Ex Texas Civil War Museum, deaccessioned 2022. Group includes a Confederate First National “bible” flag and letter.

The 4pp. (folded) is letter written by New Orleans native “Annie” to an unknown friend (likely a soldier), dated October 10th, 1863. In the letter, Annie expresses how much she misses an unknown Confederate soldier, and that she and her father have been trying to get a pass to Vicksburg from Gen. Grant. She shares a touching sentiment at the close of the letter: ”if you should be killed, your last moments would be happy ones, your last thoughts of me would not be tinged with the least unforgiving feeling - I should not be the one whose unkindness had driven you to seek that death."

Accompanying the letter is a small hand-made Confederate First National flag, commonly referred to by collectors as a “bible flag,” consisting of hand sewn red, white, and blue silk. Within the blue canton is a “St. Andrew's Cross” arranged from 13 small stars, cut from what appears to be paper. The white field contains the embroidered French phrase “Glorie et Liberte” with the humorous sentiment “Victory or slight wounds” written above and below it in pencil. On the back of the flag, within the field, is written “This is French,” which refers to the embroidered phrase. Like the letter itself, the flag no doubt originates from the Acadian deep south of Louisiana. It measures ~4 1/2 x 2 inches.


[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, U.S Grant, Washington Artillery, Abraham Lincoln]