In doing my research for George Armstrong Custer personal battle flag I noticed it was recently auctioned off in Dallas Texas. This gave me an opportunity to see the actual colors, dimension, and design of the original flag.
Every graphic representation that I could find of this flag (and there are a lot of them ) in books, flag supplier catalogs that offer replicas of the flag and reenactment activities held at the Little Bighorn where battlefield enthusiasts carrying the Custer Flag all are depicting an inaccurate representations of the original Custer Flag. The colors and design of the flag when compared to the original are all wrong. Its a shame that the people who do the reenactments who are trying to be as accurate as possible with uniforms and dress of the times are not aware of this inaccuracy.
This flag's history is of course as colorful as it's bearer. His wife libby hand sewed it for him in the final days of the Civil War and was personally delivered to him on the battlefield in the midst of battle at Dinwiddle Court House near Petersburg, Virginia on March 31st 1865.
It was with General Custer at Appomattox where he witnessed personally Lee's surrender of the army of Northern Virginia.
This is one of the most important flags in American history and it should be shown accurately. It was passed on down through the Custer family, and was preserved by his relatives from the Custer farmhouse in Monroe Michigan. The flag was later purchased from his nephew Lt. Col. Charles Custer just 75 years after it last flew above General Custer himself.
I will be painting this flag soon and will post it and offer it for sale as soon as I finish. Watch for it on follow up posts to this blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment