One of the most dangerous duties assigned to a Civil War soldier was that of flag-bearer. In the line of battle, the standard-bearer was a conspicuous target to opposing soldiers, who would concentrate their fire on the hated flag of their enemy.
One young man who took that deadly duty upon himself, and changed the tide of battle, provided the inspiration for the Wisconsin state song. Today, his heirs fight a fierce battle of another sort.
On November 25, 1863,in a bone-chilling drizzle under ominous skies, 18,000 Union troops huddled at the base of Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga, under the hellish fire of the guns and artillery of the Confederate forces on the heights above. Among them were the tattered remnants of the 24th Wisconsin Infantry, reduced to 150 men by the day's fierce fighting.
Their situation was dire and desperate. A charge up the steep slope against fortified positions would be virtual suicide; a retreat across the open plain at their backs would make them even easier targets.
Suddenly, there began a stirring in the ranks. Without orders, across the base of the ridge, scattered groups of men began to rise up and fight. In groups of two, of three, of ten and twenty, they began a spontaneous, disorganized charge against their tormentors on the lofty heights.
Watching from a distance, General Grant was furious. "Who ordered that charge?", he demanded to know. "No one, sir", came the reply. "They are acting on their own".
As the soldier who carried the battle flag of the 24th Wisconsin fell to an enemy bayonet, another soldier bravely rushed forward to snatch the flag. That second color-bearer quickly fell, decapitated by an enemy cannon-ball. From his dying hands, the standard was seized by a ruddy-faced young man scarcely eighteen years of age: Lieutenant Arthur MacArthur.
Already wounded and weakened in the earlier fighting, young MacArthur turned to face his horrified comrades. "On Wisconsin!", he bellowed above the din. "On Wisconsin!"
The men of 24th Wisconsin rose as one, and doggedly followed MacArthur as he struggled up-slope, defiantly waving his flag while a hailstorm of enemy fire raged all about him. Across the breadth of the ridge, Union soldiers fought to keep pace. At last, the exhausted MacArthur reached the summit, and planted his tattered flag. The seemingly impregnable Confederate positions had been smashed through in six places, and the Siege of Chattanooga had been broken.
Today, in the state made proud by an indomitable eighteen-year-old, a battle now rages. Like the men of 24th Wisconsin, the people are in a desperate position, beset by seemingly invincible tormentors occupying lofty positions. Like their forbears, they bravely forge their own way forward, neither wanting, nor needing, nor heeding any orders from distant "leaders". And now, just as before, their courage and determination causes countless others to take heart, and take up the battle.
ON WISCONSIN!
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Champion of the right,
"Forward", our motto,
God will give thee might!
