The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-11-15
BATTLE FLAG.

BATTLE FLA1.
How II Was Made in Richmond
by the Misses Cary.
rco,ona, Alex. Chisholm. OF New York, IN
tho Confederate veteran.)
AZ = recent .'camp fire" OF the Conieos
crate Veteran Camp. OF Now YORK IN
conversation with some of our comrades
was surprised to learn how little they
knew about tho origin and history OF tne
..hattle flag" undcr which. for four years
they had fought with such desperate
vnlor. It's history being indelioly ensraEeo
upon my memory, have, at tneir re-
ouest, written these few lines. one %,
our Junior associate members polh.eu
with impassioned words and gestures W
the flag then present. which the Dausn.
ters Of the confederacy In TINS city m. as
40 Find a t. present to our camp ar"
rh,ch, regret to say, was not the one
und.r which we old soldiers fought. al
though II may have been legally adopted
Nv the politicians In the Congress IN CHI
rnond before the close OF the war. \ never
saw that flag Or knew Of Its existence un-
n, Il was ,,nfolded In this camp, altnougn
:
I was always in the field. ,,.,.,.
believe that I am now the only liVlllE
man VINO served in all the armies easy
Of the Mississippi River from previous 20
Ina attack on Fort Sumter In April, 1861.
when with Lee and Chestnut. we carried
thc demand Of its surrender and gave 70
Ca plain James. in Fort Johnson, the or
der to fire the signal gun to commence
the battle, and from that time until alter
the surrender Of Gen. Lee when unoer OF.
dars from General Joseph e. Johnston o!
Greensboro, N. G.. ! gave and received
In his name from General Hartsuil, aa'".
tert-general Of General Sherman. the pa
role for all Johnston's command, whlcn
extended to the Mississippi River. now
have nv parole from General Hartsnn
The old Confed erate soldiers fought I'M
DR. an entirely different flag, which. al
though never legally adopted by their gov
eminent. was baptized by the best blooo
az thousands OF their comrades ana was
carried by them on many victorious fields
from Pennsylvania to Texas. Its frequent
appearance on tho badges OF every vet.
Gran camp. North and South, Is an evil
dence that It Is still revered and Kept
sacred.
This is the only nag that we veterans
venerate. The Confederate Congress then
at Montgomery. Ala, had adopted ia
having stars in the jack. and two REQ,
with ono white stripe between. 1t was
so similar to the United States flag that
at Black burns Ford. three days ooiorc
the battle Of Bull Run and during tnht
battle our regiments fired into each other'
was between one Of Kershaw's south
Carolina regiments and the Washinston
Artillery on one OF these occasions. Three
DAYS later our men insisted that Shor-
mans thanking regiments at the stoHe
bridge were Confederates. but Informed
General stonewall Jackson that coulc
sea the stripes on the flag (the weather
was sultry and the flag hung limp. whor
he directed me to order the eleven gum
| 7 had placed under his orders to oper
fire. which repulsed that attack.
Major D. B. Harris, Of the engineers
after the battle, measured the distance.
was only one hundred and fifty yards.
After the battle Beauregard desired t
introduce a battle flag for the purpos'
OF avoiding such fatal mistakes but no
| to be substituted for the stars and bar
Of the confederacy. Colonel william
Porcher Miles, a member OF Congress
from south Carolina, then servng OF
General Beauregard's staff, suggested
the design Of our historical bnttle Gag
which was ono Of many that had bee,
submitted to him while in Montgomery
W. ". Eoyce another member OF Con
gress from South Carolina, requeste'
three lovely southern girls. then Twin
IN Richmond to make sample flags Of IN
design, Soon thereafter they visited thci
relative Captain skerrett. Of the nav,
who was In command Of the works q
Manassas Junction. bringing with thor
three beautiful silk battle flags wh!c
they presented to the three ranking ger
erals.
Mrs. Harrison informs me that the nas
we're made from red silk. which they r
cured with much difficulty-not from the
dresses as is generally believed. Mr.
He'ty Cary afterwards Mrs, John ~
. cram) gave hers to General joseph
johnston; Miss Jennie Cary gave he's
. General G. r, Benurepard: Mss Co,
stance Cary (now Mrs. Burton Hnrrison
, gave hers to General Earl Ven Dorm
. was returned to her battered and hlon'
, stained altar his death, md is n'w In III
) cabinet In this city, General Heaurtgsrd
: flag is now In tho possession OF one
J. his sons In New Orleans. II was So
: to me here some years ago. with mar
. other historical roles. when ] gavn a r
!. ccption to tho Veteran Camp, ~ Ne
2 York city General Bradley 7, Johnst'
pent me the flag at tho Marylnrd Ret
: mnnt, and Captain Y. A. Hugu"nin se
!. me In large glass case mo OF the tat'e
!. I'd flags which had fonted during ono
!. the two great bombardments of sis
n DAYS and sixty nights while he was
command OF Fort Sumter In lsG'-'G. All
r tleso flags arc tho battle flag; do n
=. recolect seeing any other flag CART
a by any of tho regiments after tho 81
n Run campaign.
It
10 John BROWN HANGING,