11TH VIRGINIA INFANTRY REGIMENTAL FLAG CAPTURED DURING PICKETT'S CHARGE AT THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG BY OFFICER OF THE 16TH VERMONT INFANTRY.

Leading edge: 44 1/4". Fly: 46 3/4". Completely hand-sewn. Field is constructed of three pieces of red wool bunting, seamed horizontally, and a blue, 43 1/4"-wide St. Andrew’s cross inserted into the field. The cross is trimmed with 1/4" white cotton twill tape fimbriation. Thirteen (eleven original) 3 1/2" white cotton stars single-appliquéd to each side of the cross with one in the center and three on each arm. Regulation Richmond Depot “Third Bunting” used by General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. 1863. 

Fleischer’s Auctions is honored to offer the only known privately-owned Confederate battle flag captured during Pickett’s Charge from Pickett’s Division at the Battle of Gettysburg. Still today, the legacy of Gettysburg remains etched in the American soul. As the focal point of the battle, Pickett's Charge is often described as the "high-water mark of the Confederacy," famously romanticized by Faulkner and representing the point at which the tide of war, and indeed, the destiny of a nation, changed irrevocably. The battle flag offered here, carried by the 11th Virginia Infantry amidst the chaos and carnage of the charge, was witness to that defining moment.  

On 3 July 1863, the battle flag of the 11th Virginia Infantry disappeared. The flag was last seen planted in a stone wall east of Emmitsburg Road near the Codori House. Placed there by Pvt. George “Big Foot” Walker, a courier of General Kemper, the flag had been carried until its color bearer and two color guards were wounded or dead. Forming the next to last regiment on the right flank of General Pickett’s fateful charge, the 11th Virginia was decimated by Union artillery and soldiers stationed atop Cemetery Hill. According to an 1887 account, in the midst of the bloodshed, Pvt. Walker “sprang from his horse, seized the flag, remounted and pushed up to the enemy’s line of works, planting the colors thereon.” (David Emmons Johnston. Four Years a Soldier, pp. 257-258). Soon thereafter, Union lines closed around the regiment, taking as prisoners all who were not yet dead. 

Though Pvt. Walker’s attempt to secure and advance the 11th Virginia’s colors was well-documented (Johnston. Four Years a Soldier, pp. 257-258), the flag vanished following the battle. All trace of the flag seemed lost to history until 31 January 2021, when it re-emerged at a Civil War collector’s show in Georgia and was brought to a flag expert for examination. Several tags affixed to its old wooden frame suggested the flag was taken and kept by an officer in the 16th Vermont Infantry. The expert, by his own account, immediately recognized the flag as being a legitimate Army of Northern Virginia wool bunting flag and quickly determined it was “one of the June 1863 issues for the five brigades of Gen. George Pickett's Division” to a Virginia unit (Greg Bigg’s “Flag Report”. 31 January 2021). Further investigation revealed the regimental designation, “11 Va.” (The flag had been folded in its frame, initially hiding this.) After additional research substantiated its provenance, the flag’s existence was publicly announced to great excitement in the collecting community. 

After 158 years, the only unaccounted-for regimental battle flag used by Pickett’s Division during the Battle of Gettysburg had finally been discovered. 

The two tags associated with the flag proved crucial not just to verifying its legitimacy but also to establishing the history of its capture. In one of these, a typewritten inscription reads: “Confederate flag remnant taken at Gettysburg, By Capt. H.F. Dix, Loan of Ms. Elizabeth Dix, June 1943.” The second, written in period script and affixed to the flag itself, reads: “Divided by the men of Co. F, 16th Vt. Vols. July 12, 1863 in honor of Lt. Lawton who was mortally wounded in its capture from retreating Rebels, battle near Gettysburg, Pa. July 3.”

The 16th Vermont Infantry played a pivotal role on that fateful day. Its decisive maneuvers - taking General Kemper’s men in flank, forcing an about-face, and halting General Wilcox’s subsequent advance - were instrumental in ending General Longstreet’s assault. The actions of the 16th Vermont not only disrupted a Confederate offensive but also paved the way for Union forces to secure a defensive position. 

The discovered flag offered here is therefore not only a remnant of Confederate pride but a testament to the bravery and strategic acumen of the 16th Vermont. At the heart of the flag’s narrative is a deeply personal story: that of Lt. Cyren B. Lawton, a 2nd Lieutenant in Company F of the 16th Vermont, who suffered a mortal wound during the intense hand-to-hand combat that ensued while capturing it on 3 July 1863. Referenced in several period accounts (Richard Rollins. “The Damned Red Flags of the Rebellion.” pp. 178-179, 206), Lawton’s sacrifice was ostensibly honored by his comrades in the 16th Vermont when they souvenired and divided a portion of the flag in recognition of the ultimate sacrifice Lawton made to secure it. Captain Henry F. Dix, one of Lt. Lawton’s fellow officers, preserved the flag, which was then quietly passed down through generations of his family.

Following the flag’s discovery, it was expertly conserved, and appropriate modern material was artfully arranged in the frame for display purposes. This flag, the most significant Civil War artifact offered in recent memory at public auction, deserves an eminent home. 

