1. "Union Flags."[2]--These flags are very frequently mentioned in the
newspapers, in 1774, but no account is given of the devices upon them.
To establish these devices, will be one of the principal objects of
this inquiry.
[2] Siege of Boston, Frothingham, p. 104, _note_.
2. The standard of the Connecticut troops.--A letter, dated
Wethersfield, Connecticut, April 23, 1775, says: "We fix upon our
standards and drums the colony arms, with the motto, '_Qui transtulit
sustinet_,' round it, in letters of gold, which we construe thus:
'God, who transplanted us hither, will support us.'"[3] The standards
of the different regiments were distinguished by their color. Act of
Provincial Congress of Connecticut, July 1, 1775: "One standard for
each regiment _to be distinguished by their color, as follows, viz.:
for the seventh, blue; for the eighth, orange_."[4]
[3] American Archives, 4th series, vol. ii. p. 863.
[4] Ibid. p. 1582.
3. The flag unfurled by General Israel Putnam, on Prospect Hill, July
18, 1775, which is thus described in a letter, dated
"CAMBRIDGE, July 21, 1775.
"Last Saturday, July 15, the several regiments quartered in this
town being assembled upon the parade, the Rev. Dr. Langdon,
President of the College, read to them 'A Declaration, by the
Representatives of the United Colonies of North America now met in
General Congress at Philadelphia, setting forth the causes and
necessity of taking up arms.' It was received with great applause;
and the approbation of the army, with that of a great number of
other people, was immediately announced by three huzzas. His
Excellency, the General, with several other general officers, &c.,
were present on the occasion."
"Last Tuesday morning, July 18, according to orders issued the day
before by Major-General Putnam, all the continental troops under
his immediate command assembled at Prospect Hill, when the
Declaration of the Continental Congress was read; after which, an
animated and pathetic address to the army was made by the Rev. Mr.
Leonard, chaplain to General Putnam's regiment, and succeeded by a
pertinent prayer, when General Putnam gave the signal, and the
whole army shouted their loud _amen_ by three cheers; immediately
upon which a cannon was fired from the fort, and the standard
lately sent to General Putnam was exhibited, flourishing in the
air, bearing this motto; on one side, 'An Appeal to Heaven,' and,
on the other side, '_Qui transtulit sustinet_.'
"The whole was conducted with the utmost decency, good order, and
regularity, and the universal acceptance of all present; and the
_Philistines_, on Bunker's Hill, heard the shout of the
_Israelites_,[5] and, being very fearful, paraded themselves in
battle array."[6]
[5] General Putnam was named _Israel_.
[6] American Archives, 4th series, vol. ii. p. 1687.
This flag bore on it the motto of Connecticut, "_Qui transtulit
sustinet_," and the motto, "An Appeal to Heaven;" the latter of
which is evidently adopted from the closing paragraph of the "Address
of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, to their brethren in Great
Britain," written shortly after the battle of Lexington, which ended
thus: 'Appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we determine
to die or be free;' and which motto, under the form 'Appeal to Heaven,'
combined with a pine-tree, constituted the motto and device on the
colors of the Massachusetts colonial cruisers. In this combination of
the mottoes of Connecticut and Massachusetts, one can scarcely fail to
perceive the germ of the emblem of union which was introduced into the
flag, which, January 2, 1776, replaced the flag we have described
above, on Prospect Hill.
From the following notice of the flag displayed by General Putnam, July
18, 1775, we learn that it was a red flag. Before, however, giving the
notice, we will state that, as early as the time of the Romans, a red
flag was the signal of defiance or battle; thus, we are told: "When a
general, after having consulted the auspices, had determined to lead
forth his troops against the enemy, a red flag was displayed on a spear
from the top of the _Praetorium_,[7] which was the signal to prepare for
battle."[8] This accords with the account given of the display of the
above flag, and corroborates the fact mentioned in the following
extract from a letter of a captain of an English transport to his
owners in London:--
"BOSTON, Jan. 17, 1776.
"I can see the rebels' camp very plain, whose colors, a little
while ago, were entirely red; but, on the receipt of the king's
speech (which they burnt), they have hoisted the Union Flag, which
is here supposed to intimate the union of the provinces."[9]
He probably could not perceive the mottoes referred to in the preceding
letter, owing to the distance.
[7] The General's tent.
[8] Adams's Roman Antiquities, p. 322.
[9] American Archives, 4th series, vol. iv. p. 711.
4. The flag used at the taking of Fort Johnston, on James's Island,
September 13, 1775.--"Colonel Moultrie, September 13 [1775], received
an order from the Council of Safety for taking Fort Johnston, on
James's Island." [S.C.] "A flag being thought necessary for the
purpose of signals, Colonel Moultrie, who was requested by the Council
of Safety to procure one, had a large blue flag made, with a crescent
in one corner, to be in uniform with the troops. This was the first
American flag displayed in South Carolina."[10]
[10] Holmes's Annals, vol. ii. p. 227.