Photo from State Historical Society of Iowa
Posted on 10/02/2009 10:35:25 AM PDT by iowamark
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Researchers seem to have solved the mystery of what happened to the “Big Red” flag flown by Citadel cadets when they fired on a ship trying to resupply Fort Sumter three months before the Civil War.
The Post and Courier of Charleston reports a 10-by-7-foot flag with a large white Palmetto tree and a white crescent on a red field has been located in storage at an Iowa museum.
Researchers think it is the same flag that flew over Morris Island when cadets fired on the supply ship Star of the West, forcing the ship to turn away, in January of 1861.
The Civil War began that April with a Confederate bombardment of Union-held Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
The Citadel adopted a replica of the red flag as a spirit flag almost 20 years ago. But it was unclear what happened to the original.
A woman, who was not identified, posted information on the flag on the Internet two years ago. The Citadel Historical Council began researching and it led to the discovery of the flag at the State Historical Society of Iowa is Des Moines.
Council chairman Tex Curtis, a 1964 graduate of the state military college, calls the flag “a priceless historic artifact. It literally is The Citadel. It goes right to the beginning.”
The school is discussing bringing the flag back to Charleston from the Iowa museum on a long-term loan.
Michael O. Smith, director of the Iowa museum, said the flag was donated by a Union Civil War veteran, Willard Baker, in 1919. Baker said he got the flag in Mobile, Ala.
Researchers think the flag was taken from Charleston to Mobile by Confederate Capt. James F. Culpepper, an 1854 Citadel graduate, and fell into Baker’s hands when Union troops captured Fort Blakeley near Mobile in April 1865. Both Culpepper and Baker fought in that battle.
Smith said the flag has been in storage since 1919. He said officials knew it was from South Carolina because of the palmetto, the state symbol, but did not know the flag’s significance.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/oct/02/historic-find-in-a-storage-closet/
“”After seeing a photograph of the original flag, Citadel leaders now know that the replica they have been using has historical inaccuracies, Curtis said.
A committee of the school’s Board of Visitors voted Thursday to begin using the historically correct version of the flag as its “spirit flag,” and to assign intellectual property rights in “Big Red” to The Citadel Alumni Association. The full board will take a final vote on the matter today.
The flag in the Iowa museum has a red background with a large white palmetto tree in the center and an inward- facing white crescent in the upper-left corner.
The replica the school has been using has a smaller white palmetto tree on a red background, with a white outward-facing crescent in the upper-left corner. The direction of the crescent is important, Curtis said, because an inward-facing crescent was, at the time, a common symbol of secession in the Charleston area.
The fact that the flag in Iowa carries the secession symbol makes it more likely that it is the flag that flew on Morris Island, he said.””
Ping!
Spoil of war. Hang on to it, Hawkeyes.
http://media.charleston.net/2009/pdf/bigredreport_100109.pdf
Big Red Report: 22 page pdf
That’s pretty neat.
Looks to be in remarkable shape for it’s age. Great find. Thanks for posting.
I'm sure that you also believe that the Germans should hang on to the art works stolen by the Nazis.
Cool
There is a difference between items stolen from civilians and items won on the field of battle.
Germany didn't win the war, therefore the spoils of war would belong to the Allies.
Given that the Palmetto State started the war, it would seem that to give it back would be more akin to delivering a swastika flag to Germany. My gggrandfather fought in the 10th Iowa and took a miniball from a rebel in Vicksburg so I consider the flag to have been earned. Go Hawkeyes.
Ping!
The Hawkeyes would be happy to give it back to the Gamecocks.
I too have an ancestor who fought for the Union at Vicksburg.
Well, ask your slaves.
So much for stupid comparisons.
It is quite a coup for the museum though. Hopefully it will spark renewed interest in American history.
I say give the flag back, The Citadel is a good school and upholds the finest traditions of a war college. They produce officers and gentlemen, not just college graduates. This thing could be like a holy relic to them.
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