6th Texas Cavalry Regiment 3×5 Printed Polyester Battle Flag

This unusual variant of the first national-style Confederate flag was carried by the 6th Texas Cavalry. This flag is a reproduction and is designed to look as much like the original flag that was carried into battle by the 6th Texas as possible. The design features eleven small stars that are arranged inside a single large central star that appears within the canton. The eleven smaller stars represent the eleven secessionist states. The one larger star in the center represents Texas. The artwork and the lettering are visible on both sides of the flag. The lettering reads correctly from one side only.

History of the 6th Texas Cavalry
Organized and mustered into service in Dallas, Texas September 6th, 1861, recruiting men from the counties of Dallas, Kaufman, Fannin, Henderson, Collin, Grayson, and Van Zandt. The roughly 1150 men were organized into ten companies along with Throckmorton’s company of mounted rifles which was a Texas State militia from Collin County. The 6th Texas Cavalry participated in more than eighty-five skirmishes and battles including Pea Ridge, Holly Springs, The Atlanta Campaign, and General John Bell Hood’s operations in northern Georgia and Alabama. The first action seen by the 6th Texas Cavalry was at Chustenahlah Indian territory on Battle Creek, on December 26th, 1861. After the battle of Pea Ridge which was fought March 6th – 8th 1862, the 6th Texas was dismounted and their horses were sent back home to Texas while the men were sent to Shiloh to help General PGT Beauregard’s army, but were not able to reach their destination before the battle was already over. Only 4 months after the 6th Texas was dismounted, a “detail party” from each company was sent back to Texas to retrieve the horses to Mississippi. Before their horses were returned, The 6th Texas Cavalry was involved in the battle of Corinth on October 3rd and 4th 1862 where they suffered heavy losses, and some men were taken, prisoner. The 6th Texas along with the 3rd, 9th, and 27th cavalries were remounted in November of 1862 and were organized into what was known as the Texas Cavalry Brigade under the command of General Earl Van Dorn. In December of 1862, Colonel Griffith of the 6th Texas conceived a plan to attack Union troops at the Holly Springs supply depot where they captured the entire garrison along with $1.5 million worth of much-needed supplies intended for General Grant’s advance toward Vicksburg. During the Atlanta Campaign, the 6th Texas spent 112 days constantly under fire and engaged the enemy a total of eighty-six times. After the fall of Atlanta, the 6th Texas joined General John Bell Hood’s march into Tennessee where they served as rear guards, raided Union supply trains, and battled Union Cavalry. During the withdrawal from Nashville, they served in one of two brigades under General Nathan Bedford Forrest protecting the Confederate retreat. When the Texas brigade surrendered on May 4th, 1865 at Jackson Mississippi, its brigade commander, Lawrence Sullivan Ross was in Texas trying to recruit replacements for the depleted ranks. The men of the 6th Texas Cavalry along with the rest of the Texas Brigade were paroled in mid-May, just a few days after their surrender and they made their way back home to Texas.

This flag is a reproduction that closely resembles the one carried by the 6th Texas Cavalry during the Civil War. The exact size and materials are not the same as the original flag. All of the artwork is visible on both sides of the flag and the lettering reads correctly from one side only.