December 13-15, 2022 Collectible Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/14/2022
This wonderful Confederate First National Flag was brought home by Captain Edward W. Thompson, Battery A, 1st Maine Light Artillery and is described by his widow in some 1881 newspaper notices: “This flag was made and presented by the ladies of New Orleans to a regiment or company composed of the first young men of the city. It is quite large, is made of silk, with silver fringe, and with stars and bars in the middle, and bears the letters B.H.G.” The inscription is light, but still visible on the flag’s central white stripe, with the letters outlined, but not filled in. When first publicly offered for sale in 2016 the flag was accompanied by research by noted flag authority Greg Biggs, whose article is still available online. Much of what follows is condensed from his research. The flag’s inscription, “B.H.G.” was formed using ink dots with connecting lines in pencil to indicate the contours and shading of the letters, about 2 - 1/2" tall, certainly with the intention of painting them in, but not completed, implying Thompson obtained the flag in New Orleans itself and some time between May 15, 1862, the arrival of his battery in New Orleans, and December 5, 1862, the date of his resignation for health reasons and return home. He had prior and later service in other units, but not while they were in Louisiana. (Contra Biggs, Thompson does not seem to have joined the 12th Maine until early 1865.) Thompson was commissioned Captain in the 1st Maine Light Artillery December 18, 1861. His battery joined Butler’s expedition to New Orleans, arriving at Ship Island in March 1862 and moved into the city on May 15. Federal forces had entered the city April 25 and flags took on added significance in a battle of wills with the local populace as Butler moved quickly to suppress displays of any flag but that of the United States, which he insisted be treated with the greatest respect, backing it up by arresting, trying, and hanging a civilian who had torn down a newly raised U.S. flag. One of Thompson’s recorded actions at the time was leading his battery in a charge down city streets and bringing his guns into position to rake an angry crowd assembled at Butler’s headquarters. Thompson died in 1879 without leaving an account of exactly how he obtained the flag. That the inscription is incomplete indicates it had not yet been presented to a unit and Biggs could find no satisfactory candidate for the initials, but newspapers indicate that as prospects for a Union movement against the city increased in the weeks before it actually fell a number of ultimately short-lived units were being formed for its defense. Thompson’s battery did see some action at Bonnet Carre and Labadieville before he returned home, but it seems more likely the flag was seized in the city. Biggs makes a case for the flag as likely the product of Mrs. A. E. Ober a seamstress on Camp Street who advertised, “Confederate flags made of silk, complete with staff, spears, etc. always on hand. Also flags of all kinds made to order and sale.” And, although unable to match the painted initials with a specific unit, he cited 10 Confederate flags carried by Louisiana units as parallels for construction details such as the use of silk, metallic fringe, and bullion stars. The incomplete inscription would indicate it was on the verge of being presented when the city fell, though the star count would suggest a date between June and September 1861 for manufacture of the flag itself. CONITION: Excellent. The flag has been professionally mounted and framed and the colors are strong. There is just some shredding to the white bar of silk in a narrow vertical band at the fly end. All 11 silver embroidered bullion stars are in place on the obverse, as displayed, and measure 2 - 3/4" across. (3 remain on the reverse, with stitching indicating the placement of the others.) The frame overall is 62" by 93". The flag itself is approximately 48" by 80". The outer edges are trimmed with silver metallic fringe 1 - 3/4" wide, hand sewn to the edge. The fringe is intact on the fly end, some 26" on the upper edge, starting at the hoist, and along the bottom edge with the exception of a 12" gap at center. The fringe and stars were hand sewn, the former with cotton thread. The rest of the flag is machine sewn using silk thread, something not unexpected given the availability of sewing machines, as well as silk, in New Orleans and other large cities. The silk used for the canton and 3 bars is a thin dress silk, probably purchased at a local dry goods store. The outer edges of the flag are folded over and sewn with a single line of stitches measuring 1/14 inches. The fringe is sewn over this. The hoist edge is 3/4" formed by folding over the silk with a single line of stitches. There are 2 ties at the top and bottom end; a thick string tied onto the flag by wrapping around a bit of the corners to create an attachment to the flag staff or perhaps applied by Thompson to display the flag as a trophy. The 2-piece blue silk canton measures 33 - 1/4" high by 30 - 1/4" wide. The upper red bar and the white bar are 17" wide; the lower red bar is 16 - 3/4". Seams throughout the flag are flat felled with a double line of stitching in the center. This is an impressive flag and impeccably provenanced, having remained in the Thompson family until shortly before its sale in 2016. It is both visually appealing and historically significant coming from one the first major cities to return to U.S. jurisdiction after secession and experience all the military, political, and social struggles that implies.
This is not a standard shippable item and will require 3rd party shipping or pickup arrangements to be made.
Item Dimensions: 92 - 1/2" x 62"