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Belle Boyd, the Siren of the Shenandoah, gave the flag to Captain Frederic Sears Grand dHauteville on June 18, 1862, telling him that it was the flag she waived to urge on Confederate troops at the Battle of Front Royal a month earlier. DHautevilles 25-page autograph manuscript war memoir, with his account of the gift of the flag quoted above, is included. (See below for complete transcript). With additional photographs and manuscripts. Homemade, perhaps even by Boyd or a family member, and used only briefly before being given to dHauteville, the flag has been perfectly preserved, retaining the short ribbons along its hoist and showing no tears, holes, fraying, loss, or staining. Over 5 x 3 feet. "June 18. Reached Front Royal, & met there the famous & very handsome, rebel spy, Belle Boyd, who gave to me the rebel flag, waving which, she led the attack upon Kenly in May."The "stars and bars" circular canton pattern with eleven-stars was used for First National flags from July 2, 1861, when Tennessee and North Carolina joined the Confederacy, until November 28, 1861, when stars were added for Missouri and Kentucky. The other side of this rare two-pattern configuration is a tribute to the "Bonnie blue flag that bears the single star," the unofficial first Confederate flag.Frederic d'Hauteville's small autograph note has been loosely stitched to the flag: "Confederate flag. Taken by F.S.G d'H. and given by him to E.S.F. in 1862(?). To be given to Freddie d'Hauteville when he is fifteen." His first wife, Elizabeth Stuyvesant Fish, died in 1863. Freddy, his son by his second wife, was born in 1873, thus dating his note about the second gifting of the flag to between 1873 and 1888. The flag remained in his family, preserved in perfect condition, until 2015, when contents from their Swiss castle were sold, clearing the way for the property to be sold; it is now on the market for $60 million dollars. Related Inventory: Click here for 21501 - A Wet-Plate Glass Negative of Confederate Spy Belle BoydHistorical BackgroundD'Hauteville had joined General Nathaniel P. Banks' staff before Banks advanced south up the Shenandoah valley (the Shenandoah river flows north into the Potomac (at Harper's Ferry), so you go "up" the valley to the south and "down" the valley to the north) to Strasburg, maneuvering against Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's army.Belle Boyd had moved to Front Royal to stay with relatives when her hometown of Martinsburg, (West) Virginia, had been occupied by Union troops in March 1862. Shortly after her eighteenth birthday, Boyd hid in a local hotel in Front Royal, where she overheard General James Shields and his officers discussing orders to transfer his division to the Union army along the Rappahannock River in eastern Virginia. Boyd reportedly rode fifteen miles on horseback through Union lines to tell Confederate Colonel Turner Ashby of the reduced Union presence in Front Royal. When approximately 3,000 of Jackson's men attacked the Union force occupying Front Royal on May 23, Boyd ran to meet Jackson's men as they advanced, and urged them onward. The Union garrison, approximately 1,000 strong, under the command of Colonel John R. Kenly of the Union 1st Maryland Volunteer Infantry, was routed. Kenly was wounded, and he and nearly 700 of his men were captured. Jackson later sent Boyd a note of gratitude for her role.Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863), another officer in Banks' command, confirmed d'Hauteville's account. In a letter to his mother, Shaw wrote, "Perhaps you have seen some accounts of a young lady at Front Royal, named Belle Boyd. There was quite a long and ridiculous letter about her copied into the 'Evening Post' the other day. I have seen her several times, but never had any conversation with her. Other men who have talked with her, tell me that she never asked for any information about our army, or gave them the slightest reason to suppose her a spy; and. (See website for full description).
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