Field Hospital Flag Exhibited in Atlanta Aided Stretcher-Bearers, Witnessed War's Horrors

By Phil Gast, 5-23-16

(Photographs courtesy of Atlanta History Center)

Before he became a renowned landscape and marine painter, Harrison Bird Brown created signs and banners. During the Civil War, his business in Portland, Maine, produced a U.S. Army field hospital flag that had a distinctive yellow background and contrasting green “H” for hospital (style specified in January 1864 Army regulations). One of Brown’s flags is among only a dozen such banners believed to have survived the Civil War.

Gordon Jones
The flag was donated last year to the Atlanta History Center, where it is displayed near the “Agonies of the Wounded” case at the center’s “Turning Point: The American Civil War” permanent exhibition. The Picket asked AHC senior military historian Gordon Jones about the donation from John and Joyce Shmale of Mahomet, Ill. (Jones first wrote about the gift in Civil War News). His responses have been edited.

Q. Any clue in which theater it was used?

A. None. It was made in Maine, so you have to think Eastern Theater, but you never know.

Q. Why did the Schmales (who each have worked in the medical field) donate it specifically to the AHC? Have they done so previously?

A. No, this was their first donation to us, but not their first donation to a museum. They were looking for a good home, not to sell it, and decided on the AHC due to a recommendation from their appraiser. On our end, we were thrilled beyond words. The DuBoses (an Atlanta father and son who amassed thousands of items) collected for 35 years and never found one – and this is not something you find every day, or something you can just buy from the antique store. We probably would have never had one had it not been for this donation. And it really helps our interpretation of medical treatment during the Civil War, which we cover in “Turning Point,” and is included on all the tours, especially for school groups.

Q. On the conservation of the 63-by-46-inch wool bunting flag by Kate R. Daniels, how much was involved in it? What shape was the flag beforehand?

A. The flag was in good shape beforehand and needed very little cleaning. The main thing Kate did was prepare the mount: a backboard to which is attached layers of soft cotton batting covered by plain-cotton cloth, then she lightly stitched the flag to the cloth. Then we had a local framer who prepares the frame – powder-coat aluminum frame with U/V-protected plexiglass front and cleats on the back for securing to the wall. This frame has to be precisely matched to the measurements of the backboard (everything has to be custom-made). The idea is that once the mount is placed in the frame, the flag is “sandwiched” securely between the cotton cloth and the plex front, preventing it from sliding around, stretching fibers, etc. It’s the safest way to treat a flat textile item like this. And, of course, we wanted the flag on display as soon as possible.

Q. Any general thoughts on the flag's significance? Why are they so rare?

A. It’s like a lot of other Civil War artifacts: That which was most common shall be least common. In other words, what was ordinary back then was not considered worthy of saving and was discarded, hence making it incredibly rare today. That is why enlisted soldier’s uniforms are so much rarer than fancy officer’s uniforms. Our artifact storage area is filled with wedding dresses and tuxedos. but no blue jeans – that sort of thing.

Q. Did a yellow or red field hospital flag prove effective in deterring enemy fire on the sites?

A. It was probably not about deterring enemy fire as much as being recognizable to one’s own stretcher-bearers in the smoke and confusion of battle. The field hospitals should have been far enough from the front lines to avoid direct fire, but they had to be easy to find in order to bring in the wounded quickly. The same type of flags, but larger, were used to designate buildings used as more permanent hospitals in towns and cities -- so again, to make sure everybody knew this was a medical facility. It was a way of making medical care more timely and efficient. If you recall how unprepared and overwhelmed the medical services on both sides were early in the war – hence the terrible suffering of the wounded -- you know why this was so important. (About 30,000 emergency amputations were conducted by U.S. Army surgeons during the war.)

From: civil-war-picket.blogspot.com

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Hospital Flags

By Jack Thomason

The US Army regulations (1854) called for a red flag for hospitals at the beginning of the war, dating back to the reorganization of Amy soon after the War with Mexico. Red flags were used, starting with the French Army in the 1700’s and later on in England. General Beauregard issued orders that red flags were to be used to mark the locations of Hospitals, of the Confederate Army of the Potomac. It appears that General Beauregard copied the U.S Army regulations of 1854. Several late war captured red Confederate Hospital flags survive.

The yellow quarantine flag was adopted, per Act of Congress, in 1798 to mark the locations of the “Marine Hospital Service” (Government run) Hospitals. The yellow quarantine flag was first used by the City of Philadelphia in 1699 to mark the locations of sick seamen under the maritime quarantine laws. In 1860 there were nineteen “Marine Hospital Service” hospitals along the eastern cost and several others along the Gulf of Mexico cost. At the beginning of the war those hospitals were taken over for military use in the north and south. The U.S. Army did not adopt the yellow hospital flag until 1862, General Orders 102, Army of the Potomac. The Department of the Rappahannock in 1863, General orders 53. The Department of the Cumberland as with the Army of Ohio later in 1863 adopted the yellow flag for hospitals. The Army of the West replaced the red flag for hospitals with an U.S. National flag in early 64. Later in 64 they conformed to an Act of Congress of the yellow flag with the green H.

The U.S. Hospital Department, the U.S. Medical Service and the Ambulance Department were separate departments and had deferent regulation regarding flags and the deferent departments had their own hospitals. In most cases the word hospital refers to the larger general hospitals in larger cities & towns, field hospitals located near the battle field and aid stations or ambulance depots located at the rear of the army on the field of battle.

