User:Chetsford/sandbox/lost

A number of United States military units, including those of the United States Army, Continental Army, Legion of the United States, and the various state militias, have had their colors captured in battle. So, too, have foreign military units had their colors captured by United States forces.

Rumors of captured colors
According to the U.S. Army's Center for Military History, rumors that the 7th Cavalry Regiment and 8th Cavalry Regiment lost their colors during the Korean War are unfounded. A similar rumor that the 27th Infantry Regiment lost its colors has been traced to a misinterpretation of an order by that unit's commanding officer for new colors due to the state of disrepair of the extant colors.

There is a possibility the 7th Cavalry Regiment lost its colors at the Battle of the Little Bighorn to the combined Lakota-Dakota-Northern Cheyenne armies, however, the Center for Military History states it "has no conclusive evidence one way or the other".

Colors captured
The United States captured a large number of Mexican colors during the Mexican-American War. In 1950, 70 were returned to Mexico, however, a number of others remain in private collections, museums, or under control of individual states.

As a result of the American Civil War, some colors of military units operating under the authority of the United States have been captured and held by other states of the United States. Similarly, some colors of military forces of the former Confederate States are held by other states of the United States. As of 2013 the Minnesota Historical Society, for instance, holds a Confederate battle standard captured by the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg. Minnesota's refusal to return the flag to Virginia has been the source of litigation between the two states.

In 1887 the Presidency of Grover Cleveland began the process of returning to individual states colors held by the United States government that were captured from the forces of the former Confederate States, however, suspended the returns pending further direction from the United States Congress. Thereafter, a 1905 law mandated the United States Department of War return any unit colors of the former Confederate States to their respective state governments.