American Historical Ephemera and Photography

An archive comprised of 7 items, including:

White cloth fragment, 2 3/4 x 6 1/4 in., removed from the "Stars and Bars" flag flying at the Richmond Confederate Capitol on 3 April 1865 (small hole, light staining, fraying to edges). -- 5 Confederate notes in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 (some toning, light edge wear).

The present flag fragment and currency were obtained by Lieutenant Colonel A.B. Laurence, who was Quartermaster of the US Army 24th Corps, a unit that was in Richmond when the city was taken. On 15 May 1865, Laurence penned a letter of authentication from Richmond, VA, on "Office Chief, Quarter-Master, 24th Army Corps" letterhead, explaining how the flag fragment and currency were acquired (folds, some soiling near folds, toning, residue on verso). The letter, which accompanies the lot, states in part:

"This is to certify - That the piece of bunting hereto attached is a piece of the Confederate Flag that floated over the Rebel Capitol in this city, cut in pieces for distribution as a significant memento.

That the Confederate notes are a part of the Funds of the Army surrendered by Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Va and were receipted for by me as such an account of the Quartermaster's Commissary and Medical Departments of that Army, reported to the U.S. Commission and declared valueless."

A remarkable assemblage of surviving Confederate artifacts accompanied by a letter authenticating their significance from a Union officer who was present when the Confederate capitol fell.