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. The battleflag had different dimensions for infanty cavalry and artillery none being rectangular.The Stars and Bars was carried by most of the units as the National flag. 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. 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. 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. Joe Kelly - --------------------------------------------------- Click here for Free Video!! http://www.gohip.com/freevideo/ -----Original Message----- From: Dennis J. Francis <fran@ees.eesc.com> To: CIVIL-WAR-IRISH-L@rootsweb.com <CIVIL-WAR-IRISH-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Friday, June 23, 2000 12:23 AM Subject: Confederate Battle Flags >A chairde, > >At the battle of 1st Bull Run/Manasses in July 1861, Confederate troops, >commanded by Generals PGT Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston, carried >their National flag into battle. This flag was the Stars and Bars, >consisting of 2 red horizontal bars separated by a white one, with a >blue field in the upper corner which included stars to represent the >states. But because this flag looked too much like the US flag, there >were several instances where both sides made mistakes as to the identity >of nearby soldiers. To make sure this didn't happen again, Beauregard >requested Congressman Wm P Miles to get the flag changed. Miles said >there was no way this was going to happen, and suggested that the army >adopt a battle flag to be used in place of the Stars and Bars. He also >showed Beauregard a flag he had proposed (unsuccessfully) to be the CSA >flag in March 1861. > >This was to become the best known CS flag pattern - red with a >white-bordered blue St. Andrew's cross on which were 13 white stars - >and was chosen by Beauregard and Johnston for use by the CS army in >Virginia, which later became the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by >Robert E Lee. But while Mile's pattern was rectangular, the army's flag >was square. > >Elsewhere in the South, CS commanders designed and issued their own >battle flag to their troops - there was nothing official about the flag >being used in Virginia. Gen. Hardee, under whom Irish-born Gen. Patrick >Cleburne served, selected a blue flag with a white disk in the center; >Gen. Polk - blue flag with a star-studded red cross; Gen. Van Dorn's >flag was red with a crescent in the upper corner and 13 stars. The list >goes on; there's a whole variety of battle flags that were used. As the >Army of Tennessee was assembled from various commands, up to the end of >1863 each corps were carrying different flags. > >As Beauregard and Johnston took different commands, they would direct >the adoption of their flag, but the resulting flags were not always >exactly as their original. Quite often the flags were rectangular >rather than square, the star in the center was omitted or moved up the >cross, and some of the rectangular ones were much longer than wide, >making for some very different proportions. They weren't always >successful in getting this flag used, either - when Johnston took >command of the Army of Tennessee in late 1863, Cleburne and his division >didn't want to part with their old flags and raised cain. Cleburne soon >got permission for his men to keep their "silver moon" flags. > >For further reading and illustrations: >"The Flags of the Confederacy - An Illustrated History" by Devereaux D. >Cannon, Jr. >"The Battle Flags of the Confederate Army of Tennessee" by Howard >Michael Madaus & Robert D. Needham >Website: http://www.confederateflags.org/ > >Slainte, >Dennis >mailto:fran@ees.eesc.com > > >============================== >Get a MASTERCARD with NO Credit Check or Up Front >Cash Security Deposit and GUARANTEED* Approval! >NO Interest Rate! http://www.dollarsonthenet.com/cgi-bin/track/1631/19