Conrad, Mary Ljrnn. 
 
 Confederate Banrxers, 
 
 i 
 
 CR 
 113.5 
 .C6 
 1908 
 
DUKE 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/confederatebanne01conr 
 
\ j 
 
Confederate 
 Banners 
 
 BY 
 
 Harrisonburg, Virginia 
 
/yj*^t)is Kittle paper twa? prepared soieir} for 
 \!\^ a montbl)? meeting of (<JEurner K^hhr} 
 Cbapter, WL, 5B. C, i^arrifionburo, 
 iBirginia, anD ttjitf) no tbougbt tJjat it tooulD 
 elier \ienture beponb tbat little circle. €L "^l? 
 inliitation of the Chairman of tht i|i«torical 
 <BUening, it ujas read before tbe Virginia 5^ilii- 
 sion, .^tate Conliention, SI. 55. C, at Ricb- 
 monb, J^irginia, and tbere elicited tbe request 
 to be put mto booMet form. C <&f it S toould 
 trulp sap, 3 balie gathered me a pose? of 
 otber men's flottiers, and onlp tbe tbread tbat 
 binds tbem together is mine oujn." :: :: 
 
®®NFID1MATE MANNIM* 
 
 BY 
 
 Mamy Lymm Qqwrm 
 
iniii@Stt®ini©lPriffiiiiimg 
 
X response to a request from Turner Ashby 
 Chapter. U. D. C. I have taken no smaU 
 pains to cuU from such sources as were avail- 
 able to me, these facts relating to those banners 
 chosen by our noble fathers as ensigns to lead 
 our A'aliant hosts, during the days of the South's 
 great struggle. 
 
 In the usual grouping of Confederate Flags, 
 we see four designs. Three of these were 
 Xational Ensigns and one was the Battle Flag. 
 I shall present them in the order of their adop- 
 tion. Avith such a sketch of each as I believe 
 to be authentic history. 
 
 During the first year of the war many troops 
 marched out luider the flags of their respec- 
 tive states, just as our own A'irginia troops bore 
 the flag of the Old Dominion., which was pre- 
 sented to them by Governor Letcher, at Center- 
 ville. in the fall of 1861. 
 
 But the first flag of the ''Confederacy'" Avas 
 knoAvn as ''The Stars and Bars." 
 
 This flag, correctly made, consists of a red 
 fleld Avith a Avhite bar one-third the Avidth of 
 the flag, extending through the center, and 
 
6 
 
 Co ?i federate Banners 
 
 having a red space above and below, the same 
 width as the white. The Union blue was to 
 extend through the white space and stop at the 
 red space. In the center of the blue was a circle 
 of seven stars, uniform in size. A new star was 
 authorized for the addition of each new state to 
 the Confederacy. 
 
 The Stars and Bars was raised on the staff 
 above the capitol at Montgomery, Alabama, 
 March 4, 1861, simultaneously with the inaugu- 
 ration of Mr. Lincoln, by Miss J. C. Tyler, 
 granddaughter of ex-President Tyler. The 
 United Daughters of the Confederacy have' 
 adopted the Stars and Bars as their emblem ; it 
 is found upon their badge and other insignia. 
 
 Here is a story told of its design : 
 
 In the Art Studio oi Nicola Marschall, a 
 Prussian portrait painter, the designs of the uni- 
 form of gray, and the Stars and Bars, are said 
 to have had their conception. 
 
 Years before, Marschall had been impressed 
 by the appearance of some Austrian siharp 
 shooters, marching through the streets of Ver- 
 ona, dressed in a striking uniform of gray. Rec- 
 ollections of this uniform suggested the "Con- 
 federate gray." Just before the war, he had 
 returned to America, located at Marion, and 
 
Confederate Banners 
 
 7 
 
 resumed the profession of portrait painter and 
 designer. Many wealthy women of the South 
 became his patrons, and among them, Mrs. 
 Napoleon Lockett, a beautiful woman of an old 
 Virginia family, and a loyal daughter of the 
 Southland. 
 
 After the secession of the states, she told Mr. 
 Marschall that the Confederate government 
 wanted a flag, and requested him to make a 
 design not too unlike the United States flag, yet 
 diftering enough to be readily distinguished at a 
 distance. 
 
 Mr. Marschall drew three designs, adhering 
 in all to the stars, the stripes, and the colors. He 
 claims that his first design was the one chosen 
 by the Confederate Congress. 
 
