THE CONFEDERATE BATTLE-FLAG.
This banner, the witness and inspiration of many victories, which was
proudly borne on every field from Manassas to Appomattox, was conceived
on the field of battle, lived on the field of battle, and on the last
fatal field ceased to have place or meaning in the world. But the men
who followed it, and the world which watched its proud advance or
defiant stand, see in it still the unstained banner of a brave and
generous people, whose deeds have outlived their country, and whose
final defeat but added lustre to their grandest victories.
It was not the flag of the Confederacy, but simply the banner, the
battle-flag, of the Confederate soldier. As such it should not share in
the condemnation which our _cause_ received, or suffer from its
downfall. The whole world can unite in a chorus of praise to the
gallantry of the men who followed where this banner led.
It was at the battle of Manassas, about four o'clock of the afternoon of
the 21st of July, 1861, when the fate of the Confederacy seemed
trembling in the balance, that General Beauregard, looking across the
Warrenton turnpike, which passed through the valley between the position
of the Confederates and the elevations beyond occupied by the Federal
line, saw a body of troops moving towards his left and the Federal
right. He was greatly concerned to know, but could not decide, what
troops they were, whether Federal or Confederate. The similarity of
uniform and of the colors carried by the opposing armies, and the clouds
of dust, made it almost impossible to decide.
Shortly before this time General Beauregard had received from the signal
officer, Captain Alexander, a dispatch, saying that from the signal
station in the rear he had sighted the colors of this column, drooping
and covered with the dust of journeyings, but could not tell whether
they were the Stars and Stripes or the Stars and Bars. He thought,
however, that they were probably Patterson's troops arriving on the
field and reenforcing the enemy.
General Beauregard was momentarily expecting help from the right, and
the uncertainty and anxiety of this hour amounted to anguish. Still the
column pressed on. Calling a staff officer, General Beauregard
instructed him to go at once to General Johnston, at the Lewis House,
and say that the enemy were receiving heavy reenforcements, that the
troops on the plateau were very much scattered, and that he would be
compelled to retire to the Lewis House, and there re-form, hoping that
the troops ordered up from the right would arrive in time to enable him
to establish and hold the new line.
[Illustration: HERE ARE THE COLORS!]
Meanwhile, the unknown troops were pressing on. The day was sultry, and
only at long intervals was there the slightest breeze. The colors of the
mysterious column hung drooping on the staff. General Beauregard tried
again and again to decide what colors they carried. He used his glass
repeatedly, and handing it to others begged them to look, hoping that
their eyes might be keener than his.
General Beauregard was in a state of great anxiety, but finally
determined to hold his ground, relying on the promised help from the
right; knowing that if it arrived in time victory might be secured, but
feeling also that if the mysterious column should be Federal troops the
day was lost.
Suddenly a puff of wind spread the colors to the breeze. It was the
Confederate flag,--the Stars and Bars! It was Early with the
Twenty-Fourth Virginia, the Seventh Louisiana, and the Thirteenth
Mississippi. The column had by this time reached the extreme right of
the Federal lines. The moment the flag was recognized, Beauregard
turned to his staff, right and left, saying, "See that the day is ours!"
and ordered an immediate advance. In the mean time Early's brigade
deployed into line and charged the enemy's right; Elzey, also, dashed
upon the field, and in one hour not an enemy was to be seen south of
Bull Run.
While on this field and suffering this terrible anxiety, General
Beauregard determined that the Confederate soldier must have a flag so
distinct from that of the enemy that no doubt should ever again endanger
his cause on the field of battle.
Soon after the battle he entered into correspondence with Colonel
William Porcher Miles, who had served on his staff during the day, with
a view to securing his aid in the matter, and proposing a blue field,
red bars crossed, and gold stars.
They discussed the matter at length. Colonel Miles thought it was
contrary to the law of heraldry that the ground should be blue, the bars
red, and the stars gold. He proposed that the ground should be red, the
bars blue, and the stars white. General Beauregard approved the change,
and discussed the matter freely with General Johnston. Meanwhile it
became known that designs for a flag were under discussion, and many
were sent in. One came from Mississippi; one from J.B. Walton and E.C.
Hancock, which coincided with the design of Colonel Miles. The matter
was freely discussed at headquarters, till, finally, when he arrived at
Fairfax Court House, General Beauregard caused his draughtsman (a
German) to make drawings of all the various designs which had been
submitted. With these designs before them the officers at headquarters
agreed on the famous old banner,--the red field, the blue cross, and the
white stars. The flag was then submitted to the War Department, and was
approved.
The first flags sent to the army were presented to the troops by General
Beauregard in person, he then expressing the hope and confidence that
they would become the emblem of honor and of victory.
The first three flags received were made from "_ladies' dresses_" by the
Misses Carey, of Baltimore and Alexandria, at their residences and the
residences of friends, as soon as they could get a description of the
design adopted. One of the Misses Carey sent the flag she made to
General Beauregard. Her sister presented hers to General Van Dorn, who
was then at Fairfax Court House. Miss Constance Carey, of Alexandria,
sent hers to General Joseph E. Johnston.
General Beauregard sent the flag he received at once to New Orleans for
safe keeping. After the fall of New Orleans, Mrs. Beauregard sent the
flag by a Spanish man-of-war, then lying in the river opposite New
Orleans, to Cuba, where it remained till the close of the war, when it
was returned to General Beauregard, who presented it for safe keeping to
the Washington Artillery, of New Orleans.
This much about the battle-flag, to accomplish, if possible, two things:
first, preserve the little history connected with the origin of the
flag; and, second, place the _battle_ flag in a place of security, as it
were, separated from all the political significance which attaches to
the _Confederate_ flag, and depending for its future place solely upon
the deeds of the armies which bore it, amid hardships untold, to many
victories.
[Illustration: Finis]