Hayes Lowe
40th flag
Mon Jan 15 21:53:15 2001


Henry,

The second flag of the 40th was presented to the regiment while at Vicksburg. The first flag was not captured because it had been taken out of service. The second flag was captured at Vicksburg. This is supported by the story given by the ADAH regarding the two flags in its collection.

From the ADAH Flag Collection site:

(Regarding the first flag of the 40th)
According to a letter written by former Lt. Colonel E. S. Gulley, 40th Alabama Infantry (printed in the Livingston Journal, June 22, 1894) this flag was presented to the regiment by William Jemison during the summer of 1862, while the regiment was near Mobile. Gulley further stated that the flag was carried until a new one was issued at Vicksburg (probably after Vicksburg when the regiment was paroled). Following the war, this flag was preserved by former Col. John H. Higley of Mobile. In a letter dated August 15, 1904, Joe Cady of Mobile claimed that the flag had been given to him by Higley. However, an earlier letter (June 12, 1903) to Judge T. W. Coleman states that the flag was kept by Higley until his death and that Cady had somehow acquired possession of it. 

(Regarding the second flag of the 40th)
And: Flags of this pattern were manufactured in Mobile, Alabama, and issued within the Department of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana1. According to a letter written by Ezekiel S. Gulley (former Lt. Colonel, 40th Alabama Infantry) which was published in the Livingston Journal June 22, 1894, this flag was issued at Vicksburg and carried throughout the war. Since the flag bears a battle honor for Vicksburg which was appliqued at the time of manufacture, it is more likely that it was issued following the exchange of the regiment after Vicksburg.
The flag of the 37th Alabama Infantry (Auburn University, Special Collections) is the only surviving flag of a regiment which was brigaded with the 40th at the time the flag was issued. As with the flag of the 40th, the latest battle honor appliqued to the flag is for Vicksburg. Thus, both flags were probably issued at the same time and will post date July 3, 1863 (the surrender of Vicksburg). Additionally, both regiments saw service at Lookout Mountain yet neither flag has a battle honor for this engagement, suggesting that they were issued before November 24, 1863. 


I can find no record of it (or any other flag captured at Vicksburg) being returned during the war, and that would have been highly unlikely. If you have seen accounts of another flag being presented at Dalton, then that would explain when the third flag came into use. The ADAH story does not mention this.

The flag on eBay was almost identical to the flag that the ADAH has in its collection. The only basic difference was that was in near excellent condition, which would reflect its limited, near garrison, service.

The eBay flag was being sold by the son of a man who had come into possession of it in about 1957, who acquired it from a UCV post in Florida.

Now, granted, there is nothing to prove that the eBay flag was genuine, but there are indications.

First, the 40th flag, as far as I understand, was in private possession until 1958 and it was never publicly shown. The eBay flag was a near duplicate, the only difference being that the ADAH flag has the lettering appliqued, and the eBay flag had them hand sewn. Whoever had made it, if it was indeed made after the war, would have had to have an intimate knowledge of the flag (presumedly during the war) and a photographic memory and an incredible ability to recall spacial relationships.

Second, the flag did not effervesce under blacklight. If you are familiar with authenticating antiques, then you know the importance of this.

Third, the flag was constructed of four separate swatches of red material. This is the failing of almost all later made flags in duplicating an original. Later flags used a single sheet of material for the body of the flag. Original flags had each section sewn to the cross (supposedl
  • 40TH Ala. Flag — Henry Seale, Tue Jan 16 06:41


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