Clay,

I, like Ken, am skeptical about the Crescent Regiment carrying the same flag from 1862 into 1864. Ken has forgotten more about Louisiana colors than I would ever know if two lifetimes.

In my years of flags research I have come across many accounts of flags that state, "carried through the war" by this or that regiment/battalion. Then, when you look at the flag pattern itself, more often than not, that disproves it. The flag of the 37th Alabama Infantry that is at Auburn University (I think I have the right regiment) had a plaque stating, "carried through the war." However, the flag itself is a Mobile Depot pattern which did not exist before October 1863. The flag of the 22nd Tennessee Cavalry (Barteau's) that hangs at the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis, also a Mobile Depot, has a display card that states that it was made by ladies in 1862. This flag was issued to the regiment in July 1864!

I am always open to new information that proves that the Crescent Regiment indeed carried the same flag from 1862 into 1864. This will have to come from period sources that describe the flags used at Shiloh and Mansfield however...if those even exist.

Greg Biggs