Great- Great Grandfather battleflags 55th of Virginia (2 Viewers)

sammy719

sammy719

Major
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Hi all,

Here are some pics I took while on vacation back East of my Great- Great Grandfathers battleflags who fought for the 55th of Virginia, the flags are in the Meuseum of the Confederacy in Richmond Virginia. the 55th saw alot of action throughout the war the first flag has basically the history of the flag sewn into it, it was captured at the battle of Falling waters Maryland and instead of being turned over to the war dept. the Northern General kept it and had the information sewn into it about how the battle and capture of the flag happened, as you can see closely the battles that this flag went through, it survived the battles at Gettysburg and the retreat to Falling Waters, the second flag was made after the 55th regrouped and fought also at alot of major battles as you can see on the second flag a little better, this flag was captured at the battle of the Wilderness in Virginia near Fredericksburg. I can't tell you how exciting it was to see my Great- Great Grandfathers flags that he fought under in person, I could only imagine his thoughts as he looked upon these 2 flags as he went into battle, very proud of him...Sammy
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Those battle flags are about the neatest items I've seen posted on the forum. Real personal and family history. -- Al
 
lancer said:
Those battle flags are about the neatest items I've seen posted on the forum. Real personal and family history. -- Al
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Thanks Al, the funny thing I grew up most of my life in Va, and never knew these flags exsisted until some research and digging a few years ago!!! the meuseum overall is fantastic!!! so many flags, right next door to Jeffersons Davis Whitehouse, thanks again for the nice comments...Sammy
 
Sammy, those are beautiful and extra special because of the family connection. Fantastic condition and stories to go along with them. Flags kind of give me chill bumps too. When I look at the flags in a museum, I always feel like they have so many stories they could tell and are just dripping with history. It looks like they let you go behind the scenes to see these. I have been to that museum a couple of times and know they have a huge collection that is in storage at any given time. I had a great great grandfather who faught with NC troops at the Wilderness around the Orange Plank Road. I collected Civil War artifacts for a while and purchased a NC sunburst button that was found in that part of the battlefield. It is very special to me because of my ancestor.
 
6th Wisconsin said:
Sammy, those are beautiful and extra special because of the family connection. Fantastic condition and stories to go along with them. Flags kind of give me chill bumps too. When I look at the flags in a museum, I always feel like they have so many stories they could tell and are just dripping with history. It looks like they let you go behind the scenes to see these. I have been to that museum a couple of times and know they have a huge collection that is in storage at any given time. I had a great great grandfather who faught with NC troops at the Wilderness around the Orange Plank Road. I collected Civil War artifacts for a while and purchased a NC sunburst button that was found in that part of the battlefield. It is very special to me because of my ancestor.
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Thanks for the kind words, I'm hoping I can post the video of the flags we took at the museum, (hopefully:smile2:)...Sammy
 
Here is a video taken while on the behind the scenes tour of the Museum of the Confederacy. This was an awesome experience, so many flags and things to look at that you would not normally see in the museum itself. Just click on the picture and it will take you to photobucket so you can watch the video. Give it a few seconds to buffer and you are ready to go. I have another video that tells a bit about the second flag (one with all the stitching) I will post that tomorrow.....Nite all....Sammy

 
It's interesting to be able to trace the history of an ancestor to a particular unit.

I remember reading that many a battleflag that was captured by US forces was, many years after the War ended, given back to Reb units in the spirit of reconciliation. I'm sure Scott, Bob or George would have more info on this.

Sammy, I thought you hailed from Md. or did you have a branch that hailed from Va.?
 
Excellent thread Sammy, very interesting indeed and how great to be able to see the very flag your
great great grandfather fought under, wonderful stuff, you must be very proud.

Rob
 
Thanks for posting such an interesting topic. My son and I visited the museum and White House this yr after wanting to go for many yrs. It's an awesome collection of artifacts. Chris
 
Here are two more videos that I wanted to upload. One continues on about the first video & one talks about the 2nd (stitched) flag. Again, just click on the pictures to start the videos....Sammy

After the videos are some pictures of the actual flag staffs that were used to carry the flags of the civil war. Some were just plain and others were very ornate on the top. On some of them you can see the grooves where the flags were attached. Very cool to see.






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Sammy,
Some pretty incredible stuff, must be very special for you and your family to realize relatives of yours played a part in US history, good for you...........
 
Thanks for all the nice comments fellows, it really is a special thing to see the battleflags in person, can't wait to go back again!!!


Brad, I was born and lived in Baltimore until about 7-8 yrs. old then family moved to Viriginia, but most all my relatives are from Virginia, so the branch there is very long:smile2:...Sammy
 
6th Wisconsin said:
Sammy, those are beautiful and extra special because of the family connection. Fantastic condition and stories to go along with them. Flags kind of give me chill bumps too. When I look at the flags in a museum, I always feel like they have so many stories they could tell and are just dripping with history. It looks like they let you go behind the scenes to see these. I have been to that museum a couple of times and know they have a huge collection that is in storage at any given time. I had a great great grandfather who faught with NC troops at the Wilderness around the Orange Plank Road. I collected Civil War artifacts for a while and purchased a NC sunburst button that was found in that part of the battlefield. It is very special to me because of my ancestor.
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If you get a chance please post some pics of the your artifacts, I would love to see them, pretty neat that both our relatives were there at the battle of the Wilderness...Sammy
 
Sammy

Now that's what I call real ACW history-fascinating and thank you for sharing it. I too would be very proud if I could link such banners to my ancestors.

I can fill in a few details about your G.G.Grandfather's regimental flag and its markings having studied most of those Virginny boys brigades and their battles. Apologies if you already know this.

Falling Waters is sometimes confused with another battle in July 1861 with the same name. The flag's history of Falling Waters is better known to ACW Buffs as the Battle of Williamsport or Hagerstown and was fought in Washington County MD July 1863 as part of the Gettysburg campaign. The 55th Virginia were from Heth's Division-Brockenbrough's Brigade and fought a rear-guard action to allow Lee to cross back over the Potomac during his retreat from Pennsylvania. Kilpatrick's & Buford's Cavalry divisions attacked them and captured a great number of the regiment and others including General Pettigrew who was killed in the action-but by that time Lee and his army were long gone.

Later on in February the 55th and 47th Virginia were consolidated but only 2 officers and 21 men of the 55th were present at the surrender at Appomattox possibly one of them could have been your grandfather if he wasn't captured at Williamsport.

Bob
 
Sammy...Those are really beautifull Flags, If only they could tell thier story!!. You have every right to be proud of your Grandfather and family history...Thankyou for sharing!!.

Steve

Remember and Respect
 
Hi Sammy,

Thanks for posting such interesting and meaningful videos. I cannot imagine the thrill you must have experienced to see up close the actual battle flag under which your G.G. Grandfather fought. I am so grateful that artifacts such as the battleflags have been carefully preserved in order to bring some life and richness to our history.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat :smile2:
 
Bob,

Thanks for the historical background. Maybe you could provide links so Sammy and others could check 'em out.

Brad
 
Ok I am fixing it. Sammy wants his pictures on here so you all don't have to go to photobucket to see them. Here you go guys....Sammy's wife Beth

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sammy719 said:
Ok, I guess I goofed up. I moved the pictures & videos of the flags into their own album in photobucket & now the ones I posted earlier are messed up. Sorry about that. Here is the direct link to the album with the pictures & videos.

Sammy


http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/ll77/sammy719_photos/55th Virginia Infantry Battleflags/
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