Flag Bearer for Denmark Danes

On April 6, 1862, Billy Caldwell, a redheaded man and the flag bearer for the Denmark Danes, was killed at Shiloh with the flag in his hand. The flag was shot to shreds, and the staff that held it was hit twenty six times. The flag fell to the ground six times, but each time a member of the guard secured it and raised it again. When the last of the guard fell, Private Posey of Company A seized the tattered banner, red with the blood of the brave guard lying dead and dying around it. Before the battle, at Denmark Church, Billy had said he would carry the flag to Washington and shake it in the face of Abe Lincoln, or something of that kind.

Tennessee · United States