The US Congress and a bloody flag

          Your Loyal Blogger is flummoxed. Stuck. Unable to find a way.

          Really sort of irritated about it, too.

          You can fight City Hall, if you understand how and if your cause is an accurate one. You can fight public perception if you understand how (you don’t have to be right to do this, just need to know how). You can even fight against the constant and metronomic march of Time if your ego demands that you do so.

          But fight to get the attention of the Congress of the United States? Hah! Can’t be done without a checkbook big enough to fund a super PAC.

          The issue is this:

          George W. Thomkins was a corporal in the 124^th New York Infantry on March 25, 1865 when the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia mounted a last-gasp attack at the Union Army of the Potomac near Petersburg, Virginia. The Confederates, under the command of Robert E. Lee, were trying to break away from the grasp of the Union army, led by U.S. Grant.

Fort Stedman today.

          The attack showed some initial promise but the Confeds were eventually overwhelmed and pushed back. In the heat of the action, near a location within the Union lines known as Fort Stedman, Thomkins and a few others came upon a Confederate officer who was carrying a regimental flag and attempting to rally his troops.

Battle flag of the 59th Alabama

          Thomkins shot the enemy officer and severely wounded him. Thomkins captured the flag of the enemy regiment and, eventually, was awarded with the Congressional Medal of Honor.

          There is no dispute about the afore-mentioned action. The Confederates attacked, Thomkins and his comrades in the 124^th New York were part of the Union defense and Thomkins captured the flag. Period.

          The screw up came sometime later, no way to know exactly when. But sometime after Thomkins shot the Confederate officer and grabbed his flag, Thomkins’ actions were summed up by someone and that someone got it wrong. Bad keystroke by a US Army typist, maybe? Slip of the tongue by someone during the run-up to the decision to bestow the Medal of Honor on Thomkins? Could be.

          The problem is that Thomkins is credited with capturing the regimental flag of the 49^th Alabama while he actually captured the flag of the 59^th Alabama.

         

Daniel Shipman Troy

The Confederate officer Thomkins wounded was Daniel Shipman Troy of the 60^th Alabama, who was given the assignment of leading the 59^th Alabama in the attack on Fort Stedman. The two regiments had spent the war fighting side-by-side as both were originally part of Hilliard’s Legion, an outfit that was hammered to bits during the iron hail of the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. Troy was known to the men of the 59^th.

          The 49^th Alabama Infantry Regiment was not in Virginia on March 25, 1865. The 49^th was in North Carolina. The 49^th was not involved in the attack on Fort Stedman. The 49^th was not part of the Army of Northern Virginia. In fact, the 49^th was surrendered at Smithfield, North Carolina on April 9.

          The 59^th and 60^th were part of the attack against Fort Stedman. Both regiments were in the trenches in front of Petersburg, Virginia on March 25, 1865 and all three were part of the Army of Northern Virginia. They were under the command of Brigadier General Archibald Gracie until Gracie was killed in the trenches on December 2, 1864. The group continued to be known as Gracie’s Brigade through the end of the war.

          The flag Thomkins captured did come from an Alabama outfit, but not from the 49^th. It was the 59^th.

          Troy recovered from his wounds and was most grateful for his care. He changed faiths to honor the nurses who saw to his care and he lived until 1895. Troy never met Thomkins, but was put in contact with a Thomkins relative late in life and that relative reportedly told Troy that Thomkins would have been pleased to learn that Troy had survived his wounds.

          Your Loyal Blogger has seen the flag Thomkins captured. It rests in the archives of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, having been returned to the state by the federal government of the United States. Troy’s blood stains the flag to this day.

Could be Fort Stedman, not sure. It IS a federal position
at Petersburg in March of 1865, certainly depicts the
situation accurately.

        

  Several experts contacted on this matter agree that the 49^th Alabama was not in Virginia on March 25, 1865. The 59^th was there and attacked from a location known as Gracie’s Salient. All are in agreement that, given all the facts, Thomkins shot Troy and seized Troy’s regimental flag.

          Now then, how do you go about correcting the record?

          The offices of members of Congress in Alabama, New York and California do not return phone calls. The Library of Congress returns phone calls but can do nothing about 150-year old typos.

As for the military, well, those folks have enough troubles right now and that call has not been made. Probably wouldn’t get a return call and, anyway, it’s a Congressional issue.

Could not find an image of Thomkins. This is his
grave stone. Note the spelling of the name.

          It is frustrating to stand on history’s sideline, see a tape-delayed replay of the event and then be unable to signal the referees to fix the scoreboard. You can throw a red flag until you are blue on the face, but nobody is interested.

          This blogger hopes a reader will have an idea that might help get the process started to change the citation for Thomkins’ Medal of Honor. If so, please leave a note. History would be pleased and neither soldier would suffer.

          Oh, one other thing. Every piece of reference material this blogger has seen spells Thomkins as it is spelled here. His grave marker spells it differently. We'll fight one battle at a time.

          Thanks for reading.