Color Guard by Keith Rocco

The color party of Civil War units was sizable for good reason. The colors of a regiment were not only the focal point upon which the companies of a regiment aligned and guided, but they were often the target of concentrated enemy fire. The after battle reports of many engagements frequently mention the slaughter that took place around the colors. At Perryville, the officer of the 6th Tennessee Infantry noted: "... the color bearer, John Andrews, was here too badly wounded to proceed farther and had to carried to the rear. They were then seized by John Ayres, one of the color guard, who carried them gallantly for a short distance and was killed. A.M. Pegues then carried them to the summit where the first battery was placed, where he was badly wounded, being shot in three places. They were then seized by Ed. Quin, private, Company H, who bore them in advance of the regiment across the field into the wood, where he was killed." It is not surprising that the life expectancy of the color party was low during the War or that colors frequently required repair or replacement. The combine 6th Texas Infantry and dismounted 15th Texas Cavalry, for instance, carried no fewer than four separate flags during the conflict. The flag depicted in The Color Guard, the last flag of these combined regiments, was carried through the Tennessee campaign of November and December and brought home to Texas when the War ended, a valued testimonial of the soldier's difficult service on behalf of the "Lost Cause."