Had a Wrestling Match Decided the Battle…
Odds are George Washington Flagg of the 2nd Infantry would have won it for the federals. The 6-foot temperance man and sergeant was the acknowledged wrestling champ of the Army of the Potomac. According to a biographer, he “knew no difference in men, for he could throw any man he met in five minutes.” During the fight on May 5, a bullet struck Flagg and caused flesh wounds in both hands (note the presence of gloves in this portrait). He soon returned to action and ended the war as a first lieutenant.
Flagg returned to Vermont and became a wrestler. “During his wrestling career, he wrestled no less than 200 matches and after each campaign of travels he returned to work on the farm, never training for a match or a series of matches.”
Flagg died at age 80 in 1919. He outlived a wife and son. His second wife and another son also survived him.