Alan,
There will be a couple page article on this very significant flag in my upcoming book, "Flags of Civil War Arkansas." (Pelican has chose to divide my work into two books) Joseph M. Bailey's memoirs can be found on the web or at Camp Pope books It's good reading and if you don't have it, get it. He remembered, "The first Confederate flag that was made in that part of the country was made at my father's house by my sister [Jane Bailey] and Miss J.B. [Josephine] Wright and later presented to the company to which I belonged by MNiss Wright in a patriotic speech, eloquently delivered." In her honor the compnay was named "Joe Wright's Guards."
I found an old fuzzy b/w photo on the cover of a Boone County historical quarterly, the image from which I constructed my drawing. The flag was a 36" x 72" Confederate 1st National. The blue canton was 24" (hoist) x 21" (fly) on which were sewn thirteen stars, displayed in such a way to appear random. Possibly, the flag was conceived with a circle of eight stars and later four were added to the center of the circle. These stars are about 2 3/4" diameter. A smaller thirteenth star, perhaps added even later, is sewn along the hoist. The blessing "GO AND THE LORD/ BE WITH THEE," was painted in blue block letters on the white center bar. This was King Saul's blessing to David as the young servant of God left to do battle with Goliath, an appropriate analogy not lost on the young Arkansans preparing to face the army of the North.
This handmade 1st National flag was the official colors for four organizations: firstly Joe Wright's Guards; secondly, the 4th Regiment Infantry, Arkansas State Troops; thirdly, Company D, 16th Regiment Arkansas Infantry and fourthly as regimental colors for the 16th Regiment. It was carried through the fight at Elkhorn Tavern and, when teh new Van Dorn flags were distributed at Corinth, it was retired and hept by Joseph Bailey in hjis personal equipment as color sergeant and later as 2nd Lieutenant of the company.
After the fight at Port Hudson, Bailey gave this flag to Sergeant Tom Parker "who concealed it in his bosom, with instructions to carry it home and give it to some member of my father's family. He sickened and died on the way but a comrade and member of my company dilivered it as reuested."
This beautiful and historically significant flag was protected by Miss Wright (Josephine Wright Greenlee Crump) and given to her daughter, Mintie Ellen Crump Garvin, who in turn bequeathed the flag to her daughter, Lulu Vance Garvin Fitton. In 1981, this flag was presented to the Atlanta Civil War Museum. I spoke with the commander of the Georgia chapter UDC who remembered the presentation and had the records to prove it. Its location is unknown today.
Glenn