I'm the "artist" if that's what the craft may be called. I prefer "draughtsman."

In the summer of 2002, I sent to Pelican my final proof for the "Flags of Civil War North Carolina." It had not been two weeks when I received a call from Bernie Thuersam, a friend in the N.C. League of the South. I discovered that he was also on the board of the Cape Fear Museum. He asked if I had seen their flags. I said that I had indeed visited the museum and was shown their flag. He became a little flustered and let me know that I had not been shown the whole collection. He took the bull by the horns, invited me down to Wilmington and escorted me through the basement archives. Attitudes seemed quite changed from my first visit. Beforehand I had called Pelican and explained that I would like to add an addendum due to this sudden information. I soon heard from Dr. Calhoun that the new information would be included in the book as it should be. The people at Pelican are truly wonderful and have been a pleasure to work with. I was not able to see the Ft. Fisher flag. It had recently been temporarily retired from display. It is quite large and had taken up the floor space of one of their largest rooms. It was, at the time I was there, in protective storage. I was shown, not given, a photo and was given a set of object worksheets but no drawings. At the time they were unable to print the photo. I observed and took measurements of the smaller flags. The worksheet for the Ft. Fisher flag said, "Flag: Confederate 2nd National "Stainless Banner": bunting: white overall w/ blue canton w/red St. Andrew's cross (reversal of usual colors) & 13 white 5-point stars."
Material: Cotton [I can hardly believe that a flag of this size would be made of cotton but that's what it said]
Condition: Fair
Dim. Met: HT: 183 cm WD: 348 cm
Dim. Eng.: HT: 72.10120" WD: 137:1120"
Artist?Maker: Unknown Manufacturer
Prov.: Made by Wilmington women for Fort Fisher, captured by Union forces, returned to Wilmington by donor. [I also believe this information might be in error. This is a fantastic flag, huge and well made. The pattern, especially the rectangular canton, makes me think it might be made in England. I have no reason to believe this, just a hunch]

When I realized that I had only been given teh O/A dimensions, I wrote to Curator Sue Miller and received the following reply:

On 1981.68.1 The Stainless Flag

Width of Cross: 54"
White from red edge: 2 1/2"
Width of star: 3 1/2"
Canton: HT: 36", WD: 54"
Hoist Sleeve: 1 1/4"

The illustration provided in my book is a scale drawing done to these dimensions and according to the photo I was shown.

Thanks for your interest.

Glenn