Flag returned to Alabama from Nebraska

[larry_cockerham]

OMAHA, Neb. -- Nebraska's congressmen on Wednesday
gave back a piece of Alabama history that made its
home in Lincoln for more than a century.

Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, Lee Terry and Adrian Smith
were joined by Alabama Reps. Robert Aderholt and Terry
Everett for a Civil War era flag exchange.

The flag is from the 1st Regiment Alabama Volunteer
Infantry, the first unit to enter Confederate service
from the state, according to a news release from
Fortenberry's office. It was donated to the Nebraska
Historical Society following the death of Phelps
Paine, son of Union Brig. Gen. Eleazer Arthur Paine,
in 1919. Brig. Gen. E.A. Paine came into possession of
the flag in April 1862 at Tiptonville, Tenn. Phelps
Paine moved to Lincoln, Neb., in 1870.


The flag was made in Montgomery, Ala., between March 4
and April 12, 1861, and presented to the regiment at
Fort Barrancas in Pensacola, Fla. The regiment took
part in the bombardment of Fort Barrancas and Fort
McRee on Nov. 22 and 23, 1861. The Confederate success
during that bombardment caused Brig. Gen. A. H.
Gladden to issue a complimentary order on Nov. 29,
1861, commending the forces and permitting the unit to
inscribe the dates of the action upon the flag, which
are seen on the lower red bar of the flag.

In 1862, the regiment was sent to the Mississippi
River defenses of New Madrid and Island No. 10. With
the fall of Island No. 10 in April 1862, the regiment
surrendered at Tiptonville where the flag was captured
by Brig. Gen. Eleazer Arthur Paine.

Paine commanded the 4th Division of Maj. Gen. John
Pope's Army of the Mississippi during the siege and
capture of New Madrid/Island No. 10.

The flag was passed down to E. A. Paines's son,
Phelps. Phelps was born in Ohio in 1844 and moved to
Illinois with his family. In 1861, he enlisted in
Company K, Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers for
three months. He re-enlisted July 26, 1861, and was
commissioned first lieutenant on Jan. 1, 1862, and
then appointed aide-de-camp on the staff of his
father. On Mar. 11, 1863, Phelps was commissioned
Assistant Adjutant Gen. with the rank of captain. He
mustered out May 31, 1865.

In May 1870, Phelps moved to Nebraska and settled at
Plattsmouth and engaged in real estate and insurance.
He moved to Lincoln in 1877 and worked with state land
department. He eventually moved to Omaha and was a
federal inspector in packing houses.

He died in Omaha in 1919 and is buried at Wyuka in
Lincoln.

The Alabama flag was transferred to the Nebraska Grand
Army of the Republic either before or right after
Phelps death. It was donated to the Society with the
rest of the GAR collection.

[Battalion]

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/...705240343/1009

[larry_cockerham]

Batallion, thanks very much for that post. I was anxious to get a look at the flag. This must have been one of the first hand-ful of the first national flag ever created, adopted by the Provisional Congress March 4, 1861! It's in an amazingly good state of repair. We continue to raise money in Tennessee to restore as many of these as possible in our archives in Nashville. Taking an approach of the worst first, it's an expensive proposition. Good conservators ain't economical!