The yellow flag shows up very early for Confederate hospitals regardless of the orders from General Beauregard. Many of those hospitals were run by civilian doctors so, I guess, Army regulations didn’t apply. As with the U.S. Army, the Confederate Medical Service and the Ambulance Department were deferent departments. The Ambulance Department pretty much followed orders on the use of red flags for their field hospitals and depots, while the Medical Department used yellow flags; they had more civilian doctors then the Ambulance Department. It is documented that in fairly safe areas, Hospitals were usually just marked by a national flag, both north and south. There is supported data that the Confederate Army used red and white flags to ID their Ambulance trains. There is also data that the U.S. Army used small Corps flags bordered in green on their Ambulance trains. By trains, I mean both the coal powered ones and the horse powered ones.

On the regimental level, both north & south, both color flags were used to mark aid stations. For more documentation on the use of yellow flags at this level of medical care for the troops. Contact: Jack Thomason

Image 1: Hospital flag 1861 - 1863

Image 2: Ambulance signal

Image 3: US Hospital flag adopted 1864

From: docthomason.org

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Civil War U. S. Hospital, Ambulance, and Related Flags (Excerpt)

By Tom Martin, vexillologist, purveyor of Piedmont Flag Company. (Piedmontflag.com), Winter, 2014

The first flags to indicate military hospitals were yellow. In 1861, nineteen hospitals of the Marine Hospital Service were taken over for use by the Army, and they continued to fly the yellow flag already customary for quarantined ships. (Yellow or white flags were sometimes flown at civilian homes where there was an outbreak of disease.) Despite red flags being specified in Army Regulations from 1854, yellow flags were generally, if informally, used thereafter to designate general hospitals, field hospitals, and ambulance depots (aid stations), although red and green flags were sometimes employed. (At that time green was the heraldic color of the Medical Department.) Sizes varied, and many flags had a green “H” in the middle. Ambulance flags were supposed to have a green border and not have the “H.”

“The ambulance depot, to which the wounded are carried or directed for immediate treatment, is generally established at the most convenient building nearest the field of battle. A red flag marks its place, or the way to it, to the conductors of the ambulance and to the wounded who can walk.” (US Army Revised Regulations 1861) 

The Confederate States generally matched US regulations, although used red flags more. Julian Chisolm, a Confederate surgeon, noted: 

"The members of the [Ambulance] Corps are designated by wearing around their caps a red band, with ambulance corps printed in conspicuous white letters.... If the body of troops about to entering into battle is a large one, with an extended line, several of those points - ambulance depots or field infirmary should be selected and marked by a suitable red flag, which designates the spot where those slightly wounded can seek surgical aid."

Another doctor noted how two Medical Department colors were useful to him: 

"Very fortunately, I had on my green sash, also a red flag was on the front part of the wagon, signs of the Medical Department. ..... "

A medical staff flag was discovered by Howard Michael Madaus, possibly a brigade or regimental surgeon’s flag. Another, now at the Delaware Historical Society, was used by the ambulance officer of the 1st Division, 2nd US Army Corps. It bears a red trefoil in the center of its green-bordered white field and the initials “E&H” on the heading, referring to the manufacturer Evens & Hassall. Other ambulance and medical officers likely used similar flags. 

Like hospitals, hospital trains carried red flags. Sometimes the cars would be painted red with white lettering “Hospital Train.” At night three red lanterns would be used as a signal of a hospital train.

"General Thomas accorded the fullest authority to Medical Director Cooper to select for the hospital trains the best locomotives and cars to be found among the rolling stock, and to have new cars fitted up whenever necessary, and caused to be detailed for the hospital service the most experienced conductors, engineers, and other employees of the several railway lines. Medical Director Cooper informs the reporter that the smoke-pipes of the locomotives of the hospital trains were painted of a brilliant scarlet; the exterior of the hood, and of the tender-car with water and fuel, were of the same conspicuous color, with gilt ornamentation. At night, beneath the head-light of the engine, three red lanterns were suspended in a row. These distinguishing signals were recognized by the Confederates, and the trains were never fired upon, or molested in any way. Dr. Cooper “was informed by wounded Confederate officers in Nashville, who were captured at the battle near that place, of the stringent orders given his troopers by General N. B. Forrest for the noninterference with and protection of the U. S. A. Hospital trains,” by giving them timely warning in the event of the railway being obstructed or torn up. The partizan troops of Colonel John Morgan’s command had similar instructions. It is related that on one occasion Colonel Morgan’s scouts stopped the train directed by Dr. Barnum, and having switched it off upon a siding, after enquiring if there were sufficient stores on the train for the sick and wounded, they tore up the main track, and then rifled and destroyed five supply trains that successively arrived at the point where the line was interrupted. … "

Both the U.S. Sanitary Commission and the U.S. Christian Commission used banners and flags to indicate their facilities. Sanitary Commission hospitals were typically marked by the yellow flag with a green “H”. Once the U.S. signed the Geneva Convention, the Red Cross flag was adopted. Its size and materials have varied over the years, and for different organizations, but its recognition under international law made it preferable to yellow or red. 

From: history.amedd.army.mil/newsletters

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