|
RyanCrierie -> RE: Shep's Flag Mod v3.0 (12/16/2007 12:25:06 AM)
|
Flagmod v4 will be out shortly; it adds back in the "numbered" flags for everyone; and several special units
From the Bill Hawthorne thread:
Perry’s Saints / Continental Guards (48th New York Infantry)
The 48th New York Infantry Regiment was also known as the “Continental Guards” Regiment or “Perry’s Saints.” The former designation referred to the multi-state composition of the unit, while the latter honored the regiment’s organizer and first commander, Col. James H. Perry. On July 24, 1861, Perry received authority to recruit a regiment of infantry at Brooklyn, by Sept. 16 his regiment of men from New York City and New Jersey was fully mustered. Because of Perry’s prominence as a Methodist minister, the 48th attracted a different kind of recruit: included were many seminary students and others from strongly religious backgrounds. Perry contributed to the unusual composition of the unit by discouraging the consumption of alcohol. In June 1862, however, the regiment was at Tybee Island, near Savannah, when a quantity of alcohol washed ashore from a stranded ship and many of the men consumed these spirits. Perry died of a heart attack the next day, but whether this was the result of the previous days’ activities is unclear. Perry’s Saints participated in several heated battles during the period, including the bloody, ill-fated assault on Battery Wagner, which guarded the Southern approaches to Charleston Harbor, in July 1863. (The unit was part of the same brigade that included an experimental black regiment of free men, the 54th Massachusetts.) In February 1864, the Saints fought the Battle of Olustee (Florida). That April, the unit was transferred to Virginia and the Army of the James, fighting at Bermuda Hundred and Drewry’s Bluff before joining with the Army of the Potomac at Cold Harbor, Deep Bottom, Strawberry Plains, Hatcher’s Run and finally Petersburg. By the end of the Civil War, the 48th was a shadow of a once mighty thousand-man regiment, its proud flag in tatters and its men having suffered 859 battle casualties. Having done their duty to save the Union, in spring of 1865 the survivors went home. (Contributed by Bill Hawthorne, deceased)
Brigade Special Abilities: Obedient (16), Steady (14) (because of “religious background”)
Brigade attributes: Pioneers (8)
Weapon: Improvised
Province: Brooklyn
Rush's Lancers (6th Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry)
The 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, known as Rush’s Lancers, was one of the finest volunteer cavalry regiments of the Civil War. Formed in Philadelphia in November 1861, many of its officers had served in an elite militia unit called the Philadelphia City Troop, an organization that traced its roots to George Washington’s bodyguard during the American Revolution. While the regiment was being formed by Col. Richard H. Rush, grandson of Founding Father Dr. Benjamin Rush, Gen. George B. McClellan sent a note to him that asked, “How would you like to organize your regiment as lancers?” Since there were no other weapons available to the unit, Rush had little choice but to agree to McClellan’s request. The men initially had been armed with Colt pistols and light sabers, but after McClellan’s request the Austrian lance was chosen – a weapon nine feet long with an eleven-inch, three-edged blade and a scarlet swallow-tailed pennon that weighed nearly five pounds. Subsequently, twelve carbines to a company were added to its arms for picket and scout duty. The lance was cumbersome and impractical in the wooded terrain, and it made the men of the regiment a laughingstock for the rest of the army, the pennants being called “hospital flags” as they were a handy target for Confederate sharpshooters. However, the lances set the men of the regiment apart, and they proudly wore the name Rush’s Lancers. Finally, in May 1863, the regiment realized the burden they were carrying and turned in their lances for Sharp’s carbines. The Lancers earned a reputation for being a highly trained and reliable unit, despite being armed initially with antiquated weapons, and left their mark on key battlefields, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Brandy Station (where they conducted one of the most famous charges of the war and suffered the highest casualties of any Union unit present), and Appomattox Station. (Contributed by Bill Hawthorne, deceased)
Brigade Attributes: Quality Horses (17), Scouts (12)
Special Abilities: Chargers (13), Disciplined (1)
Weapon: Improvised
Province: Philadelphia
And several I created while googling for other famous units:
Rochester Regiment
The 108th New York Volunteer Infantry, “Rochester Regiment”, was recruited in July and August , 1862, at Rochester, N. Y. (Due to me finding it's flag and making one for it)
(NOTE: The descriptions were found on the net, and edited somewhat; it was faster than retyping them; so I can't claim them as my own writing; the 11th PA one is lifted from Wikipedia.)
