Flagman

“ The limited whistled again, just around the curve, and then I heard the flagman give a yell and start up the hill, waving his flag like mad. I jumped up and saw that a buggy containing two women had just started down and that the horse was beyond control. ”

“ The sun is slowly sinking in the west. The men of the army and navy are drawn up at attention. At every fort, army post, and navy yard, and on every American battle-ship at home or abroad, the flag of our country is flying at full mast. The sunset gun will soon be fired, and night will follow the day as darkness follows the light. All is ready, the signal is given, the men salute, and the flag to the band's accompaniment of "The Star Spangled Banner" slowly descends for the night to be folded and kept for the morning's hoisting. ”

“ There is an odd thing about that flag, when you meet it on the high seas and the wind is blowing hard—namely, that of all flags I know it is the most alive, when the wind blows, the most eager and keen, with the stripes flowing and darting like snakes, and the stars seeming to dance with the joy of excitement. ”

“ From clanking spur to epaulette with stars and golden lines;
He knows how potent is the spell such ornaments impart
To make of soldiers demi-gods in woman's gentle heart.
"The Flag! The Flag!" The crowd is thrilled to see it now advance!
Hail, Colors of the Fatherland! Hail, Banner of Fair France!
Hail, wounded emblem of the brave; blood-red, and heaven's blue,
And purest white,—the noble Flag, now waving in our view!
Standard sublime, that moves all hearts, as now thy form unrolls,
Our dead seem shrouded in thy folds, stirred by the breath of souls! ”

“ To feel the stress and the strain
Of the wind and the reeling main,
Whose roar
Would remind them forevermore
Of their native forests they should not see again.
And everywhere
The slender, graceful spars
Poise aloft in the air,
And at the mast-head,
White, blue, and red,
A flag unrolls the stripes and stars.
Ah! when the wanderer, lonely, friendless,
In foreign harbors shall behold
That flag unrolled,
'T will be as a friendly hand
Stretched out from his native land,
Filling his heart with memories sweet and endless! ”

“ Dear little flag in the window there, Hung with a tear and a woman's prayer, Child of Old Glory, born with a star— Oh, what a wonderful flag you are! Blue is your star in its field of white, Dipped in the red that was born of fight; Born of the blood that our forebears shed To raise your mother, The Flag, o'er-head. And now you've come, in this frenzied day, To speak from a window—to speak and say: "I am the voice of a soldier son, Gone, to be gone till the victory's won. ”

“ Going out presently in search of water for my master, I witnessed the very act of lowering the flag which was flying at the gaff, that being one of the few spars, with the remains of the mizzen-mast, that remained standing. The glorious flag, the emblem of our honor, pierced and tattered as it was, which had gathered so many fighting-men under its folds, ran down the rope never to be unfurled again. ”

“ When carried by the lone soldier on horse or on foot between the armies it has a significance that is always respected, and on the sea the hoisting of this flag at the ship’s mast or the carrying of the flag of white by boat to the enemy stops the firing of the guns. ”

“ William, you were not on that unfortunate boat with me when she was burned, and I think you never saw James B——, my colored steward on that boat. He was of the same race as the millions of men, women and children that are held in bondage under the flag that flies at our mast-head. The only shameful thing that can be said of the old flag is that it protects men in doing so foul a deed. ”

“ The blood of our foemen has darken’d our streams,
And his helmet is cloven in two.
For aye be it thus, while in right there is might,
On God crowns the strife of the free;
And for aye wave our Flag in the sun’s golden light,
The beacon of young Liberty! ”

“ As night came down, and land and shimmering sea was bathed in the white light of the sub-tropics, the strains of the “Star-Spangled Banner” were borne upon the air and fell away softly, as if coming from across the water. Every man uncovered and stood with silent lips, and eyes fixed upon Old Glory until the last echoing note died in the distance, then turned again to duties; but upon his face was stamped the deeper understanding of the meaning of it all—of Flag, and Home, and Country. ”

