This morning, in a small, private ceremony, The Virginia Flaggers raised and dedicated a 20’ x 30’ Confederate Battle Flag on a 80’ pole, on private land adjacent to Hwy 58 in Danville, Virginia. The Virginia Flaggers Danville Hwy 58 Col Powhatan Bolling Whittle Roadside Memorial Battle Flag was dedicated to the Glory of God, in memory of all Confederate soldiers, and in special honor of Col. Powhatan Bolling Whittle.
The youngest of 15 children, Powhatan Bolling Whittle was the son of Fortescue Whittle, an Irish immigrant, and his wife Mary Ann Davis, a descendant of Pocahontas, and therefore he was the 7X great grandson of Chief Powhatan. A lawyer and graduate of the University of Virginia, Whittle was an imposing man, standing six and a half feet tall. Whittle was 31 years old when the War Between the States began. He volunteered and was commissioned Lt. Colonel of the 38th Virginia Infantry, known as “The Pittsylvania Regiment.”
His size and his courage made him a conspicuous target. Slightly more than a month after being shot in the right leg at the Battle of Williamsburg, Colonel Whittle was back, leading his regiment in the failed attacks on Malvern Hill. With the regiment pinned down at the base of the hill, the Federals began concentrating their fire on the color bearers. Each time one would fall someone else would pick up the colors, only to be shot down in turn. Seeing yet another color bearer fall, Colonel Whittle himself took up the flag and soon suffered a wound that required the amputation of his left arm.
Colonel Whittle recovered from the wound and while he could have honorably retired from front-line duty, instead he returned to lead the regiment in Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, where he was shot through both his remaining arm and his left leg. Remarkably, he again survived, but his last wounds were so severe that he spent the remainder of the war as a military judge and quartermaster.
After the war Colonel Whittle practiced law in Macon, Georgia, eventually becoming a judge and a state legislator. Powhatan Whittle died on February 21, 1905 at age 75 and was buried in his family’s cemetery in Mecklenburg County.
This is the 17th Roadside Memorial Battle Flag raised in Danville, Virginia since Danville City Council voted to remove one tiny 3x5 First National from the Confederate Memorial on the grounds of the Last Confederate Capitol, and the 36th Roadside Memorial Flag raised by The Virginia Flaggers in the Commonwealth since 2013.
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