Four rare and prized battle flags of the American Revolution are on display at Colonial Williamsburg. “Captured Colors: Four Battleflags of the American Revolution” is at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum of the Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. Originally slated to close in January, the popular exhibit has been extended through July 19, when the flags return to their generous and anonymous owner.
“Captured Colors” is the only lenghtly exhibition of the battlefield banners since their return to America more than 225 years after being taken to Britain as trophies of war.
Little more than two dozen Revolutionary War flags are known to exist in any museum and other institutional collections. Most consist only of fragments with scarce historic documentation available. By contrast, the four flags in the exhibition are in good condition and their histories are well documented.
The dashing †and sometimes despised †firebrand British cavalry officer Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton captured the flags in two battles nearly a year apart and the flags had remained in the Tarleton family’s possession until their sale at auction at Sotheby’s New York on Flag Day, June 14, 2006.
Three of the flags represent the Third Virginia Detachment led by Colonel Abraham Buford, whose unit surrendered the banners in a 1780 clash at Waxhaws, S.C. The Buford standards †a main regimental flag and two divisional flags †are the only intact set of Continental Army battle flags surviving from the American Revolution.
The first of the flags †35 inches high by 39 inches long with 13 red and white stripes and a field with a painted thundercloud †was captured in 1779 when Tarleton led his unit in a surprise attack on the Continental Army’s Second Light Dragoons, also known as Sheldon’s Horse, at Pound Ridge, N.Y.
The trio of Virginia flags is constructed of silk. The main flag is gold in color and depicts a beaver gnawing on a palmetto tree and the Latin legend, “Perseverando,” meaning “by perseverance.” The others are gold and blue silk, bearing the word “Regiment” on a scrolling ribbon. The three flags are believed to have been made in Philadelphia about 1778.
The Museums of Colonial Williamsburg are on Francis Street between Nassau and South Henry Streets. For information, 800-HISTORY or www.history.org .
