mond press. I hope it will be the pleasure of your committee to recommend the passage of the bill, and that it will be adopted by Congress in time for the signature of the President (who has expressed his approval of it) on the 22d day of February next, in order that it may become a law on the anniversary of the birthday of the great Virginian, who was the father of his country and the chief author of his country's flag,[1] and the anniversary of the day which gave birth to the permanent Government of the Confederate States.
I am, General, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
Major, Confederate States Artillery.
Caaffin's Bluff, January 2, 1875.
[From the Baltimore Gazette.]
The above letter, taken from the files of the Richmond Whig, is a part of the history of the late war which was worth preserving. It is also a matter of interest to state that the author of the Confederate flag, as adopted by Congress, is a brave soldier who served through the war, and shed his blood in defence of the Southern cause. He raised a company of artillery from Loudoun county, Virginia, which was honorably mentioned for efficient service by General Beauregard in his report of first Manassas. He was re-elected captain, promoted for gallant and meritorious conduct at the second battle of Manassas, and was attached to the staff of Stonewall Jackson when he fell at Chancellorsville. Cooke, in his life of Jackson, in referring to it, says: "By this fire General Hill, General Pender, Colonel Crutchfield, Jackson's Chief of Artillery, and Major Rogers, of artillery, also of Jackson's staff, were wounded, and one of the men of the ambulance corps, carrying the litter of the wounded General, was shot through both arms and dropped his burden. . . . The litter-bearers made their way to a point on the road where a solitary ambulance was standing. In this ambulance Colonel Crutchfield and Major Rogers had been placed when wounded. Although badly hurt, the latter insisted upon being taken out to make room for the General, and Jackson was laid in his place."
The following letters from General Lee and General Jackson's Adjutant-General bear testimony to the gallantry of this officer:
- ↑ The basis of the flag of the United States was "the great Union flag" displayed by General Washington on Prospect hill, "in compliment," as he said, "to the United Colonies," on the 2nd day of January, 1776, the day of forming the new Continental army. On the evacuation of Boston by the British this standard was carried into the city by the American troops. It was the union of the crosses of Saint George and Saint Andrew, with thirteen stripes through the flag, alternate red and white—Hamilton's History U. S. Flag, p. 59. American Archives, 4th Series, vol. 5, p. 428.
