The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-12-19
The American Flag.

~. hiviliiss uH lltf .lii o.
Glri Of tle A. AmeTcan ileet The third day Of peee
celebrate a9ngay az aAayy festival? le be observed
Of cur eezseis Of war, at home and abroad -
1 he writer Of the above is under mistake in
regard both to the nature Of the flag and the date
OF It's first appearance. He takes for granted that
the national banner first displayed in the revolution
airy struggle was that Of the stars and stripes this
is not Che fact; IS it true that any Continental
coors We're hOisted for the first time on the ID Of
December, 49, The birthday Of the American
flag, il It be fixed at all must be the llth Oh Jane
III. 1t is impossible, however, TO determine the
day on which the banner Of the stars and stripes
first actually waved to the breeze, or the day when
any c9lsgs Of distinctly American character were
deysed'bI unfurled for the first time.
he 1rst attempt at an American flag appears to
be that Of old Bndcott of Salem who in 1854
cnt the cross Of ST George out Of the flag Of Old
England as savoring Of popery and prelacy We
are unable TO say how far the pure red flag thus
formed was adopted by the New Englanders But
tile old English national colors were generally worn
by the Continental vessels ill the breaking ont Of
the Revolution. II is remarkable, however, that
the thought oil raising national standard Of their
own seems never 10 have been abandoned by the
people of New England Mention is made of a
colonial flag early rs 1855. The first national
emblem adopted here was that of the New Eng
land pine tree, which was stamped on the silver
coins Of Massachusetts nearly two hundred years
ago. Probably twas ON the flag above mentioned
a representation Of one drawn in 1901 exhibits
the pine tree combined with the English cross.
This, so far discover, is the first actual
description OF the American pine-tree iag-lhough
undoubtedly IT was used at a much earlier date Il
continued in use, more or less, till superseded by
the stars and stripes.
There are no means Of knowing whether the
New England troops who fought in the old French
war, on the lakes Of Canada, and at Cape Breton
bore any cOlors distinct from the English, though
it is likely they did the several States had their
Colony arms, and these appear to. have been in-
scribed on the banners Of the militia. This was
the practice when the New England troops marched
TO Boston, after the battle of Lexington. letter
dated April 2}d, l77j, says OF the Connecticut
troops: We fix standards and drums the
Colony arms, with the motto, On transtulit,
sssttHet, round it in letters of gold, which we
construe thus: God, who transplanted rs hither,
will sustain us 'The accounts Of the battle Of
Bunker Hill make no mention Of a standard being
used by the Americans, though at public celebra-
ton in 1879 flag was displayed which, according
to tradition h0isted in the redoubt on the top
Of the hill Il is said TO have borne an inscription
which the British officers in Boston attempted in
vain 10 read with the help Of their ielescOpes till
a wing told them it was " Come IT yolt dare On
the 18th of July l775, after the battle, we read in
the Essex Gazette OF flag raised on Prospect
Hill, bearing side the motto, AH AypeaL
to HfaUeH and on the other side, OH tTaHstit-
N s"sttaet "-lSee rockingham History Of the
Siege OF Boston
The pine-tree flag, however, seems to have pre-
vailed over all Others and soon became the national
ensign. Col Reed in a letter written from the
besieging army at Boston, October Doth, l775 says
to Coils, Glover and Moylan, d" Please TO fix upon
some particular color for a flag, and signal by
which our vessels may know each other. What
/ do you think OF flag with a white ground tree
/ in the middle-with the motto An Appeal I,
! Heaven: THIS is the flag OF or floating battle
| res. This suggestion adopted, and the pine
| tree flag became the ensign of the American ship
! Of war public and private 1t was adopted by ia,
| Legislature OF Massachusetts as the naval flag o
the Colony on the 29th of April, ZIG
Paul Jones declared that he was the first mar
who holsied the continental flag on board hatona
| ship Of war. Jones was appointed lieutenant o
| the Alfred, the flagship Of Com. Hopkins the
| 22d Of December 177j. The Alfred lay at Phila-
delphia where Jones hoisted the flag, on that
some subsequent day. IL was doubtless the pine,
tree but this had been unfurled upon The ocean by
New England private armed vessels for some time
previous. An English paper OF january, l776 has
the following: The flag taken from a provincial
Privateer, is now deposited in the Admiralty. The
held IS white bunting, with spreading green tree
the motto, An Appeal TO Heaven
We have in our possession two very rare pic
lures, the only ones of their kind perhaps, in exist
ence. They are full length portraits OF Com. Hop
IIns and Gen. Gates, with the American flags as
they existed in l776 and l777. These pictures are
engravngs finely covered, and eemcnted by trans
parent varnlsh 10 glass plates, in order to preserve
the tinting in all its freshness They were exc
cuted in London by some friend of the American
cause hat Of Hopkins was done in l776. 1t
represents the Commodore, sword in hand, stand
ing the quarterback Of a ship, in the old Cont
mental blue and buff uniform and cooked hat.
