Ken is indeed THE man on color bearer accounts - he has far more in his files than any 20 of us combined probably!

I have pics of the 27th TN Bragg pattern battle flag before it burned up in a house fire. It is the square version.

Polk's Corps were issued Bragg pattern flags before Shiloh but the shipment went to Columbus, KY from New Orleans where Polk was stationed at the time. He was just beginning to fall back from there finally obeying AS Johnston's orders to do so thus the shipment got lost. There's several documents, in the OR and some other files, talking about the missing flags and Polk ordering another set. Gen. Mansfield Lovell, in New Orleans, was part of these communications.

Because of this, Polk's Corps used their large silk Polk flags made in Memphis at Shiloh but when the Bragg flags turned up, these were replaced by them. There are existing Bragg flags (square versions) for the 4th and 21st Tennessee, both of Polk's Corps (and a picture exists of the veterans of this regiment at Shiloh after the war holding both flags - Polk and Bragg patterns - the Polk flag is in tatters) and then the now gone 27th TN.

After Beauregard leaves the Army of the Mississippi in June 1862 and Bragg takes over, he is not into flags standardization like Beauregard was so the Polk flags come back into use at least for Cheatham's Division (based on a diary account) prior to the KY Campaign. Thus, thanks to Bragg not caring, the army will use about 9 different flag patterns before 1864.

Hope this helps.

greg Biggs