APPENDIX. THE CONFEDERATE FLAGS.* HE first secession flags were raised in Charleston, when the news of President Lincoln's election reached there. These were called Palmetto flags, because they bore, in one form or another, the palmetto tree, the emblem of the State of South Carolina. Some of them had a blue, some a white, and some a red field, as shown in the colored plate, and some bore stars and some crescents. One of the earliest ones had a blue field, with a palmetto tree in the middle, and a single white star in the upper corner next to the staff. From this one originated the song "The Bonnie Blue Flag," which “bears a single star" (page 572). Other stars were added as other States joined South Carolina in secession, until some 'flags had eleven, some thirteen, and some fifteen stars. One of the latest forms used in 1861 was adopted on the day the ordinance of secession was passed. It had a red field with a blue cross, charged with stars, the centre one, representing South Carolina, being the largest (see No. 5 in the plate). When North Carolina seceded, a red, white, and blue flag was adopted, the colors being arranged as in the plate (No. 10). It bore a single white star in the red part, with the words May 20, 1775, above it, and May 20, 1861, below it. The first date is that of what is called the 'Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence," in which the people of Mecklenburg County declared their independence of Great Britain; the other is the date of the secession of the State from the Union. 66 In Georgia, the State flag was first hoisted-a white field bearing the State arms, the Temple of Liberty, with the word Constitution on the dome, and an armed man standing below (No. 11), but the "Stars and Bars," with the arms in the middle of the union (No. 12), was sometimes used. The Virginia State flag has a blue field, with the arms of the State in the middle, the figure of Liberty trampling on a figure which has lost its crown and sceptre, and beneath it the motto, Sic Semper Tyrannis," So may it always be with tyrants." The State flag of Louisiana before secession was white and bore the arms of the State, a pelican feeding her young on the nest. This was the flag hoisted on the day of secession, but objections were made to it in the convention which passed the act of secession, because the pelican is a filthy and cowardly bird, and a committee was appointed to choose a new flag. As Louisiana had belonged first to Spain, then to France, and lastly * See colored plate, opposite page 562. to the United States, a flag made up of the three flags of those countries was adopted (No. 15), the red and yellow of the union being taken from that of Spain, the red, white, and blue of the stripes from that of France and the United States, and the general form from that of the United States. Other States used their State flags at first, though all did not have distinctive flags. When the Confederate Congress met at Montgomery, Alabama, in March, 1861, many devices were presented for flags for the new nation. Most of these were merely changed forms of the old flag, showing that a love for it still lingered in the hearts of the people; and the form finally chosen, called the "Stars and Bars," was only the flag of the Union in disguise (No. 1). Indeed, it was so nearly like it that it was often mistaken for it, as in the first battle of Bull Run (page 98), and in September, 1861, a battle-flag was adopted-a red field charged with a blue saltier or St. Andrew's cross, with a narrow border of white, on which were thirteen white stars (No. 2). In 1863 was adopted, in place of the Stars and Bars, a white flag with the battle-flag for a union (No. 3); but this having sometimes been mistaken for a flag of truce, a red bar was put on the outer half of the field (No. 4) in 1865. This was the last flag used by the Confederacy. JOHN BROWN'S BODY. The music of this song is an old Methodist camp-meeting tune. In the spring of 1861, when the Boston Light Infantry were doing garrison duty in Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor, several of the members formed a glee club, and amused themselves by singing. The air now known as John Brown's song pleased them, and they tried to make for it words appropriate to the times. The result was the first verse of the song, the words of which were fitted to the air by Mr. James E. Greenleaf, organist of the Harvard Church in Charlestown, who found the music among the church archives. This proved so acceptable to all, that Mr. C. S. Hall, of Charlestown, was requested to write more words, and he, as he says, added five more verses. Hall's Band was the first to play the tune in the fort, and Gilmore's Band the first to play it in Boston. The 12th Massachusetts was the first regiment to sing it in the streets of Boston and New York. It at once took a firm hold on the soldiers' hearts, spread rapidly from regiment to regiment, and became the favorite song of the Army of the Potomac. Attempts were made by several writers to improve the words, but the soldiers did not like the changes, and the original homely verses continued to the close of the war to enliven the march by day and to cheer the camp-fire by night. The words as generally sung in the army are as follows: John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, APPENDIX. Glory, glory, hallelujah! His soul is marching on. He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord, John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back, His pet lambs will meet him on the way, Glory, glory, etc. They'll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree, Now three rousing cheers for the Union, Glory, glory, etc. SONG SUNG IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, IN 1861. Jeff Davis is a brave man, He will lead the Southern force, I pity Lincoln's soldiers, For I fear they will fare worse; He will show the Union shriekers The secession flag, ere many months, 563 |