George Dance (back row, position 9 and extreme left flank of the line) Photo: Moore County Tennessee Genealogy (1914)
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Initially serving as a Color Bearer, George Dance, pictured in the 1914 picture above, was promoted to Color Sergeant of the 8th Tennessee Regiment in the Confederate States Army. Even in today’s terms, the appointment of Color Sergeant is a military honor. On the battlefield during the American Civil War, troops depended on the Color Guard as their 19th Century rendition of today’s Global Positioning System (GPS).
In the book, It Happened in the Civil War, Michael R. Bradley, an American author, states: “When the noise of battle made it impossible to hear orders, soldiers followed the flag. As men went down, the gaps were filled by closing in on the colors.” So why was George Dance, an African-American chosen to serve in the Color Guard?
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