“ Why, it was a shame for so young a man as he felt himself to snooze like a doddering old chap in a chimney corner. He wouldn't do it! No sir, not he! He watched the flag—his flag with loving eyes, until it appeared to grow in size, and quite insidiously the throb of the little screw became the tremor of a huge ship in the open sea. The horizon widened until land was nowhere in sight and nothing could be seen in the offing save the far lying smoke of the others of the fleet which were now surely following the flagship in a splendid cruise of magnificent distances. ”

“ After dinner, Governor Andrew made an address that will, I think, ever be remembered by the members of the old 32nd. I cannot remember all he said, but some of his eloquent words still linger in my memory:
I cannot, soldiers of the Union Army, by words, in a fitting measure, repeat your praise. This battle-flag, riddled with shot and torn with shell, is more eloquent than human voice, more pathetic than song. This flag tells what you have done, it reveals what you have borne, and it shall be preserved as long as a thread remains, a memorial of your valor and patriotism. ”

“ The old flag has for the British soldier a meaning so deep and powerful that it is impossible to put it into words. It is but a piece of silk, often faded and tattered, and rent with shot: but it is a symbol, and symbols are amongst the most sacred things on earth. It means for the soldier his Queen and his country, and all the honour, loyalty, truth, and heroism they demand of him. Therefore it is that men will follow their colours down into the dreadful pit, and would be willing to die twice for them rather than let them be taken by an enemy ”

“ Here it was that the normal forest and swamp had been subjugated by man. Presently we came in sight of a flag fluttering from a lofty pine, which had been stripped of its branches, throwing broad bars of red and white to the air, with a blue square in the upper quarter containing seven stars. “That’s our [132] flag,”—said the engineer, who was a quiet man, much given to turning steam cocks, examining gauges, wiping his hands in fluffy impromptu handkerchiefs, and smoking tobacco—“That’s our flag! ”

“ Above everything else he was an American through and through. He was proud of his country, of its traditions, of its history, of its glorious flag. For that flag he had risked his life again and again. He loved it with a consuming passion. Old Glory! The tears came to his eyes as he thought of it. The flag that had always stood for human freedom and human rights, the flag that had never covered an ignoble cause, the flag that had never been sullied by stain, had never been smirched by defeat, had never been dragged in the dust. ”

“ There is no superfluous rigging to thicken her gear. Whatever is not wanted is removed. Her long pennant floats languidly down the topgallant mast, and at her gaff-end ripples the flag of Great Britain—the fighting flag of the State; the flag that, by the victory at Trafalgar but a few years since, was hauled to the very masthead of the world, with such stout hearts still left, in this year of God 1814, to guard the hilliards, that one cannot recall their names without a glow of pride coming into the cheek and a deeper beat entering every pulse. ”

“ DECLAMATORY, insistent, cynical, the voice of the youngest man came through the darkness of the tropical night to the little group of wanderers seated on the veranda, “Patriotism? Flag worship! Old fogy idea! What is a flag, after all? A mere piece of bunting for which wise men hire fools to fight!” ”

“ The sight of a torn battle-flag is worth more to me than all the banners in any Knight Templar’s procession. The flag cost men’s lives, and an empty sleeve has more in it, so to speak, than the finest Knight Templar’s uniform in the procession, more of history, of patriotism, and of true religion. ”

“ They've all that and we have n't; we can't compete with them in any of those things. Let them brag of their cathedrals, and art-galleries, and court-balls, and all the rest of it. They are wonderful. But that flag stands for the most wonderful thing in all the world, for the finest thing the world has ever produced yet. Not for talk about brotherhood, but for the real thing. That 's my view, you understand."
"I comprehend indeed," René repeated. "And how long will that flag stay there?" ”

“ Affixed to the very top of this, the royal flag, commonly called banner, flies in the wind. For the protection of this machine, especially in battle in the open, a selected band of soldiers is appointed, so that it may not be broken down by onrush of the enemy or overthrown by any injury, for if by any chance it should be overthrown the army would be dispersed and confounded, because it would not know in what part of the field to rally. Moreover, the hearts of the soldiers would be filled with the fear that their leader had been overcome if they did not see his banner borne aloft. ”

