Flags of the 12th Virginia Infantry ("Petersburg Regiment"), Part 2: Stars and Bars

Caption:  The First Flag of the Petersburg Regiment

Credit:  Petersburg National Battlefield Park

When the 12th Virginia Infantry, the Petersburg Regiment, first entered combat at Seven Pines or Fair Oaks on June 1, 1862, Color Sgt. James Williamson stood in the center of the color guard’s front rank with the regiment’s first flag, of a design called the Stars and Bars.  He had been selected to bear the 12th’s ensign based on how he carried himself under arms and his accuracy in marching.  The regiment advanced without skirmishers into a swamp.  Federals concealed behind bushes and tents of the swamp’s other side let loose with musketry that checked the 12th and threw part of its line into confusion.  With officers shouting conflicting commands, Williamson wavered.  His hesitation was taken for want of courage and he was summarily deprived of the colors and demoted from his position as color bearer.