----- Original Message ----- From: irish9 <irish9@adelphia.net> To: <CIVIL-WAR-IRISH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, June 23, 2000 12:49 PM Subject: Re: Confederate Battle Flags > I have to disagree. The confederate battle flag first off was unofficial. It > was never approved by the Confederate Congress. The rectangular 3x5 never > was used to well after the War Of the Rebellion was over. During the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, the Confederate commanders had great trouble distinguishing their flag from the Union flag. General P.G.T. Beauregard , championed the idea of a new battle flag. In September 1861, he proposed that a design that William Porcher Miles had submitted to Congress as a national flag be adopted as a battle flag. After discussing the idea with General Joseph E. Johnston, the design was adopted (but only after making it square to save cloth) A square flag with 13 stars crossing it to represent the states of the Confederacy. It was far easier to distinguish from the Union flag in battle. Though never authorized by the Confederate Congress, it was used throughout the war. The battleflag > had different dimensions for infanty cavalry and artillery none being > rectangular. This is where we disagree. There were several variations of Southern battle flags used throughout the war & yes, some were rectangular. When Johnston took control of the Army of Tennessee, he called for the adoption of his version of the battle flag - rectangular & borderless. (of course, some units ignored him & carried the version they liked) The Stars and Bars was carried by most of the units as the > National flag. Yes, but not by all. Forget the First Bull Run story it is fantasy as fact a > majority of the units surrendered the First National in 1865. it was the > flag they started with and unless they lost their colors they kept it. > Otherwise the 2nd National was used. But lets make it clear the First > national was carried till the end. If they had it, yes they carried it, but they did not use it for their battle flag. What part is fantasy? You can go to the Museum Of the > Confederacy and I challange anyone to show me evidence of their being a 3 x > 5 it never was, except with the KKK. Is that so? Well the 57th Georgia Infantry Regiments flag was rectangular with a white border. The 7th Mississippi was rectangular. Shall I go on? There are good sources for the colors > the best being "The Battle Flags Of the Confederacy" Glen C Alllen and Wayne > C Piper Collectors Publishing 1975 It shows ALL of the surrendered flags > returned to the ex-rebel states in 1905 you will see none of the racist 3x5 > naval(KKK) flags. Well, the Confederacy only surrendered 71 flags at Appomattox. In all, 545 Confederate flags were captured during the war and turned over to the U.S. War Department. These are the ones that were turned over. Do you think that some made their way to other destinations? Of course they did. The supposition that none were rectangular is false. Desoto Joe/The Record Man