The Associated Press
EASTHAMPTON, Mass. – An almost perfectly preserved Confederate flag that had been in the family of a Union soldier who seized it during the Civil War sold for $41,000 at auction on Thursday.
“We’ll probably never come across one of these again around here,” said Doug Kimball, co-owner of Kimballs Auction and Estate Service, which auctioned off the flag to an anonymous bidder Thursday night.
The flag, commonly known as the Stars and Bars, looks more like today’s Stars and Stripes than the better-known Confederate battle flag. It measures about 2 feet wide and 4 feet long, has three broad red and white horizontal stripes, and 11 stars are sewn onto a blue background in the upper left corner.
The flag has some tiny rips, a few stains, and the panels are faded, but it has held up better than other Civil War flags. Collectors and museum curators aren’t sure what role it played when it was taken during the 1862 battle of New Berne in North Carolina.
“I would definitely call it a military company flag,” said Tom Belton, curator at the North Carolina Museum of History. “Whether it was picked up in a Confederate camp or captured in combat, I don’t think anyone will ever know that.”
The flag ended up in the possession of Cpl. John Russell of Hadley, Mass., who enlisted in the 27th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry at the age of 22 and died in battle 19 months later.
Miriam Pratt, 85, a distant cousin of Russell’s, came across the flag in an attic about a month ago after hiring Kimballs to handle her sister’s estate.
“I thought it exceeded its value. The buyer had to be someone who is a pretty serious collector,” said Alan Hamilton of Cheshire, who owns the Cheshire Auction Gallery. “Am I shocked? Nah. It’s an auction.”
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.