This is an original fragment of a Civil War battleflag carried by the 46^th Illinois Volunteers framed in a simple rectangular wood frame likely not long after the 1930 dated card mounted on the back of the frame written by the veteran who preserved it. Written in brown ink in shaky hand, the card reads, “Piece of the old Regimental Flag, I followed for many a day. From B.S. St. John 1930.” The fragment itself is placed lengthwise in the frame, and consists of a blue silk swath, shredded, but still retaining a gold or yellow painted star at center. This is on a white background and below it is written in narrow black ink, “From first regiment flag, 46^th Ill. V.V.I. Dec. 28, 1861.”

The veteran was Bela Taylor St. John, who was born in 1843 in Cayuga County, NY, but moved around a bit in the Midwest throughout his life and ended up in Oregon. He was in Illinois when the war started and enlisted 1 November 1861 as private, listing his residence as Genesee, and mustered into Co. E of the 46^th Illinois on December 1. He reenlisted as a veteran in 1863, was promoted First Sergeant, and mustered out at Baton Rouge in January 1866. The regiment did some very active campaigning and fought at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg, among other well-known battles.

The date below the flag fragment is when the regiment officially organized at Camp Butler, Illinois. It was ordered to Cairo, Feb. 11, 1862, and from there to Fort Donelson, where it served under Lew Wallace and lost 1 man killed and 2 wounded in the fighting of February 15, just one day after its arrival. It was heavily engaged at Shiloh on both April 6 and April 7, losing over half of its officers and men in killed and wounded. In May it took part in the siege of Corinth and in October marched to the relief of Corinth and fought at the Battle of the Hatchie, or Metamora, the last battle of the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, where its Colonel was mortally wounded.  In May, 1863, it joined the Vicksburg campaign, taking part in assaults on May 19 and 20, and had the misfortune to lose 111 officers and men captured from five companies on picket duty on May 25. The remainder of the regiment took was active in the siege of Vicksburg, and the advance on and the siege of Jackson. It mustered in as a veteran regiment in January 1864 and on return from furlough, participated in several expeditions, including the Jackson expedition in July, losing 3 killed, 36 wounded, 1 captured and 3 missing. In early 1865 it was part of the campaign against Mobile, siege of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, etc. At the end of the fighting it did guard and garrison duty, etc., in Louisiana, mustering out Jan. 20, 1866, at Baton Rouge. It arrived at Springfield, Ill., on the 27th, and on Feb. 1 the regiment was finally paid and discharged. It lost 7 officers and 74 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded during its service.

St. John was active in the G.A.R. though usually at some distance from his former comrades, but sent several letters to veterans of the unit occasioned by reunions. Initiation to an October 1922 reunion sparked memories of some sixty years earlier: “It was a find autumn day Oct. 4^, 1862, when we left Bolivar, Tenn., not knowing just where we were going but found out the morning of the 5^th without having to guess. Then the return trip with the wounded, and a couple of days later starting for Freeport with the remains of Col. Davis and Lieut. Thompson. Lieut. McKibben, of Company K, had charge of the escort, of which I was one. We were a dirty lot, glad to get back into a civilized place and to sleep in good beds. I don’t know what people thought of us…” Online sources illustrate two photographs of St. John in uniform: one as a rather fresh looking recruit; the other with more service, alongside a companion from the regiment. He spent his last years in Clackamas County, Oregon, and died there 3 December 1930, the same year he wrote the descriptive label for the flag fragment he had treasured.  [sr] [ph:L]

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