Flags of the Confederacy

Since I began working at Bentonville Battlefield one of the most common questions that I get has to do with the Confederate flag. Why are there more than one confederate flag? In this post I will share the three national flags of the Confederacy and the Confederate battle flag, which is what most people think of when they think of the Confederate flag. Also note that there were other flags flown by the Confederacy but for today we'll focus on these four.

CSA 1st National

The 1st National Flag of the Confederacy or also known as the "Stars and Bars" was first raised March 5, 1861. It is the only Confederate National flag that was never officially adopted by the CS Congress.  In the upper left corner of the flag are thirteen stars in the formation of a circle. Like the U.S. flag these stars represent the thirteen states that made up the Confederacy. The first time the flag was flown was over the capital building in Montgomery, Alabama. The problem with the flag is that its appearance was too similar to the American flag. As you can imagine this might create just a little bit of confusion on the battlefield.

CSA 2nd National

The 2nd Confederate National Flag was first adopted on May 1, 1863. This version is sometimes refereed to as the "Stainless Banner" due to the field being solid white. The flag made its debut about a week later when it was used to enshroud General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's body after he had died from complications from wounds he had received from friendly fire after the battle of Chancellorsville. The issue with this flag becomes evident when the wind isn't blowing. With no wind the flag can appear as a surrender flag, once again creating the opportunity for confusion.

CSA 3rd National

The 3rd Confederate National Flag was adopted on March 4, 1865. The flag was designed by Major Arthur L. Rogers who added on a red vertical bar on the right end of the flag. This was intended to solve the problem of the 2nd national's appearance. However by the time this version was adapted the war was coming to a close. Odds are that this flag probably never saw action on the battlefield. During the Battle of Bentonville which took place March 19-21, 1865 Confederates were still using the 2nd National. The ones that were flown were most likely flown at garrisons and government buildings.

Confederate Battle Flag

The CS battle flag is what most people associate the confederacy with and is commonly thought to be the national flag. The idea for a battle flag is contributed to General P.G.T. Beauregard on July 21, 1861 at the First Bull Run (Manassas). General Beauregard was the first to notice that the C.S.A. flag looked an awful like the U.S.A. flag. This is a rather large problem, especially when smoke and dust create low visibility and the only way of identifying a group of soldiers was by the flag they were carrying. Thus demonstrating the importance of having a distinct flag for the battlefield. The original design had a blue field, red bars, and gold stars but after much debate the above flag was approved in September 1861 by Commanding General Joseph E. Johnston before receiving final approval from the War Department. From this point forward this would be the flag that Confederates carried into battle for the next four years.

The Union Invasion of North Carolina Begins.

Fort Clark After Being Captured (Harper's Weekly)

On August 27, 1861 Union forces had Cape Hatteras in its sites. Prior to focusing on North Carolina the Union Army had suffered a surprising defeat at Manassas just a month earlier. Realizing that the war would be much more drawn down than anticipated the Union was forced to take greater action. For the Confederacy the Outer Banks had served as a safe haven for blockade runners eluding the Union blockade.

The Hatteras inlet was defended by two fortifications; Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark. Fort Hatteras was located at the tip of the island making it the key defense for the inlet. The fort was a 250 foot wide square earthen walled fort with an armament of twelve thirty-two pound smooth bore guns. The second fortification on the Island was Fort Clark. The smaller Fort Clark was east of Fort Hatteras and situated closer to the ocean with a defense of five thirty-two pound guns and two smaller guns. The fort's location in relation to fort Hatteras allowed for cross fire at any Union ship that approached the inlet.

Well before the sun arose on August 28 soldiers, sailors, and marines made their final preparations for the invasion. At 10:00 A.M. the Wabash and the Cumberland opened fire on Fort Clark. Return fire was made immediately but fell short of the Union boats. A "Derisive laughter" could be heard from the Minnesota at the site of the Confederates ineffective retaliation. After two hours of shelling the beach the amphibious assault began. By noon 318 men had made it ashore despite all of their landing craft sinking in the surf. The incoming high tide also made it difficult for the Union as they were unable to send additional forces and for the time being cutting off the soldiers on land from the Navy and much needed provisions. Despite the difficulties the Union had such as wet gun powder they were still able to hold their position. By that afternoon Fort Clark had run out of ammo had promptly evacuated and fled to Fort Hatteras.

With Fort Clark in Union hands attention now turned to Fort Hatteras. Believing that the fort might be abandoned due to the absence of the Confederate flag and witnessing some troops flee across the sound the ship Monticello was ordered to sail closer to the coast. As soon as the ship sailed into range then the Confederates opened fire, forcing the Union Navy to commence shelling. At one point the confusion caused the re-shelling of Fort Clark which was already occupied by Union soldiers. An American flag was raised to try and stop the shelling but the men had to evacuate the fort anyway. With night fall and bad weather on the horizon the Union Navy was forced to pull back, leaving the men occupying Fort Clark to the mercy of the Confederates.

