Note 169 — A CATALOGUE of REVOLUTIONARY ARTICLES in THE POUGHKEEPSIE MUSEUM.
Reading edition
Footnote 169: Communications are thus had between belligerent armies. By common consent, as a rule of war, a person approaching one army from another, with a white flag, is respected as a neutral; and to "fire upon a flag," as the phrase is when the bearer is fired upon, is considered a great breach of faith and honor.(Back)