No where does the Journal of the Confederate Congress mention a "William T. Thompson" in reference to flag design. Others are mentioned, a lady from Atlanta Georgia is mention in the first secession on her design in 1861. Miles is referenced several times... but no "William T. Thompson".
Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865 [Volume 3]
Friday, May 1, 1863.
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Mr. Herbert moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill last reported from the Committee on Flag and Seal was laid on the table.
On motion of Mr. Russell,
The House went into secret session; and having spent some time therein, again resolved itself into open session.
A message was received from the President, by Mr. Harrison, his Private Secretary; which is as follows, viz:
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The bill having been read as follows, viz:
The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the flag of the Confederate States shall be as follows: A white field with the battle flag for a union; which shall be square and occupy two-thirds of the width of the flag, and a blue bar, one-third of the flag in its width, dividing the field lengthwise.
Mr. Hartridge moved to amend the bill as follows, viz: Strike out the words "and a blue bar" and what follows.
Mr. Conrad moved to amend the amendment of Mr. Hartridge as follows, viz: Strike out all after the word "flag," in second place, and insert
and a red border around the entire field, except that portion occupied by the union, which border shall be on each side one-tenth of the width of the entire flag.
Mr. Garnett called the question, and on his call
Mr. Miles demanded the yeas and nays;
Which were ordered,
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And are recorded as follows, viz: • Yeas ... 33
• Nays ... 28
Yeas: Arrington, Ashe, Batson, Bell, Eli M. Bruce, Horatio W. Bruce, Chambers, Chambliss, Chilton, Clopton, Collier, Conrad, Conrow, Crockett, Ewing, Freeman, Gaither, Garland, Graham, Hanly, Hilton, Jones, Machen, Martin, McLean, Munnerlyn, Read, Russell, Simpson, Smith of North Carolina, Trippe, Wright of Georgia, and Wright of Texas.
Nays: Atkins, Barksdale, Boteler, Clapp, Currin, Curry, Farrow, Garnett, Gray, Harris, Hartridge, Heiskell, Herbert, Holcombe, Holt, Kenner, Lewis, Lyons, Marshall, McRae, Menees, Miles, Perkins, Sexton, Smith of Alabama, Swan, Villeré, and Welsh.
So the amendment of Mr. Conrad was adopted.
Mr. Chambers moved to amend the bill by striking out the word "two-thirds" and inserting the word "three-fifths."
Mr. Atkins moved to lay the bill and amendments on the table, and on his motion demanded the yeas and nays; which were not ordered.
Mr. Garnett called the question; which was ordered, and the amendment of Mr. Chambers was adopted.
Mr. Swan moved to amend the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting
That the flag of the Confederate States shall be as follows: A red field with a Saint Andrew's cross of blue edged with white and emblazoned with stars,
And on his motion demanded the yeas and nays;
Which were ordered,
And are recorded as follows, viz: • Yeas ... 14
• Nays ... 51
Yeas: Barksdale, Clapp, Clopton, Curry, Heiskell, Marshall, McRae, Menees, Perkins, Swan, Trippe, Villeré, Welsh, and Wright of Texas.
Nays: Arrington, Ashe, Atkins, Batson, Boteler, Eli M. Bruce, Horatio W. Bruce, Chambliss, Chilton, Collier, Conrow, Crockett, Currin, De Jarnette, Ewing, Farrow, Freeman, Gaither, Garland, Garnett, Graham, Gray, Hanly, Harris, Hartridge, Herbert, Hilton, Hodge, Holcombe, Holt, Jones, Kenner, Lewis, Lyon, Lyons, Machen, Martin, Miles, Miller, Munnerlyn, Pugh, Read, Russell, Sexton, Simpson, Smith of Alabama, Smith of North Carolina, Vest, Wilcox, Wright of Georgia, and Wright of Tennessee.
So the amendment of Mr. Swan was not agreed to.
Mr. Barksdale moved to amend the bill as follows, viz:
Provided, That the cross in the union shall not be emblazoned with stars.
Mr. Trippe moved to postponed and to lay the whole subject on the table until the second Monday in December next, and on his motion
Mr. Jones called the question; which was ordered.
The motion to postpone was lost.
Mr. Garnett called the previous question, and the main question was ordered; which, being on the amendment of Mr. Barksdale, was decided in the negative, and the amendment was lost.
Mr. Gray moved to amend the original bill as follows, viz: Strike out all after the words "as follows," in third line, and insert
The field to be white, the length double the width of the flag, with the union (now used as the battle flag) to be a square of two-thirds the width of the flag, having the ground red, thereon a saltier of blue, bordered with white and emblazoned with mullets or five-pointed stars, corresponding in number to that of the Confederate States.
Upon which Mr. Jones demanded the yeas and nays; which were not ordered, and the amendment was agreed to.
The bill was then read a third time and passed.
Richmond, May 1, 1863.
Mr. Elliott, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported as correctly enrolled a bill of the following title, viz:
•S. 132. An act to establish the flag of the Confederate States;
which was signed by the Speaker.
The President to-day approved and signed bills of the following titles, viz:
S. 132. An act to establish the flag of the Confederate States