as the surviving confederates cut and ran, union officers picked up confederate battle flags that had fallen in combat and rode circles around the rebels, dragging the flags in the mud and blood behind their horses
today is the 161st anniversary of pickett’s charge, when 12,000 confederates marched across 3/4 of a mile of open land, directly into constant rifle and artillery fire. half the confederates were killed, wounded, or captured in the slaughter, a turning point in the battle of gettysburg and the war
"Get a flag, Corts; get a flag, Dave, and come on.’ We each took a flag and the general [Alexander Hayes] immediately dropped his flag behind his horse and trailed it in the dust and blood of the battlefield. Captain Corts and I did likewise, and we started on the grandest ride men ever took."
