Surrendered, Smuggled, or Severed? The Battle Flags of the ANV and the AOT at Appomattox and the Bennett Place.

37th Alabama Infantry

   Back in January/February 1987, an article appeared in Confederate Veteran magazine about the flag of the 37^th Alabama Infantry. As the story goes, that flag escaped surrender twice. After the regiment was surrendered at Vicksburg, the flag was secreted away, folded up in the saddle blanket of Col. James F. Dowdell’s horse. Then after the surrender of the regiment at Greensboro, the flag was “smuggled out of Greensboro” by a Captain Johnson. The flag remained in various families until it was donated to Auburn University and is today in the Alabama Room at Auburn.[1]

   The surrender terms worked out between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, stipulated that “arms, artillery, and public property” were to be stacked and turned over to an officer designated by Grant. Likewise, the final terms worked out between Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman at the Bennett Place on April 26, 1865, specified once again that  “public property” had to be turned over to an ordinance offer of the United States army. Since flags were issued by the government, they would be considered public property. But like the story above regarding the flag of the 37^th Alabama, not all flags were surrendered. Some were, but others were secreted away, while others were destroyed by Confederate soldiers.

61st Virginia Infantry 

   Federal General John Gibbon wrote on April 13, 1865, that 71 Confederate flags were surrendered at Appomattox.[2] Most of the descriptions of the surrender of flags come from the Federals. One Federal wrote that the Confederates seemed to hate to give up their flags more than anything else. Many kissed the flags with tears in their eyes.[3] Federal General Joshua L. Chamberlain, supervising the stacking of arms, wrote that “Then, slowly and with a reluctance that was appealingly pathetic, the torn and tattered battleflags were either leaned against the stacks or laid on the ground.”[4] However, one North Carolinian wrote that the flags were placed on the stacks, not on the ground.[5] Among those surrendered include the flags of the those of the 5^th, 48^th, and 60^th Alabama Infantry regiments; the 13^th, 15^th, and 28^th North Carolina regiments, and the 61^st Virginia Infantry. A few Army of Northern Virginia flags were secreted away. Ensign Emanuel Rudisill, 16^th North Carolina State Troops, sewed his regiment’s silk battle flag inside the lining of his coat and brought it home.[6] Likewise the flags of the 2^nd South Carolina Infantry, 12^th South Carolina Infantry, 38^th North Carolina Troops, and 25^th North Carolina Troops were not surrendered and were brought home. The flag of the 14^th South Carolina Infantry was concealed under a rock before the surrender, and was later retrieved.[7] A few flags, like the headquarters flag of Robert E. Lee, and the flags of the 23^rd and 24^th Virginia Regiments, were not surrendered or brought home, intact. Instead, they were cut up and the pieces distributed among the paroled soldiers.

It was a different scenario with the Army of Tennessee. Instead of being boxed in like the Army of Northern Virginia, the various Confederate regiments in North Carolina were spread out, from Greensboro to High Point to Salisbury, even Charlotte. There were no formal surrender ceremonies. Instead, artillery was parked and some regiments stacked some of their arms, although Confederates were allowed to keep some of their weapons. Very few flags were surrendered. A report from the New York Herald noted that “We have got very few battle flags or horses.”[8] Many of the Army of Tennessee soldiers concealed their flags to take home. The third bunting issue Army of Northern Virginia flag of the 26^th Alabama Infantry (the regiment served in both the ANV and the AOT) was wrapped around the body servant of Dr. Hayes, the brigade surgeon, and brought back to Alabama.[9]

3rd Tennessee Infantry

The flag of the 49^th Tennessee was concealed on the person Robert Y. Johnson, only to be forcibly taken by Federals when the group reached Lenoir City, Tennessee.[10] Other flags that were concealed and brought home include those of the 3^rd, 7^th, 10^th, 12^th, 16^th, and 24^th South Carolina Infantry, 20^th, 33^rd, 34^th, 36^th, and 40^th Alabama Infantry; 8^th and 17^th North Carolina Troops; 3^rd, 4^th, 6/9^th, 11^th, 13^th, 18^th/26^th, 24^th, 32^nd, and 49^th Tennessee Infantry regiments; 7^th Florida Infantry; 9^th Arkansas Infantry; and 1^st and 42^nd Georgia Infantry regiments. Some flags, such as those of the 7^th and 58^th North Carolina Troops, 1^st Tennessee, and 7^th South Carolina Battalion, were cut up and the pieces distributed to the remaining members. A member of the 2^nd Tennessee Cavalry recalled cutting their flag up into 160 pieces.[11] A member of the 47^th Georgia recalled cutting up their flag,  concealing the pieces in a saddle blanket and setting off to the Trans-Mississippi department.[12] Except for the flag of the 26^th Tennessee Infantry, it is not clear if any other flags were surrendered by the Army of Tennessee, and this banner could have been captured at the battle of Bentonville.[13]

This post just barely scratches the surface of Confederate battle flags and the last month of the war. Unless it is hidden away at the National Archives, there does not seem to be a list of Confederate flags that were captured, destroyed, surrendered, or secreted home through the months of April and May 1865. What a project! 

---

[1] Golden, “The 37^th Alabama Flag,” Confederate Veteran (January-February 1987): 24-25.

[2] Official Records, 46, pt.3, 734.

[3] Cauble, The Surrender Proceedings, 95-96.

[4] Chamberlain, “Last Salute,” 362.

[5] Freeman, Lee’s Lieutenants, 3:77.

[6] Dedmondt, The Flags of Civil War North Carolina, 100.

