Wednesday, December 25, 1861
On Christmas afternoon the sisters of Lieutenants James Lowell and William Lowell Putnam presented a silk memorial flag to the regiment. The flag bore the pine tree State symbol alongside the name of Ball's Bluff and the motto "Stand in the Evil Day." The presentation was hosted by Honorable John Palfrey, father of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Palfrey. The presentation speech by Judge Palfrey, a memorial for those killed and captured at Ball's Bluff, concluded with a prayer for the Regiment: "And may He who is the God of battles, as He is the God of peace, give you honorable death, or bring you back safe from war, according as by death or by life you can best serve his cause."1
References:
1George A. Bruce, The Twentieth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 1861 - 1865 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1906), 74-76.
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