Hello to all my Missouri bushwhacking friends,
I noticed Cowan’s is auctioning a captured Missouri Rebel Flag that has been in John Landis’ family since he and his Co. I, 1st Iowa Cavalry, captured the flag 13 June 1861 at the Battle of Blackwater Missouri.
You know the old saying....”Money talks and BS walks”......so today is the day someone can be a part of history and not merely just reading and posting. What an exciting opportunity!
I would only expect for a dedicated Missourian to eagerly bring this battle flag home after 150 years of being tenderly cared for in Yankee hands.
Here is the link and the information that is provided regarding the flag on Cowan’s website” Good-luck in your bid!
http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/item.aspx?ItemId=96592
Rebel Flag Captured by John A. Landis of The First Iowa Cavalry at the Battle of Blackwater Missouri. Additional provenance for this significant war trophy is cited in a book called The Third Reunion of the Landis-Landes Family: Held at Perkasie Park, Perkasie, Bucks County, Pa., August 16, 1952, compiled nearly 60 years ago. A listing of “Children of Henry and Catherine Johnston Landis” of whom the eldest son, John A. Landis, is recorded matter-of-factly as having Captured a Rebel flag at the Battle of Blackwater, Mo. (p 47). John A. Landis (1835-1915) was born in Xenia, Ohio and was living in Martinsburg, Iowa when he enlisted in Company I., 1st Iowa Cavalry on June 13, 1861. Landis was soon transferred to the field and staff as regimental Quartermaster on Oct. 7.
The raw regiment was then split up by battalion and engaged in combing the porous region of central and western Missouri for Southern sympathizers, recruits, and bushwhackers. On Dec. 18, 1861 a column of five companies of the 1st Iowa together with two companies of the 4th US Cavalry under the overall command of Col. J.C. Davis of Indiana came upon a local who informed the blue troopers that there was more than a thousand rebs in the bend of the Black River near Milford. Col. Davis “marched promptly and vigorously with the forces under his command” and late in the afternoon ran into Confederate pickets guarding a “long narrow bridge” over a “deep, impassible stream.” Across the bridge in wooded bottomland was a large Confederate camp “numbering in all 1300 men.”
Led by the detachment of the 4th US Cavalry supported by the five companies of the 1st Iowa the Federals quickly drove in the startled pickets and then formed to attack the bridge. Lieut. Gordon, Company D. 4th US Cavalry, commanded the charge and with utmost gallantry and vigor, carried the bridge in fine style, and immediately formed his company on the opposite side to charge the riled camp. A body of Confederates managed to let loose with one determined volley causing the only Federal casualties of the day, one man killed and eight wounded all from Co. D. Stunned by the impetuous attack the inexperienced Confederate colonel promptly surrendered his command convinced, correctly so, that he was both outnumbered and cut-off. The haul of prisoners included 3 colonels, 52 commissioned officers and over 1100 enlisted men, all raw Missouri recruits bound for Sterling Price’s army.
The inventory of captured war material was considerable, about 500 horses and mules, 73 wagons heavily loaded with powder, lead, tents, subsistence stores…and also 1,000 stands of arms with at least one slightly used First Pattern Confederate National Flag that came into the possession of Quartermaster John Landis. Maj. Torrence, who commanded the 1st Iowa Cavalry battalion, never submitted a formal report and the regiment received no accolades for the action known alternatively as Black Water or Milford. Landis mustered out of 1st Iowa Cavalry in April 1862 and shortly afterwards was commissioned in the newly raised 18th Iowa Infantry as capt. of Company D. Capt. Landis' younger brother, David Landis, was in the same company and wrote a wartime diary offered in this sale as lot 78.
The war ended for Captain Landis on January 8, 1863 when he was severely wounded during a sharp action in defense of Springfield, Missouri. Landis had voluntarily taken command of a field piece “placed in a very exposed position.” The attacking Southerners charged the gun in overwhelming numbers, killing the horses and driving back the support; captured it after a hard and bloody contest… The wounded officer was hospitalized in St. Louis and resigned from the army on Feb. 28, 1863. At some point after the war Landis and his family crossed the Great Plains and settled in the Washington Territory. He remarried in 1906. Capt. Landis died on April 26, 1915 and was buried in Oakwood Hill Cemetery, Tacoma, WA.
Condition: Scattered staining on flag; scattered holes in canton and fly.