A condition report, conservation details, and more information regarding the flag’s provenance are available upon request.

Note: This lot cannot be packaged and shipped in-house. Successful bidders winning items marked as being packaged and shipped by a third-party service are responsible for paying the third party directly. We are happy to offer complimentary drop-off service to local third-party packing/shipping companies in Columbus, Ohio.

References:

1. Johnston, David Emmons;  Four Years a Soldier, by David E. Johnston, A Member of Company “D,” Seventh Virginia Infantry, and Sergeant-Major of the Regiment; Princeton, W. Va.; 1887; pages 257 - 258

…Although our division had lost so many valuable officers and men, yet the spirits of those yet struggling were unbroken and they continued to advance upon the second line of the enemy, from which a shower of bullets came, striking down hundreds; and about this time fell General Kemper, wounded, General Garnett, Colonel Patton and other meritorious and valuable officers.  After their fall, no one seemed to be in command, but every man his own general.  The few company officers left cheered on the men and the advance continued.  To the rear went young Walker, courier for General Kemper, and dashing up to that bleeding, suffering officer, informed him that the ranks were being so thinned, unless re-inforced, the brigade could go but little farther.  He was directed by General K. to go to General Longstreet and ask him to push forward the supports (Heath’s Division).  Delivering the message, Walker returned to the line, and finding everybody around the colors of the 11^th regiment shot down and the colors fallen to the ground, he sprang from his horse, seized the flag, remounted and pushed up to the enemy’s line of works, planting the colors thereon; losing on the way his horse – killed – and having his clothing pierced with a number of balls…

2. Flag expert Greg Bigg’s “Flag Report” from the Dalton, Georgia Civil War collector’s show. 31 January 2021. 

…But THE kicker for me was what walked into the show in a old wooden frame. A friend of mine bought it from the man that had it- the flag descended from an ancestor in Memphis. It was clearly an ANV wool bunting flag and in white paint was "Va Infy." I instantly IDd this one as being one of the June 1863 issues for the five brigades of Gen. George Pickett's Division. The owner decided to crack open the old wooden frame and carefully took out the flag. Attached to the frame was a tag that stated - "Confederate flag remnant, Taken at Gettysburg by Capt. H. F. Dix, 16th Vt. Vol. Inf. Loan of me Elizabeth Dix, June 1943." I called a fellow flag historian to check and see what flags the 16th Vermont took at Gettysburg and he told me - the 2nd Florida Infantry (flag with the Sun in the center -still missing today), the 8th Virginia Infantry at Pickett's Charge (at the American Civil War Museum today) and an unknown flag that was not sent to the War Department. So when the frame was finally opened, the flag was unfolded slowly as it had been wrapped around to pieces of an old metal pie cooler. After taking those out the flag could be opened. First to show up was the unit designation - "11th" which made this the June 1863 flag for the 11th Virginia Infantry, part of Kemper's Brigade of Pickett's Division. As we kept unfolding another tag appeared that stated - "Divided by the men of Co. F, 16th Vt. Vols, July 12, 1863 in honor of Lt. Lawton who was mortally wounded in its capture from retreating rebels, battle near Gettysburg, July 3." In looking on the Vermont in the Civil War site this was Cyren B. Lawton who was indeed mortally wounded on July 3, 1863 and died on July 11th -the day before this flag was cut up some with pieces given to the men of Co. F. Most of the flag still survives intact - only 2 stars missing, half the hoist edge, two thirds of the fly edge, both upper and lower edges and bits of the blue cross and red field. But the unit designation left to right across the center is fully intact. Evidently, whoever was able to hang onto this flag moved to Memphis at some point for the guy that brought the flag to the show said it hung on the wall of the family home in Memphis for years. It was terrific to lock down another Gettysburg captured flag and one from Pickett's Charge!

3. “The Damned Red Flags of the Rebellion,” The Confederate Battle Flag at Gettysburg, by Richard Rollins; Rank and File Publications; 1997; pages 178-179, page 206.

“Pvt. Piam Haines [Harris] of the 16^th Vermont [Company E] captured the flag of the 8^th Virginia, probably taken from the body of the soldier who had torn it from its staff and concealed it while running back towards Seminary Ridge.  A third flag was captured by a soldier from the 16^th Vermont who was subsequently shot; the banner was reportedly picked up by someone from another regiment and not turned in.” (Note 164)

“Note 164.  There is no trace of this flag, but several people apparently witnessed the incident.  Benedict, Vermont at Gettysburgh, 19-20; Report of Brig. Gen. George Stannard, July 4, 1863, OR, I, 350; Report of Col. W. G. Veazey, OR, I, 1042, and Veazey to Bachelder (undated), Bachelder Papers, I, 62-64.  See also Deeds of Valor, 239; George H. Scott, “Vermont at Gettysburgh, Gettysburg Sources (Baltimore:  Butternut and Blue, 1986), Vol. 1, 76-80; Board of State Institutions, Soldiers of Florida in the Seminole Indian, Civil and Spanish-American Wars, 1903, 188.”

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Flags, Patriotic Textiles]