6th Vermont Infantry Regiment National Flag

6th Vermont Infantry Regiment National Flag

Manufactured by Horstmann Brothers

6th Vermont Infantry regiment national flag. Attached to staff by a sleeve. Fringe present. Canton style is rectangular, and is 24 by 38 inches. There are 34 gold painted stars arranged in a double ellipse. The stripes are faded and measure 5.5 inches in width. Place of Issue: Brandy Station, Va. Date Issued: 01/1864. For a replacement the 6th Vermont was issued a color, which bore little resemblance to the first flag. The second national flag of the 6th Vermont was simply government issue. It arrived sometime in January 1864, and continued with the regiment from the Wilderness until the regiment mustered out of service in June 1865. Through the hard campaigns of 1864 and the final battles of 1865, the second national received much damage. The men who carried the colors of the 6th Vermont in 1865 gained specific mention in the official regimental report of Lieutenant Colonel Sumner Lincoln of July 31, 1865.

Though never specifically stated in the report on who carried which respective color, tradition would point to the senior sergeant bearing the national color and the junior carrying the regimental banner. After the 6th Vermont received its pays and officially discharged in Burlington in late June 1865, the regiment's national flag had one more duty. It would serve, in conjunction with the first national of the 4th Vermont, as prominent displays in Woodstock's Fourth of July parade. Eventually, both the state regimental and national colors were taken to the State House after the 6th Vermont was mustered out of service.

1864

65 x 70 inches

1870.001.018

Philadelphia (Penn.)

Vermont State Curator's Office, 2 Gov. Aiken Avenue,
Montpelier, VT 05633