Great description of the flag of the Madison Artillery of Mississippi and its's makers.
Richard
AMERICAN CITIZEN [CANTON, MS], December 5, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
Correspondence of the Citizen.
Camp Reid, Near Richmond,}
Nov. 17th, 1862.}
Friend Bosworth:--Permit me to transmit to you a correspondence relating to a flag which was presented to the Madison Artillery, by three young ladies of Richmond, on the 8th inst. As it is the only thing that has transpired worthy of note since our company left Canton, I send it to you for publication, if you consider it worthy of a place in the columns of your paper, hoping it may be of some interest to your readers and the friends of the company.
The flag is a very handsome and tasteful one, made of cherry colored silk bound with yellow, with a blue cross about four inches in width bound with white satin ribbon, extending diagonally across it, having thirteen stars worked in white, the central one being considerably larger than the others, with the names of Emma, Ella and Alice worked in blue; on the reverse side, the letters M. A., Madison Artillery, the staff being ornamented by a handsome blue silk cord and tassels. It is a beautiful design of the battle flag used in our Army.
It was quite a surprise to the company, no one being aware that anything of the kind was in contemplation. . . .
Winter quarters has been talked of several days, but nothing has been done as yet. We have made our present quarters very comfortable by building them flues and chimneys to our tents. The way they are constructed is by digging a hole about two feet square, on the inner side of the tent, the front side being considerably sloped; we then lay a large stone over it, partially covering it. The smoke is conducted out by a flue, built on top of the ground, of stone and mud, extending from the hole to the outer side of the tent, at an elevation of about twenty degrees; they are generally from two to three feet long, with a chimney at the end, varying from three to seven feet in length; they throw out heat very well, and the draught nearly equal to that of a brick chimney.
Since the above was written our company has been ordered off. This morning, (18th,) about 4 o'clock, orders came for us to cook four days rations and be in readiness to march in two hours. . .
Wesley.
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Richmond, Nov. 8, 1862.
Capt. Geo. Ward:
Will our friends, the Madison Artillery, accept this little Flag as a token of our high esteem? We regret that it is not in our power to have it larger, but knowing the difficulty in obtaining material, we hope you will overlook that deficiency. May it wave above you in the hour of danger and be as a guardian angel to shield and protect those who are fighting for homes, friends and Liberty, and may the career of the Company be ever bright and successful, and the Flag be but another link in the chain that shall bind you to your soldier home, Virginia.
Ever your friends,
Emma,
Ella,
Alice.
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Camp Reid, Near Richmond, }
Nov. 6, 1862.}
Misses Emma, Ella, and Alice:
Dear Ladies:--I have the pleasure of herewith transmitting a communication from a Committee, appointed at a meeting of the Madison Light Artillery, held upon the receipt of the beautiful Flag presented by you this day, and conveyed in such handsome and complimentary terms in your note of this date.
I cannot sufficiently express for myself and Company, our grateful appreciation of your beautiful gift. Coming from the hands of those who possess such claims to our admiration and esteem,--most fit representatives of Virginia's fair daughters,--we shall ever look upon this Battle-Flag with pride and pleasure, and in the hour of trial and of danger, will derive new strength and inspiration from this token of their approval and esteem.
That we may so bear and defend it as to prove ourselves not unworthy of the interest you have thus manifested in us, and the sacred cause for which we are in arms, shall be our constant effort and highest aim.
Henceforward, the names of "Emma, Ella, and Alice," will be talismanic words with every Madison Light Artilleryman, inciting their hearts with the names of the loved ones in their Southern homes.
With renewed assurances of my high esteem, I am, Ladies,
Very respectfully,
Your friend and ob't serv't,
Geo. Ward,
Capt. Madison Lt. Artillery.
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Camp Reid, }
Near Richmond, Nov. 8, 1862.}
Misses Emma, Ella and Alice:
Ladies:--On behalf of the officers and members of the Madison Light Artillery, permit us to tender you our grateful acknowledgements for the beautiful Guidon your own fair fingers have so tastefully fashioned and committed to us as a sacred trust and inspiring talisman to defend and look to in the hour of battle.
Receive the assurance that its beautiful star-lit folds will ever flaunt defiance to the foe, so long as a member of our corps survives to stand to the guns; and so often as our eyes shall salute this treasured souvenir, inscribed with the names of "Emma, Ella and Alice," it will never fail to recall most pleasing associations, and, forcibly reminding us of the dear ones we have left behind in our far distant Southern homes, will incite us to still higher deeds of empire and prove a beautiful bond of connection between Virginia and Mississippi.
Yours, Ladies,
Every most gratefully,
J. Quitman Moore,}
C. R. Dudley,} Committee.
W. F. George,}