BLACK CIVIL WAR REENACTORS UNVEIL NEW FLAG
U.S. Colored Troops Ceremony Marks Anniversary of Conflict's Start
Charles Harris, a Civil War reenactor from Neptune, N.J., displays the newly-reconstituted flag of the 22nd US Colored Troops Infantry Regiment at a ceremony at the Peter Mott House. Larger photo.
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The brilliant blue banner, the official ensign of the 22nd US Colored Troops Infantry Regiment, depicts a black Union soldier pressing a bayonet to the chest of a defeated Confederate corporal.
'Hated this flag'
"The Confederates really hated this flag," said Charles Harris with a broad smile. Like Khan, he was dressed in the heavy blue wool of a Union Army soldier.
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The day also marked the debut of the 22nd's just-completed flag. Although two originals of the flag are still known to exist, this was the first time the banner flew above uniformed troops since the Army unit was disbanded in the late 1860s.
Ongoing research
Kahn explained that the flag project was the latest result of the group's ongoing research into every aspect of the 22nd's daily life and operations. The group, with about 25 members from the Monmouth County area in northern New Jersey, has participated in Civil War reenactments from New England to Virginia.
More:
http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews55.shtml
26th Regiment
US Colored Troops
National Color
72 1/2" hoist x 76 1/2" fly
Civil War
After a severe rainstorm prevented a grand flag presentation scheduled for March 26, 1864, the 26th USCT received its colors, including the national color displayed here, from John Jay, representing the ladies of New York, in a less formal ceremony the following day, Easter Sunday. Colonel William Silliman accepted the color and announced, “Fair Ladies, I cannot tell you how dear to us will be this banner, the gift of loyal women of the North. We love it, not chiefly for its rare and costly beauty, but for what is beyond all price and more glorious than beauty.” The silk, national color carried by the 26th USCT includes 35 embroidered stars and an embroidered designation, “26th Regt. U.S. Colored Troops,” along its center red stripe. (2005.0076)
More:
http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/btlflags/infantry/26thUSCTNational2005.0076.htm
http://americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/the-flag-in-the-civil-war.aspx
http://americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/the-flag-in-the-civil-war.aspx
Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs.
Banner for the 22th Regt. U.S. Colored Troops, by David Bustill Bowser. Organized at Philadelphia in January 1864, the 22nd U. S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment lost 217 men during the last year of the Civil War. Its motto, Sic semper tyrannis,means death to tyrants.
More:
http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=467
Description:
Regimental colors of the 27th United States Colored Troops.
http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/ohiopix/Image.cfm?ID=1453