FLAG OF THE 5TH TENNESSEE CAVALRY REGIMENT, U.S.A., RETAINED BY AN IMMIGRANT SOLDIER FIGHTING FOR THE UNION CAUSE

AN IMPORTANT FLAG FROM A "SOUTHERN UNIONIST" REGIMENT, REMARKABLY WELL-PRESERVED AND WITH EXCELLENT PROVENANCE

Silk flag. Blue canton with 34 hand-painted white stars on each side in a traditional linear arrangement, field with thirteen stripes, alternating 7 red and 6 white. Silk-covered canvas hoist with sewn-in rope. 69 1/2 x 73 1/8 in.; canton 37 1/2 x 36 9/16 in. Ca. 1862-1863. Published in "Civil War Flags of Tennessee" by Stephen Douglas Cox, University of Tennessee Press, 2020. Provenance: Descended directly in the family of Private John  D. Hanson, Co. C, Tennessee 5th Cavalry, until 2008. 

An exceptional 34 star silk flag, attributed by its distinctive design elements to the Louisville, Kentucky, flag maker Hugh Wilkins. Special thanks are due to flag expert Greg Biggs for identifying Wilkins as the maker of this flag.

According to strong accompanying documentation, this flag descended in the family of Private John D. Hanson (1824-1929), a Danish immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1858. Hanson, a nineteen-year-old blacksmith, enlisted on 8/19/1862 at Nashville and mustered into Co. C, Tennessee 5th Cavalry. He served for the remainder of the war before mustering out on 8/14/1865. It is unclear where Hansom settled immediately upon his arrival in the US, but by 1862 he was living in Bedford County, Tennessee. Situated just south of Nashville, Bedford County was generally pro-Confederate, but the county seat, Shelbyville, was considered pro-Union. Dubbed "Little Boston," Shelbyville residents voted against secession. Bedford County, with its conflicting loyalties, was representative of the overall state of Tennessee which was deeply split with the West and Middle Tennessee largely supporting the Confederacy while East Tennessee remained predominantly Unionist. The state's deep division made it a major battleground, pitting neighbors against neighbors and brothers against brothers. Soldiers who enlisted in the 5th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, also known as the 1st Middle Tennessee Cavalry Regiment and the 5th East Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, would spend the next three years of their enlistment, in large part, fighting Confederate cavalry forces and guerrilla fighters in their home state.

Though the regiment achieved important battlefield successes against Confederate forces, its overall reputation among Union military leadership was that of a poorly trained and undisciplined unit. Major General Lovell H. Rousseau, at Nashville, reported on 10 January 1864 that troops in his District were generally in good discipline, "excepting, of course, the 5th Tennessee Cavalry under Colonel Stokes, and a a few others, who are neither well drilled, disciplined, or equipped." General Robert H. Milroy said of the regiment in January 1865: "I have tried every means known to me to bring about order and efficiency in the regiment, but have not been rewarded with any success...Offices and men absent themselves without authority whenever they take a notion to visit their homes....Many of the officers and men live within one or two days' ride of this place [Tullahoma], and so long as they are situated they will be worthless soldiers...." While the comforts of home may have been the appeal for soldiers of the 5th TN Cavalry who abandoned the regiment, it may also have been a desire to protect their homes and families. Confederate guerrilla activity in Tennessee was widespread, and often exceedingly violent, and Union sympathizers and their families were targets.

Private John D. Hanson served his full three years' enlistment. His compiled service records indicate that he was regularly detached for duty as a clerk with various officers, including at General Milroy's Headquarters starting in April 1865. After the war, he remained in Tennessee working as a bookkeeper, and serving in various community roles including Town Constable and Deputy Postmaster. He was appointed a member of the Stones River Battlefield Park Commission in 1928 just before his death in 1929. It is unknown how Hanson came to acquire the silk regimental flag offered here, but Hanson's long-term detachments as a clerk would have certainly put him into contact with high-ranking officers and perhaps facilitated his acquisition of the flag. Notably, only an estimated 4-5% of Union Army regiments, including infantry, cavalry, and artillery, were organized within the eleven states that seceded to form the Confederacy, making flag even more of a rarity.

The 34-star U.S. flag was officially adopted on 4 July 1861 in recognition of the admission of Kansas as the 34th state, and was in use until 3 July 1863 when West Virginia was admitted to the Union. The 5th Tennessee Cavalry was organized starting in July 1862, suggesting that this flag was likely used sometime between July 1862 and July 1863 when the 35th star was added to the U.S. flag. During this time period, the 5th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment under the command of Colonel William B. Stokes was regularly engaged in skirmishes and battles, primarily with forces of the C.S.A. Cavalry, including at the Battle of Stones River 26 December 1862 - 5 January 1863. Following that engagement, the regiment served in detachments, from small parties up to battalion size, at various locations in Middle Tennessee predominantly engaging in skirmishes, the most of important which was with Confederate forces under General Van Dorn at Franklin, 10 April 1863.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Flags, Patriotic Textiles] [Relics, Militaria]