Dave Neel
More on the 40th's Flags
Thu Jan 18 22:21:44 2001


Hayes:

At the risk of us boring the rest of the world to tears, a few more thoughts (perhaps between the two of us we can lawyer this to death!):

>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?

[I don't know anything regarding the 2nd Texas. The 37th's flag at the archives is a 13 star 1st National, which is designated as a company flag (Co.E, Henry County) not a regimental color, which might have been sent home well before Vicksburg - but who knows?]

>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">
[Correct, I had condition flipped in my mind, and check the site after I posted, but didn't have time to post a correction. That flag is made of cotton, or maybe cotton jean, I think, with a silk border. If there is more silk in it, the deterioration could have taken place over time. It also has some appearance of perhaps having been "souveniered" as it almost appears that stars have been cut out. I'll check on material used in construction]

>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.

[A couple of points: The regimental designation and the battle honors on the ADAH "Gulley" flag are individually cut and appliqued white cotton letters; are you saying the ebay flag had stiched-in or embroidered lettering? This would be very interesting b/c of some likely post war embroidery work done on the 42nd's silk flag (more on that in a second). Also, remember, the Gulley was never captured.
>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.

[I love and trust the old boys, but I have seen them miss a step it, too, was brought to Mobile -- just a wild theory]

>I also now know that the ebay 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???

[Higley was from Mobile, but no company was. Stone's Battalion, commanded by Major Stone, was a three-company battalion, and by Hardee's should not have been carrying a stand of colors (though it might well have, though Sprott does not mention it in his writings).]

Fun food for thought.

Dave






Go Back To Archive Page

Go To Alabama CW Message Board