The CS brigades of SD Lee's Corps on Overton Hill on December 16, 1864 were Stovall's (GA) facing east towards what is now I-65. To his left was Holtzclaw's and to his left was Gibson's Brigade. Stovall had the 40th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd and 52nd Georgia. Holtzclaw had the 18th, 32nd, 36th, 38th and 58th Alabama. Gibson had the 1st, 4th, 13th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 25th and 30th Louisiana; 4th LA Battalion, 14th LA Battalion Sharpshooters. These three brigades were in Clayton's Division.
The Eufaula (AL) Artillery and a skirmish line, held Sovall's right anchored on another part of the hill.
The 13th USCT, part of 2nd Colored Brigade of Charles Thompson, part of Charles Cruft's Division. Four Federal brigades attacked Overton Hill; Streight's, Post's, Thompson's and Grosvenor's (the latter two part of Cruft's Division). For the attack, after the UNion brigades had been repulsed (Streight's men never heavily engaged), the 13th USCT came in on its own unsupported. Their attack went in at an angle hitting only the left side of Stovall but mostly aimed at Holtzclaw's Alabamians. Wiley Sowrd's book on the TN campaign has a great narrative about their attack on pages 361-363.
Both of the 13th USCT flags were shot down including at least five color bearers. Sword has a lieutenant from an Alabama unit going out and picking up the flag marked, "Thirteenth U.S. Colored Infantry, Presented by the Colored Ladies of Murfreesboro." Sword calls this their regimental flag and states that the National colors were saved - yet Tom Martin shows the regimental colors being held by West Point after the war. I think this is their National colors that were taken. Henry Clayton's report calls the flag that of the 18th USCT, who were in the attack but nowhere near where Holtzclaw's line was as they struck Stovall's far right flank. Stanley Horn, who wrote the first modern book on the Battle of Nashville mistakenly used Clayton's report to ID the flag as that of the 18th USCT.
From the late David Logsdon's book on Nashville (all first person accounts), we have, "A volley sent them in wild confusion backward. In this confusion I saw one of the Confederates jump the fence and run forward and pick up a flag and bring it in." (Cpl. Jones, 18th Alabama). Another account, "The flag...had the...inscription on it: "Thirteenth U.S. Colored Infantry. Presented by colored ladies of Murfreesboro." (Capt. Nathan Carpenter, 36th Alabama).
These two Alabama regiments were next to each other with one on one side of the Franklin Pike and the other on the other side according to another account in Logsdon's book.
Frank Cooling's new book covering the TN campaign does not go into any deep details of this fight but James Lee McDonough's book does and offers a couple more first person accounts that Sword did not use, among them the unpublished unit history of the 18th Alabama in the Alabama archives. The 13th USCT lost 40 per cent of its ranks that day.
Several articles exist in the post-war Confederate Veteran about this flag. One, CV Vol. 13, # 1, January 1905, Page 16) by Nathan Carpenter, who commanded the 36th Alabama (cited above) wrote, "On our retreat, while camping at Columbia, Tenn., Gen. H.D. Clayton sent for the flag, and had it put in his wagon for safe keeping. Unfortunately, the mules got hold of it one night and damaged it greatly, but the mutilated remains are yet preserved in this (Green) county." So according to him the flag of the 13th USCT was in Greene County, Alabama as of 1905. This county is SW of Tuscaloosa and Eutaw is the county seat.
Carpenter's article was in response to an earlier one by G.T. Cullins of the 18th Alabama, who claimed in his that his regiment took the 13th USCT flag, not the 36th Alabama. Cullins responded to what Carpenter wrote and stated that he recalled that the retreat did not go by Columbia but rather by Pulaski and went into greater detail on the capture of the flag by his regiment (CV 13, #3, March 1905, page 126 - his first article is CV 12, #9, September 1904, Page 436). Then, Lt. W.E. Winston, 36th Alabama, wrote in to support that it was his regiment that took the flag and that, "I am of the opinion that Lieut. Knox sent the flag home. " Knox was the lieutenant that jumped the wall and retrieved the flag (cited by Sword above but not named).
Some years ago I was discussing the 13th USCT's flag with someone by email and he told me that he had found an account that a Louisiana regiment had claimed the flag. He is doing a unit history of the 19th Louisiana and it came from a set of post-war accounts from a sergeant of that unit. It will be pretty hard to convince me that an LA unit took this flag based on where it was captured (and I know this area very well) considering where Holtzclaw's Brigade was posted. We do have two accounts mentioned that state the flag was sent to Alabama above as well to deal with. I will not name the man who I emailed here (Ken - you know him) for privacy reasons as he is working on his book on the 19th LA as we speak.
Noah Trudeau's book on black Union troops, "Like Men Of War," has a fine account of the attack and the capture of this flag.
Hope this all helps.
Greg Biggs