These seven flags were acquired by the museum prior to 2003. Each has a very unique and interesting story.

This is a regulation US Navy Five Yard Ensign standing at 15’ wide and 7’ high. It is a traditional US flag of the early war period around 1862 with 34 stars in the canton.

This official No. 9 signal flag was flown at Fort Jackson to indicate its surrender to the Union forces following Admiral Farragut’s capture of New Orleans. The fort protected the mouth of the Mississippi for eight days against Admiral Farragut and his 21 Union warships. This flag is 5'1" x 6' 8".

Of the Galena's flag, all that remains of this ensign. This remnant is 2’11 x 2’6”. The flag flew from the Galena’s stern during the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff. Built in 1861 the Galena was powered by sail and steam. She was an ironclad ship with six guns. The Galena, accompanied by the ironclad U.S.S. Monitor and three other gunboats, ascended the James River on May 15 and engaged Confederate batteries at Drewry’s Bluff near Richmond.

This Confederate 1st National Flag was a donation from the great grandson of John P. Skelton, who personally removed this flag from the Confederate ironclad ship during a daring raid to try to sink the vessel while it was tied up at night below the huge cannon at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The flag was virtually unknown until it went on display at Port Columbus since the Confederate commander of the Arkansas did not list it as lost, and the Union Navy commander did not know one of his crew captured the flag.

This flag was to fly from the stern of one of the Blackhawk’s smaller boats that Admiral Porter reserved for his personal use. From the Blackhawk, Porter directed many important battles including the siege at Vicksburg in 1863 and the Red River Campaign in 1864. This flag is 4’8” x 6’6”.

This is a regulation No. 11 US Navy Boat flag. Lt. Thomas P. Pelot commanded 127 Confederate sailors in seven small boats in the successful capture of the U.S.S. Waterwitch in Ossabaw Sound near Savannah, Georgia in June of 1864. Eight of the Confederate sailors died in this attack including Pelot and African American Pilot Moses Dallas. Dallas was later given a funeral with full naval honors in Savannah. The C.S.S. Waterwitch served as part of the Savannah Squadron until she was destroyed in December 1864. This flag is 5’ x 8’4”.

Following her commission in July of 1864, the USS Saco cruised the Atlantic Coast from Nova Scotia in Canada to Wilmington, North Carolina in search of Confederate raiders and blockade runners. She was decommissioned for repairs at the Washington Navy Yard in January 1865 and was under repair at the war’s end. The Saco did see a wide range of service from the Mediterranean to the Far East until she was decommissioned for the final time in 1883. This flag is 3’8” x 3’.

The seven flags that make up the Fox Flag collection were acquired from the Massachusetts Historical Society in the Spring of 2003 by the National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus. The flags were given to the MHS by the former Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Lincoln, Gustavus V. Fox in 1869. All seven flags in the collection were captured by US Naval forces from 1861 to 1865 in many different areas in the South. These are their stories.

This flag was captured by U.S. Naval forces in one of the first successful offensive campaigns by the Union side, November, 1861. Admiral DuPont’s fleet pounded Forts Walker and Beauregard with very accurate fire, forcing their abandonment by their Confederate garrisons. This unusual arrangement of the Confederate first national flag is rather large at 11’ x 13’4”.

Flag Officer Andrew Foote's forces captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River in February 1862. This is one of the first of the major Confederate forts to fall on the western rivers. This flag is 4’6” x 7’8”.

Fort St. Philip was on of the two Confederate forts guarding the approaches to New Orleans when Admiral Farragut attempted to capture that city in 1862. Farragut made a daring dash past the forts in the early morning hours, taking heavy casualties off several ad-hoc squadrons of Confederate vessels. The next day he took New Orleans and shortly after, both forts surrendered to the naval forces. The museum has the original white surrender flag from Fort Jackson across the river already on display. This flag is 6’ x 9’7”.

This flag measures around 16’ by 24’ and was on one of the most famous ironclad ships of the Civil War. The C.S.S. Atlanta was built in Georgia, just up from Savannah. When it came down river to offer battle for the first time, it was anticipated that it just might break the Union Naval blockade. After just three shots from a U.S. Navy ironclad Monitor, the Atlanta suffered terrible damage and was forced to surrender.

This flag was captured from the Confederate ironclad ship at the end of the battle of Mobile Bay in the summer of 1864. The is the battle where USN Admiral D.G. Farragut uttered the famous phrase “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” The Tennessee faced the entire US fleet alone and was finally disabled to the point where it had to surrender after the severe wounding of its Captain and the Admiral who was commanding the Confederate naval forces that day. This flag is 3’ x 5’.

This solid Blue flag was moved from ship to ship when Admiral Buchanan moved. He was the Confederate Navy’s first Admiral, and had been in command of the C.S.S. Virginia (Merrimac) on its first day of combat in 1862. This flag was captured along with the C.S.S. Tennessee Boat flag during the Battle at Mobile Bay. The flag is 3' 1/4" x 4' 3 1/2".

Fort Caswell in North Carolina was part of the array of forts that made up Fort Fisher, protecting the entrance to the major blockade-running port of Wilmington. Two huge amphibious efforts were made to capture these forts, the second of which was successful in January of 1865. The U.S. Navy landed more than 2,000 sailors and marines who participated in the assault and took very heavy casualties. Lt. William Cushing, who had led a number of commando raids during the war, entered Fort Caswell, found it deserted and recovered this flag. This flag is 5' 4" x 10' 3 1/2".

In part, this exhibit was made possible through a generous grant from the Save Americas Treasures Program administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences.