Let not your heart be troubled
Can't wait to see it!
Posted on 06/16/2005 4:18:31 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
Tony Horwitz writes in his review of John Coski's The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem that "few emblems in American history have provoked stronger passions than the battle flag of the vanquished Confederacy. To some it symbolizes honor and independence; to others, hatred and slavery." How can a flag that was never officially recognized as the flag of a country, a flag that never flew over a government building or other facility, become one of America's most divisive symbols. It is the purpose of this brief article to look at the history of the Confederate flag, not to make judgement on what it stands for.
The First National flag, or "Stars and Bars," of the Confederacy flew from 1861 to 1863. When limp, the flag with its alternating red and white bars with a blue field of seven white stars, looks much like the American flag. Due to this similarity, great difficulty arose in distinguishing between the two, especially on the battlefield. Many cases of friendly fire arose. This led to the adoption of the Second National flag, adopted in 1863. However, it's long white field with the St. Andrew's Cross in the upper left corner made it appear as a flag of surrender in the midst of battle. This led to the adoption of the Third National flag in March 1865, one month prior to the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House. This flag was similar to the Second National, different only in that it included a red stripe on the end of the flag. These were the only flags officially adopted as flags of the Confederacy. So, how did the Battle flag come to be the symbol of the Confederacy?
The Confederate Battle flag was exactly that - a battle flag. It was adopted by General P.G.T. Beauregard as a result of near friendly fire at the Battle of First Manassas. Beauregard, seeing a force moving on his left flank, stared at the flag of this force, but through the smoke of battle, was unable to determine whether it was the "Stars and Stripes" or the "Stars and Bars." Fortunately, Beauregard did not advance on the force as it turned out to be the 7th Louisiana Regiment. It was this incident that led Beauregard to push "then to have [our flag] changed if possible, or to adopt for my command a 'Battle flag,' which would be entirely different from any State or Federal flag."
It was Beauregard's design that became the now familiar battle flag, the flag flown primarily with land troops in battle and also used by cavalry and artillery units. The flag was only used in battle and never flew over government buildings or other facilities, though the design was incorporated into the Second and Third National flags.
So, why has the flag become such a divisive issue in American society today. For almost 85 years between the end of the Civil War and World War II, the "Confederate battle flag was the object of virtually uncontested public reverence in the South and increasing acceptance from the rest of the nation." Not until some Southerners began flying the flag in response to the 1954 landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka did people begin to see the flag as a symbol of hatred as it is seen by some today. Also, hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan and neo-nazi's have adopted the flag as their own. But did those soldiers in 1861 see the flag as a symbol of hate? For many of them, the fact that a foreign power was invading their country and their shorelines were being blockaded (even though they had not seceded and were still a part of the federal union) was the reason they were fighting. Most of them had no regard for slavery, tariffs, or other political issues.
For more information on this most revered and hated symbol, John Coski, historian at the Museum of the Confederacy, has recently published The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem. Also of interest is "The Damned Red Flags of the Rebellion": The Confederate Battle Flag at Gettysburg by Richard Rollins.
-Irish-born Confederate Major General Patrick Cleburne in his January, 1864, letter which proposed the mass emancipation and enlistment of Black Southerners into the Confederate Army
ping
?.......What does a... 'Postmodern-Deconstrustionist'.....Flag look like?
The “Civil War” was not a civil war, it was a War Between the States – the south did not want to “conquer” the north, they simply wanted an equitable base for the tariffs being charged them – I think it was something like the South paid 70% and the North paid 30%, a lot of people felt that was unfair. So what is called a Civil War was really a War on Tariffs, or the War of Northern Aggression. The “free the slaves” epithet came later when President Lincoln needed a more popular reason for going to war. And he imprisoned many who publicly disagreed with him.
During the Lincoln administration, the suspension of habeas corpus and the declaration of martial law in the North led to the imprisonment of thousands of anti-war protesters, including myriad newspaper editors and owners and even priests and preachers.”
Personally, I don't view it as a symbol of racism or hate or what-have-you. I see it as the flag of a nation that killed as many of my fellow soldiers as 36 9/11 attacks. I personally find display of it Anti-American. I don't deny anyone their prerogative to fly it, but I know where their true loyalties lie. Mine lie with America.
The “Civil War” was not a civil war, it was a War Between the States...
It was a war of rebellion.
...they simply wanted an equitable base for the tariffs being charged them – I think it was something like the South paid 70% and the North paid 30%, a lot of people felt that was unfair...
There was an equitable base. Tariffs were applied uniformly, and the overwhemlming majority of the tariff revenue was generated in the Northern states.
So what is called a Civil War was really a War on Tariffs, or the War of Northern Aggression.
It was the War of Southern Rebellion, or War to Defend Slavery if you believe the southern leadership of the time.
And he imprisoned many who publicly disagreed with him.
As did the Davis regime.
During the Lincoln administration, the suspension of habeas corpus and the declaration of martial law in the North led to the imprisonment of thousands of anti-war protesters, including myriad newspaper editors and owners and even priests and preachers.”
The first person arrested for political reasons was a Pensacola Florida newspaper reporter who pissed off Braxton Bragg. From the first day of the rebellion to the very last day there was not a single moment when someone wasn't imprisoned in the Confederacy for polticial reasons. According the Jeff Neely in his "Southern Rights: Political Prisoners and the Myth of Confederate Constitutionalism" there were more political prisoners per capita in the confederacy than in the United States.
I just saw a trailer and there did appear to be a battleflag on the top of General Lee. It was a brief shot. In most of the action scenes that I saw it looked like they were trying to shoot the car from an angle that excluded a view of the top.
When I die , I pray that two flags be draped o'er my coffin ;
On top , the Stars and Stripes , of which I am mighty proud
and to this day would gladly give my life for , but under that , the Southern Cross , which has always been the closest to my heart
Thereafter may both be kept in my family and held in the highest regard , equally...
our youth will be trained by Northern schoolteachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision...
And we have lived to see it.
Thanks for playing.
Usually I just read the news here and discuss it at work. My schedule's too tight for extended back-and-forths here.
I don't want to insult anybody. It's just the way I see it. I was raised in Oregon and am now stationed in Kentucky. I see bumper stickers displaying the confederate flag with captions that shed doubt on the driver's patriotism. And that's on-post! Causes me some concern, really.
Thank you for your service, sir.
I'm sure the majority of them do have honorable reasons for displaying it. I take issue, though, when I see a soldier (of all people) driving a vehicle with a sticker that says "Confederate by birth, Union by force." Such a sentiment seems to me to show that he feels something is so despicable about the US that he has to claim that he is not part of it by his free will.
BTTT
Well it didn't take the resident Southland haters long to show up.
You read minds? I don't care one way or the other about any particular regional identity in the US. In fact I think it is a divisive factor in our country. I take issue with people that display anti-American sentiments on a military base.
Those people just believe in the values of the old south. That is not a bad thing.
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