cut a square of gay, red damask from the back 

 of a drawing-room chair, saying, "Colopel, 

 make this your standard." It was mounted on 

 a hickory pole and borne at the head of his 

 troops till the end of the war. In 1827 it was 

 presented to the Washington Light Infantry 

 of Charleston by Mrs. Jane Elliot Washington, 

 in person, and is one of our most treasured 

 banners. 



413. Gatinois Regiment.' 414. SaintognE 

 Regiment. 415. Royal Deux Ponts. — A num- 

 ber of French regiments were sent to America 

 during the Revolutionary War. All served 

 with gallantry and distinction, Savannah and 

 Yorktown both being honored by their ener- 

 getic and fearless fighting. The flags of all 

 these- regiments followed one general pattern, 

 the basic idea being a white flag with colored 

 triangles making squares in the corners and 

 leaving a white cross extending across the cen- 

 ter. They were about four feet square and 

 the colors were painted on them. 



The Gatinois regiment (413) was formed in 

 1776 out of two sections of a famous old 

 French regiment of Auvergne, and in honor 

 of its gallant conduct at Yorktown was ever 

 after known as the Royal Auvergne. 



The blue, red, green, and yellow triangles of 

 the flag of the Saintogne regiment (414). speak 

 eloquently of dashing courage and hearty loy- 

 alty at Yorktown. 



Each arm of the St. Andrew's cross in the 

 Royal Deux Ponts (415) bears the golden 

 fleur-de-lis of France, while a crown holds the 

 center. Quartered on the flag are the arms of 

 -the Duke of Deux "Ponts over red and blue 

 stripes. 



Rochambeau, a French count, with the rank 

 of lieutenant general, was in command of the 

 6,000 troops sent to our aid. He displayed a 

 fine spirit throughout the war, maintaining his 

 soldiers as part of the American army and 

 holding himself as entirely under Washing- 

 ton's command. (See "Our First Alliance," by 

 J. J. Jusserand, National Geographic Maga- 

 zine, June, 1917.) 



416. Ansbach.— Three Ansbach Bayreuth 

 colors are now in the chapel at West Point. 

 They were among the German colors captured 

 at Yorktown. All are similar in main design, 

 made of heavy white damask, embroidered in 

 colored silk. On one side is the red Branden- 

 burg eagle, with the words, "Pro Principe et 

 Patria" on the scroll above. The other side 

 shows the green laurel and palm, with the 

 monogrammed letters S. ET C. A., the first 

 four letters of which stand for "Sinceriter et 

 Constanter" and the last for Prince Alexan- 

 der, then reigning. It is supposed that eigh- 

 teen German colors were surrendered at York- 

 town ; but the others are missing. 



417. New York Regiment. — "it is surprising 

 to note how few regimental flags used in the 

 Revolution are in existence today. This is the 

 most elaborate and detailed of any of them. 

 It was made in 1778 or 1779, and is approxi- 

 mately six feet square, of dark blue silk with 

 a blue fringe, and bears on each side the arms 

 of the State. These arms from that far-away 

 day to this have remained practically un- 

 changed in general design. The two figures 



are clad in costumes of the day. The dresses 

 are of. cloth of gold, with red mantles. 



This regimental color was carried by Col. 

 Peter Gansevoort at Yorktown. This is the 

 same Colonel Gansevoort who was in command 

 of Fort Stanwix, or Fort Schuyler, when he 

 caused to be hoisted the first Stars and Stripes 

 over a fort or garrison of the army, August 3, 

 T-777- (See History of Stars and Stripes in 

 this number.) 



418. Bucks of America. — John Hancock 

 whose presence in Lexington was an addi- 

 tional cause of the sortie that led to the fa- 

 mous battle, and who, with Adams, was espe- 

 cially excepted in the pardon issued on the 

 12th of June, 1775, by General Gage, as being 

 "of too flagitious a nature to admit of any 

 other consideration than that of condign pun- 

 ishment," yet lived to a ripe old age, and be- 

 came the first Governor of the State of Massa- 

 chusetts. After the close of the Revolution, 

 one of his official acts as Governor was to pre- 

 sent this banner to the colored company, called 

 the "Bucks of America," in acknowledgment 

 of their valor. The flag is badly faded now, 

 yet shows unmistakable signs of former beauty. 

 The stars in the blue union were gilded. In 

 size it is a little over five feet long by three 

 and one-half feet wide. Notice the "Buck''' 

 under the green tree. 



419. Tallmadge'4 Dragoons. — Many a dar- 

 ing exploit of Major Tallmadge, of Connecti- 

 cut, and his dragoons adds luster to this flag. 

 On September 5, i?79, without the loss of a 

 man, Tallmadge captured 500 Tories at Lloyd's 

 Neck, on Long Island. His men fought -at 

 Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. 

 This pink flag of very thin silk is about two 

 and one-half feet square. The two wings on 

 the center disk are of silver, while the ten rays 

 are golden. The canton deserves especial men- 

 tion, as the thirteen stripes are made by six 

 strips of white ribbon sewed to the silk of the 

 flag. It is remarkably well preserved. 



420. - Webb's Regiment. — This little flag be- 

 longed to the troops under Colonel Webb, un- 

 doubtedly the Third Connecticut Regiment, 

 which during the course of the war was made 

 up from the depleted Second and the Ninth. 

 It is a small, tattered, yellow flag. A pink rib- 

 bon ties the green wreath, while the sword is 

 painted the color of steel, and the "I" is black 

 An old account of the colors of the various 

 Connecticut troops states that the flag of the 

 first regiment was yellow; so it is possible that 

 originally this was the banner of that unit. 



421. The golden lilies of France (reduced 

 to three in number by Charles V in 1365) were 

 borne by many intrepid explorers anxious to 

 expand the dominion of the Bourbons in the 

 New World. Joliet and Marquette, the pioneer 

 missionaries who rediscovered the Father of 

 Waters, and La Salle, Iberville, and Bienville, 

 who figured so conspicuously in the history of 

 the exploration and colonization of Louisiana, 

 all bore the fleurs-de-lis in the wilderness. 



422. French Flag, Champlain axd De 

 GrassE. — This was the ensign of daring Sam- 

 uel de Champlain as he sailed down the lake 

 that bears his name. It was also the flag of 

 Count De Grasse, who, with his fleet of twenty- 

 four ships of the line, sailed from the West 



353 



