War flags of the Confederate States of America
Within the Confederate States of America there were a number of “battle flags” in the war years 1861–1865. On the eastern theater of war, the “eastern theater”, where the Confederate army was intensively supported by the government, these were designed quite uniformly.
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On the other hand, there was a great variety of flags and standards in the western theaters of war, the “western theater” and the “Trans-Mississippi theater”, since official regulations and regulations only slowly penetrated these regions. A uniformity of the flags that was actually desired was never achieved, especially in the West; but even the troops in the eastward theater of war did not fully implement them.
Among the multitude of “battle flags” used during the war, the national flag of the Confederate States “stars and bars” played an important role. It was used as the flag of war by various troops .
Field armies
The Northern Virginia Army
The Northern Virginia Army was considered the "great" Army of the South. Originally referred to as the " Potomac Army " under General Joseph Eggleston Johnston , it became legendary under the command of General Robert E. Lee .
The Potomac Army's first major battle was the Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. Nominally led by General Johnston, most of the planning and tactical operations were carried out by General PGT Beauregard . On numerous occasions in the course of the fighting it was not easy for commanders to distinguish “friend” from “enemy”. At that time, uniform uniforms were not yet worn: gray and blue as well as other exotic-looking versions were available on both sides. Heat, dust, and gun smoke severely restricted the field of vision. In addition to these difficulties, the Confederation's “stars and bars” flag was so similar to the “stars and stripes” of the US armed forces that it was often mutually assumed that the enemy had illegally usurped their own flag.
The problem of uniforms was soon resolved, dust and gun smoke were accepted, but General Beauregard was determined to tackle the "flag problem" immediately.
General Johnston originally intended to solve the problem by requiring all regiments to use their state's flag. However, only the regiments from Virginia were adequately equipped with such flags. General Beauregard then made the proposal to change the national flag of the Confederation . Congressman William Porcher Miles agreed, but said that Congress would reject this in any case. Miles, however, suggested equipping the army with a clearly identifiable flag of war. He recommended a design that was proposed to Congress as a potential national flag on March 4, 1861. At that time it was provided with seven, thus asymmetrically arranged stars, the model was now considered suitable - with twelve stars and square shaped - to serve as a war flag.
Soon-to-be-made prototypes were also endorsed by General Johnston. In September 1861, Johnston ordered silk-made specimens to be made. In November 1861, the first copies were shipped to units in Centerville , Virginia . These flags, known as “southern cross”, were adorned with twelve white stars in a blue cross , eleven for the member states and one for Missouri , which had not yet been accepted into the confederation. The edges of the flag were lined with yellow and attached to the flagpole with a dark blue sleeve. As early as 1862 it became clear that a cloth made of silk was not able to withstand the enormous stresses during the fighting and that another material had to replace it. The new flags were made of high quality English flag cloth and differed from the previous model made of silk in a few details. Another thirteenth star was added for the thirteen members of the Confederation. The previously yellow flag border was changed to an orange one. The attachment to the mast was now done with the help of white cloth loops and a fastening cord passed through. Under this flag of war General Lee's army fought battles such as Cedar Mountain , Sharpsburg, and Chancellorsville .
Shortly after the Battle of Chancellorsville and before the Northern Virginia Army set out on their march north to Gettysburg , the flag was slightly changed again in 1863. Instead of the orange-colored border, there was now a white one. This version of the war flag eventually became known as the “southern cross”, the most famous flag and generally referred to as the actual “battle flag” of the southern states.
The regimental name was often in gold colors above and below the central star on the blue cloth. All awards received, however, were put on the red cloth in blue.
With this final version of the war flag, General Lee fought the battles of Gettysburg , the Battle of the Wilderness , Cold Harbor , Petersburg and numerous others with the Northern Virginia Army until he surrendered in Appomattox Court House (see also Appomattox campaign ).
The war flags were to be made in Virginia in three different sizes: 48 inches on a side for infantry, 36 inches for artillery, and 30 inches for cavalry. It is questionable whether 36 inch flags were actually produced.
