Can You Identify This Flag?

Can you identify the flag on the left? You can’t? Don’t feel bad. Not too many people would guess that that flag is the first official flag of the Confederacy. It was used from March 1861 to May of 1863.

The color choice was significant. Many Southerners still felt a lingering affection for the American flag so the committee charged with selecting a flag felt using red, white, and blue would made the transition to a new flag easier. The seven stars represented the original Confederate states. Can you name them without looking? They were South Carolina-December 20, 1860, Mississippi-January 9, 1861, Florida-January 10, 1861, Alabama-January 11, 1861, Georgia-January 19, 1861, Louisiana-January 26, 1861, and Texas-February 1, 1861. After Lincoln called for volunteers four more states seceded. They were: Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Eventually the number of stars increased to thirteen.

But hold on. There were only eleven Confederate states, so why were there thirteen stars? That’s because even though Missouri and Kentucky never seceded they held slaves and had some local Confederate governments.

The stripes in the American flag were replaced by two red bars and one white bar which is why people called the flag the stars and bars. This flag was first used at the inauguration of President Jefferson Davis.

As time went on, though, problems developed with this flag. When a battle was going on there was a lot of smoke and confusion on the field. In that confusion it was hard to tell exactly who you were shooting at. Many times all the soldiers could see was red, white, and blue. Sometimes they inadvertently fired on their own men.

After the battle of Bull Run General P.G.T. Beauregard suggested changing the flag to avoid confusion. Nobody wanted to do that, so he persuaded them to have a special flag that they carried only on the battle field. That flag is the one beside the first official flag, and I know you’ve seen it before. Interestingly enough, the flag was supposed to be square, but in many illustrations of the period it looks rectangular in shape. At any rate, everyone loved it. It was called the Confederate Battle Flag, the Southern Cross, or the Battle Flag Of The Army Of Northern Virginia.

Since people liked it so much the government decided to change the official flag. The second official flat is the one with the white field. It was called the Stainless Banner and went into usage on May 1, 1863. The problem was, it looked too much like a white flag of surrender, especially if the wind wasn’t blowing.

That wouldn’t do so the government commissioned a third flag which was adopted on March 4, 1865. It’s the one with the red bar at the end of the white field. This one didn’t last long because the war ended. It was called the Last Confederate Flag, and in my opinion it was the best one.

My sources for this post are:

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Confederate_Flag.htm
http://americancivilwar.com/south/conflag/southflg.html
http://arebelflag.net/

Letters From The Front

I recently made a trip to our local library and found a civil war novel that looked pretty good. It’s called Hallum’s War, and it was written by Elisabeth Payne Rosen. I did enjoy the book, but it made me think about what it might have been like to have lived during the Civil War. Of course there was always the risk of losing a loved one, but just think of the families that split over the issue with one side picking the North and the other the South. Talk about a family feud.

Anyway, I decided I’d do a series of posts on the Civil War. I found a book titled The Confederacy Is On Her Way Up The Spout. The book is filled with letters written by Confederate soldiers. In previous wars before censorship, email, and cell phones, their letters were often a source of information about the progress of a war. They also explained how a soldier spent his days and nights.

Between the years 1861 and 1864 Jesse McMahan and Lucretis Caroline Barrett McMahan of Pickens County, South Carolina, received numerous letters from a family of Confederate soldiers-three brothers and a brother-in-law. The soldiers were yeoman farmers whose education was limited as you can see from their spelling and punctuation. Unhappily, none of the four survived the war.

Here are some excerpts from the letters. I hope you find them as interesting as I did. The last letter explains how the book I used got its title.

August 11, 1861
Richmond, VA

Dear Brother and Sister

…a sholger nows but little moar what is a goin on than you do only in his own ridge ment or when he receves orders to march and than he don’t know whether hit is for a fight or to change en campements til he sees the enemy. Only by the movements of the armey he can give a perty close gest. i know that tha is fifey Thousand shoulgers in camp hear and sixteen Hundred yankee prisoners hear but I don’t know ho long we wil stay her nor wher we will go to next.

Oct 14, 1861
Camp Winder, Richmond

Dear Brother and Sister-Thrue the kind provadents c. and all wise god I am enjoying good health while many of my Brother solgers has sicken and dide hoping thes lines may find you all well.

November 1, 1861
Goldsboro, NC

every thing seams still today. The same auld tail keep two days rashon cook. we have bicets that is so hard I could nock a bull down with one. hit is raining this eaven an the wind a blowing a prospeck of a stormey night.

April 11, 1862
Ashland, VA

It a snowing on the morning of the eight long be for day. the role beat we was up and on march by six. the snow had turn in to heavy rain. it continued to rain all day. ten thousand of us on march the mud and water nea deep in a heap of places and small stream to wade.

May 13, 1862
Kent County vergina

the Yankees made a heavy actact on williamsburg at 11 on monday. tha was 3000 ingage on boath sides. the fight lasted tel 6 in the even. the Yankees reinforce all the time and no reinforce got to our toops tel five in the even. our troops won the fight. drove the yankees back with grate slaughter. hit was a hard and bloody battle.

January 28, 1863
Fredericksburg, Va.

it was a sight to see the battlefield, the dead was a lying thick over a bout one hundred achors of ground and strange to tel but no les strange than true the heaps of the dead to make brest works to sight behind.

June 5, 1863
Hampton Legion
South Quay, Va.

There is nothing more but Sorrows & trubles to be seen. Oh I will be glad when it is gods will to restore Peace to our unhappy & distressed country.


July 18, 1863
Camp Neare Richmond

the soldiers has a by word when any body dies or anything lost saying its gone up the spout. tell Washington that I say the Confederacy is on her way up the spout. nothing more.