Ohio History Journal

THE STORY OF A FLAG

 

 

BY GENERAL J. WARREN KEIFER

 

[At the annual meeting of the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society General J. Warren Keifer presented a flag

and told the story of its capture by the Confederates and its

return to him. The story as he related it was full of thrilling

interest and brought forth frequent applause from the audience.

The flag is now one of the prized possessions of the Society.

In response to a special request General Keifer has furnished

the story of the flag which is herewith printed in full.-Editor.]

This is an emblematic United States flag of 1863,

with thirty-four stars thereon, representing the then

number of states in the United States and with the usual

number of stripes thereon. It was carried in a number

of battles by the Union forces prior to its capture by the

Confederate forces and its recapture as hereinafter

stated.

At a critical period in the Civil War in 1863 General

Robert E. Lee moved his large formidable Confederate

army from its location north of Richmond, Virginia, for

the invasion of the North, with the purpose of capturing

Washington and transferring the seat of war to the loyal

states. His recent success in holding back the army of

the Potomac, under General Joseph Hooker, in its at-

tempts to take the Confederate capital, Richmond, led

him and Jefferson Davis and his cabinet to undertake

the campaign.

There was then in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia,

mainly at Winchester, about twenty miles south of Mar-

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The Story of a Flag          415

tinsburg, a Union force under Major General Robert

H. Milroy, numbering about seven thousand men of all

arms. Milroy's command was no part of the Army of

the Potomac, then commanded by Major General Joseph

Hooker, but was in the Middle Department, commanded

by Major General Robert C. Schenck, whose headquar-

ters were then at Baltimore, Maryland.

General Lee's army, consisting of about ninety thou-

sand men of all arms, moved northward in force east of

the Blue Ridge, passed Washington into Maryland; and

General R. S. Ewell, commanding one wing of General

Lee's army, was moved, about June 10, 1863, from the

vicinity of Culpeper Courthouse, with about thirty thou-

sand men, through Front Royal into the Shenandoah

Valley, with instruction to capture Milroy's forces at

Winchester, and then move northward to unite with

Lee's main army.

I, as Senior Colonel (110th 0. V. I.), commanded a

brigade of four Ohio regiments under General Milroy,

with headquarters on the heights immediately west of

the town of Winchester, including a formidable fort on

the heights, over which the Stars and Stripes were kept

during daylight. The fort contained heavy artillery

and, when in danger of attack, a limited number of in-

fantry soldiers. I was also in charge of the outer pickets

and Union scouting parties on the roads leading from

Winchester to and through Front Royal and Strasburg

to the southward.

General Milroy's headquarters were in Winchester.

I reported in person, about midnight of June 12, 1863,

to General Milroy that I had acquired reliable informa-

tion that a large body of Lee's Confederate Army was

coming by way of Front Royal into the Shenandoah

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(416)

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The Story of a Flag                      417

 

 

 

 

 

 

SKETCH OF GENERAL J. WARREN KEIFER

From   "Who's Who in America"

 

KEIFER, J. WARREN, born in Bethel Township, Clark County, Ohio,

January 30, 1835, the son of Joseph and Mary (Smith) Keifer; educated

at Antioch College; married Eliza Stout of Springfield, Ohio, March 22,

1860. In law practice at Springfield, Ohio, since January 12, 1858; president

of Lagonda National Bank since 1873. Major of the 3rd Ohio Infantry,

April 27, 1861; Lieutenant-Colonel February 12, 1862; Colonel of the 110th

Ohio Infantry, September 30, 1862; Breveted; Brigadier-General of Volun-

teers, October 19, 1864, "for gallant and meritorious service in battles of

Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Middletown, Virginia."  Major-General of

Volunteers, April 9, 1865, for same, during campaign ending with sur-

render of General Lee; wounded four times; honorably mustered out,

June 27, 1865; appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the 26th U. S. Infantry,

November 30, 1866, but declined; Major-General of Volunteers, June 9,

1898-May 12, 1899, War with Spain. Member of Ohio Senate, 1868-9;

delegate-at-large to the National Republican Convention, 1876, delegate,

1908; member of 45th-48th Congresses (1877-85) and 59th-61st Con-

gresses (1905-11), seventh Ohio district; speaker U. S. House of Rep-

resentatives, 47th Congress.  Trustee of Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Or-

phans' Home 1870-8, 1903-4; trustee of Antioch College since 1873. Na-

tional member of Perry's Victory Centennial Commission, 1911-13. Life

Member Interparliamentary Peace Conference of the World, Paris, 1913.

Member of G. A. R. (department commander 1868-70, vice commander in

chief 1871-2), Military Order Loyal Legion, (commander, Ohio Com-

mandery, 1903-4); Spanish War Veterans (an organizer, first commander

in chief, 1900-1); Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society life

member; trustee 1922-. Author: Slavery and Four Years of War, 1900.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vol. XXXI-27.

