National Flags of the Confederate States of America 1861-1865

The Confederate States of America used three national flags between 1861 and 1865. The first official flag, the Stars and Bars, was reported to the provisional congress of the C.S. by the flag committee on March 4, 1861, apparently without a recorded vote, and was entered into the journal of the congress. It is said to have been designed by Nicola Marschall, a Prussian artist, and inspired by the Austrian flag. The number of stars varied because there was no centralized purchasing, with the earliest versions showing seven stars and more added as additional states joined and flag makers learned the number of states. Because it resembled the Union Stars and Stripes, it was replaced on May 26, 1863, by the Second National flag, also called the Stainless Banner, which placed the Southern Cross in a square canton on a white field, though the specifications were often loosely followed and the canton was frequently rectangular. Because that flag could be mistaken for a flag of truce, it was modified into the Third National flag by adding a red bar on the fly, with proportions set in law on March 4, 1865. Few of that version were issued and few survived. It was first proposed in the CS Congress in December 1864, published in newspapers, and first flew over Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond in January 1865, two months before official adoption. Also associated here are three Confederate infantry regiments from Georgia with men from Warren County and nearby counties. The 5th Infantry Regiment was organized in May 1864 and first saw combat and casualties at Pensacola in October 1861. During the war it served under J.K. Jackson, Taliaferro, and G.P. Harrison, took part in the Army of Tennessee campaigns from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, then served at Savannah and fought in North Carolina. It lost thirty-seven percent of 173 engaged at Murfreesboro and fifty-five percent of 317 at Chickamauga, totaled 227 men and 137 arms in December 1863, had 250 effectives in March 1865, and surrendered in April. The 22nd Infantry Regiment was formed at Big Shanty, Georgia, in September 1861 with men from several Georgia counties including Warren. Sent to Virginia, it served in the Department of the Peninsula and later in General A.R. Wright's and Sorrel's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia, fighting from the Seven Days Battles to Cold Harbor, enduring the Petersburg trenches south of the James River, and seeing action around Appomattox. It suffered heavy losses at Oak Grove, Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, Gettysburg, and Manassas Gap, and on April 9, 1865, surrendered with 9 officers and 197 men. The 48th Infantry Regiment completed its organization at Macon, Georgia, in the winter of 1861-1862 with companies recruited from Warren and other counties. Ordered to Virginia, it served under Generals Ripley, A.R. Wright, and Sorrel on many Army of Northern Virginia battlefields from the Seven Days Battles to Cold Harbor, then in the Petersburg siege south of the James River and the Appomattox Campaign. It reported casualties at Mechanicsville, Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Manassas Gap, and on April 9, 1865, surrendered 13 officers and 193 men. Several of the listed officers of these regiments were natives of Warren County.

Warrenton, Georgia · United States