Confederate Flag Given by Infamous Spy Belle Boyd to a Union Officer

by ELEVEN-STAR “FIRST NATIONAL” FLAG WITH SINGLE STAR “BONNIE BLUE” FIRST UNOFFICIAL CONFEDEDERATE FLAG VERSO

$115,000 · Offered by Biblio

First edition

"June 18. Reached Front Royal, & met there the famous & very handsome, rebel spy, Belle Boyd, who gave to me the rebel flag, waving which, she led the attack upon Kenly in May." The "stars and bars" circular canton pattern with eleven-stars was used for First National flags from July 2, 1861, when Tennessee and North Carolina joined the Confederacy, until November 28, 1861, when stars were added for Missouri and Kentucky. The other side of this rare two-pattern configuration is a tribute to the "Bonnie blue flag that bears the single star," the unofficial first Confederate flag. Frederic d'Hauteville's small autograph note has been loosely stitched to the flag: "Confederate flag. Taken by F.S.G d'H. and given by him to E.S.F. in 1862(?). To be given to Freddie d'Hauteville when he is fifteen." His first wife, Elizabeth Stuyvesant Fish, died in 1863. Freddy, his son by his second wife, was born in 1873, thus dating his note about the second gifting of the flag to between 1873 and 1888. The flag remained in his family, preserved in perfect condition, until 2015, when contents from their Swiss castle were sold, clearing the way for the property to be sold; it is now on the market for $60 million dollars. ELEVEN-STAR "FIRST NATIONAL" FLAG WITH SINGLE STAR "BONNIE BLUE" FIRST UNOFFICIAL CONFEDEDERATE FLAG VERSO. Belle Boyd, the "Siren of the Shenandoah," gave the flag to Captain Frederic Sears Grand d'Hauteville on June 18, 1862, telling him that it was the flag she waived to urge

  • Year: 1865
  • Edition: First Edition

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