A Civil War treasure returned

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Photo above: Wilson’s charge during the Battle of Selma.

In a May 16, 1865 communique to the Headquarters of the Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi, Union Brevet Major-General J.H. Wilson reports that he has captured 24 flags from his Alabama/Georgia campaign spanning March 22-April 19. Flag #24, shown in the photo below, is described simply as “A flag captured in the assault on Selma, Ala., April 2, 1865, by the staff of Brigadier-General Long, commanding Second Division, Cavalry Corps.” All of these flags were to be transmitted to the U.S. War Department. General Long never mentions in his correspondences the capture of a flag by the 4th Ohio Cavalry.

And yet 44 years later, on May 12, 1909 (two days after Confederate Memorial Day) veterans from the 4th Ohio Cavalry Association journeyed to Huntsville, AL to return Flag #24 to the state, which was represented by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in a formal ceremony at the Elk’s Theater. The caption on the photo shown here indicates that the flag belonged to the Alabama Rifle Scouts. Yet, “the name Rifle Scouts has not been identified as an alternate designation for an Alabama company,” according to the Alabama State Archives. So historians still need to properly I.D. this flag with the regiment to which it was formerly attached.

Captain John R. Pitts of the 4th Ohio Cavalry Association presented the flag to Mrs. Charles G. Brown of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The following individuals are pictured: Mayor T. W. Smith of Huntsville; James Quinton (4th Ohio); Mrs. Virginia Clay-Clopton (UDC); Mrs. Helen Plaine (UDC); Joseph H. Goddard (4th Ohio); L. C. Bramkamp (4th Ohio); T. C. Lindsey (4th Ohio); W. W. Shoemaker (4th Ohio); William H. Henry (4th Ohio); Mrs. A. W. Newsom (UDC); Mrs. Charles G. Brown (UDC); Mrs. Cornelia Branch Stone (UDC); Mrs. Andrew J. Dowdell (UDC); Captain John R. Pitts (4th Ohio); Mrs. Thomas W. Palmer (UDC); Mrs. Bennett B. Ross (UDC); Mrs. Leopold Bashinski (UDC); Mrs. Tallulah B. Bankhead (UDC); Mrs. Clarence M. Tardy (UDC); Thomas Osborn (4th Ohio); M. H. Richardson (4th Ohio); C. N. Vaught (UCV); James R. Johnson; Mrs. Ellen P. Bryce (UDC); Mrs. Asa S. Rountree (UDC); Mrs. L. T. Pride (UDC).

Note the presence of Tallulah B. Bankhead –not the famous actress, who was 7 years old at the time, but rather her mother.

In the August 2017 newsletter of the Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table, UDC member Pat Cleveland gives an update on the modern status of Flag #24: “The battle flag we are restoring now belonged to the Alabama Rifle Scouts. It was captured and taken to Ohio. In 1909 it was presented back to the south in Huntsville to Mrs. Virginia Clay Clopton (namesake of a local UDC chapter) and other dignitaries of Huntsville. The flag is in tatters. It will take two years and $30,000 to restore. All of the Alabama UDC chapters have been diligently working on fund raisers to complete the restoration.”

More on Huntsville’s Bankhead family:

Next thing we know you’ll be endorsing matrimony, the metal zipper and the dial telephone(Opens in a new browser tab)