Flag of the 6th New York Independent Battery, Light Artillery
NPS
The 6th New York Artillery was organized in New York City on June 15, 1861, originally as part of a New York Militia regiment. It was detached and assigned to the Army of the Potomac, as part of Stone’s Division, and then Hooker’s Division, fighting at Balls Bluff, Yorktown, Fair Oaks, and Malvern Hill. As part of the Army of the Potomac’s Artillery Reserve, the battery was at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. It was then placed in the Cavalry Corps Horse Artillery and was part of Sheridan’s Shenandoah Campaign until the end of the war. The 6th New York lost 17 men to all causes during its service.This flag is not a regimental flag, rather it is of a smaller unit, the artillery battery, which was assigned to larger formations according to need. There is little information available concerning artillery battery flags. However, it is believed that batteries carried small unofficial unit flags such as this one, and it would follow that they would be gold, the colors of the artillery. The unit's name is painted on one side, and battle honors on the reverse. Artillery battery flags were not authorized by the Union Army.
