The Marine Battalion’s Bull Run Flag

Friend Craig Swain sent this image of the flag carried by the U. S. Marine Battalion at First Bull Run. 

The flag is in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA.

Per Craig:

The caption under the flag reads:

Civil War Marine Corps Colors.

Maj. John Reynolds’ Marine Battalion reportedly carried this flag at the First Battle of Manassas, 21 July 1861.  The battalion, comprised primarily of raw recruits with three weeks’ service, suffered the same fate as the rest of the Federal army in their defeat by the Confederate Army.

Artifact tag number is 1974.2768.1.

You can view this and other images from Craig’s trip to the museum here.

Read more about the Marines at First Bull Run here, here, here, and here.