09/29/2026
During the Battle of Thompson's Station in Tennessee, on March 5, 1863, 17 year old Alice Thompson was hiding in the basement of the Banks/Darby home with many other ladies, children, and servants, while the battle raged outside the high window of the basement.
As the Confederate color-bearer passed the basement window, from which Alice was watching the fighting, he was shot down. Alice sprang from the cellar, caught up the flag and waved it over her head. Colonel Samuel G. Earle, of the Third Arkansas Regiment, saw her and shouted, "Boys a woman has your flag". Upon seeing this heroic action from one of their women, the Rebels raised a great battle cry and drove the Yankees back. While Alice held the flag, a bombshell fell within a few feet, throwing dirt all over her. Fortunately, the shell did not explode. One of the soldiers pushed her back into the cellar.
