Beschreibung:

Winston Churchill "The Story of the Malakand
of the Lake Providence Cadets, 4th Louisiana Infantry, February 22, 1861. Flag: 75.75"H x 115.75"W (including the fringe). This extremely rare original silk Confederate presentation company flag of the Louisiana Lake Providence Cadets was presented to the officers and men of the unit at its formation on February 22, 1861 by the ladies of the Lake Providence community. It was the first Confederate unit flag made in Louisiana after the state seceded from the union on January 26, 1861. One side is painted with, "Presented / To The / Lake Providence / Cadets By the / Young Ladies. / Feb.'y 22d. 1861." According to an authenticity report by Howard Michael Madaus the reverse of the flag, unseen due to mounting, "bears the coat-of-arms of the State of Louisiana: a nesting Pelican feeding her young, surrounded by a rococo outline border of vines, at the base a cornucopia, a cannon barrel, and sprouting sugar cane, all painted in gold, shaded or outlined in brown paint. Overhead in a 3-3/8 inch high gold Roman stylized letters with a black shadow high and to the viewer's right is the painted motto, 'God and Our Country.'" Only four other silk Louisiana "Pelican" are believed to have survived and all are in institutional collections. The flag is professionally mounted and under Plexiglas. Sold with a copy of the authenticity report by Howard Michael Madaus. PROVENANCE: Family of Lieutenant Joseph Collier 95th Illinois Infantry, 1863-1918. Chicago Historical Society, 1918-1974. From the Collection of Sam Wyly, Dallas, Texas (acquired in 1998). NOTE: The Lake Providence area of Louisiana first opened for European-American settlement in the late 1830s with settlers draining the cypress swamps and clearing the land for cultivation. By 1861, the region consisted entirely of large, profitable cotton plantations worked by thousands of laborers. Secession was greeted with enthusiasm. When the call went out for a local volunteer company, the Lake Providence Cadets, over 120 local men, answered the call, making it the largest company in the entire State of Louisiana. The Cadets were assigned to the 4th Louisiana Infantry (Confederate) in May 1861 and ordered to the Mississippi coast to defend against invasion. In February 1862, the regiment was ordered north to Jackson, Tennessee, a move that would lead it to the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. In the spring of 1862 news reached the Cadets that General U. S. Grant's forces occupied Lake Providence as a supply depot. Many of the cotton planters were serving in the Confederate Forces or just abandoned their plantations rather than endure Union occupation. The 4th Louisiana Infantry, and specifically, the remainder of the Lake Providence Cadets Company, defended the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson on the Mississippi River. The Federals launched repeated frontal assaults against the Confederates, all were repulsed, but the flag of the Lake Providence Cadets Company was captured in battle by Lieutenant Joseph Collier of the 95th Illinois Infantry. Lt. Collier died on June 25, 1863. The flag was sent home to his family with his personal effects. After a Federal siege which lasted for 48 days, the Confederate garrison of Port Hudson surrendered upon hearing news of the fall of Vicksburg. The Mississippi River was open to Union navigation from its source to New Orleans. The remaining officers and men of the Lake Providence Cadets went into prolonged Union captivity. In 1918, the Lake Providence Cadets Company flag was presented to the Chicago Historical Society by Lt. Collier's son. The flag was deaccessioned by the Historical Society in 1974. It was purchased by Sam Wyly and conserved in 2000.