 Mr. Marschall enlisted as a private in the 
 Southern Army, going with the command to 
 garrison the fort at the mouth of Mobile Bay, 
 and, later on, serving with the second Alabama 
 regiment of engineers. He served with Colonel 
 Lockett, son of Mrs. Lockett, just previous to 
 the fall of Vicksburg, and continued in the Con- 
 federate Army until the curtain fell at Appo- 
 mattox. 
 
 Mr. Marschall, however, is not the sole aspi- 
 rant for the honor of creating the model for the 
 
8 
 
 Confederate B a 7i n e r s 
 
 "Stars and Bars." In the Confederate Veteran 
 of November, 1905, we find the claims of Mr. 
 Orren Randolph Smith set forth by his daugh- 
 ter. She recites the incident of Mr. Smith's 
 taking his design and materials to a friend, now 
 Mrs. N. B. Winborne, of Pine Top, N. C, and 
 requesting her to make a model illustrating his 
 idea. According to Miss Smith, this model was 
 forwarded to the committee on flags, at Mont- 
 gomery, and was adopted by the Confederate 
 Congress. 
 
 Mr. Smith had twice fought under the "Stars 
 and Stripes." He was in Mexico with General 
 Taylor and in Utah with General Harney. He 
 said that a flag for which men would die must 
 be more than a piece of bunting. It must mean 
 something. His model, he claimed, embodied 
 the idea of the Trinity, the three bars represent- 
 ing the Church, the State, and the Press. The 
 blue of the Union was emblematic of the heav- 
 ens over all, and the circle of stars of equal size 
 represented the equal rights of the respective 
 states. 
 
 "But neither Mr. Marschall, Mr. Smith, nor 
 Mrs. Winborne can produce any documentary 
 evidence — letters or newspapers, of that long 
 past w^ar time, to sustain their claims. They are 
 
C 0 11 f e d t }■ a t e B a n )i c r s 
 
 from memor\- onl\-. and that is often unreliable. 
 History is necessarily cold-blooded,, regarding 
 neither the desire of friends nor the detractions 
 of opponents" — and vritli claims still conflicting, 
 slie is yet unable to award the honor of this beau- 
 tiful l^anner to an undisputed author. 
 
 While the ''Stars and Bars" was recognized 
 as the National Ensign of the Confederacy from 
 A [arch 4. t86t , until ]\Iay i . 1863, there is no 
 official record of its adoption by formal act. Of 
 the one hundred and thirty designs said to have 
 been sent to ^Montgomer}'. the "Stars and Bars'' 
 was the one recommended bv the committee on 
 flags and seals, and the recommendation was 
 spread upon the minutes of the Confederate Con- 
 gress, but the records show no further action 
 taken. 
 
 ]\[v main facts concerning the origin of the 
 battle flag, tlie second flag of the Confederacy, 
 are derived from a letter from General W. L. 
 Cabell to the ]^cicran, and a speech by General 
 Beauregard before a meeting of the Louisiana 
 Division of the Army of Xorthern A'irginia, 
 December 6, 1878, and afterwards written up 
 bv the trustwortliA' pen of ^Ir. Carlton ]\IcCar- 
 th}-. He savs : "This banner, the witness and 
 aspiration of many A'ictories which was proudly 
 
o 
 
 Con f e derate Banners 
 
 borne on every field from Manassas to Appo- 
 mattox, was horn on the field of battle. It was 
 the banner of the Confederate Soldier. The men 
 who followed it, and the world which watched 
 its proud advance or defiant stand, see in it still 
 the unstained banner of a brave and generous 
 people, whose deeds have out-lived their country, 
 and whose final defeat but adds luster to their 
 grandest victories."' 
 
 At the battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861, when 
 the fate of the Confederacy was trembling in 
 the balance. General Beauregard saw a body of 
 troops moving toward his left, and the Federal 
 right. He could not determine whether they 
 were Federals or Confederates, on account of 
 the similarity of colors and of uniforms, and 
 made more confusing by clouds of dust. Gen- 
 eral Beauregard's uncertainty and anxiety in- 
 creased to anguish, as the column pressed on. 
 
 The day was hot and sultry, with but an oc- 
 casional breeze. The colors of the advancing 
 column hung limp about the staff. General 
 Beauregard, still relying on promised help, held 
 the ground, believing that if only re-enforce- 
 ments should come in time, he might secure the 
 victory. 
 
