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One hundred and fifty years ago three flags were captured during a battle in New Bern between the North and the South. Those flags left North Carolina but are now returning home to commemorate the anniversary of the bloodiest war in U.S. history.
It was late winter in 1862 and Gen. Ambrose Burnsides had been leading his expedition through eastern North Carolina, securing some of the most strategic ports in the state for the Union army.
Burnsides had taken Hatteras, Roanoke Island, Elizabeth City, and Plymouth, and he was now on his way to meet Confederate troops in New Bern.
In New Bern, the soldiers of the Confederacy were gathered to defend the port town. Three units carrying three versions of the Confederate battle flag would meet outside of the historic town on March 14.
The battle would be decisive. Defeating the rebels meant the Union would control the waterways of eastern North Carolina.
Someone’s mother or wife had likely made the flags that stood for three different groups of Southern rebels, according to Museum of the Albemarle curator Wanda Stiles. They were made of wool and cotton and were sturdy, red, white and blue flags and whomever was the barer of those standards was responsible for keeping it high for all the men to see in the course of a smoky, bloody battle.
“When in battle, you look for that flag,” explains Stiles. “The flag is kept moving as a symbol of who you are.”
On the Union side, 11,000 troops would march to New Bern. On the Confederate side, 4,500 inexperienced soldiers were about to meet their fate defending their land.
The battle began early in the morning and lasted six hours.
The journey of 3 flags
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