The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-05
A FLAG PRESENTATION.
How q Union Colonel Turned Tables
on a Confederate Woman.

Everywhere.
During our war the colonel of a fine Union
regiment came to his general In a nlgh state
of excitement.
General" said he, ST was waited on by
two lovely ladies' this morning, who wish to
present q flag to my regiment on the COM
ing Fourth of July.
As the brigade was at that time quartered
in very hostile Southern city, this pro-
duced considerable surprise on the part OF
the general, but he finally said: well, 1t
will be worth seeing. Turn out your reg1-
ment and let the ceremonies go on"
When the famous day arrived every soldier
was clad in his best and the colonel looked
fairly respondent in his finest uniform.
There was quite a large number of spec
tators present. The young ladies appeared,
escorted by some of their male friends, and
were given a post of honor One of them
made a speech, in which she mentioned lib
erty as among the choicest blessings in the
world, and eXtolled the conduct of our brave
revolutionary forefathers. 1t was very
eloquent address, and was heard by all with
approval and delight. AT its close, she I'M
covered and unrolled the flag, and, with a
smile upon her face, said sweetly: II now
have the pleasure of presenting, sir, to you
and your regiment, the grandest and most
characteristic symbol of the liberty for
which our forefathers fought that has ever
seen the light of day" She unroiled the
flag which, to the unlimited surprise of
most of those present, proved to be Con-
federate one
For q moment there was an intense sill
ence The Southerners present did not dare
to cheer, however much they felt like 1t;
the soldiers were sternly restrained by their
officers. as we'll as by their natural chivalry
toward the sex. The colonel's eyes flashed
fire, but he was man of the world and
had been an accomplished politician before
entering the war, and with q gentle and en-
gaging smile, he advanced ana received the
flag from the hand of his fair land unfair)
guest. Then in a clear, resonant, FOURTH
of-July tone, he responded:
Madam, you are my guest, and lady.
am the colonel of this regiment, which is
composed entirely of gentlemen as well as
same appellations. We have listened with
interest to your views as to which is the
symbol most typical of freedom of any in
the world. We docking at the colors of the
regiment) hold a different opinion or We
should not be here. We are glad to know,
too. that our views are gradually gaining
ground. We have already received in sur
render several flags similar to the one you
have just handed me, and shall keep this as
a token that at last even the fair daughters
of the Confederacy have decided that their
cause is a hopeless one, and have COM
menced captivating their colors-eulosizing
them, very naturally, as they do So"
The turning of the tables had been accom-
plished so neatly that the crowd cheered in
spite of themselves The young lady. who
had perhaps harbored an idea that she
would be arrested and made sort of mar
tyr rushed away in confusion, and the
colonel marched his regiment back TO
quarters with flying colors. lie afterward
ance of a day. apologizing for the trick she
had attempted to play upon him. thanking
him for the gentlemanly manner in which
he had treated her and acknowledging that
he had had the best of the incident During
a late visit TO the Nashville Exposition he
endowed the pleasure of meeting her-now
a handsome colonial dame and OF laugh
ing with her over the incident.