modified DukeAnchovy's US flag

Fort Sumter Flag

This flag is a tribute to the loyal men and women of the US armed forces, especially those men who fought for true liberty in the Union armies during the Civil War, America's darkest hour, and time of greatest triumph.

This flag flew above Fort Sumter, under the command of Major Robert Anderson, during the bombardment by Confederate forces. After the main flagpole was felled by a cannon shot, Second Lieutenant Norman Hall quickly retrieved it and flew it from a makeshift pole. It survived the bombardment and became a symbol of patriotic resolve in the North.

On April 14, 1865, four years to the day after the surrender and as part of a celebration of the Union victory, Anderson (by then a major general), raised the flag in triumph over the battered remains of the fort. President Lincoln would be shot later that very night.

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher concluded his remarks on the 14th with this;

"On this solemn and joyful day, we again lift to the breeze our fathers’ flag, now, again, the banner of the United States, with the fervent prayer that God would crown it with honor, protect it from treason, and send it down to our children.... Terrible in battle, may it be beneficent in peace as long as the sun endures, or the stars, may it wave over a nation neither enslaved nor enslaving.... We lift up our banner, and dedicate it to peace, Union, and liberty, now and forevermore."