Over night the state failed to send in enough reinforcements to protect the fort. At dawn on August 29, the Union Navy began to shell Fort Hatteras once again. By noon Confederates saw prolonging the battle would only mean more lives lost and a surrender flag was raised.  The battle ended with Commodore Samuel Barron surrendering to General Benjamin Butler.

Casualties were relatively low. On the Union side there were no deaths. For the Confederates there are conflicting accounts regarding the number of dead, setting the death toll anywhere from four to fourteen. About 700 Confederates including Commodore Barron would be taken prisoner and shipped off to New York.

The end result was an occupation of the northeastern part of the North Carolina lasted until the war's end. By the spring of 1862 the areas around Cape Hatteras, Roanoke Island, New Bern, Beaufort, and Elizabeth City were now in Union hands. The capture of the region put the second largest deep water port in North Carolina in Union hands (Wilmington was the biggest port and remained open until January 1865). The stronghold also allowed the Union to stage raids into the state's interior and access to the Wilmington-Weldon Rail Road, which connected Wilmington to Richmond.

Sources:
Barrett, John G. The Civil War in North Carolina (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press) 1963.

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series 1, 27 Vols. Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office, 1894-1917.

The Nat Turner Rebellion

William Henry Shelton's The Discovery of Nat Turner.

On August 22, 1831 the largest slave revolt in American history took place in Southampton County, Virginia. The rebellion was led by Nat Turner. Turner was born on October 2, 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia. He had learned to read and write and as a young boy. His faith played a significant role in his life and was often observed fasting, praying and reading the Bible. By the time he had reached his twenties his peers viewed him as spiritual leader and that God had chosen him to do great things. During the 1820's Turner had a series of visions in which he believed that he was being prepared to fight a battle against evil.

After witnessing a solar eclipse in February of 1831 Turner interpreted the event as his sign to move forward with the insurrection. Turner and several of his must trusted peers planned for months. Finally on August 13 a disturbance in the atmosphere gave the sun a "blueish-green appearance." Turner took this as his sign to carry out his plan. A week later Turner and six men set out on their mission. The first assault would be on Turner's master Joseph Travis and his family. The family was stabbed to death in their sleep. The men decided to use knifes over guns in an effort to prevent attention from being brought to them. The rebellion would continue for about 24 hours, killing 55 people and recruiting as many as 60 slaves along the way. By mid-day word of the insurrection had spread throughout the country side. Turner and his men were then confronted by a heavily armed militia of about 3,000 federal and state troops causing them to panic and become disorganized. Most of the men fled into the wilderness and eluded capture, including Nat Turner. During the short skirmish with the militiamen only one slave was killed. Turner remained at large until October 30 when he was spotted near the Travis farm and captured.

On November 5, Turner was tried and sentenced for execution. He was then hanged and skinned on November 11. Fallowing the rebellion the white population went into hysteria fearing similar insurgencies. This resulted in at least 200 slaves being killed, many of which had absolutely nothing to do with Nat Turner's rebellion. Virginia's Governor John Floyd tired to put a stop to the mob rule by insisting that those who had participated in the insurrection should be tried in court, however the damage had already been done. Virginia even thought about abolishing slavery but ended up tightening the laws on "black freedoms." The fear of more rebellions even reached into North Carolina, especially the northern counties such as Halifax and Northampton. Rumors caused more violence, made slave holders keep a close eye on their slave's behavior, and made more restrictions towards slaves and free blacks.

These new laws prohibited slaves from preaching, carrying a firearm, and co-habituating with whites or free blacks, just to name a few. The new laws also made it illegal for whites to teach the enslaved how to read and write. From a historical perspective this can be seen as a major reason why there is very few written personal accounts of slavery during its height. Nat Turner's "account" of the rebellion would be published by Dr. Thomas R. Gray while interviewing Turner in prison. According to Gray "The Confession of Nat Turner" is the word for word account of Nat Turner. However one is to keep in mind that it is highly possible for Gray to have altered the account using his own bias. Gray states that while he was listening to Turner's account the interview made "My blood curled in my veins."

Sources:
NCDCR. "Nat Turner's Rebellion; Rreprecussions Felt in NC." August 21, 2013.
http://nchistorytoday.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/nat-turners-rebellion-repercussions-felt-in-n-c/

PBS. "Africans in America." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1518.html

Wood, L. Maren and David Walbert. "Nat Turner's Rebellion" http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4574

"North Carolina, 1865: Civil War Symposium"

On September 14 Bentonville Battlefield will be hosting a symposium discussing the Civil War in North Carolina during 1865. The symposium will be held at the Paul A. Johnston Auditorium on the campus of Johnston Community College. There are six speakers lined up for Saturday, all of which are experts on the Carolina Campaign of 1865. Several of the speakers I have personally had the privilege of either reading their work or attending lectures they've previously given. I highly recommend attending the symposium to anyone who is interested in the Civil War and North Carolina history. As you will notice there is a bus tour scheduled for Sunday. However the bus tours have already filled up but there is still plenty of room available for the lectures. To register and see the itinerary please click the link below.

 Click here to register.