When I was a young child growing up in Concord, I would spend my Saturday mornings navigating the streets around town. If the weather was warm, perhaps a swim in the old granite quarries would be the destination. If the weather was cooler over rainy, I would wander towards downtown to meet with my friends and explore. Sometimes we ventured to the Concord Public Library while other times we would visit the New Hampshire Historical Society.
The New Hampshire State House was always open and provided some rather interesting adventures. The tunnel beneath the street that joined the annex with the state house was always intriguing and provided some wonderful acoustics to the youth of our time. But my most memorable Saturday mornings at the New Hampshire State House were spent in the Hall of Flags.
I would gaze for hours and never grow bored looking at the battle-scarred flags that represented our great state and nation. They were tattered, torn and riddled with holes — imagining the holes were caused by musket balls and bayonets further engaged me. Each flag honorably displayed in the glass enclosed cases from floor to ceiling featured a small plaque that told about the flags. For a young boy on a Saturday morning the imagination sparked by these old historic flags was without limits.
As the years have passed and efforts spanning decades to preserve these time-honored flags to preserve them, I have often thought about returning to the New Hampshire State House to see them again, much like visiting a long-lost friend from childhood. Growing up surrounded with such a rich history here in Concord provided and inspired my life long pursuit of our history. How very special my memories of those flags remain.
Over the years as I continued to mature and research history I learned about the meaning of a flag. A flag was so very important and the Civil War flags featured at the New Hampshire State House during my childhood had a story to tell. I realized that these flags were not just colorful cloth. They had meaning, a job to do on the battlefield and when the opposing soldiers encountered the enemy on the field of battle, they earnestly tried to take the flag away. You see, a flag on a battlefield was a source that kept the soldiers together, with the flag in view the soldiers that were fighting on the noisy and smoky battlefields could determine their location as well as there positioning with their regiment. It was a grounding force that kept the soldiers structured and organized, a nonverbal form of communication.
When a flag was captured and taken from the regiment that possessed it, it was a sign of defeat, demoralizing with the cohesion of the soldiers broken. When a soldier was able to capture the flag of the enemy they were fighting it was an act of heroism and bravery and highly regarded.
Many Union soldiers that captured an enemy flag during the Civil War were awarded the Medal of Honor with 460 Medal of Honor recipients tied directly to flag actions. It was during the Civil War when Corporal Peter Mitchell and Sargeant James Morrison from Company K, Thirteenth New Hampshire Volunteers did in fact capture two enemy flags belonging to Confederate Regiments from Alabama. Both Confederate flags were captured at Battery Five, Petersburg, Virginia on June 5, 1864. Both of these captured Confederate flags were brought back to New Hampshire and remained here in Concord until Sept. 20, 1900.
It was on that day when a very important event was held in Concord. Two new battleships were dedicated and named the Kearsarge and the Alabama. Two tablets were presented in honor of these two new battleships at the New Hampshire State House in Concord. Many dignitaries were present and most politicians and members of the community were present too. The Secretary of the Navy, the former Secretary of the Navy, Governor Joseph Johnston of Alabama and Governor Rollins of New Hampshire. Miss Mary Thornton Davis from Boston responded for the Battleship Alabama while Mrs. C.P. Brayan, daughter of Admiral Semmes responded for the Battleship Kearsarge.
While the dedications and tablet presentations with many dignitaries continued there was another presentation that was meant to reconcile New Hampshire and Alabama. You see, many of the old veterans of the Civil War, in particular the old soldiers, both Union and Confederate, had reservations about this ceremony in New Hampshire on Sept. 20, 1900.
The Civil War was indeed over, but the Confederate veterans still held a grudge against the Union veterans because New Hampshire soldiers captured two Confederate Flags in battle at Petersburg, Virginia.
It was during this battleship dedication ceremony at the New Hampshire State House on Sept. 20, 1900, that the New Hampshire Governor returned the captured Confederate Flags to the Alabama Governor. It was an effort to improve the relationship between the two states and symbolize continuity during the battleship dedication recognizing and honoring both New Hampshire and Alabama.
There were hard feelings and there were people that did not agree with the captured flags being returned. There is no mention of Corporal Peter Mitchell and Sargeant James Morrison, the two men that gallantly captured these two Alabama Flags. At the conclusion of the ceremony history does not tell us the repercussions of returning the two captured flags. There are times when the days that follow eventually conclude. Old soldiers do in fact die and memories become lost and buried in hallowed ground.