United Daughters of the Confederacy Southern Cross of Honor (bronze, illustrating the Confederate States flag inside an open-ended wreath of laurel leaves, inscribed on the four arms, clockwise from left "UNITED / DAUGHTERS / CONFEDERACY / TO THE U.C.V.", reverse inscribed "DEO VINDICE 1861 1865" (Vengeful God) inside an open-ended wreath of laurel leaves, inscribed on the four arms, clockwise from left "SOUTHERN / CROSS / OF / HONOR", 33.5 mm x 38 mm, suspended from a 8 mm x 30.2 mm bronze pinback hanger, hand engraved "J.W. Flinn / Co G 17th Miss" on the obverse and marked "PATENTED CHARLES W. CRANKSHAW ATLANTA" on the reverse, with multi-link chain and 40.5 mm long stickpin); and Army of Northern Virginia Badge 1861-65 (bronze gilt with red and blue enamels, obverse illustrating the battle flag of the Confederate States Army, inscribed "LaDiv." above and "A.N.V." below, surmounted by a cluster above inscribed "1861-65", reverse hand engraved "J.W. Flinn / Co G. / 17th Miss.", 19.3 mm x 28.5 mm, integral ring, original ribbon with pinback, intact enamels). Extremely fine. Accompanied by ten pages with copies of his Regimental Muster Rolls while Flinn was with Company G, 17th Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers.
Footnote: John W. Flinn enlisted for three years' service as a Private with Company G, 17th Infantry Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers, on March 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Marshall County, Mississippi, for service with the regiment in Virginia. The regiment had been organized nine months earlier, on June 6, 1861 in Corinth, Mississippi and mustered into Confederate service under Colonel Winfield S. Featherston and Lieutenant Colonel John McGuirk. On June 11, 1861, the regiment was ordered to Virginia. Flinn joined his unit shortly after enlisting, however, he was admitted "sick" to Chimborazo Hospital No. 4 in Richmond, Virginia on March 31, 1862 with a case of the Measles. After a month's hospitalization, he was discharged on April 30th and rejoined his unit. The 17th Mississippi were conspicuous at both the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia and at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, seeing heavy, continuous service under General Robert E. Lee with the Army of Northern Virginia. During the Battle of Frederickburg (December 11 to 13, 1862), the 17th Mississippi, along with the other three regiments of the Barksdale Brigade, were ordered by General Robert E. Lee, to attempt to delay the crossing of the Potomac River by Federal troops at Fredericksburg, Virginia. For twelve hours the regiment defended the Potomac river bank against a Federal (Union) attempt to construct a pontoon bridge and an assault in pontoons. Federal artillery fire eventually forced them to withdraw into the town and to a stone wall beneath Marye’s Hill. Flinn survived the action at the bridge on the 11th but was wounded on the 13th. In all, the regiment had 9 men killed, 40 wounded and 35 captured at Fredericksburg. Five and a half months later, at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia (AKA Second Battle of Fredericksburg, April 30, 1863 to May 6, 1863), the 17th Mississippi was commanded by Colonel William D. Holder. It defended a four mile line on the bluffs above Fredericksburg. Although driven off by a Federal assault on May 3rd, the brigade reoccupied the town when the Federals retired across the river. The regiment lost 10 killed and had 70 wounded. Private Flinn was captured on May 3rd and after the conclusion of hostilities, was paroled in the field on May 7th. Two months after Chancellorsville, Flinn was again in action at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 to 3, 1863), where the regiment was commanded by Colonel William Dunbar Holder and brought 469 men to the field. It took part in the evening assault through the Peach Orchard, breaking the Union line and driving them back to the the foot of Cemetery Ridge before being pushed back. The regiment had 40 killed and 160 wounded, the heaviest in the brigade and one of the heaviest in the Army of Northern Virginia during the battle. Flinn was one of the 160 wounded in the conflict and was subsequently invalided and treated at General Hospital No. 2 in Lynchburg, Virginia. The following year, he was captured for a second time, this time at Pickett's Farm, Virginia on July 25, 1864. He was taken as a Prisoner of War and imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, Point Lookout, Maryland, on July 28, 1864. After almost eight months incarceration, Private Flinn was paroled at Point Lookout, Maryland and transferred to Aiken's Landing, Virginia, where he was exchanged on March 14, 1865. The following month, General Lee, who had not intended to surrender but planned to regroup at the village of Appomattox Court House, where supplies were to be waiting, wished to continue the war. However, Union General Ulysses S. Grant chased Lee and managed to get in front of him, so that when Lee's army reached Appomattox Court House, they were surrounded. After an initial battle, Lee decided that the fight was now hopeless, and surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at the McLean House. The Southern Cross of Honor was a postbellum honor presented by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to members of the United Confederate Veterans.