More below:

>>>>Having cut my teeth on McCarthy's "Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the ANV," and his emphasis on the Battleflag as the soldier's flag, not that of a government "in rebellion," I have read over the years this same distinction (including criticism of the famous destruction of Atlanta railroad station scene in "Gone with the Wind," for flying a Battleflag -- and a rectangular one at that).>>>>

Keep in mind that McCarthy was in the ANV so that was his battle flag. In actuality, there were some 20 battle flags used by Confederate soldiers in the war. Thousands of them never fought under the ANV flag nor any flag that looked like it and thus, for them, that was not their battle flag. These men wrote into Confederate Veteran in the late 1800s of that fact and that they were tired of their flags being left out of post-war discussion or reverence. I don't blame them one bit, but as we know, the post-war Confederate history was first written by ANV veterans and since that was the only CS army that won most of its fights, then they held a powerful hold on the South.

The scene from GWTW is well known and the Army of Tennessee did indeed use rectangular ANV style flags made through the Augusta Depot (but unlike the flag in the film they lacked white borders). There was a serious attempt to get the ANV flag standardized throughout the Confederate army but it met with resistance from many other Confederate forces. Hardee's Corps of the AOT never fought under that style of flag until early 1864 when they got the rectangular ANV flags, and Cleburne's Division never used them at all preferring their famous blue and white battle flags. The First National, as a battle flag, saw service from 1861 through 1865 and was the only CS battle flag pattern that saw service from the beginning to the end of the war. This was despite it being replaced by two national flags and the plethora of battle flag patterns.

Yet CS flag mythology today still tries to shove the ANV flag down everyone's throats.

>>> Does identification with a facility -- if that be the case -- negate that, or do we understand that the association would have been with a combat unit located at or with the installation? >>>>

Each army fought within a specified theater of operations typically. Both sides divided the theaters into the three major theaters of war and created their supply systems to handle those units within each theater creating the three major depots of the Confederacy - Richmond, Nashville/Atlanta and Charleston, with the next depot being created at Mobile and another at Macon. The Trans-Mississippi had several depots - Houston, Shreveport, etc. Each depot was responsible for equipping the troops of their respective department. The Union had New York, Philadelphia and Cincinnati with one in St. Louis for the Trans-Miss.

Each depot created their own battle flags and while a style might look the same the construction techniques would be different. Compare a Richmond Depot flag with a Charleston Depot flag or a Mobile Depot flag, for example. They overall look the same but there's lots of differences between them.

Some units transferred from one department into another and they sometimes got new flags from their new department and sometimes kept older flags from their previous department so long as it resembled that chosen flag of the army commander. For example, the Augusta Depot issued new rectangular ANV style flags in 1864 before the Atlanta Campaign that equipped most of the Army of Tennessee. Yet, when Polk's Army of Mississippi came over from Alabama, they brought their own ANV style flag (12 stars only) with them and since it looked close enough to the AOT flag Joe Johnston allowed that to remain in use. There were also a few units of the AOT that had been in the ANV and retained those flags. Only Cleburne refused the ANV style flags.

While this seems simple there are always exceptions, etc. to the rule - just enough to frustrate us all!

We don't know much about the Macon Depot flags other than the historian who found the depot's payroll records that mentioned them being made and the handful that exist as proof that they were indeed made. So much remains to be found for them like some other CS flag patterns (Army of KY being another). But thanks to the hard work of Lee White, we do know that the 19th SC got this flag while passing through Macon in January 1865. Prior to that they had an Augusta Depot flag which remains in the family of an officer of the regiment.

Hope this helps.

Greg Biggs