U.S. Army Bgd HQ Flag, 2nd Bgd, 4th Div, Wilson's Cav Corps, 1864-65, Jefferson Davis Capture.
The Howard Michael Madaus sub-collection of Civil War Military Flags was assembled from a variety of sources over a thirty year period of collecting (1970-2000) before being acquired by the Zaricor Collection in 2000. The sub-collection attempts to present an example of each of the major types of depot contractor regulation flags and colors carried by Union forces at the basic unit level, i.e. regiment, battalion, company, and battery, as well as the types of general military flags.

This sub-collection which was added to the Zaricor Civil War collection constitutes the largest and (while not complete) most comprehensive collection of the military flags carried by the Union Army during the Civil War outside of state repositories designated by the War Department for the disposition of these flags after the War, or in public museum collections. In fact this private collection is larger and more comprehensive than many of the public museum collections in the United States.

During the nearly six months that Brigadier-General James Wilson held the command of the 3rd Cavalry Division of the Army of the Potomac, he had frequent contact with his successor; Brigadier-General George A. Custer and he undoubtedly saw Custer's personal flag on several occasions. It is not totally surprising; therefore, that when Wilson sought designs to distinguish the brigade headquarters of the cavalry corps he was sent west to command in September of 1864, that he ended up choosing designs with which he was familiar.

Indeed, all of the 1st brigades of each of his divisions flew flags modeled after the scarlet over white guidon that had marked his own headquarters, while all of the 2nd brigades of his divisions followed the designs of Custer's personal flag and where red over blue swallow-tailed flags. Each of these flags bore the crossed sabers used in cavalry insignia, with the addition of the division number in the upper and lower angles of the crossed sabers to distinguish the brigades of one division from another. This particular flag represents the 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, Wilsons Cavalry Corps and was carried near its commander, Brigadier-General A.J. Alexander until the close of the War.

Publication History:
Wright, Horatio, editor, Flags of the Army of the United States Carried During The War of the Rebellion 1861-1865, To Designate the Headquarters of the different Armies, Army Corps, Divisions and Brigades, or "Designating Flags of the United States Army, 1861-1865", Philadelphia, Burk & McFetridge, 1887/1888, P. Cavalry Corps.

Woodhead, Henry, Editor, Howard Michael Madaus, Civil War Flag Authority Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of The Union - Flags. Alexandria, Time-Life Books, 1998. P. 289.



Provenance:
• 2nd Brigade, 4th Division Cavalry Corps
• Retained by A.J. Alexander commander of the division in 1865.
• Obtained by Major General James Wilson for A.J. Alexander upon his death, 1887
• Retained by the Wilson Family.
• Sold by the Wilson family to a local dealer
• Purchased from a local dealer by Stanley Mullen.
• Acquired by Howard Madaus from Stanley Mullen of Blue Bell Pennsylvania, December 1974.
• Sold by Howard Madaus to ZFC by private sale, 1996.


Sources: