THE SECOND NATIONAL FLAG IN THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI
Flag of the 33rd Texas Cavalry Regiment
by Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr.
from detailed sketches and notes of Howard M. Madaus
Last modified: 30 December 2000 by Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr.
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Flag of the 33rd Texas Cavalry Regiment
by Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr.
from detailed sketches and notes of Howard M. Madaus
On 10 June 1863, six weeks after the adoption of the new national flag of the Confederacy by Congress on 1 May 1863, a Texas newspaper finally provided a description of the new flag, with directions on its construction: "The flag is white, with a red union, having a St. Andrew's cross of blue, on each bar of which are six white stars, with a large one at the crossing. To make a flag, say a yard and a quarter by three yards, take the usual size of the Beauregard battle flag, seven eighths by one and one quarter yards of red. On each side of this place a strip of blue, say 6 inches wide, running from each corner, diagonally across. This makes the cross, and on this put the stars. Now make a white field, three yards by one and one quarter, leaving space to put the Union, and you have it."
The flag that the Texas paper so described, at 45" by 108" with a rectangular canton 31 1/2" by 45" having an unedged 6" wide cross with 13 stars-- the center larger-- was a far cry from the proportions envisioned by Congress. However, it would be another two weeks before the same paper would finally publish the actual Congressional enactment, which provided for 1:2 proportions for the hoist to fly dimensions and a square canton. In the interim (and even afterward), the ladies of Texas (and the remainder of the Confederacy about to be disconnected from the balance of the Confederacy by the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson) were left to their means to prepare examples of the new national flag. From the surviving examples, it would appear that only a few sewing groups made the effort.
Inclusive of the 5.5' x 12' 2nd national garrison flag that flew over Galveston during the last half of the War, only eight Confederate 2nd national flags survive that have been identified to the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy. Of the flags that survive, to the credit of their makers, most follow the basic tenants of the Congressional enactment of 1 May 1863, with one notable exception. Instead of being proportioned 1:2 (hoist to fly), most are proportioned 2:3, as was the case for the flags made at the Quartermaster depots in Richmond, Staunton, and Charleston. The unit flags themselves tend to measure (within the loose tolerances of the period) four feet on the staff by six feet on the fly. With one exception, the cantons of these flags are square and the St. Andrew's crosses are edged with white fimbration. On two of the flags, the center star is larger than those of the arms of the cross; on the others all stars are of equal size. Although one of the flags bears a battle honor; for the most part, the 2nd national unit flags of the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy are unmarked.
The six week delay in the announcement to the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy of the new national flag may have influenced the preparation of significant numbers of the Confederate 2nd national flag in that region. The virtual severing of commerce between the eastern Confederacy and those Confederate political entities west of the Mississippi certainly must have effected flag production in the Trans-Mississippi as well, though there is ample evidence of importations continuing to flow into Texas from Havana after the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson. At present, however, it seems that the sewing circles of the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy had already transferred their efforts to preparing battle flags that followed the "Beauregard" pattern or were variants of it. Indeed, though the design of the 3rd national flag of the Confederacy was transcribed from the Richmond Dispatch as early as 26 January 1865 (five weeks prior to the flag's adoption), and General E. Kirby Smith did not surrender the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy until June of 1865, no examples survive of the last national flag that can be attributed to any military unit serving in that section of the Confederacy.
Howard Michael Madaus -- based on research by Al Sumrall, Robert Maberry, Greg Biggs, and Howard Michael Madaus, with especial thanks to Vicki Betts.