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Sergeant Rowland W. Evans
First Combat Color Bearer of the 18th U.S. Infantry's 1st Battalion
Rowland W. Evans a farmer from Franklin County, Ohio enlisted on October 22, 1861, at the age of 21 in the 18th U.S. Infantry. Lieutenant William J. Fetterman signed up Evans and over 30 other men from a recruiting stand set up in a country store in New Albany, Ohio. On October 31, 1861 the town held a big festival in the recruitÆs honor before they departed for Camp Thomas, the 18th U.S. regimental depot just north of Columbus, Ohio. Evans was assigned of Company F, 1st Battalion and on July 2 , 1862 he was promoted to sergeant, shortly after that he became the color bearer for the 1st Battalion. While Sergeant Evans was not the first man to carry the regimentÆs colors, he was the first man to carry them into combat. He carried the first bat talionÆs national flag into every battle the regiment fought in during the Civil War except for its last at Jonesboro, Georgia, where he was wounded in the right arm. Just prior to the Battle of Jonesboro his stint as color sergeant ended as the result o f disciplinary action. During the course of the war Sergeant Evans saw 12 members of the color guard fall around him in defense of the flag he so proudly carried. At Chickamauga Sergeant Evans carried the 1st BattalionÆs flag off the field under the mos t difficult of conditions following a severe prolonged engagement in which the 2nd BattalionÆs flag was lost. During the chaos following the battle, prisoners from the 18th U.S. located the lost flag, tore it from its staff, ripped it into pieces, and th en carried it hidden in their clothes to southern prisons.
Evans survived the war and returned to Ohio where family and friends painted a large battle flag on the side of a barn near the town of New Albany, to honor him and several of his relatives that had also served with distinction in the war. The ba rn belonged to Alexander Doran, an Ohio veteran who was married to EvansÆ sister Cynthia. Rowland Evans had carried an Ambrotype photograph of Cynthia Doran and her infant son Perry, in his breast pocket throughout the war, he returned the photograph to Perry Doran, when the boy turned ten years old. The country store recruiting post is today a restaurant operated by a descendant of Rowland Evans. The barn also remains in the family and was restored for the fourth time in 1999, at which time the battle flag was completely repainted. The barn has come to represent more than just the actions of a few courageous men. It now represents a communityÆs legacy of pride in all those who have served their county since Evans first carried the colors of the 18t h U.S. in combat.
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