Albumen studio CDV. Alexandria, VA: Wolff's Gallery, [1863]. Photographer's imprint to mount verso. Dated to 1863 when the regiment was camped at Alexandria after heavy fighting the previous year.

A studio image of the regimental flag of the 7th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment. The flag design uses an American flag with the Pennsylvania state coat of arms superimposed upon the canton and the regimental designation written upon the horizontal stripes. Organized at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the regiment was mustered into service on 27 July 1861. They saw heavy action in the Eastern Theater, fighting in Turner's Gap at the Battle of South Mountain, and they were bloodied at Antietam where Corporal Reuben Schell carried the colors through the cornfield at early dawn, the flag sustaining blows from 8 bullets. At the Battle of the Wilderness, the entire regiment save Company B was surrounded by the enemy and compelled to surrender. Officers were held at Camp Oglethorpe (near Macon, GA) while the enlisted men were imprisoned at the infamous Andersonville. The regiment lost 3 officers and 80 enlisted in the line of battle, and 135 more to other causes, 67 at Andersonville. The color guard itself saw heavy casualties, with all killed or wounded at the Battle of New Market (15 May 1864).

Images of regimental colors are scarce, especially of the flag of this hard-fought regiment.

[Civil War, Flags, Union, Pennsylvania, Antietam, Early Photography, CDV]