troops, and when captured.
of Feb. 28, 1904, that a bill would be introduced in Congress for the return of the captured Confederate flags to the
that no bill, as yet, has been presented, but that he will confer with his colleagues, and offer one for their due restoration.
There should now be no cavil at its passage as there is no question as to the proper custody of these precious memorials, about which cluster so much that is alike tender and inspiring.
It would seem that a common patriotism should constrain immediate and unanimous action by Congress in a matter so palpably appealing.—Ed.]
There are 544 Confederate flags in the War Department.
The flags were sent to the department as they were captured by the generals commanding the armies in the field.
The
Secretary of War
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thinks some of the flags may have reached the department through some other channel.
Of the whole number of flags thus sent to the department, 236 were
United States flags, captured by the
Confederates and recaptured by the
Federal troops, and 544 were Confederate flags taken by the United States troops, making a total of 780, in the custody of the department.
When received, they were deposited in a vacant attic in a building on Seventeenth street, used by clerks of the
adjutant-general's office, and remained there until 1867.
In that year the
Secretary of War had them taken to the War Department, where a few were placed on the walls, and the remainder laid on shelves or stuffed in pigeon-holes.
A portion of the flags were removed to the
Winter building and placed on exhibition in the
Ordnance Museum in 1784, and others were sent to the same place in 1875.
The larger part of the flags still remained in the War Department.
In 1882 all the flags, by direction of the
Secretary of War, were boxed up and stored in the sub-basement of the department, where they were kept until 1889, when it was found that they were decaying, and the
adjutant-general of the army had them removed from the boxes and placed in an upper story, where they could be more readily reached.
It has been the practice of the department to return recaptured Union flags to the organizations which lost them, but it has not been the practice to return any Confederate flags to their original owners.
During the first administration of
Mr. Cleveland the
Adjutant-General of the army,
R. C. Drum, recommended to the
President that the captured flags be returned to the
Governors of the States to which the organizations which had lost them belonged.
Mr. Cleveland approved this suggestion, and then revoked the order which had been issued on the subject, for the reason that he found he did not have the power to give back the flags without being authorized to do so by act of Congress.
The following is a list of the forty-nine flags carried by
Virginia regiments and captured in battle, which are now in the War Department:
First Virginia Infantry, captured by the 82d New York at
Gettysburg.
Third Virginia Infantry, captured at
Gettysburg.
Fourth Virginia Infantry, taken at the
Wilderness, May 12, 1864.
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197]
Second Virginia Infantry, Stonewall Brigade,
Early's Corps, thirteen battles inscribed on it; captured at
Winchester, September 19, 1864, by the 37th Massachusetts Infantry.
Third Virginia Cavalry, captured near
Front Royal, August 16, 1864, by
Sergeant H. J. Murray, Company B, 4th New York Cavalry, and
Private Frank Leslie, Company B, same regiment.
Seventh Virginia Infantry, captured by the 82d New York at
Gettysburg.
Battle flag of the 8th Virginia Volunteers, time and place of capture not given.
Tenth Virginia Volunteers, captured at
Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, by the 68th Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Confederate flag, stars and bars, 12th Virginia, captured in cavalry engagement near Beverley Ford, June, 1863, by
General Judson Kilpatrick, U. S. A.
Ninth Virginia Infantry, captured July 3, 1863, at
Gettysburg, by
Private John E. Clopp, Company F, 71st Pennsylvania.
Ninth Virginia Infantry, captured at Sailor's creek, April 6, 1865, by
Corporal J. F. Benjamin, Company M (
Harris), Volunteer Cavalry, 1st Brigade, 3d Division,
Major-General Custer commanding.
Sixth Virginia Infantry, captured July 30, 1864, by
Corporal Franklin Hogan, Company A, 45th Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Twelfth Virginia Infantry, captured in the battle of Sailor's creek, April 6, 1865, by
First Lieutenant James H. Gibbon, Company C, 2d New York (Harris Light) Volunteer Cavalry, 1st Brigade, 3d Division.
Fifth Virginia Cavalry, captured at
Aldie, Va., June 17, 1863, by 1st Massachusetts Cavalry.
Eighteenth Virginia Volunteers, time and place of capture not given.
Twenty-fifth Virginia Volunteers, time and place of capture not given.
Fourteenth Virginia Regiment, captured at
Five Forks, April 1, 1865, by
Sergeant H. A. Delavie, Company I, 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers. 3d Division, 5th Army Corps.
Fourteenth Virginia, State flag, captured at
Nineveh, Va., November 12, 1864, by
Private J. F. Adams, ‘First Virginia Cavalry;’ on one side are the words, ‘God Armeth the
Patriot,’ and on the other, ‘Virginia State Arms.’
Thirty-second Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, captured by
Private
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198]
Edward Handford, Company H, 2d United States Cavalry, near
Woodstock.
October 9, 1864.