 At this painfully anxious moment, a sudden 
 
Confederate Banner 
 
 puil of wind spread the colors to the breeze and 
 reA'ealed the Stars and Bars. It was General 
 Early with the 24th Mrginia, the 7th Louisiana, 
 and the 13th }^Iississippi. The moment the flag 
 was recognized, General Beauregard exhorted 
 his staff to see that the day was won. 
 
 This incident made General Beauregard "de- 
 termine that the Confederate Soldier must have 
 a banner so distinct that no doubt should ever 
 endanger his cause again on the battle field." He 
 presented the matter to General Joseph Johnston 
 and other officers. Designs were cHscussed and 
 scA'eral submitted which seemed to closely coin- 
 cide. At Fairfax Court-House, thev were sub- 
 mitted to the officers and the now famous battle 
 flag was chosen. This was in September, 1861; 
 
 A circular letter Avas sent to the quarter- 
 master of every regiment and brigade in the 
 army to make flags by this model. There were 
 three sizes : One for the cavalrv, one for the 
 artillery, and one for the infantrv, the latter be- 
 ing largest. 
 
 The first of these flags were distributed by 
 order of General Beauregard, and with ""the 
 hope that they might become the emblems of 
 honor and victory.'' 
 
 An address Avas issued to the ladies of the 
 
12 
 
 Confederate B a 7i n e r s 
 
 South to send their red and blue silk dresses to 
 Captain Selph, quarter-master at Richmond, Va., 
 who was assisted in the flag making by some 
 loyal Southern ladies. The names are given of 
 the Misses Carey of Baltimore, Mrs. Henning- 
 sen of Savannah, and Mrs. Hopkins, wife of 
 Judge Hopkins, of Alabama. 
 
 The Misses Carey made battle flags for Gen- 
 erals Beauregard, Johnston, and Van Dorn out 
 of their own silk dresses. General Beauregard's 
 flag is now in Memorial Hall, New Orleans, with 
 a statement by him of that fact. 
 
 While not strictly relevant to the subject in 
 hand, a digression relating to the charming 
 women conspicuously concerned in the above 
 transaction may be pardonable and entertaining. 
 
 "A Southern Girl of 1861" tells us that the 
 Misses Carey were the greatest belles among 
 the many lovely women of Richmond, and were 
 known as the ''Carey Invincibles." They had 
 experienced many thrilling adventures coming 
 across the lines. Miss Constance Carey married 
 Mr. Burton Harrison, Private Secretary to Pres- 
 ident Davis, and has since attained wide-spread 
 note for her clever writing of fiction. Miss 
 Hetty Carey had just been released from Fort 
 McHenry where she had been imprisoned for 
 
Confederaie B a n ;/ e r s 
 
 13 
 
 wearing a white apron with red ribbon — the 
 Confederate colors. (Jn one occasion when the 
 Federal troops were passing throngh Baltimore, 
 she stood at an open window \A'aving a Confed- 
 erate flag. One of the officers noticed it, and 
 called to the Colonel of the regiment to know 
 if he should have her arrested. The Colonel, 
 catching a sight of her defiant loveliness, said 
 emphatically: "Xo. she is lovely enough to do 
 as she pleases.'" She afterwards became the wife 
 of General John Pegram. Avho was killed in bat- 
 tle three weeks from their Avedding day. 
 
 The original design of the Battle Flag, also 
 called the Beauresrard Flas;. is shoAvn in the 
 archives of the Southern Historical Society. 
 Xew Orleans. It was dravrn by E. C. Hancock 
 of Xew C^rleans. and presented to Colonel \\2X- 
 ton of the Louisiana Artiller}-. 
 
 The Battle Flag was strictly a square flag. 
 The St. AndrcAvs" cross in blue. Avith thirteen 
 stars, crossed a field of red diagonally. This 
 is the A'eterans' flag, having been carried by 
 them in CA-er}- battle after [Manassas, and has 
 noAv become their emblem. "Though sometimes 
 defeated, it Avas never dishonored."" 
 
 After the adoption of the Battle Flag, other 
 banners began to disappear, and, at the end 
 
14 
 
 Confederate Banners 
 
 scarcely any other design was seen. It was the 
 only flag knowai to the body of Confederate sol- 
 diers, though it was not officially adopted by 
 Congress until it became incorporated in the sec- 
 ond National Flag and adopted by formal Act, 
 May I, 1863. 
 
