Last month a mystery which has lingered for 132 years was solved - what happened to Fort Macon's Confederate Flag. The flag has been missing since 1862 when it was taken by Union forces after the fort's surrender. It was never known if at some point after the war it was thrown away, or if it was locked away in some dusty box in some forgotten Rhode Island attic. Until now!
The story of the flag is as follows: In 1861. when Confederate troops seized Fort Macon they made a Confederate National Flag (the "Stars and Bars") out of the old U.S. garrison flag which had been in the fort for years before the war. The 20 by 36 foot U.S. flag had its red and white stripes ripped apart by the Confederates, combined and then resewn into the three broad red-white-red bars of the Confederate First National Flag. In the blue canton, enough stars were left in to represent the Confederate States and the remaining stars were snipped out. Thus the fort's recycled U.S. flag now became its Confederate flag.
Following the Civil War bombardment of Fort Macon, victorious Union soldiers pulled down the flag on the morning of the surrender, April 26. 1862. The 5th Rhode Island Battalion, which received the fort's surrender was allowed to keep the flag as a trophy and later presented it to the Rhode Island Legislature in session in Newport, Rl, shortly afterward. From here the Flag seemed to drop from view. Even as early as 1892, the regimental history of the 5th Rhode Island noted the flag was missing and could not be found after a most diligent search.
Fast forwarding to the present, Mr. William D. Gorges, curator of the New Bern Civil War Museum, and his associate Mr. Paul Oliveira located a piece of the flag in Rhode Island last year in the possession of a Civil War relic collector. The information accompanying the flag piece was that it was a "piece of the Fort Macon, NC Rebel Flag, presented with others to the members of the 1862 Rhode Island Legislature". In other words, the Rhode Island politicians chopped up the flag into souvenir pieces for themselves.
Now, of course, it is clear why the flag disappeared so suddenly. The collector who had the flag piece said he knows of at least one other such piece in the hands of an unidentified descendent of one of the Rhode Island Legislators. Doubtless, other fragments may also exist in forgotten Rhode Island attics. Fortunately, the flag piece possessed by the collector was acquired and, on January 15, 1994, was donated by Mr. Gorges on behalf of the New Bern Civil War Museum to Fort Macon State Park.
The piece of the flag is of wool bunting, roughly eight inches square, cut from the blue canton and containing one 5 1/2 inch star. In the star is written "Ft. Macon N.C." The piece was obviously ripped at some point, probably by wind, and given a field repair. Ultimately, it is hoped to be able to display it at some point. Thus the flag of Fort Macon, even if only a piece of it, has symbolically come home and the mystery of its whereabouts is solved.