The Peninsular Army
The " Peninsula Army ", commanded by Major General John B. Magruder , was charged with organizing the defense of the critical peninsula between the York River and the James, southeast of Richmond , Virginia .
On April 9, 1862 reinforcement troops from Northern Virginia should reach his positions. Major General Magruder thought it sensible to inform his troops that the newly added units of the Confederate " Potomac Army " were equipped with newly created war flags. Taking this fact into account, Magruder ordered that an unambiguous war flag also be produced for his own troops. The design he chose was very simple: an almost square cloth that was diagonally divided into two parts - red towards the mast and white towards the "flying end". In a narrow white strip there were three eyelets with which the flag could be attached.
The delivery of the war flags to his troops began on April 18, 1862. The last specimens still in use in the battle were seen during the Battle of Sharpsburg in September 1862. After that, all associations received the war flag version of the Northern Virginia Army assigned.
Tennessee Army
In February 1862, General Beauregard was transferred west to where the Confederate Army was under the command of General Albert Sidney Johnston . In relation to this General Johnston, Beauregard played the role of a deputy commander-in-chief, just as he already stood by General Joseph E. Johnston in Virginia in the same capacity. Beauregard immediately advocated introducing the newly created war flag of Virginia in the western regiments. A major stumbling block was the fact that numerous commanding generals were already using their own characteristic war flags for their corps to counteract the confusion caused by the "stars and bars" flag.
One of these new flags was issued to the regiments of General William Joseph Hardee . Hardee's flag was a blue cloth with a white border around it. In the middle was a white disk, which was sometimes called the "silver moon". The disk was also partly oval, square or square with rounded corners applied to the flag. Often the regimental names were written in the white area and the awards on the edge or on the blue cloth.
Another corps that used separate war flags was that of Major General Leonidas Polk . Just like Beauregard's flag, it had a star-studded cross as an essential feature. Polk, however, was apparently influenced by his "civil" profession in designing the flag. In addition to his position as General of the Confederation, he was also Episcopalian Bishop of Louisiana. The symbol of the Episcopalian Church is the red cross of "Saint George", the national flag of England. This cross, which was still separated from the blue field by a narrow white line, became the central emblem of this war flag. Eleven white stars were attached to mark the member states of the confederation.
When General Braxton Bragg's Corps was added to the Mississippi Army in February 1862 , it did not have a special war flag. Beauregard took advantage of this fact by having flags made according to the "southern cross" pattern for these units. Bragg's new flags were similar to the "Virginia" model in most of the details. So they were also made of wool instead of silk. However, the twelve stars each had 6 points, which heraldically represented the correct variant. The first version, delivered on March 3, 1862, was bordered with a wide, yellow border attached to three sides.
After the first delivery of the flags had arrived, General Beauregard had further "series" produced, which were intended for possible future use. The third and final version, which, like the first two, was produced by the flag manufacturer Henry Cassidy of New Orleans on March 29, 1862 , was made of the same material as the first two, but the yellow border has now been replaced by a pink one on all four sides and the flag was changed from a more or less square to a rectangular shape. These flags were probably originally planned for General Hardee's corps, but in practice they served to gradually replace the first two versions that had been used up. All versions were used sporadically until the winter of 1863/1864.
The Mississippi Army's remaining corps was the Reserve Corps, commanded by General John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky , the former Vice President of the United States. These regiments continued to use the "stars and bars" - the national flag of the Confederate States of America.
These were the main war flags used by the Mississippi Army when it faced the enemy near Shiloh : a unique war flag for each corps and the national flag for the reserve corps.
In November 1862, the Mississippi Army renamed the Tennessee Army . The large number of flags used lasted until December 18, 1863 - after the crushing defeat of General Bragg at Chattanooga . At that point, command of the Army was transferred to General Joseph E. Johnston. One of Johnston's first goals was to restore morale to the troops. As early as March 1864, he had been equipping his units with uniform war flags. Its version was essentially identical to the "Virginia" model, but it was rectangular in shape. Nevertheless, General Johnston did not quite succeed in equipping all units with this flag. The regiments of General Patrick Ronayne Cleburnes Division reacted so negatively to the order to adopt a new flag that they were allowed to carry on "Hardee's" old war flag.
