RELIC OF THE CONFEDERATE GARRISON FLAG OF FORT MORGAN, BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY

Recovered by Fleet Surgeon James C. Palmer, U.S. Navy (West Gulf Blockading Squadron). Fragment of open‑weave cotton bunting, with traces of red dye along several torn edges; mounted with a small period paper label in ink reading: “Battle‑flag of Fort Morgan, Mobile bay, shot down by Adm. Farragut’s fleet, August 5, 1864.” Together with a later explanatory placard recounting the engagement. 10 1/4 x 6 7/8 in., housed in a 16 1/16 x 20 5/16 in. frame. 

On 5 August, 1864, Admiral David G. Farragut forced the entrance to Mobile Bay past Forts Morgan and Gaines, running the torpedo (mine) field and launching the action that produced his celebrated order, “Damn the torpedoes—full speed ahead!” After the Union fleet destroyed or captured the Confederate flotilla, including the ironclad CSS Tennessee, Fort Morgan endured combined land‑and‑sea bombardment until 23 August, when Brig. Gen. Richard L. Page capitulated. Fleet Surgeon James Croxall Palmer (1811-1883), chief medical officer of Farragut’s West Gulf Blockading Squadron and later Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy, recorded the campaign and was present at the capture of the forts; the accompanying manuscript label, traditionally held as being in his hand, identifies this fragment as taken from the Confederate flag shot down over the fort on the day of battle.

Relics definitively tied to Mobile Bay and Fort Morgan are scarce, most captured flags having been forwarded to departmental custody.

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