Our flag was still there: 'The Demon of Unrest' brings attention to the march to war, Fort Sumter's brave commander and the return of Old Glory after Union triumph

Souvenir from April 1865 flag-raising (Courtesy Glen Hayes), Peter Hart puts flag back up during 1861 bombardment

If you look closely at the illustration on the dust jacket for Erick Larson’s “The Demon of Unrest,” you will notice something small at center, surrounded by Fort Sumter’s brick walls, flames and smoke and the bright streaks of incoming artillery fire.

The U.S. flag flies defiantly as garrison commander Col. Robert Anderson and his soldiers bravely withstand the furious Confederate bombardment that launched the Civil War in April 1861. Anderson felt not only the burden of defending the bastion, but also safeguarding the American flag. He surrendered only after his supplies were depleted, parts of the interior were on fire and his exhausted, outnumbered troops could not carry on.

I read Larson’s compelling book a couple months back and thought back to two posts I have written about the National Park Service taking three historic Fort Sumter flags off display last year to give them time to rest from exposure to light. Among them is the 20-foot-by 10-foot storm flag, which flew during the 34-hour bombardment.

As Larson recounts, Anderson told Confederates hours before the attack he would not fire “unless compelled to do so by some hostile act against this fort or the flag of my Government."

Some members of the flag-removal team in front of the storm flag at Fort Sumter (NPS photo)

Rebel batteries, naturally, took aim at the storm flag once the early-morning assault began, and they eventually brought it down.

“A ball or shell shattered its staff and the great flag collapsed into the smoke below. ‘Then arose the loudest and longest shout of joy – as if this downfall of the flag, with its cause, was the representation of our victory,’ Southern firebrand Edmund Ruffin wrote in his diary,” Larson writes.

The flag, to the Union garrison, was “a tactile representation of nationhood” and must be made to fly again. (Robert Anderson, left)

“Sumter’s unofficial infantryman, Peter Hart, the New York City police officer who had accompanied Anderson’s wife on her surprise visit to the fort, set off through the smoke and fire and came back with a long spar to replace the shattered flagstaff,” Larson writes. “Hart also retrieved the flag and nailed it by its edge to the spar. He then fixed the spar to a gun carriage on the parapet level, all this while fully exposed to Confederate fire. Once again the wind caught the flag. It did not fly as high as it had, but at intervals wind gusts created temporary clearings that revealed the flag gamely flying amid striations of smoke.”

Confederates treated Anderson and his men honorably after the surrender, and he took the storm flag with him. It immediately became a patriotic symbol for the remainder of the conflict and raised the status of the Star-Spangled Banner to what we know today. Anderson was treated as a hero in North.

As Military Images publisher Ronald S. Coddington wrote, Anderson later told an acquaintance of the flag: “I knew that it would never come down in disgrace.”

In a twist of fate, Anderson, a retired general, returned to Charleston at war’s end to raise the flag again over the battered fortress (more about that below). An aside: Visitors to the fort today who take the first boat river over in the morning can help rangers raise the U.S. flag.

Q&A with Fort Sumter staffer about impact of book

I recently asked Brett Spaulding, chief of interpretation for Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, about the renewed interest on the site brought by “The Demon of Unrest.” (At right, damaged flagpole after Confederate bombardment, Library of Congress)

Q. I am curious as to what kind of attention or questions the book has posed to rangers at the park. Do guests or historians bring up particular aspects of the book's scholarship?

A. “The Demon of Unrest” is frequently mentioned by visitors to Fort Sumter as a reason for their interest in visiting our site. Common questions are about the mindsets of the major players of the pre-Civil War standoff – the courage and inner conflict of Major Robert Anderson, and the march to war among both hardcore secessionists and typical white Charlestonians.

Q. Did the park provide any resources or materials for Larson? Did the staff learn new things from the book that might be helpful with interpretation?

A. Fort Sumter & Fort Moultrie NHP was not involved in the research or writing of “The Demon of Unrest”, though writer Erik Larson visited the fort in the spring of 2024. The book reinforced existing research on the environment of pre-war Charleston, and helped visitors make connections between influential “fire-eater” secessionists and the crisis at Fort Sumter.

Q. The storm flag in particular: Have you learned anything new about it? What details does the park have on its status and location during the bombardment?

A. The book, unfortunately, gives an inaccurate impression of which of our historic flags flew during the bombardment. On page 10, Larson refers to Anderson, within an hour of the bombardment, raising a flag “twenty feet high by thirty-six long” over Fort Sumter. However, a New York Times article dated May 21, 1861, citing conversations with Major Anderson, specifically states that Anderson flew the smaller of his two flags. The smaller of the two flags in our collection, the storm flag, measures ten by twenty feet and was the original flag that flew during the bombardment. Based on historic images of the fort, we believe the flagpole’s original location to be near the left flank of the fort, not far from the fort’s modern-day entrance.

Storm flag, top, garrison flag and the Confederate Palmetto Guard flag (NPS)

Q. The Palmetto Guard flag -- Have you learned anything new about it? Did Edmund Ruffin carry it into the fort and hold it during Anderson's surrender? Do you have any idea where it was made and when?

