Hayes Lowe
More on 40th flag.
Thu Jan 18 14:51:59 2001


Dave, as this is so complex, I'll try to take this point by point.

>I don't subscribe to the three flag theory for the following reasons:

>The 40th was brigaded with the 37th and 42nd Alabama and the 2nd Texas at Vicksburg. We know that the non-standard flag of the 42nd was spirited out of Vicksburg, and the info surrounding that effort does not indicate they surrendered another, less sentimental stand of colors. This could indicate mischief was afoot in the brigade on the matter of flag surrending.

Good point, but do we know if the 37th and the 2nd Texas surrendered their flags or not? There seems to be a matter of mystery concerning the 37th's flag (the one in Montgomery, not the one in Auburn), so possibly it too was smuggled out? What is the history on the Auburn flag? Know anything about the 2nd Texas' flag history?

>The Higley flag, if I recollect properly, is not in too bad a condition, so there was no need to replace it.

The Higley flag was in worse condition than the flag that the 40th surrendered at the end of the war. See the Higley flag here: http://www.archives.state.al.us/referenc/flags/063.html">

>If it was not replaced based on need, then any issuance of new colors at Vicksburg should have been done at brigade level, and there is no evidence of flags remaining for the other regiments from such an issuance (as well as the evidence that the 42nd made off with its flag, which wasn't really all that hard to do, their are many stories of color bearers putting flags under their clothing).

It was replaced based on need, assuming that the present condition of the Higley flag is the same condition that it was in when it was replaced.

>Moore's Brigade was in the process of being refitted while in the Chattanooga vicinity. It is logical that the brigade's colors (with the instructions for application of specific battle honors) could have been ordered prior to Lookout Mountain, but that the colors might not have been completed and received by the regiments until after Bragg's fiasco at Missionary Ridge. My understanding is that the applied honor were paid for by the regiments, so the occurance of a battle while the flags were "on order" was not likely to be added.

>Col. Higley was in a position to send the flag back to Mobile from Chattanooga or Dalton; at Vicksburg, following the point the garrison was invested in the seige, he was not.

Remember that the only difference that I could tell between the eBay flag and the surrendered flag was that the lettering was hand sewn instead of appliqued. This may well have been done while the 40th was invested in Vicksburg by the men themselves, the regimental laundress, or a local seamstress.

>I think Gulley could be a touch off on timing, some 30 years after the fact.

Well, I can't subscribe to that theory. Among the most vivid recollections of any Civil War soldier were those of his regiment's flag. That is rather hard for us to comprehend today, with battle outcomes the most important feature of any present day war. However, the flag was the most important feature to any individual regiment during the Civil War. I don't think Gulley could get that wrong (unless he was senile). And also remember, he does not give timing (i.e. a date)...he gives a *location*. He states that the Higley flag was replaced at Vicksburg. That's hard to remember wrong.

> Is there other evidence? [...] It is not unreasonable to assume the regiment went through more than two stands of colors during the war, the inferences as to when and where the other flag was received just haven't yet been enough to convince me.

They aren't inferences, they are concrete assertions as to time and/or place. Speaking with my attorney hat on, its hard to get much more proof than that from a witness, even in a modern day court trial. As far as forensic evidence, you can see from the Higley flag that it was time for a replacement.

We also know that there was some monkey business going on regarding the history of the flag I am recalling was a very good copy of the 20th Alabama's Johnston or Atlanta Depot pattern AOT battleflag. I did not see the flag attributed to the 40th.

I wish that I had saved a JPEG of the eBay flag.

Now to add another component to all this...remember that per the discussion a little ways down on the forum, not all of the 40th's companies surrendered at Vicksburg. Companies A, D, and I composed the "Alabama Sharpshooter's Battalion" and were not surrendered at Vicksburg. I wonder in which company was Higley???






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