Squirrel Tail Regiment
The 66th Illinois Infantry Regiment was known by several names during it's service from 1861 to 1865; some of them were Birge's Sharpshooters, Western Sharpshooters, and the Squirrel Tail Regiment. To join the regiment each man had to prove he was a crack shot by placing three rounds in a 10” target at 400 yards. As a symbol of their marksmanship each man wore three squirrel tails in his hat. By 1862 most of the regiment had converted to Sharp’s rifles with telescopic sights. The regiment proved their worth at Ft. Donnellson when they silenced a rebel battery during the siege. By 1864, the men of regiment were veterans and had concluded that the volume of fire was even more critical than long range shooting. The men purchased 15 shot Henry repeaters at their own cost. And the awful looking squirrel tail hats were gone along with any equipment that would burden them on the march. By war’s end they had participated in 16 major battles, untold skirmishes, marched 5000 miles and sustained 38% casualties.
Corcoran's Irish Brigade
The Corcoran Irish Brigade was made up of four New York regiments recruited by General Michael Corcoran. At the beginning of the war, the Brigade was assigned to the defenses of Washington DC and saw no action. In late 1863, General Corcoran was killed in a riding accident and was replaced by General Robert Tyler. In 1864, the unit was part of Grant's drive to Richmond and took a large number of casualties. During the Battle of Cold Harbor, almost the entire group was destroyed.
23rd Ohio Volunteers
The 23rd Ohio is best known for being the unit which contained future Presidents of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley.
Bloody Eleventh
The 11th Pennsylvania was recruited in Latrobe as a three-month regiment on April 26, 1861, and sent to Camp Curtin, Harrisburg for training and organization. Phaon Jarrett served as its first colonel, with Richard Coulter as lieutenant colonel and William D. Earnest as major. It was assigned to Robert Patterson's Army of the Shenandoah. The regiment received the nickname The Bloody Eleventh at the Battle of Falling Waters, Virginia, July 21, 1861. When the original three-year enlistment period expired in January 1864, many of the men reenrolled in the regiment at the influence of Brig. Gen. Richard Coulter, a former colonel of the regiment. Because of this, the unit was designated veteran volunteers. During the reorganization of the Army in the spring of 1864, the 11th became part of the V Corps. The 11th fought in multiple battles in the Eastern Theater, including Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Grant's Overland Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox Campaign. It was mustered out on July 1, 1865. Among the numerous casualties was one that would stand out as an undying remembrance of the unit and its loyalty to the cause. The regiment's beloved mascot, a brindle bull terrier named Sallie, traveled everywhere with the unit. She was said to have hated three things—Rebels, Democrats, and Women. Her loyalty was undying, for at Gettysburg, after the battle on the First Day was over, Sallie, tired and hungry, ambled out to where her brave comrades had fought and died. She lay down with the dead, until she was found, weak and close to death herself, on July 4, 1863. Her friends nursed her back to health, and she fought with the unit in every battle until she was mortally wounded at Hatcher's Run in February 1865. The men gave her a proper burial, never forgetting the most devoted member of their regiment.
First German
The 32nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, also called the First German, was composed of German immigrants and the descendants of local German settlers. The Thirty-second gained nationwide recognition for its stand against Confederate forces at Rowlett's Station, Ky. A detachment of 500 men under Lt. Col. Henry von Trebra fought off 1300 men of Terry's Texas Rangers and infantry under General Hindman. The 32nd formed the hollow square, and drove the attackers back, losing 10 and 22 wounded, but killing thirty-three of the enemy, including Col. Terry and wounding fifty others. Due to the anti-German sentiment in the nation, and the army in particular, veterans of the 32nd did not re-enlist. Nor did most other all-German regiments. It rankled the German-American soldier that General Joseph Hooker had blamed German troops of the 11th Corps for his defeat at Chancellorsville. The New York Times labeled the 11th Corps Dutch Cowards. Actually, of the Corps's 12,000 men, 7,000 were American. Of the remaining 5,000, only one-third were German, these having been the units offering the stiffest resistance to the Confederate attack made by Stonewall Jackson. The three-year veterans were mustered out on Sept. 7, 1864. The remaining 200 replacements whose terms had not expired were organized into a battalion of four companies under Hans Blume. At war's end they were stationed with General Sheridan's occupation forces in central Texas. They returned to Indianapolis and were mustered out on Dec. 4, 1865.
Right now, am doing fine tuning and checking, making sure the flags are all nice and looking good.
|
|
|
|
