Last modified: 2016-09-23 by rick wyatt
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Charlie Hall, "Sun Journal", 17 February 2013, presents the flag of the 33rd Regiment North Carolina Troops, captured by the Union at the Battle of New Bern on 14 March 1862.
"The 33rd Regiment of North Carolina Troops was organized at the old fair ground in Raleigh in September 1861 and experienced its first battle action in New Bern. At the Battle of New Bern, the 33rd suffered the greatest number of casualties of any Confederate regiment, with 32 men killed and 28 wounded. Along with the capture of its flag, the 33rd had more than 100 men taken prisoner, including its commander, Col. Clarke M. Avery.
According to the [North Carolina] Museum of History's information file on the 33rd flag, "This flag is a standard wool bunting state flag, although it lacks any method of attachment to a staff. Union brigadier general John G. Foster reported the capture of the Thirty-third's regimental commander, Colonel Clark M. Avery, and 150 of his men at New Bern on March 14, 1862. It seems likely that the flag was captured at the same time...
"According to a 1917 article in the Raleigh News & Observer, Foster gave the flag to his friend Colonel John L. Lay, who kept it in his possession until he gave it to his sister, Mrs. Mary A. Ensign of Buffalo, New York. Eventually, the flag came to the attention of the Reverend Charles A. Jessup, rector of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Buffalo and a friend of Mrs. Ensign. Jessup urged that it be returned to North Carolina. He contacted Mrs. Mary Eugene Little of Wadesboro, an officer in the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who then notified North Carolina governor Thomas W. Bickett of Mrs. Ensign's wish to return the flag. Mrs. Ensign died in September, and Jessup subsequently returned the flag in a ceremony at the Hall of History on October 14, 1917."
www.newbernsj.com/news/local/efforts-under-way-to-restore-flag-used-at-the-battle-of-new-bern-1.97496
- "Sun Journal", 17 February 2013, with a photo of the flag.
Ivan Sache, 24 February 2013
