The Yale expositor., 1897-09-03
Presenting a Rebel Flag.

During our war the colonel OF hne
Union regiment came to his general, In
a high state of excitement.
General" said he. II was waited on
by two lovely ladies this morning, VINO
wish to present flag to my regiment
on the coming Fourth of July"
AS the brigade was at that time quar-
tered in a very hostile southern city,
this produced considerable surprise on
the part of the general, but he finally
said:
We'll, II will be worth seeing. Turn
out your regiment and let the cere-
monies 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 large
number of spectators 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 liberty as among the
choicest blessings in the world, and eX-
tolled the conduct of our brave revolu-
tionary forefathers. 1t was very elo-
quent address, and was heard by all
with approval and delight.
At its close she uncovered and I'M
rolled the flag, and with smile upon
her face, said, sweetly:
II now have the pleasure of present.
ing, sir, to you and your regiment, the
grandest and most characteristic sym
boil of the liberty for which our fore
fathers fought that has ever seen the
light of day."
She unrolled the flag, which, to the
unlimited surprise Of most of those
present, proved to be a Confederate
one!
For a moment there was an intense
silence. The southerners present did
not dare to cheer, however much they
felt like il; the soldiers were sternly
restrained by their officers, as well as
by their natural chivalry toward the
sex.
The colonel's eyes flashed fire; but
he was a man of the world, and had
been an accomplished politician before
entering the war; and, with a gentle
and engaging smile, he advanced and
received the flag from the hand of his
fair (and unfair) guest. Then, in a
clear, resonant Fourth-of-July tone, he
responded:
Madam, you are my guest, and a
lady. am the colonel of this regiment.
which is composed entirely OF gentle
men as well as soldiers, and, l trust,
am deserving the same Applications.
I'VE 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 surrender 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 de-
cided that their cause Is hopeless one,
and have commenced captivating their
colors-eulogizing them, very natural
ly, as they do So"
The turning of the tables had been
accomplished 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 martyr, rushed away in
confusion and the colonel marched
his regiment back to quarters with fly
ing colors. He afterward received a
merry note from his acquaintance of a
day, apologizing for the trick she had
attempted to play upon him, thanking
him for tie gentlemanly manner in
which b. had treated her, and acknowl-
edging hat he had the best of the In
cident.
During a late visit to the Nashville
exposition he enjoyed the pleasure of
meeting her-now a handsome Colo
NAL Dame"-and of laughing with her
over the incident.-From Everywhere