 When the Confederate Congress assembled in 
 May, 1863, by formal Act it adopted as a 
 National Emblem the third fiag. It was pure 
 white with the Battle Flag as its union. This 
 flag was mostly used by the navy, and few of the 
 soldiers in the field knew it. It was floated from 
 Military Posts, Garrisons, and on the sea. 
 
 It was sometimes called the "J^^^^son Flag." 
 The first one made by the model was sent to 
 President Davis to be unfurled over the Capitol, 
 but it served a holier, tenderer purpose — that of 
 enfolding the body of that Darling of the Con- 
 federacy, Stonewall Jackson, whose death had 
 just occurred. With dismay, the superstitious 
 observed this use of the newdy-selected flag, and 
 considered it ominous. It was also called the 
 ''Stainless Banner." 
 
 "This was the only Confederate Flag that 
 sailed every ocean and circumnavigated the 
 globe. It was carried at the peak of the Shen- 
 andoah in the most masterly cruise that the world 
 
Confederate B a n ji e r s 
 
 has ever known and was hauled down in Liver- 
 pool, six months after the war was over." 
 
 The whaling fleet of the United States was 
 now the largest part of its commerce remaining, 
 and the Shenandoah was purchased and espe- 
 cially fitted up to make war on the whaling ves- 
 sels. Once among the whalers, she took prizes 
 so rapidly that it was necessary to release and 
 bond some in order to get rid of the numerous 
 prisoners, and she made a record that became 
 world-renow^ned. 
 
 Operating in the Arctic waters, so remote 
 from the scenes of battle, it was no wonder that 
 Captain AA^addell failed to haul down his colors 
 immediately upon General Lee's surrender, but 
 kept them flying six months after hope was 
 dead. The malicious charge of his continuing 
 belligerent operations, after having knowledge 
 of the surrender, has been properly refuted. 
 
 Reasons suflicient were presented to create a 
 fourth flag. There were errors of proportion in 
 the third flag, the length being double its width, 
 which is against all rule, and will not float read- 
 ily. Both Navv and Army had ascertained that 
 from excessive whiteness, it was too easily soiled. 
 Naval officers, by whom it was mostly used, 
 urged that it was liable to be mistaken for a flag 
 
Confederate Banners 
 
 of truce, especially when hanging limp with the 
 union obscured by its folds. 
 
 The fourth and last flag oi the Confederacy 
 was adopted .March 4, 1865. It was designed 
 by Arthur L. Rogers, Major of Confederate 
 States Artillery. His design was submitted to 
 the committee on Naval affairs, committee on 
 Military affairs, Superintendent of Virginia 
 Military Institute, and many distinguished offi- 
 cers of the Army, all of whom approved it. A 
 bill, drawn by Major Rogers and introduced into 
 the Senate by ^Ir. Semmes oi Louisiana, con- 
 tains this description of the flag : "The width 
 two-thirds the length, with the union (now used 
 as Battle Flag) three-fifths the width of the flag, 
 so proportioned as to leave the length of the field 
 on the side of the union twice the width of the 
 field below it. To have the ground of the uniom 
 red and a broad saltier thereoii, bordered with 
 white and emblazoned with mullets or five- 
 pointed stars, corresponding in number to the 
 Confederate States. The field to be white, ex- 
 cept the outer half from the union to be a red 
 bar extending the width of the flag." Its adop- 
 tion occurred such a short while before the sur- 
 render that it was never in use in the Army, 
 but many were captured (?) on the evacuation 
 
Confederate B a 7t n e r 
 
 of Richmond, read}- to be sent to the arm\ . It 
 is sometimes incorrectly made with a narrow red 
 bar. which should be as wide as the white space. 
 
 It is a matter of regret that in the manufacture 
 of these flags, there is such diversity of propor- 
 tions, as Avell as other errors. I have given in 
 detail, description of designs, that as Daughters 
 of the Confederacy, we. at least, may recognize 
 those that are true to the model or otherwise. 
 
 Of ]^dajor Roger's design for the last flag of 
 the Confederacy, he says : "It gave correctness 
 of proportion, distinction and character, relieved 
 the pale appearance and gave a martial look, and 
 really made a beautiful banner that could be 
 mistaken for no other. The heraldic significance 
 of the colors, chieflv white and red, were deemed 
 especially appropriate for the Confederate States, 
 the white being emblematic of purity and inno- 
 cence, the red of courage and fortitude. The 
 saltier, or broad band, was emblematic of 
 strength. 
 
