U.S. Infantry Regimental Color, 18th U. S. Regular Infantry
The design of the regimental color carried by the U.S. Army Infantry can be traced to the period immediately after the American Revolution. During that war, Army troops carried a pair of colors, one flag of a hue that matched the trim of their uniform, the other of blue, which was considered to be the national color. At first these colors were decorated with distinctive devices easily recognized by each regiments enlisted men and officers. After the war, however, the multiplicity of devices was replaced by a common symbol, the coat of arms of the United States. The blue flag with the U.S. arms served the U.S. Army as its national standard until the 1830s. Beginning in that decade, troops in the field were finally permitted to carry the Stars and Stripes.

The 18th Regiment of United States Regular Infantry was formed in 1861 as part of the Lincoln administrations expansion of the Army to meet the secession crisis. The 18th served in the western campaigns (in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia) during the Civil War, with noteable service at Murfreesboro (Stones River) and Chickamauga. After the War, the 18th was sent West to garrison the Bozeman Trail through Wyoming Territory. It garrisoned Fort Phil Kearny in 1866 during the events leading to the Fetterman Massacre.

This was the 18th U.S. Regular Infantry's regimental color in the period from 1865 through 1866. In the latter year, the 18th U.S. was garrisoned a Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming Territory during the "Fetterman Fight." When Fort Phil Kearny was abandoned, the adjutant of the 18th Infantry took this flag with him and it eventually passed to his descendants.

The field is made of dark blue banner silk, machine-stitched, and edged on three sides with a 2" twisted yellow silk fringe. There are thirty-five stars, painted gold, on the obverse side and reverse sides, for two arcs (18 over 17) over the fully painted rendition of the coat-of-arms of the United States (an eagle with a sky blue scroll held in its beak bearing the motto: "E PLURIBUS UNUM." A three-piece red scroll (edged in gold) below the coat-of-arms bears the inscription: "EIGHTEENTH"- "REGIMENT,"- " INFANTRY." Flag attached with sleeve.

The Howard Michael Madaus sub-collection of Civil War Military Flags was assembled from a variety of sources over a thirty-year period of collecting (1970-2000) before being acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection in 2000. The collection attempts to present an example of each of the major types of depot contractor regulation flags and colors carried by Union forces at the basic unit level, i.e. regiment, battalion, company, and battery, as well as the types of general military flags.

This sub-collection (Howard Michael Madaus collection) added to the Zaricor Civil War collection is the largest and (while not complete) most comprehensive collection of the military flags carried by the Union Army during the Civil War outside of state repositories designated by the War Department for the disposition of these flags after the War or in public museum collections. In fact this private collection is larger and more comprehensive than many of the public museum collections in the United States. This section, US // Regimental / Standard, does not contain the entire collection of Civil War flags from the Madaus and Zaricor Collections because it is specific to US infantry regimental flags, which are only one part of the collections.

Exhibition History:
First Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC0407)
U.S. Infantry Regimental Color (18th United States Regular Infantry)

Second Presidio Exhibit, 2003 - Gallery III
(ZFC0407)
United States Infantry Regimental Color, 18th U. S. Regular Infantry

Publication History:
Woodhead, Henry, Editor, Howard Michael Madaus, (Civil War Flag Authority) Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of The Union - Flags. Alexandria, Time-Life Books, 1998. P. 261.

Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 71.

Schrambling, Regina, "A Lifelong Pledge." Collection, Published by Robb Report, June 2014, p. 50.


Provenance:
• 18th U.S. Infantry Regiment, 1861-1866.
• Retained as a memento of service by Captain (later General) Gilbert Saltonstall Carpenter, until passing, 1899.
• By descent in the Carpenter family until, 1961.
• Sold to Mr. Norm Flayderman, then of New Milford, Connecticut, until 1962.
• Sold to Mr. Frederick Benkovic, then of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, until, 1972.
• Sold to Howard M. Madaus of Cody, Wyoming, until 2000.
• Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection from the Madaus Flag Collection of Cody, WY, in 2000.

Sources: