13 Star U.S. Navy Boat Flag, Captured-Battery Wagner 1863,Capt. Chichester.
Very Rare U.S. Navy "Boat Ensign" Captured at Battery Wagner in 1863. This boat ensign is a type utilized on U.S. Navy small craft like the launches, which assaulted Battery Wagner on Morris Island near Charleston, South Carolina during the Civil War. This flag was captured by Captain Charles E. Chichester, commander of a battery of Confederate artillery that Union troops unsuccessfully attacked on July 11, 1863 (a week before the doomed assault dramatized in the film "Glory"). Copies of Captain Chichester's muster rolls, correspondence, and other records are included with this flag.
Measuring 43" at the hoist and 81" on the fly, this flag's damages are a testament to the ferocity of the battles it survived. The blue field is faded and torn with holes, likely gunshot or grapeshot (canister), as is the entire flag. Made of red, white, and blue bunting, the flag has 13 five-pointed stars on the obverse with the severed cloth revealing its white back. It was often the practice to include only 13 stars on boat ensigns to increase the visibility of the stars at sea. This flag conforms to the Union regulations for the "Number 12" U.S. ensign with its 13 stripes and its alternating use of three, then two stars.
This example of a flag used during the failed invasion at Battery Island is very rare and historically notable.
Provenance:
• Used by U.S. Naval forces under the command of Lt. A.S. Mackenzie, 1863
• Captured by Captain Charles E. Chichester as the Union troops unsuccessfully assaulted the Fort on July 11, 1863.
• By descent in the Chichester Family.
• Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection through Heritage Auction Galleries, 2007.
Sources:
Madaus, Howard M.- Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict, VZ Publications, Santa Cruz, 2006. P 24.
US Navy "Boat" Flag, Dave Martucci's Flag Pages, 10 October 2011, from: http://www.vexman.net/smalboat.htm
Chichester, South Carolina Artillery Units in the War of the Rebellion, 25 October 2011, from: http://corktree.tripod.com/
South_Carolina_Artillery_Units_in_the_War_of_the_Rebellion
Fort Wagner, Wikipedia, 25 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Wagner
First Battle of Fort Wagner, 25 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Fort_Wagner
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