The war flag of the Tennessee Army is the most common flag with the "southern cross" today and can be found at every souvenir stand in the southern United States.
Defense areas
Military Area of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida
In addition to their field armies, the Confederate States had units located in military departments. Troops within these defensive areas were stationed in fortified forts and other camps and were used to defend the area. One of the first "military departments" set up at the beginning of the war was that of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. In the first year of the war, all regiments in this military area primarily used their respective national flags.
When General Beauregard was in command of this defense area in September 1862, he had the state flag replaced by the "southern cross". The war flag was very similar to the version from Virginia after 1863. It was a square wool flag with thirteen 5-pointed stars. The main difference between the flag of the Northern Virginia Army and that of the Military Area was that the stars in the flag of the Army weren't all the way into the corners of the cross. In contrast, there was an even division in the version of the defense area. Furthermore, the war flag of the North Virginia Army was attached to the pole by numerous eyelets and cords, while that of the military area was firmly connected to the pole with a cuff on the upper part of the flag.
As in Virginia, the war flag was produced in different sizes for the respective branches of service. For the infantry, the flag was attached to the pole with a blue cuff, whereas the artillery was given a red version.
Eastern Tennessee Defense Area
In 1862, the Eastern Tennessee Defense Area was under the command of General Edmund Kirby Smith . During General Bragg's campaign in Kentucky, General Smith's units left their military area and were renamed the " Kentucky Army ". During this time the associations of the division commanded by General John P. Mc Cown carried an independent war flag. McCown was of Scottish descent and therefore had flags made that resembled the national flag of Scotland. They contained the "St. Andrew's cross", a white cross on a blue field. The edges of the flag were designed to be variable. The 30th Arkansas Infantry Regiment carried the flag from 1862 with a white border on all four sides, while the 39th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, added in 1863, added four red triangles in each corner. These war flags were apparently used until the Battle of Chickamauga in the spring of 1864.
Weir area of Alabama, Mississippi, and Eastern Louisiana
The defense area existed in 1864 and 1865. It encompassed all of Alabama, Mississippi and the part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi.
The regiments of this military area used war flags made in Mobile , Alabama to a standardized pattern. In general they followed the "southern cross model" of the " Tennessee Army ". The flag had no edge, was made of wool, and one side was sewn around so that it could be attached to the flagpole. All stars were evenly distributed on the blue cross. However, only twelve stars were attached to the flag of this defense area, which was obviously a characteristic of those flags that were made in Mobile. Even national flags of the type "stainless banner" from this region basically missed the thirteenth star.
The general size of this war flag was 45 by 52 inches. A smaller version measuring 37 by 46 inches was issued to the cavalry regiments of Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest .
A significant number of troops used very idiosyncratic war flags. One of these models was the flag of Earl Van Dorn with his "Army of the West". She had a red kerchief that was adorned with thirteen white stars in five rows. In the upper corner of the flagpole was a white crescent moon. The flags had a yellow border. When General Van Dorn led his regiments to the east side of the Mississippi for the battle at Corinth , Mississippi in 1862 , his troops fought under these flags.
A flag used by Breckinridge's Army of West Tennessee Corps had a red Latin cross in a blue field . Thirteen white, 5-pointed stars were distributed on the cross in a ratio of 7 (vertical part) to 6 (horizontal part). These war flags were issued to at least two brigades from Breckinridge's Reserve Division in May 1862 and were used at the Battle of Baton Rouge in August 1862 .
Additional flags containing a "Latin cross" were used in the defense of Vicksburg , Mississippi in May 1863. Units of the 1st Missouri Cavalry used the "Missouri battle flag" described below, which showed a white cross on a blue background. Regiments of the "Cummings Brigade", however, showed the white cross on a red cloth. This was bordered by a presumably yellow, perhaps also a white border. A similar flag was used by General Dabney Maury at his headquarters in Mobile, Alabama, in 1864. As is common in Alabama, only 12 stars were shown on General Maury's flag.