[7] Dedmondt, The Flags of Civil War South Carolina, 106.

[8] New York Herald, May 9, 1865.

[9] Dedmondt, The Flags of Civil War Alabama, 80.

[10] Cox, Civil War Flags of Tennessee, 361.

[11] Cox, civil War Flags of Tennessee, 431.

[12] Dunkerly, The Confederate Surrender at Greensboro, 116.

[13] Cox, Civil War Flags of Tennessee, 294.

Site Visit Saturday: Bentonville Confederate Cemetery

 

   Bentonville, fought from March 19 to 21, 1865, was the largest battle fought in the state of North Carolina. In an attempt to stop or slow the advance of a Federal force under the command of General William T. Sherman, Confederate forces under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston launched an attack on one of the wings of the Federal army. Initially, the Confederate attack met with success, pushing back several lines of Federal troops. Confederate forces numbered 22,000, mostly from the Army of Tennessee. Federal forces numbered 60,000. At end of the fighting, Confederate losses amounted to 2,606: 239 killed, 1,694 wounded, and 673 captured.

Bentonville Confederate Cemetery

   Many of the Confederate wounded were evacuated to hospitals across the state of North Carolina. Over forty Confederate soldiers, too grievously wounded to be moved, were left behind at the Harper House, and after the Federal soldiers moved in pursuit of the Confederates, the Harper family was charged with their care. Twenty of them later died, and they were buried not far from the house. Over time, the location of those graves was lost.

   In 2007, the Office of State Archaeology and the Wake Forest University Archaeology Laboratories, as a part of the History Channel’s “Save Our History” program, began working on finding these graves. Using ground penetrating radar, and an old photograph from 1895, the graves were located. The Harper House/Bentonville Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy donated tombstones to mark the graves of these unknown soldiers.

   I have been to Bentonville numerous times over the years, and I have even spoken and signed books in their visitor center. This image dates from a 2011 trip.

Looking for NC's Civil War: Bentonville

In March 1865, recently re-appointed Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston planned one more final assault.  The Union army under Gen. William T. Sherman had split his army, and the two wings were a day apart. If Johnston could move quickly, he might be able to overpower his adversary. We all know that while Johnston's attack met with some success, he was unable to complete his mission, and the Federals brought in reinforcements. The Confederates were forced to withdraw.

There were numerous Tar Heel regiments under Johnston's command. They included:

1st North Carolina Battalion Heavy Artillery

8th North Carolina Troops

10th North Carolina Battalion

13th Battalion North Carolina Light Artillery

17th North Carolina Troops

20th Battalion North Carolina Junior Reserves

31st North Carolina Troops

36th North Carolina Troops

40th North Carolina Troops

42nd North Carolina Troops

50th North Carolina Troops

51st North Carolina Troops

58th North Carolina Troops

60th North Carolina Troops

61st North Carolina Troops

66th North Carolina Troops

70th North Carolina Troops (1st North Carolina Junior Reserves)

71st North Carolina Troops (2nd North Carolina Junior Reserves)

72nd North Carolina Troops (3rd North Carolina Junior Reserves)

77th North Carolina Troops (7th Senior Reserves)

Adam's Battery

Confederate losses for the battle totaled 2,606.

I took this photo of the Confederate monument at Bentonville in September 2006.

So who did command the 58th NCT at Bentonville?

Earlier this year, I wrote a piece entitled “How Rumors Get Started” on the discrepancies between versions of a story about who commanded the 58th North Carolina Troops during the battle of Bentonville. Writing about three decades after the war, Capt. Isaac Bailey, who was not at the battle, claimed that Lt. Col. Samuel Silver was in command of the regiment. The limited sources from the time period say differently, namely the official report of the battle by the 58th NCT’s brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Joseph M. Palmer.

Today, while hunting for something to answer another question, I found another piece of the puzzle that lends credence to the assertion that that Harper, not Silver, was in command. On April 5, 1865, a list of losses sustained by the 58th NCT during the battle of Bentonville appeared in the North Carolina Standard, published in Raleigh. The article reads:

Headquarters, 58th N. C. Regiment
March 23, 1865

List of casualties in the 58th N. C. regiment, commanded by Major G. W. F. Harper, in the battle of Bentonville, on Sunday, March 19, 1865.
Co. A – Wounded, Privates S. Gaddy slight in head, M. Miller, slight in arm.
Co. B – Wounded, Private J. B. Turbyfield slight in foot.
Co. D – Wounded, Lieut. D. F. Baird, dangerous in breast; corpl B. L. Presnell, mortal in abdomen; Private S. Green, mortal in head (since died); M Strickland slight in shoulder.
E – Killed, Pvt. A. F. Green. Wounded, Lieut. W. C. Coffey, slight in breast; Privates J. C. Shuffler, seriously in thigh; A. Pearce, slight in foot; I. Anderson, slight in knee; I. Coffey, slight in hand; N. Smith, slight in foot; Wm. Coffey, slight in hand. Missing – I. Sherill.
F – Wounded, Sgt. J. J. Marler, slight in arm.
H. – Wounded, Privates J. M. McCall, slight in breast; H. Stafford, slight in arm; E. C. Fox, slight in hand; J. Turnmire, slight in groin.
K – J. McKinney, slight in head.
L – Sergt. J. Spivey, mortal in knee (since died;) Privates M. M. Faircloth, serious in leg; T. Hurley, serious in knee; H. Hurley, slight in thigh.
Total – Killed or died of wounds 3.
Wounded 23.
Missing 1

B. L. Perry, Jr.
Adjutant.


So what say ye? Harper or Silver?