THE LAST CONFEDERATE FLAG AND THE FIRST SERMON FOR FREED BLACKS IN RICHMOND

THE LAST CONFEDERATE FLAG AND THE FIRST SERMON FOR FREED BLACKS IN RICHMOND
A rare and most desirable relic, a small section of the last Confederate flag to fly over the Capitol of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia. The remnant is an approx. 2 x 1.5 in. section of beige cloth removed from the Third National flag which was seized by Union soldiers when the city fell on April 3, 1865. A section of the flag came into the hands of Methodist minister John O. Foster who is said to have preached the first sermon in the city after its capture. He found himself in the Confederate Treasury, where he helped himself to bonds of all types and denominations, now worthless. At about the same time, he obtained section of the capitol's flag, to which he affixed the bonds and a label: "Confederate Money Valuable as Curios. Pieces of flag floating over Capitol at Richmond, day of capitulation". After securing the bonds and flag remnants, Foster then preached (under guard) at the Presbyterian Church to an audience composed largely of newly-freed slaves. Double-matted with one corner of the flag remnant turned-up to expose a portion of the bond beneath, with descriptive label beneath. Flag was examined by noted textile/flag expert Fonda Thompson and approved, verso bears attribution as to flag's provenance.