Trans-Mississippi Theater of War
The Trans-Mississippi theater of war was geographically the largest military area within the Confederation. It consisted of all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi, the states of Arkansas, Missouri and Texas, the Indian nations of the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma, and the Confederate Territory of Arizona, which included parts of New Mexico. After the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863, the theater of war was practically cut off from the rest of the Confederation and subsequently operated independently of the government in Richmond , Virginia in military matters . It was also the last territory to surrender to the " Yankee " invasion. By the beginning of 1865, however, Texas was still practically devoid of "Northern States" troops.
The theater of war was unique among the military areas of the Confederation in that the troops were not all "whites". In 1861 the Confederate States concluded a total of nine treaties with the Indian nations in what is now the territory of the state of Oklahoma. These treaties with the so-called Five Civilized Nations , the Cherokee , Chickasaw , Choctaw , Muskogee and Seminoles , included mutual assistance agreements, with the result that a total of around 3,000 Indian soldiers fought on the side of the Confederate Army. These soldiers were known as brave fighters and rendered valuable service in the theater of war. The last Confederate general to surrender was General Stand Watie of the Cherokee Nation, the last civil administration to surrender to the invading army was that of Governor Winchester Colbert of the Chickasaw Nation.
Within the theater of war, numerous war flags of the "southern cross" pattern were in use. One of these flags was that of General Jo Shelby and his Missouri Brigade. This silk flag had a white border, just like the later Virginia version. However, it also had a red "fringe ornament" on three sides, which was also made of silk. This flag survived the war by a fortunate circumstance: after the victory of the Union troops, General Shelby and his division did not surrender. Rather, he rode with about 200 "southerners", who were also not ready to endure the so-called " Reconstruction ", through Texas towards the Mexican border. On July 4, 1865, Shelby had all the war flags he had carried weighed down with stones and sunk in the Rio Grande . One of these war flags was rescued from this wet grave by a member of his troops before crossing the border into Coahuila in Mexico .
Other associations stationed far to the west used "southern cross" flags, more like those from Tennessee. For example the flag used by "Parson's Texas Cavalry Brigade". This was made oblong and without an extra edge. There was a tendency to violate the rules of heraldry by omitting the white narrow line around the blue cross. Another typical feature of theater of war flags, particularly those from Texas, was that the central star was significantly larger than the others.
In March 1864, General Richard Taylor's forces defeated their northern adversaries and were able to regain control of the area in western Louisiana. The flags of war these men fought under were also "southern cross" models, but the colors were reversed; H. red crosses on a blue background. Like other flags for this theater of war, the cross was not separated from the blue field by a white line. At least one of Taylor's regiments even used a flag with a "Saint George 'cross" similar to that used by General Polk in Tennessee in 1862.
Another exceptional war flag was used by regiments based out of Missouri. This so-called "Missouri battle flag" had a blue cloth with a red border. It was decorated with a white "Roman Cross" that was added to the side of the mast. A similar flag was apparently used by units from Missouri in the defense of Vicksburg in 1863.
When the Confederation Envoy for Indian Affairs, Albert Pike , signed the treaty with the Cherokee Indians on October 7, 1861, he presented a special flag to Chief John Ross . This version of the "stars and bars" flag contained a collection of five additional red stars within a circle of white stars, which were supposed to represent the five "civilized nations" of the Indians. A similar flag that was preserved after the war bore the name "Cherokee Braves" and is attributed to the "First Cherokee Mounted Rifles". It is believed that this model served as a kind of unofficial national flag for the "Confederate Cherokee" Indians.
Another Confederate Indian flag was that of the Choctaw Brigade. In the middle of a blue field was a red, white-rimmed disk. Inside the disc, the typical weapons of the Choctaw nation were depicted in white silhouette: a bow, arrows and a tomahawk .
literature
- Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr .: The Flags of the Confederacy , St. Lukes Press, Memphis (USA), 1988, ISBN 0-918518-62-8
Web links
- Terry L. Jones: The Southern Cross . in New York Times [1]