The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-27
sUMTER's OLD FLAG.
Kept i'm a Bank Vault by the Widow
of Major Anderson.

Washington Dispatch in New York Herald.
Hidden away in vault of a safe deposit
company is a memento of that struggle OF
thirty odd years ago which no wearer OF
the blue or gray could look upon without
peculiar emotions. Just now, when the
remnant of the host tlfat donned the blue
nearly four decades back is paying its
yearly tribute TO its dead throughout the
length and breadth of the land this me-
mento-a nag so worn and ragged-is of
strange interest. Its history is the history
of the war. This flag few high in the air
over the battlementS of Fort Sumter on
that eventful morning of April r. lS6l
when the newly organized Confederate
forces began the bombardment which
started the greatest conflict OF modern
times
There were two garrison flags in the fort
one was the fine weather flag and the other
the stormy weather flag. Llke the chaos in
men S hearts the elements threatened on
that historic day, so the storm flag was
run up and in a short time became the tar
get of the Confederate shot. Before that
1t was not a fine flag, being made OF coarse
meshed, strong bunting, tough enough to
withstand the flashing of the winds of the
coast. Ten feet one way and fifteen the
other, it stood out like a board, and more
than one wild shot aimed by the ineXperi-
enced gunners on shore went so nigh over
the fort that big gaps were torn in the
t1uttering emblem.
Mrs. Elizabeth Anderson, widow OF
Brevet Major General Anderson, command
er of Fort Sumter now owns the flag and
she treasures it so carefully that 1t is rare
ly removed from the strong box in the safe
had little effect upon its color. The red,
white and blue are almost as bright to-day
as they We're thirty-six years ago. and
were it not for the rips and tears 1t would
make gallant appearance to-day flying In
the bright sunlight
Seven times during the first day of the
bombardment the flagstaff was struck, but
by a strange series of accidents the flag
continued TO fly at the peak. After one Of
these accidents Major Anderson exclaimed:
God Almighty nailed that flag to the staff
and could not lower it If l tried
This particular accident happened in this
way Outside the bar marking the entrance
to the harbor were several federal vessels.
This fleet could not enter the harbor with
out being sunk by the cannon of the land
batteries and all it could do was to anchor
out of range and observe the lombard
ment. 1t is needless to say with what
anxiety the men on the ships watched the
| flag flying over Sumter. They knew that
sooner or later 1T must come down, but
they also knew Anderson and felt that he
would hang on to the last gasp.
Every little while Major Anderson gave
orders to dip the flag TO the fleet to show
that everything was all right During one
of these salutes and when the flag was be-
ing hoisted back into place after the third
dip, shell burst near the staff, cutting
the ballard. The flag started to come down
with run, but piece of the cut rope
got damned in section of the shivered
ever. 1t was this that caused Major Ander-
ferred to.
After the evacuation of Sumter Major
Anderson journeyed to New York, where
he made the usual garrison invoice to- the
War Department, including the famous flag
and the fair weather flag in the returns.
The secretary of war promptly ordered the
return of the flags to the major, accom-
panying them with a letter in which he
said that they could not be in better keep
ing than in the hands of the man who SO
CALAMITY defended them.
Major Anderson had the flags placed in
the vaults of the Metropolitan Bank in
New York, and there they remained until
it was evident that General Sherman would
wiring Fort Sumter from the dying grasp
of the Confederacy. The flag was again
sent South, and on the day the Confeder-
ates surrendered the fort it was again
hoisted to the peak of the flag pole by Maj.
Anderson himself. This happened on April
IA, 1865, exactly four years TO the day from
the evacuation. A salute of one hundred
guns was fired at the fort in honor of the
flag, and the guns of the surrounding bat
teries and ships joined in the uproar
After that the old flag was returned to
the bank vaults, not TO be seen again until
death called it's owner. Then it was used
as a pail at the soldiers funeral at West
Point, where he was buried, near the school
of his youth. Since then it has only been
used once or twice in celebrations, and then
under the guardianship of the An
derson Zouaves of New York. In course
of time it will probably take it's place among
the battle flags in the War Department and
with each succeeding generation its unique
historical value will increase.