4th Kentucky Orphan Brigade 3'x5' Polyester Flag
Units of the Orphan Brigade were involved in many military engagements in the American South during the war, including the Battle of Shiloh. In 1862, Breckinridge was promoted to division command and was succeeded in the brigade by Brig. Gen. Roger W. Hanson. At the Battle of Stones River, the brigade suffered heavy casualties in an assault on January 2, 1863, including General Hanson. Breckinridge—who vehemently disputed the order to charge with the army's commander, General Braxton Bragg—rode among the survivors, crying out repeatedly, "My poor Orphans! My poor Orphans," noted brigade historian Ed Porter Thompson, who used the term in his 1868 history of the unit.
The name came from how the Confederacy viewed its soldiers from Kentucky (which remained in the Union, but was represented by a star in both country's flags). The term was not in widespread use during the war, but it became popular afterwards among the veterans.
The Orphan Brigade lost another commander at the Battle of Chickamauga, when Benjamin Hardin Helm, Abraham Lincoln's brother-in-law, was mortally wounded on September 20, 1863, and died the following day. Major Rice E. Graves, the artillery commander, was also mortally wounded.
The Orphan Brigade served throughout the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, then were converted to mounted infantry and opposed Sherman's March to the Sea. They ended the war fighting in South Carolina in late April 1865, and surrendered at Washington, Georgia, on May 6–7, 1865.
This flag’s material is a filament, warp knit polyester, producing a flag of good durability and color retention. This polyester material has an open weave that allows the flag to fly in very light breezes. Featuring white Polyester Duck heading and brass grommets.
From Ruffin Flag Supply ..Washington Georgia USA...Great American Company!