Another ship in the back ground bears two flags,
the plne-tree ensign with the motto, - An appeal
10 HeaUeR, and another exhibiting rattlesnake,
with the motto, " DOR't tread HgOll me- The rat
tesnake flag is said to have originated at the South.
According to accounts 1t was hoisted on board
the Alfred and the Alliance, but of this have
positive knowledge.
The portrait OF Gen. Gates was done in IT'S. 1t
represents him the tented field after having
signed the convention for the surrender of Bur-
gOyno. Over the Generals marquee is a flag with
thirteen red and white stripes, but no stars This
was the earliest which bore the name of the Amer
lean UaioH Fug. 1t is FIRST mentioned as having
been hoisted on the western heights of Charles
town, in January, ZIG. Lieut. Carter, of the Bri-
fish army, under the date of January Goth says -
| The Kings speech was sent by flag to them on
the LIST instant In short time after they received
1t, they hosted an union flag above the continental
with thirteen stripes, at Mount Pisgah. Their cit
adel fired thirteen guns, and gave the like number
OF cheers. This was the speech of George Ill. IL
| parliament, denounoing the Americans as rebels
! which excited much indignation throughout the
| colonies. The British Annual Register Of I776 in
describing the resentment of the people, states thai
they burnt the speech, and changed their color,
| from plain red ground, which they had hitherto
used, to a flag with thirteen stripes as a symbol o
the number and union of the colonies" Thi
! union flag is mentioned as being worn by the fee
under Hopkins, in February, l776 but was not thu
one hoisted by Paul Jones'
! The union flag of thirteenplain stripes prevailed
| for about year and a half when the happy taste O
some unknown individual suggested Il new embel
lislment and it received the addition orthe stars, b.
a resolution Of Congress, in the following words:
In Cougres June l4th M Resolued That, the dag
the TIM teen United States be tlresl stripes, alternately re
and whites that the union be thirteen stars, white ia blu
held, representing new constellation.
As new States were added to the Union, froI
4 time to Time new stripes were added to the flag
till the number had increased 70 fifteen twenty
AT length, about thirty years ago, the stripes wer
reduced by act OF Congress to the original numbC
of thirteen.
TELEGRAPH-NsiO Project.-Messrs Hudso
" Smith, well known as connected with the Me
chants Exchange Reading Room, Of Boston, ha,
made. arrangements to establish a system of con
munication by magnetic telegraph, between all ii
important cities of the Union and Halifax, N. I
Their plan is this Any one who wishes to send
letter, containing the last intelligence, to be 70
warded by the steamer which leaves Halifax, ca
do 50 by addressing the letter to Hudson u Smitl
who viii carefully transcribe it and forward
agreeably to direction; and on the other hand, lie
tiers from Europe, addressed to their care at Hal
fax upon the arrival Of steamer will be lorwarde
in the same manner to any place in the Unite