I have a long list of Union units that took CS flags in the war. For the 88th PA I have them taking flags from the 26th Alabama and 23d North Carolina, both in July 1863. Richard Rollins in his book on CS flags taken at Gettysburg concurs with the Alabama ID. This fight took place along the Mummasburg Road west of the Hagy Farm. Rollins' book has all of the details and his sources.

As the flag was not sent to the War Department and cannot be located today, this will be hard to figure out as to its proper ID. The flags of Rodes' Division, formerly DH Hill's, were issued in April 1863 and for the last battle honor they should have had "Fredericksburg" in the lower quadrant. Over and under the center star would have been the unit designation. Unless an earlier flag was still being used, this is what the flag should have looked like.

Rollins, in his footnotes, also states that it might be the flag of the 6th Alabama, who were to the left of the 26th in the line of battle. The 88th PA's unit history states that the flag taken was the 16th Alabama - which was a Western Theater unit. How a marked ANV flag could be mistaken, assuming they carried it that day, is beyond me.

As the Confederate attacks in this area were not well-coordinated, after the defeat of O'Neal's Brigade, Baxter's Federal Brigade turned left and then defeated Iverson's NC Brigade, which was where the 88th PA got the second flag (23rd NC) of the day.

Greg Biggs