The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-03-09
HE DESIGNED OUR FLAG.
CAPT. REID, WHO INVENTED THE
STARS AND STRIPES.

Can't. h6lQ . hOCOA ~ Gso c"h SAAA~OA'
From the Neo York World.
Was there ever an American citizen in a
e,reion mort whose eye did not pick out
from the flags of all nations flying from the
ahinnine in the harbor the bright and beau
.ifni stars and stripes with heart swelling
With pride and delight declare it to be by far
.ha handsomest ensign il the worlds And
vet how many of the most patriotic citizens
~ this great nation could answer the
question, Who was the author and designer
Of the United States tia{.
It was designed by my father, Capt
Samuel Chester Reid, of New York city,
and the first flag was made at his mouse by
his wife. Mary daughter of Capt. Nathan
Iennings of Connecticut, who served
.broug6 the VIII lie of the revolutionary
yar, and her young lady friends, and was
frct hoisted over the hall of the House of
REPRESENTATIVES on April 10, 1918, at 2
o'clock D. m. The following is the act as
passed by congress, and approved by Presi-
dent Monroe April 4, 1878:
IAN act to establish the flag of the United
States.
.Be il enacted, ETC., That from and after the
fourth dav of July next, the flag of the United
states be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate
red and white; that the union be twenty stars,
white in a blue field.
SrC . And be it further enacted, That on the
admission Of every new state into the Union
one star be added to the union of the flag; and
sncb addition shall take effect on the fourth day
of July then next succeeding such admission. y
Previous to the approval of the above
act the stripes in the Old flag mad been in
creased to eighteen, according to the num-
her of states admitted into the union, thus
DESTROYING the beauty and perspicuity of
the flag: and, while this order was preserved
in some, others contained but nine or eleven,
as fancy dictated. On the admission of
Indiana into the Union, in 1916, Congress
man Peter II. Wendover offered a resolu-
ton that committee be appointed to i'll
ouire into the expectancy of altering the
flag of the United States" A committee
was appointed, with Mr.. Wendover chair
man. While the committee had the matter
under consideration, Mr.. Wendover called
on nv father, who was then in Wash
ington, and requested him to form a
design for our flag, so as to represent the
increase of the states without destroying its
distinctive character, as the committee
was about to increase the stars and stripes
to the whole number of states. After ma
ture deliberation on the subject Capt. Reid
recommended that the stripes be reduced to
represent the original thirteen states, and
to form the number of stars representing
the whole states into one great star of the
union, adding one star Tor every new state
admitted, thus giving a significant meaning
to the flag, sym JolIcally expressed of ''E
Plurbus Unum."
On March % 1918, Mr. Wendover ad-
dressed a letter to Capt Reid, in which he
said: ~ Now, | ask the favor that
you will be pleased to inform me, as soon
as convenient, what flag of that size will
cost in New York, made for the purpose,
with thirteen stripes and twenty stars
forming one great luminary, as per paste
board plan vCu handed me- The first flag
so made by Mrs Reid and her lady friends
was sent to Washington, the receipt thereof
being acknowledged in the following letter
to Capt. Reid:
WASHINGTON, April 10, 1878
DEAR SIR have just time to inform you
that the new flag for Congress hall arrived here
per mail this day, and was hoisted to replace
the old one at O'CLOCK, and has given much
satisfaction to all that have seen it, as far as
have heard. | am pleased with its form and
proportions and no doubt it will pl, ase the
public mind. Mr.. Clay (then speaker of the
House) says it is wrong that there should be no
charge in your bill for making the flag. If pay
for that will be acceptable, on being informed
will procure it. Do not unders. aud me as IN
tending to wound the feelings of Mrs Reid nor
others who may have given aid in the business,
and please present my thanks to her and them
and accept the same for yourself. In haste,
yours with esteem, Pr. II. WENDovER.
1t is, herhaps, needless to say that pay for
making the flag was declined.
Capt. Reid also had the honor and great
pleasure of administering to the English
tie final naval thrasning of the many they
received at the hands of our brave and
jolly tars, while in command of the private
armed brig Gen. Armstrong during her
most brilliant and heroic battle with a
British feet. 1t was at Fayal, one of the
Azore islands, belonging to Portugal, dur
ing the last war with England, and was one
of the most unparalleled naval actions on
record in modern or ancient history. Its
results to our company were, perhaps,
greater than those o. any other baJvle
fought on land or sea during the war, for it
was the means of saving New Orleans
from the grasp of Great Britain, which had
been for over a century endeavoring to
obtain posse sion OF louisiana.
o. Sept. 26, 1914, the American brig-of-
war Gen. Armstrong, 246 tons, commanded
by Capt. Samuel Chester Reid, carrying
seven guns and a crew of ninety men and
officers came to anchor in the neutral port
OF Fayal for the purpose of filing her
water tank. The same afternoon his
Britanic majesty's ship Plantaganet, Com
modore Lloyd, seventy -four guns; the
fr1gate Rota, Capt. p. Somerville, thir y
eight guns, and brig-of-war Carnation
Capt. Bentham, eighteen guns, also entered
the port This fleet was bound to Jamaica
to join Admiral Cochran S expedition to
capture New Orleans. Commodore Lloyd,
thinking that a light-draught vessel like the
Armstrong might be useful to the expedi-
tlon, Of which he was to compose a part,
ordered four armed boats to capture the
''rebellious yankee" and bring her along
SIDE, with the following result
IL being a right moonlight night the first
attack was made at s o'clock, b. four armed
launches, containing about thirty men
each. This was quickly repulsed, with
severe loss to the British and the wounding
OF First Lieut.. Worth of the Armstrong,
brother of Gen. Worth, of Mexican war
iame). Enraged by this insolence ID of the
Yankee captain, Lloyd sent at midnight
fourteen barges and launches, containing
over 400 picked officers a id men, armed
with swivels, carronades, blunderbusses and
sac arms. In his report of this battle Capt.
Reid said:
=, AT length, about midnight, we observed
the boats III motion Jour crew having laid at
Ineir quarters during the whole of this
ihtervaD. They came on in one direct line,
Keeklng in close order. As soon as they
came within proper distance we opened our
nre, which was warmly returned from the
enemy's carronades and small arms. Tne
ulscharge from our Long Tom Ia 32-pound-
er, mounted amidships) rather staggered
t.nemi but, soon recovering, they gave
Inree cheers and came on most spiri eddy.
IN moment they succeeded in
gaining our bow and starboard
quarter, and the word was, "Boardp Our
great guns now becoming useless, we at
lacked them sword in hand, together with