George Martin
Origin of the Confederate Battle-Flag
by General Joe Johnston.
At the battle of Bull Run the stars and bars proved a failure because they were so much like the Union colors. Indeed, both armies mistook their enemies for friends, and vice versa. After the battle I had resolved to discard this flag, and called for each regiment to procure its state colors. This they were not able to do, and I asked for new designs. Among those presented one by General Beauregard was chosen, and I altered this only in making it square instead of oblong. This flag was afterward adopted by the Confederae armies. It was a Greek cross of blue on a red field, with white stars on the blue bars, and was designed by Colonel Walton of Louisiana.
[Camp-Fire Sketches and Battle-Field Echoes, Compiled by W. D. King and W. P. Derby, 1886, Springfield, Mass. 624p.]