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418     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Valley to capture his command on its movement north-

ward, and I then appealed to Milroy to forthwith evac-

uate Winchester and retreat to Martinsburg or Harper's

Ferry, Virginia. Milroy refused vehemently to listen to

my appeal or to believe that any force other than scout-

ing cavalry was being sent into the Valley and they

only to frighten him with his command to evacuate it.

As early as the 11th of June Colonel Donn Piatt,

General Schenck's chief of staff, after inspecting the

post at Winchester, wired Milroy to immediately take

steps to move his command to Harper's Ferry. This

led Milroy to wire General Schenck that he had "suf-

ficient force to hold the place, etc.", which led Schenck

on June 12 to practically suspend Colonel Piatt's order.

Not until June 14 did the authorities at Washington

become satisfied that Milroy's forces were in danger of

capture and on that date President Lincoln dispatched

General Schenck thus:

 

"Get Milroy from Winchester to Harper's Ferry if possible.

He will be 'gobled up' if he remains, if he is not already past

salvation."

 

On the 13th of June, I, with my brigade, under or-

ders from General Milroy, met, fought and held back

the advance of Ewell's troops south of Winchester, and

again on the 14th of June I fought a portion of the

enemy on and near the Romney Road, but at night the

Union troops were pushed back mainly to the heights

west of Winchester, and all Ewell's forces were fast

surrounding Winchester and the principal fort on the

heights.

Milroy called at night a council of war and the gen-

eral view expressed was that retreat was impossible and

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The Story of a Flag           419

surrender must take place when morning came. My

opinion was not called for, but I volunteered to say that

I could start that night, avoiding roads and the enemy,

and escape with my command by mountain roads over

Apple Pie Ridge and safely reach Maryland. This led

General Milroy to order a retreat northward on the

Martinsburg Pike with a hope that the Confederate line

of investment could be there broken so as to let the in-

fantry and cavalry through.  The artillery, trains,

camp equipage and supplies were to be abandoned.

My request to be allowed to escape with my com-

mand led General Milroy to assign me to lead and com-

mand the advance of his army on its retreat towards

Martinsburg, and I can only say here that after a most

sanguinary battle near Stephenson's Depot and on the

Martinsburg Road, about five miles north of Winches-

ter, principally fought by troops under my command,

Johnson's Confederate Division was defeated and the

Union forces generally succeeded in retreating to Har-

per's Ferry and other places north, but, of course, with-

out artillery, trains, tents, camp equipage and supplies,

leaving also the wounded and sick in the hospital.

And now for the history of the flag.

There was one principal fort on the heights, already

mentioned, on which my command was encamped, con-

sisting, in large part, of Ohio troops, the 110th O. V. I.,

commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Otho H. Binkley,

and the 122nd O. V. I., commanded by Colonel William

H. Ball. Lieutenant-Colonel Moses M. Granger of the

122nd was prominently present. The fort was a strong

one, well supplied with guns and artillerists, but too

small for even a considerable part of my command.

The decision to retreat, as already stated, made it

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420     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

important to leave the investing forces ignorant of its

evacuation of Winchester as long as possible, in order

to delay pursuit.

So, before retreating and about 2 A. M., June 15,

1863, the now memorable flag was, under my direction,

raised high on the pole on the fort and left to indicate

its occupancy. After daylight the Confederates ap-

proached the fort slowly only to find it empty and un-

defended.

They captured it triumphantly, and the flag as a

trophy of war.

A spirited Union girl, Annie Jackson, a Quaker by

birth, residing with her family in Winchester, and some

other loyal persons, discovered the Confederates had

taken down the flag and boxed it up for shipment as a

trophy to Richmond. She succeeded in breaking open

the box containing the flag and removed it therefrom

and hid it from discovery when its recapture was dis-

covered, sometimes wearing it under her outer skirt.

Annie Jackson was a friend and acquaintance of

myself and my wife who had visited me while I was

stationed in the Valley.

It will be remembered that the flag was captured

only fifteen days before the battle of Gettysburg, June

1-3, 1863, the turning decisive battle of the Civil War.

Annie Jackson married, February 15, 1864, Jonah

L. Reese, and afterward lived in the West, but she is

now a widow, resident of Winchester, Virginia. The

flag was put for a time for safe keeping into the hands

of Colonel William S. Starr, of the 9th West Virginia

Infantry, who, for certain identification put his name

on it. The first time the flag was unfurled after its

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The Story of a Flag           421 capture and recapture was in Cincinnati, Ohio, when Honorable Ben Butterworth was elected to Congress. Mrs. Annie Jackson Reese recently, by mail, advised me that she was in possession of the flag and offered to send it to me for preservation or for such distribu- tion as I might think best.  It was most thankfully accepted and reached me about January 7, 1922, in fairly good condition. It is now presented to the great and patriotic Archaeological and Historical Society of Ohio for its care and preservation.

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