A TASTE OF
THE OLDLINER MAGAZINE

ISSUE TWO

Fascinating Articles from the American Civil War

Researched and written by Philip Day And Trevor Stevens
Of The 1st Maryland Infantry C.S.A. U/K

La Glorieta Pass, Texas, was the scene of a battle that would become known as the
'Gettysburg of the West".  There were only 31 dead soldiers, a remarkably small figure for a battle that has legitimately been called the turning point of the war in the far west.  But, although it lacked the casualty figures of the war's other great battles, La Glorieta Pass was both significant and intense.
The fight began an 28 March, 1862, when the 4th, 5th and 7th regiments of Confederate Brigadier General Henry H.Sibley's Texas Mounted Volunteers commanded by the 4th regiments Lieutenant Colonel William R. Scurry, encounter a superior Union force led by Colonel John P. Slough of the 1st Colorado Infantry.  The Union soldiers under the direct supervision of Lieutenant Colonel Samuel F.Tappan, discovered the Confederates in the timber about 800 yards from their position.  Tappan advanced rapidly, deploying half his soldiers as skirmishers to occupy the hillsides while the remainder were ordered to protect the artillery Scurry positioned his artillery on a slight elevation and opened fire.  The Union soldiers spread out across the canyon.  Scurry ordered Major Charles L.Pyron and Major Henry W. Ragnet to check the advance on the right and In the centre. Scurry attacked on the left.  They charged across open ground under heavy fire and leapt into a gulch.  Hand to hand fighting erupted for a few minutes until the Union force broke, retreating in panic and confusion.
The Confederate artillery tried to locate more of the Union force but was having trouble. Scurry sent Ragnet and Major John S Shropshire to assault the left and right flanks. He told them he would attack as soon as he heard the firing. Scurry then sent Pyron to assist Ragnet while he attacked in the other direction. Shropshire was killed when a Union soldier, Private George V. Pierce, rushed from his position and shot him. Scurry advanced, driving the Federal troops back toward a ledge. The Union batteries opened fire, and although Scurry tried to over run the guns, there were too many Union soldiers. His repeated assaults failed. While Tappan occupied the Confederates in the pass, another Union force, under Major John W. Chiverton, circled round the pass to approach the Confederate rear.  Late In the day, Chivington's men attacked, capturing the exposed Confederate supply train after killing three of its defenders.  They burned the wagons, one of which exploded, wounding Private Simon Rittner.  He was the only Union casualty of the day. The party also released five Union soldiers, captured earlier in the day.
The battle tapered off about 5.30 p.m., Scurry reported the Union had left the field, giving him the victory.  His troops remained on the field the following day to bury their dead, and were then forced to return to Santa Fe because, thanks to the destruction of their supply wagons, they had no blankets, food or ammunition.
Although Scurry had claimed a tactical victory, the loss of so many supplies forced the Confederates to abandon their expedition Into New Mexico Territory.  It was to be the first step of a planned campaign to attack north Into Colorado, with its abundant gold and silver fields and then on to gold rich California.  The Battle of La Glarieta Pass squashed this campaign before it was well under way. The Union would control the New Mexico Territory for the rest of the war.

THE BONNIE BLUE

The Bonnie Blue - This was the first flag to represent the seceding Southern states.  It had a blue field with a single white five pointed star in its centre. This flag was first displayed during the Convention of the People in Mississippi on 9 January 1861 as the flag of the Republic of Mississippi.
Although this design was used by several southern states, and became a southern symbol, it was never adopted by the Confederacy as a whole.

The First National Flag

This was the first flag to represent the Confederacy as a whole. it consisted of a red field with a white space extending horizontally through the centre equal in width to one third of the flag.  A square blue canton was placed on the stave side extending down to the top of the lower red band.  In the canton was placed a circle of white stars representing the number of states in the Confederacy.  Two men claimed to have designed this flag, Nickola Marschall, a Prussian artist living in Montgomery and Orren R Smith from North Carolina.  Both claim are being disputed still to this day.  It was the first flown on 4 March 1861.

The Second National Flag

The Third National Flag

From the first day the Second National was run up the flagpole, complaints were made about its appearance.  The most serious was that on a windless day anc the flag hung limp it resembled a white flag of truce.  A red bar one third the width was added to the fly.

Battle Flags

During the lst Battle of Manassas, there was much confusion between different states, militia on both sides due to the similarity of flags.  To solve this problem, Congressman William Porcher Miles suggested to General Beauregard he adopt as a battle flag the pattern he designed for the First National flag, a pattern Congress had rejected twice.  On 21 August 1861, Miles sent Beauregard a drawing for his suggested flag, adding that his design called for the ground red, the cross blue, edged in white and white stars.  Beauregard liked the design.  He wrote to Miles on 4 September 1861 saying that he needed to authorise Generals in the field to furnish their troops with a "field or battle flag".
The first battle flags were made at the end of September 1861.  Infantry versions were to be 48 inches square, Artillery, 36 inches and Cavalry, 30 inches.  Due to the fact that not all flags were made by official contractors, the flags varied in colour, material, size and shape, nevertheless, all were borne with honour by their respective regiments.

DID YOU KNOW

That the first flares for marksmen shooting at night were calcium lights developed by
Major H Edge of the Berdan,s Sharpshooters.

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