TSLAC 306-4035
Granbury's Texas Brigade - 6th Infantry and 15th Texas Cavalry (dismounted), Consolidated

This is a Hardee pattern battle flag, blue with white oval, within which is a Texas star. This type of flag is named after William Hardee, a commander in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. In the spring of 1864, most units of the Army of Tennessee adopted the well-known Confederate battle flag, but units serving under General Pat Cleburne were allowed to retain the older flag as a mark of respect.

Two of these units were the 6th Texas Infantry, organized near Victoria in 1861, and the 15th Texas Cavalry (dismounted), organized near McKinney in early 1862. The two units were deployed to Arkansas in summer 1862. On January 11, 1863, they were taken prisoner at Arkansas Post and held for three months in prison camps in Illinois. After being exchanged, the 6th and 15th were consolidated along with six other units as Granbury’s Texas Brigade, under the command of Brigadier General Hiram Granbury, a Waco attorney.

As part of Cleburne’s division, Granbury’s Brigade won notice for its role in saving the Confederate army during its retreat from Chattanooga. The units were part of numerous actions in the Atlanta campaign. In the fall of 1864, they replaced a tattered flag (since lost) with this one, which was carried into the bloody carnage of battles of Franklin and Nashville and to the final surrender at Greensboro, North Carolina in May 1865. Several Texans died carrying this flag, and there are stains on the flag which may be blood. Captain Mark Kelton of the 6th Texas concealed the flag under his clothes rather than turn it over to Federal troops at the surrender ceremony. He took the flag home and, in 1885, donated it to the state of Texas.

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