RARE FLORIDA PROVISIONAL MILITARY FLAG CIVIL WAR UCV 1880-1920 FELT NO GLOW

Description

POST CIVIL WAR UCV HAND MADE FLAG.
FLORIDA PROVISIONAL MILITARY FLAG PATTERN 1861.
THIS FLAG CAME OUT OF A FLORIDA ESTATE, AND IS TREADLE SEWN AND HAND SEWN.
FLAG MEASURES 11.5" ON THE HOIST AND 15.75" ON THE FLY.
THIS FLAG IS VERY CLEAN FOR ITS AGE, AND I HAVE SEEN SEVERAL UCV AND GAR REUNION
PIECES MADE OF FELT FROM THIS TIME FRAME.
GOLD STAR AND BLOOD STRIPE OR  WAR STRIPE.
SOLD AS IS NO RETURNS.
The Lone Star Flag - 1861
During the crisis preceding the outbreak of the Civil War, state forces took control of the federal forts and navy yard at Pensacola. At the Pensacola Navy Yard, Colonel William H. Chase, commander of Florida troops, raised this provisional flag. Colonel Chase's lone star flag had the same design as that used by the Republic of Texas Navy between 1836 and 1845.
PROVISIONAL MILITARY FLAG OF FLORIDA
Florida did not have a state flag at the time state forces seized the federal Pensacola Navy Yard on January 12, 1861, just two days after the state voted to secede from the Union. After the United States flag was hauled down, it was reported that initially “a dingy white flag” that “looked like an old signal flag with a star put on it” was hoisted the next day in its place. Colonel William H. Chase, commanding Florida state forces at Pensacola, issued orders one day later establishing a provisional military flag. It was to be used until such time as civil authorities designed a state flag.
Provisional military flag of Florida adopted 13 January 1861
Colonel Chase chose a pattern that simply altered the United States flag. Chase’s General Order No. 3 of January 13, described a flag of thirteen alternating red and white stripes, with one large white star on a blue field (canton). The order further stated that it was to be displayed at the Navy Yard, forts, barracks, and hospital in possession of Florida state troops.
It seems likely that these provisional Florida flags may have been made from existing stocks of captured United States flags from the Navy Yard. U.S. flags could have been easily altered by stripping the stars and replacing them with a single large one. The large star apparently represented the recently seceded sovereign state of Florida. On January 14, the first of these flags was raised. A Union ship in Pensacola harbor recorded in its logbook: “Florida forces hoisted the American flag with lone star.” Another reference to this flag occurred on February 22, when southern and northern forces around Pensacola commemorated George Washington’s birthday with cannon salutes. Observers on the same Union ship reported that the “flag of one star and many stripes” was visible flying over Fort Barrancas. This lone star pattern was not unique. The Texas navy also used this pattern from 1836 to 1845.
Although no official order discontinuing use of this flag is known, events in March 1861 appear to have led to its demise. Control of the Navy Yard and surrounding forts was transferred from state to Confederate national authority. Colonel Chase resigned and Brigadier General Braxton Bragg was later appointed area commander. On March 4 the recently formed Confederacy adopted its new national flag, which apparently soon replaced Florida’s provisional flag. Units from other southern states, including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, were also gathered in the Pensacola area, so the need existed for a unifying symbol. The close similarity in appearance between Florida’s provisional flag and that of the United States made the flag impractical during wartime. No examples of these provisional Florida flags are known to have survived. It is quite possible that they were recycled, with the material being used to construct Confederate first national flags.
No references have been found that indicate that this flag saw use by Florida forces outside of the Pensacola area. Likewise, no documentation is known that this flag pattern was used as a unit flag by Floridians.