Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 31.djvu/244

 236 Southern Historical Society Papers.

found him always turning from Virginia to Washington as though he wanted that city.

Very respectfully,

Ro. A. BRIGHT, Formerly on the staff of Major-General George E. Pickett.

[From the Augusta, Ga., Herald, February, 1901.]

GEORGIA'S FLAG.

Replaced Stars and Stripes Before Sumter Was Fired On.

A flag which forms a part of the decoration of the office of R. E. Allen will be an object of interest to every visitor and every citizen of Augusta. The flag is a plain white one, with a red star in the center, emblematic of Georgia, which, at the time the banner was first unfurled to the breezes, was an independent State, having by act of legislature broken the bonds uniting her to the United States government, and not having at that time become an integral part of the Confederate States of America.

The flag is no other than the one which was run up on the flagstaff at the arsenal when that post was captured by the State militia, and the stars and stripes were pulled down from the place of honor. The flag was the first one placed by an independent government in the South, and takes precedence over the claims made by other States and cities.

Those were stirring times. South Carolina hid seceded in De- cember, Mississippi and Alabama had followed, and on January 19, 1861, the legislature of Georgia, in session at Milledgeville, severed its connection with the Union, and it became a sovereign and inde- pendent State. On the 2ist the official hand and seal of Governor Joe Brown war* fixed to the proclamation, and on the 22nd the Chief Executive reached Augusta.

There was a hurrying to and fro of the military officers of the city and a gathering of the forces. Waynesboro was also communicated with, and up from Burke came two companies to take part in the