Eighteenth Virginia Infantry, captured by
Second Lieutenant C. E. Hunt, 59th New York Volunteers, place and time of capture not given.
Eighteenth Virginia Infantry, captured at Sailor's creek, April 6, 1865, by
Sergeant Ives S. Calking, Company M, 2d New York (Harris Light) Cavalry,
Custer's Division.
Twenty-sixth Virginia Infantry, captured at Sailor's creek, by
Coran D. Evans, Company A, 3d Indiana Cavalry.
Twenty-fifth Battalion Virginia Infantry, captured at Sailor's creek, by
Private Frank Miller, Company M, 2d New York Cavalry.
Twenty-seventh Virginia Infantry, captured at Sailor's creek, by
Private W. F. Holmes, Company A, 3d Indiana Veteran Cavalry.
Thirtieth Virginia, captured by
Private George J. Shapp, Com-E, 191st Pennsylvania Volunteers, who, while on the skirmish line, saw the enemy rally a line of battle on the colors, and sprang forward, accompanied by a dismounted cavalryman, and demanded the surrender of the colors.
A Confederate officer called to his men to shoot the two Yankees, and the cavalryman was shot dead.
Shapp then shot the officer and seized the colors.
The bearer, when the skirmish line charged on the line of battle, fled.
The place and time of this occurrence is not given.
Thirty-sixth Virginia Volunteers, captured September 19, 1864, near
Winchester, by
Patrick Enroe,
private Company D, 6th New York Cavalry, Second Brigade, First Cavalry Division.
Thirty-eighth Virginia Infantry, captured at
Sailor's Creek, by
Captain John B. Hughey, Company L, 2d Ohio Volunteers, Third Cavalry Division.
Fortieth Virginia Infantry, captured at
Sailor's Creek, by
First Sergeant W. P. Morris, Company C, First New York Lincoln Cavalry Volunteers.
Thirty-eighth Virginia Regiment, captured at
Gettysburg, by Company G, 8th Ohio Volunteers,
Sergeant Daniel Miller.
Fortieth Virginia Infantry, ‘Southern Cross,’ captured by the 1st Michigan Cavalry, at
Falling Waters, Md., May 12, 1864.
Forty-second Virginia Infantry, captured May 12, 1864, by
Corporal Charles L. Russell, Company H, 93d New York Volunteers; place not given.
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199]
Forty-first Virginia Infantry,
Weisiger's Brigade,
Mahone's Division; time and place of capture not given.
Battle flag of the 56th Virginia Infantry.
Fifty-sixth Virginia Infantry, captured May 12, 1864, by
Private C. W. Wilson, Company E, Fourth Excelsior Regiment,
Birney's Division, Second Army Corps.
Sixty-seventh Virginia Infantry, captured by
Private B. H. Tillison, 19th Massachusetts.
Forty-fourth Virginia Volunteers, captured at the
Wilderness, May 12, 1864, by
Sergeant Albert March, Company B, 64th New York Volunteers.
Fifty-fifth Virginia Regiment, captured May 6, 1864, by
Sergeant W. P. Townsend, Company G, 20th Indiana.
Forty-seventh Virginia Volunteers, captured by 50th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, place and time not given.
Fiftieth Virginia Regiment, captured at the
Wilderness by
Private John Opel, Company G, 7th Indiana Volunteers.
Virginia State flag, captured June 3, 1864, in the
Wilderness, by
Corporal Terence Bigley, Company D, 7th New York Artillery.
Stars and Bars of Flatrock Rifles,
Lunenburg county, Va., time and place of capture not given.
Virginia State flag, captured at the
battle of Philippi,
Va., June 3, 1861, by the 14th Ohio Volunteers, inscribed: ‘Presented by the ladies of
Bath, Va.; God protect the right.’
Virginia State colors, place and time of capture not given, nor is the name of the organization from which the flag was taken.
Virginia cavalry standard, taken in charge at the
Wilderness, by
Private Samuel Coskey, Company I, 1st Cavalry.
Virginia State colors, captured at
Sailors' Creek, by
Corporal Ernine C. Payne, 2d New York (Harris) Volunteer Cavalry.
Battle flag, Virginia State colors, captured at Farm's Cross Roads, April 5, 1865, by
Henry C. Wasfel, Company A, 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Confederate flag,
Virginia, inscribed: ‘Our cause is just, our rights we will maintain.’
Time and place of capture not given, nor is the name of the organization from which the flag was taken.
Virginia State flag, captured September 19, 1864, near
Winchester, by
Private George Reynolds, Company M, 9th New York Cavalry.
Name of command which lost the flag is not given.
Virginia State flag, presented
Lieutenant E. D. Wheeler, 1st Artillery, November, 1875.
No other facts given.
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Forty-eighth Virginia Infantry, captured in the
Wilderness, May 5, 1864, by
Lieutenant-Colonel Albert M. Edwards, 24th Michigan Volunteers.
