Flags Associated With The Gist Guard
This is a Union flag that was captured by the Gist Guard on July 11th, 1863 at Battery Wagner, Morris Island, South Carolina. This flag was sold at aution in October 2005 in New Hampshire to an undisclosed private owner with an undisclosed winning bid. The estimated value before the auction was $15,000 to $20,000. The following is the physical description of the flag offered by the auction house at the time of the sale:
"Flag is a U.S. Navy "Boat Ensign" (of the type flown on small boats, launches, and cutters of larger ships of the line by the Union Navy). Its size (43" on the hoist by 81-1/2" on the fly) conforms to the size prescribed in the 1863 "Tables and Allowances" for a "No. 12" U.S. Ensign (which was to be 3.70 ft. on its hoist by 7 ft. on its fly). Field is composed of thirteen horizontal, alternating red & white wool bunting stripes, conjoined by hand sewing. A 2-pc dark blue wool bunting canton is inset into the upper, hoist corner of the field, bearing a total of 13 white cotton, 5-pointed stars, appliquéd by hand to the obverse side but with the blue cut away on the reverse side and under-hemmed to expose the back of the white fabric on the obverse. Stars are arranged in five horizontal and staggered rows: 3-2-3-2-3 ... Flag was finished by hand sewing white twill weave cotton heading along the leading edge of the flag, bearing at each end a hand whipped "button hole" eyelet for ties. Faintly visible on the obverse side of the heading is the name "Chichester" in faded brown (oxidized black) ink, as well as other inscription, which are thought to include "Morris Island". CONDITION: Field of the flag is much tattered and torn, in part from heavy shipboard usage, in part from age and mothing, and in part possibly from battle damage. Still, for its age and type, it is in good condition and will display well when properly conserved and framed."
This flag was once again up for auction as part of the Heritage Auctions event in Gettysburg in June 2007. As of yet, I have not been able to discover the outcome. Unfortunately, I didn't have the $7000 required for the starting bid. If I had, the Gist Guard would own the flag once again.
CREDIT: Picture and text in italics courtesy of James D Julia Auctioneers.
This flag design was proposed by Robert C Gilchrist for official use as the national flag of the Confederacy in 1861. Here is a fine explanation of the proposal:
"This proposal by Robert C. Gilchrist of Charleston, of South Carolina was sent by express courier to Christopher G. Memminger on 4 February 1861, the day the Montgomery Convention which created the Confederate States was openned. Retaining the idea of the Stars & Stripes, Gilchrist
removed the canton and placed the stars on a blue cross which spread across the red and white stripes.
This early design by the prominent citizen, who had been Commissioner of the United States District Court and the US
Court of Claims for the District of South Carolina, received wide publicity. However, in a letter to the South Carolina delegation dated 7 February 1861, signed by Charles H. Moise, the Jewish congregations of South Carolina objected to the adoption of a sectarian symbol as the flag of the new country."
Despite it's failure as a contestant for the national flag of the new Southern nation, there is nothing confirming or rejecting the notion that the design was used by Gilchrist or others for different purposes. It is concievable that this may have been a unit flag for the Gist Guard at some point.
CREDIT: Graphic and text in italics courtesy of Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr. via his website, Flags of the Confederacy.
The Gist Guard was part of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, & Florida. The official flag (1863 until the end of the war) of the department was a General Beauregard-championed version of the ANV battle flag. A detailed history and description follows:
"The institution of a department wide battle flag in the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida (initially called the Department of South Carolina and Georgia prior to the addition of Florida east of the Apalochicola River on 7 October 1862) owes its origin to the transfer of General P.G.T. Beauregard as department commander on 29 August 1862 as the replacement for Major-General John Pemberton. Beauregard's initial concerns as new department commander precluded immediate adoption of the battle flag design he had championed with success in the Confederate Army of the Potomac and with partial success in the Confederate Army of the Mississippi. Hence between his assumption of command in mid-September 1862 and the following Spring, the
department continued to rely on Charleston military goods dealer, Hayden & Whilden for Confederate 1st national flags to furnish the needs of the military units of the department. That would change in April of 1863.
In March and April of 1863 the Charleston Clothing Depot began to manufacture wool bunting battle flags that copied the design elements of the battle flags then being produced by the Richmond Clothing Depot. These wool bunting flags differed from their Virginia counterparts in several key manufacturing techniques. The dark blue bunting St. Andrew's cross (on the largest size flag) was 7" to 8" wide and bore thirteen white, cotton five-pointed stars, 4 1/2" in diameter, set at 8" intervals from the center star, and in most cases appliqued to each side but occasionally only sewn to one side and the blue material cut away on the opposite side to expose the star. Rather than white cotton tape, the Charleston made flags used white bunting strips, 3/4" to 1" wide sewn along the edges of the cross and then attached to four red bunting triangular sections that composed the field. When these parts had all been joined, a white bunting border, 2 1/4" to 2 1/2" wide was attached to all four edges of the flag. Then a pole sleeve would be attached to the side that served as the hoist edge. The flag was made in four sizes: 48" square for infantry and heavy artillery; 36" square for light artillery,and 30" square for cavalry (exclusive of pole sleeves).
The branch of service was further distinguished by the color of the bunting sleeve that finished the flag. This sleeve was made of dark blue bunting for infantry units, red bunting for artillery (heavy or light), and evidently white (rather than yellow) bunting for intended cavalry units. While that may have been the intent; in actual issue, the niceties of this system disintegrated. At least one cavalry regiment received a heavy artillery size flag, and infantry battalions in Florida are known to have received both light artillery and cavalry size battle flags. Infantry units are also known to have received heavy artillery flags.
The first issue of the new battle flags took place on 20 April 1863 near Charleston, with General Beauregard officiating. At least two brigades (Stevens' South Carolina and Clingman's North Carolina) received the new flags, as well as five batteries of light artillery, Lucas' Battalion of South Carolina Artillery and possibly several cavalry companies. The dates of subsequent issues are as of yet unknown, but by 1864 most, if not all, of the forces in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida had been furnished with the Charleston Depot variant of the Army of Northern Virginia battle flag.
Because the forces of the Department were repeatedly drawn upon from the middle of 1863 until the middle of 1864 to reinforce Confederate field armies in both the eastern and the western theaters, the Charleston Depot battle flag saw widespread service in both the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Northern Virginia. In the Spring of 1863 Gist's Brigade was sent to Mississippi carrying their new flags. In the Spring of 1864, the tightening Union grip around Richmond resulted in three brigades carrying the Charleston Depot flags (Hagood's South Carolina, Elliot's South Carolina, and Clingman's North Carolina Brigades) as well as numerous individual regiments, being transfered north to fight in the Richmond and Petersburg defenses. Beauregard's battle flag had come full circle.
As a general rule, the battle flags of the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida are not marked with either unit abbreviations or battle honors. A few exceptions survive, including two battle flags with white cotton strips bearing painted honors, and two with battle honors having separately cut out and appliqued battle honors (one with a unit abbreviation similarly applied.)"
CREDIT: Graphic by Brian Lee Merrill, text in italics courtesy of Howard Michael Madaus of Flags of the Confederacy.
