I thought you all might be interested that the flag of the 1st Alabama Infantry has been returned to the State of Alabama by the State of Nebraska. The 1st Alabama Infantry was formed at Ft. Barrancas near Pensacola in February,1861. The flag was presented to them at Barrancas sometime after March 4,1861. Two companies of the 1st fought in the Battle of Santa Rosa Island and the regiment served as heavy artillery in the two bombardments of Ft. Pickens. I picked the flag up in DC on Wednesday and we hope to have it conserved in the near future. If you search on line you will find articles in the Omaha,Lincoln, Birmingham and Montgomery papers. In addition to the recently returned flag, we have three company flags that saw service at Barrancas; The Perote Guards, the Wilcox True Blues and the Florence Guards. I grew up in Gonzalez and was one of the first Park Service interpreters stationed at Ft. Barrancas so partcipating in the the return of this flag has special significance to me. I thought some of you would be interested as well.

Bob Bradley
Chief Curator
Alabama Department of Archives and History