“ I have before me "The Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Army," issued by the Commander-in-chief, in which flags which can be flown only on shore are confounded with flags which can be flown nowhere but on board ship. Yet the subject is really an interesting one, and, connected as it is with national history, it is deserving of a little study.
Flags are of many kinds, and they are put to many uses. They are the representatives of nations; they [pg 13] distinguish armies and fleets, and to insult a flag is to insult the nation whose ensign it is. ”

“ The distinguishing badge of the colour-sergeant consists of crossed colours, embroidered on the sleeve above the chevrons of his rank.
It has taken something like a thousand years of time to build up the British Empire, while the lavish outlay of toil and forethought of statesmen, the ceaseless spending of blood and treasure, the brilliant strategy by land and sea of a long line of distinguished commanders have all contributed to its birth and proud maintenance; and of all this devotion in the past and the determination to uphold it in the future, the flag is the living concrete symbol. ”

“ Running for the flag is a game in which the fleetness and bottom of the horse are tested perhaps more than the expertness of the rider. A number of cavaliers having assembled, one of them taking a small flag, or crimson scarf; or pistol cover embroidered by the fair hands of the belle of the aoul, starts off on the gallop, his prize streaming in the wind like a meteor. ”

“ The British flag, always a pleasant feature in a foreign land, as it tells so much of home and safety, was flying above the Garrison,—an extensive range of edifices, at the southern horn of the bay; while the northern is occupied by a battery, the guns of which, peered over a ridge of low coral reefs, whereon the sea was breaking in white foam that sparkled in the light of the setting sun. ”

“ Greeting our flag with
A thunder of cheers.
THE OLD FLAG [Written July 4, 1863.]
Have ye heard of Fort Donelson's desperate fight,
Where the giant Northwest bared his arm for the right,
Where thousands so bravely went down in the slaughter,
And the blood of the West ran as freely as water;
Where the Rebel Flag fell and our banner arose
O'er an army of captured and suppliant foes?
Lo—torn by the shot and begrimed by the powder,
The Old Flag is waving there prouder and prouder. ”

“ It must be remembered that flags at sea have to be distinguished not only when a fair breeze is unfurling them plainly to the view; they have also to be distinguished in a dead calm when they hang down along the halyards, and when distance and haze lend enchantment to the view but not to the signalman. ”

“ Anyone venturing to point out to the authorities thereof that, as the old church could scarcely take up its position as a unit in our fighting fleet—having, in fact, quite another mission in the world—the special flag of the Royal Navy was not the most appropriate, would probably derive from the interview the impression that, after all, to the churchwardens a flag was a flag, and that it was quite possible to make a mountain out of a molehill. ”

“ And see, the flag is still flying above the old house over the water, and a lad who erst played under it, looks up at the banner with a proud sorrow. An elder actor puts his hands on the lad's shoulder, and cries: "Before the old scene is on again, boy, thy face will be as battered as the flag there on the roof-top!" ”

“ At any parade of troops before the sovereign the regimental flags are lowered as they pass the saluting point, and at sea the colours are dipped by hauling them smartly down from the mast-head and then promptly replacing them. They must not be suffered to remain at all stationary when lowered, as a flag flying half-mast high is a sign of mourning for death, for defeat, or for some other national loss, and it is scarcely a mark of honour or respect to imply that the arrival of the distinguished person is a cause of grief or matter for regret. ”

“ The followers of each leader, appalled at the fierce [Pg 85] ness of the combat, stood as though frozen in their places. The flag, clutched by both fighters, was in danger of being torn from end to end. Then came the clinch. Gripping, writhing, twisting, tangled in the colors, the lithe young bodies wavered to their fall. And when they fell the flag fell with them, into the grime and slush of the road. In an instant Pen was on his feet again, but Aleck did not rise. ”