A. We do not have further information on the origins of the Palmetto Guard flag. The earliest citation we have found for it is The New York Times article of December 1, 1860.

Edmund Ruffin’s presence in the Palmetto Guard is backed up by the historical record. We do not have evidence to dispute that the Guard chose to let Ruffin bear the flag – he was a well-known secessionist leader and had been given the honor of firing the first shot from their battery. Contemporary accounts do place Ruffin in the fort on April 14, the day of the ceremony.

Q. Can you please tell me where all three flags are currently being stored, and in what fashion (tube, flat, etc.)? (At left, one of the flags being removed in 2023, NPS photo)

A. The Palmetto flag and the storm flag are both stored in our curatorial facility. The garrison flag is stored in a trusted specialty art storage facility in Texas via government contract due to its immense size and more fragile nature. All three flags are stored and were professionally packed by a team of conservators, museum staff and art movers. The flags are interleaved with and wrapped with archival materials and are stored rolled an archival tube for preservation purposes. 

Q.  I know the Harpers Ferry Center experts have said they all will need some kind of work, mounts, repairs, new frames, etc. at some point. Has any of that work begun, or is it too early?

A. The garrison flag specifically has been identified as needing additional conservation work. Plans for this work have been prepared but will not go into effect until the permanent home for this flag is ready (this includes facility and exhibit renovations). This is to ensure the flag is packed and moved as few times as possible while it transitions from its current storage unit to the conservation lab, and finally to its permanent home. We are currently speculating that this work may be able to be scheduled in approximately three years.

Q. How long do you think each banner will be kept in the dark, so to speak?

A. Currently, the answer to this question is uncertain. The park does not plan on returning any flags to exhibit at Fort Sumter specifically due to the difficulty with accessing this site in the event of an emergency, and the higher difficulty with safely moving the flags to and from this site. The flags could go on exhibit at other sites and through other means. The most likely involves ongoing plans for a redesign of exhibit spaces at Liberty Square. 

Q. Has any decision or further discussion been had on the fate of the three flags?

A. Discussions about the flags are active and ongoing. The park is devoted to ensuring that all flags are properly cared for and stored. The garrison flag has been the largest point of discussion and planning since it is the only flag currently off site and in need of conservation. The Palmetto and storm flags are both stable, and their future plans will be determined when exhibit renovations are scheduled and planned.

POSTSCRIPT: Collector has flag-raising relic

Storm flag (waving behind white pole) about to be raised in 1865 (Library of Congress)

Glen Hayes of New York has collected Gettysburg artifacts and memorabilia for about 57 years (more on that in a future post), but he also has a few Fort Sumter-related items.

The most prominent is a souvenir from April 14, 1865, when Anderson, 59, and his son returned to the fort to again raise the storm flag he took with him in 1861. In June 2023, Military Images magazine wrote about ferns, loose flowers and bouquets that had been placed near the flag before its raising, a symbol of a restored union.

Hayes bought the relic that features mounted remnants of the flora and a portrait of Anderson and an uncommon photograph taken inside the fort that day, showing the large flag attached to two poles decorated with bunting.

The Military Images article states Anderson cried and told the large crowd that it had been “the cherished wish of my heart” to restore the flag to its rightful place. With him was Peter Hart, the man who reattached the flag during the bombardment four years before.

Photo of Robert Anderson by Brady (Courtesy Glen Hayes) / Storm flag (Library of Congress)

“With the reading of Psalms concluded, Hart stepped forward carrying a mailbag that contained the original flag, nail holes and all. At this the crowd broke into a tumult of cheers. Three Navy sailors attached the flag to a halyard; they added roses, mock orange blossoms, and an evergreen wreath,” wrote Larson.

Hayes told the Picket in an email he bought the item from a relic dealer in about 1981. The caption reads: “Some of the leaves & ferns that fell from the boquet on the flag raised in position from where the Confederates made us take it down at Fort Sumpter SC in the Civil War. 1865”

The maker of the collage is not known.

“I purchased it because it was a good example of the end of the Civil War. Also, the relic is what you would call a ‘silent witness’ to the events of that day,” Hayes said. “Also, because it had the uncommon scene of the actual flag as it was being raised. It is ironic looking at the picture and seeing all the happy people in the photo, they not knowing that that evening Pres. Lincoln would be assassinated. Also, that Lincoln had been invited to the ceremony but couldn't attend. How history could have changed if he went.”

Gun tool for Austrian weapon (Courtesy Glen Hayes)

Hayes years ago acquired a piece of wood from the Star of the West, a vessel Confederates fired upon in January 1861 when it attempted to supply the Federal garrison, an episode thoroughly documented in “The Demon of Unrest.”

The other item is a gun tool for a model 1854 Austrian Lorenz rifle. “Both sides used that rifle but seeing how the Confederates occupied Fort Sumter for 4 years it was probably from a Confederate soldier,” Hayes told the Picket.