 In the adoption of ensigns bv various nations 
 of the world, it is noticed that thev generally 
 imitate the ensign of the nation from which they 
 sprung. This is so complied with in the Con- 
 federate flag, for our people are chiefly descend- 
 ed from the British and French. AA'e get the 
 
Confederate Banners 
 
 union and St. Andrew's cross from the former, 
 while the red bar comes from the tri-color of 
 the latter." The idea of having the stars to rep- 
 resent the sovereignty oi the states is taken from 
 the old "Union," mainly founded by our fore- 
 fathers. 
 
 Major Rogers, the author of the last flag of 
 the Confederacy, was a brave soldier who per- 
 formed the most important services throughout 
 the war. He raised a company of artillery from 
 Loudoun County, Virginia, which was honorably 
 mentioned for efficient service by General Beau- 
 regard in his report of the first Battle of 
 Manassas. 
 
 Associated in our minds with the group of 
 Confederate flags is another banner, which we 
 all know through that Marseillaise of the South, 
 ''The Bonny Blue Flag." Just how it came to 
 be recognized as a Confederate emblem is a mat- 
 ter not satisfactorily settled, but a little incident 
 relating to it may be of interest to us Virginians. 
 It is given in the minutes of the U. D. C. Con- 
 vention, 1 90 1, as told by Captain P. C. Carlton. 
 
 "In October, 1861, when Richmond was full 
 of troops hurrying to the front, this song was 
 first sung at a theater. Harry McCarthy ap- 
 peared on the stage accompanied by a young 
 
Confederate Ba 71 tiers iq 
 
 lach" who bore a flag of blue silk with a Avhite 
 star in the center. He commenced singing* 'The 
 Pionny Blue Flag/ and before the first verse was 
 ended, the vast audience Avas wild with excite- 
 ment. Then the soldier bovs rose, yelling them- 
 selves hoarse and joined in the chorus, singing 
 it over and over again. 
 
 AMien he sang, 'The Single Star of the Bonny 
 Blue Flag has grown to be eleven,' she shook 
 out the folds, and the flag opened, disclosing 
 the single star surrounded by ten sisters." 
 
 Several states lav claim to the flag that bears 
 a single star. Texas and Xorth Carolina each 
 has a single star. The latter has it combined 
 with other characters, but no state can claim 
 the blue flag with the single star. 
 
 Harry ^NlcCarthy, the gallant little Irish come- 
 dian, no doubt evoh^ed it from the enthusiasm 
 of the time. South Carolina may have given 
 him the idea that he wove into a song, which, 
 next to the immortal "Dixie." is likely to sur- 
 vive longest the period that inspired it. 
 
 In compiling this paper, I duly acknowledge 
 information gained ixoxr. nninutes of the United 
 Daughters of Confederacv Conventions, The 
 Confederate IMuseum, Richmond, A^a., The Coii- 
 fcdcraic Veteran, The Magaz'uie of the Southern 
 
20 
 
 Confederate Banners 
 
 Historical Society, Dabney's Life and Campaigns 
 of General T. J. Jackson, and other authentic 
 pubHcations, as well as to distinguished indi- 
 vidual Confederates. But to no one, personally, 
 am I so much indebted for information courte- 
 ously furnished and data confirmed, as to Dr. 
 Samuel E. Lewis, Commander Charles Broadway 
 Rouss Camp, U. C. V., Washington, D. C. As 
 Chairman of the Flag Committee, U. C. V., he 
 has, perhaps, more accurate and complete data 
 on this subject than any other one person, and 
 is regarded as eminent authority. 
 
 This task has been a labor of love tO' me, yet 
 I feel that I have all too imperfectly given you 
 the history of that group of banners— made by 
 the fair hands and baptized by the tears of our 
 mothers, drenched in the gore of our fathers, and 
 brothers, whose very warp and woof are radiant 
 with deeds of valor, and whose only stain is the 
 blood of our heroes. Yes, the Confederate Flag 
 
 " Is wreathed around with glory 
 And will live in song and story, 
 
 Though its folds are in the dust. 
 For its fame on brightest pages. 
 Penned by poets and by sages. 
 Shall go sounding down the ages. 
 
 Furl its folds tho' now we must." 
 
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