Riley Brantley Meadows of Athens, AL, enlisted Aug. 1, 1861, in Capt. M.M. Higgins Company, subsequently Co. A, 40th Tennessee Infantry. He is shown on muster rolls of that company through Dec. 31, 1861. That company subsequently became Company B, 54th Alabama Infantry. I do not find his name on the rolls of that regiment. There is only one card in the record of Riley B. Meadows, 35th Alabama Infantry (no company given), and it shows that his name appears as a signature to an Oath of Allegiance to the United States, subscribed and sworn to at Nashville, Tennessee, January 27, 1865, which shows his place of residence Marshall County, Tennessee; complexion fair; hair sandy; eyes hazel; height 5' 5"; volunteered March 18, 1862, deserted December 28, 1864, and has no family.

ADAH shows the following:

Last Name: Meadows
Date of Birth: 1842/09/21
Birth Information: USA, Alabama, Limestone County, Athens
Date of Death:
Death Information:
Discharge Date:
Discharge Information:
Branch:
Regimental Unit: 40th Confederate
Company Unit: A
Co. Unit Name:
Pension Rec:
Authority: Census, Tax Assessor, Lauderdale County 1907.
First Name: Riley MI: Brantley
Marital Status:
Occupation:
Enlistment Date: 1861/08/01
Enlistment Information: Alabama, Athens, Private
Engagements:
Engage. con't:
Remarks: Continued until the spring of 1865, paroled at Nashville, Tennessee. Address 1907: Florence, Alabama.

The flag in question evidently stayed in the O'Neal family until given to ADAH in 1943. See the following:
https://armyoftennessee.wordpress.com/the-fighting-oneals/

R.B. Meadows may have been a member of the O'Neal Camp UCV, in Florence. See the following:
(He is mentioned in the 1908 article)
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~allauder/civilwar-confederatevets1895-1921.htm