted Al Gore's request to keep the presidential recounts going; Democrats were jubilant, Republicans bitter and angry.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Day of Lulkukan (Mayan holiday).
North Carolina : Ratification Day (1789)
US : National Children's Book Week Begins (Monday)
US : Farm City Week Begins
International Doll Collectors Month

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Religious Observances
Orthodox : Feast of St Michael the Archangel (11/8 OS)
RC : Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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Religious History
1638 A General Assembly at Glasgow abolished the episcopal form of church government, adopted the presbyterian form in its place, and gave final constitution to the Church of Scotland.
1852 Union Institute was chartered by the Methodists in Randolph County, NC. Renamed Trinity College in 1859, the campus moved to Durham in 1892. Tobacco magnate James B. Duke endowed the school with $40 million in 1924, upon which its name was changed to Duke University.
1907 Birth of Jim Bishop, American journalist. He gave new life to great historical moments through his "day" books, including his 1957 chronicle of "The Day Christ Died."
1943 German theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter: 'A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes...and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.'
1948 The Sunday morning religious program "Lamp Unto My Feet" first aired over CBS television. It became one of TV's longest_running network shows, and aired through January 1979.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"Even if there is nothing to laugh about, laugh on credit"

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Excuses for Being Late for Work...
"I had to take extra time this morning to wrestle with overwhelming aggressive impulses by reassuring myself that nothing would happen today that would push me over the edge."

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Things I learned from children...
The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earth
worms dizzy.

It will however make cats dizzy.

Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

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Dictionary of the Absurd...
hundred
fear of Attila.

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Things We Would Have Seen Under a Kerry Administration
Inaugural address drowned out by the sound of Hillary Clinton's teeth gnashing.

[Humal]

Good morning! This article goes along with your article from last Sunday and my question about the meaning of "lost their colors". Thanks for more details on this.

[aomagrat]

Howdy,

Just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean I haven't been lurking. I'll get back to posting as soon as my sabbatical is over. Say hi to Sam for me.

[stand watie]

btw, probably only about 1/4 of dixie's hero-martyrs attacked under the easily recognized "starry cross" Confederate Battle Flag.

there was NEVER an official policy of what battle flag that CSA units HAD to carry.

i've seen one AR (CSA) regimental flag that was made from a piece of ladies lingerie. it was PROBABLY made from a white & PINK silk & LACE underskirt from a wedding gown, which was then embroidered & appliqued with "patriotic symbols & sayings"! (units used whatever they HAD or could buy/make/get donated. the vast majority of CS units were too POOR to even buy food & clothing on a routine basis, much less money to buy fancy flags!)

free dixie,sw

[Grzegorz 246]