Re: Patrick Cleburne's Blue Flag
Lynda
Some brief infomation on the origins of what you term "Clelburne's Blue Flag". When Brigadier General William Hardee was appointed as a division commander in the Army of Central Kentucky, he instituted the use of a distinctive pattern of flags featuring a "full moon" on a field of blue bunting, surrounded by a white border. Thus was born the famous "Hardee pattern" battle flag. Brigadier General Patrick R. Cleburne an Irishman and, former British soldier was appointed as major general and given command of Hardee's old division in November, 1862, and the fighting prowess of Cleburne's Division became widely known throughout the Army of Tennessee and the Western Theater. Cleburne's regiments clung tenaciously to their treasured blue flags,even resisting General Joseph E. Johnston's attempt to issue a standard Battleflag in 1864. The Hardee type flag would clearly mark the Division's presence on the field and served to strike an additional measure of fear into the Union soldiers opposing them. There are many examples of Hardee type flags in several collection in the United States, if you send me your e-mail address I will send you some jpeg images of some Hardee type regimental flags.
John