11th Virginia flag captured at Pickett's Charge is sold at auction for a total $468,000. The largely intact artifact surfaced at a Georgia collectors show a few years back

A Confederate battle flag captured during Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg has sold at auction for $390,000, four years after it surfaced at a Civil War show in Dalton, Ga.

Fleischer’s Auctions listed the flag of the 11^th Virginia, which served in Kemper’s Brigade, as likely going between $150,000 and $300,000. With the buyer’s premium, a private individual purchased the flag Saturday for $468,000, president Adam Fleischer told the Picket in an email Sunday.

“The flag's high sale price was gratifying, given its historic significance and rarity,” said Fleischer. “Its recognition as one of the most valuable Civil War artifacts sold in recent years rightfully reflects its importance.” (Photos courtesy Fleischer's Auctions)

The flag was among dozens of Civil War and militaria items sold over the weekend by the Ohio business. There were 30 bids on the hand-sewn artifact involving four people on the phone. 

Fleischer talked with Columbus, Ohio, NPR station WOSU about the regimental flag.

“It was advanced by several successive color bearers who were either wounded or killed before it was ultimately captured by an officer in the 16th Vermont Infantry. That officer, after capturing the flag, was killed himself.”

The officer was 2^nd Lt. Cyren B. Lawton.

Fleischer’s said the flag hung at a home in Memphis, Tenn., for decades. It belonged to a 16th Vermont veteran who moved there are the war.

The person who brought the flag to the Chickamauga Civil War Show cracked open a wooden frame and unfolded the flag. With it was a tag:

"Confederate flag remnant, Taken at Gettysburg by Capt. H. F. Dix, 16th Vt. Vol. Inf. Loan of me Elizabeth Dix, June 1943." Dix kept the flag after comrades divided portions of the flag as a souvenir after the failed Confederate assault.

Gregg Biggs, a flag expert who wrote a report on the artifact for Fleischer's, was at the Dalton show and took photos of it being removed from its frame.

"This was a stunning flag to finally turn up so long after it's capture in July 1863," he told the Picket. "The 16th Vermont who took this flag also got the silk flag of the 2nd Florida Infantry, which is still missing and presumably still in Vermont if it has not fallen apart by now."

He said about 50%-55% of the original flag remained.

"The flag was heavily souvenired into the form of a plus (+) which was done in honor of the death of a fellow soldier," Biggs said by email. "After it turned up it went to a conservator who shadowed in the missing areas. If you look closely at the flag you can see these differences easily enough."

Biggs said the man who brought it to the Dalton show from Memphis was a descendant of a 16th Vermont veteran who moved to Tennessee after the war. A collector bought the flag, had it conserved and then sold it to an individual who later consigned it to Fleisher's Auctions, he added.

Mike Kent, who runs and promotes the Dalton show, told the Picket on Monday the flag came in as a walk-in item, but he was not aware of it until recently, because many rare and valuable items change hands without his knowledge.

“I get excited when articles such as the flag are brought to our shows, identified and often sold at high end auctions as it adds credence to our events and often encourages others to bring artifacts to our next event or some other show which keeps our industry alive,” Kent said in an email.

“For it to emerge after 158 years in the condition it is in is unbelievable. Cloth and paper items from the Civil War are usually the first to disintegrate due to their fragile nature and rough usage, which adds even more value to this particular flag. It was definitely one of the finest items to ever pass through our show and we all hope it is well cared for so that future generations may appreciate it."

It’s believed to be the only Confederate battle flag captured during the assault that is in private hands.

"Following the flag’s discovery, it was expertly conserved, and appropriate modern material was artfully arranged in the frame for display purposes," the auction house said.

The Confederate battle flag in the past decade has been embroiled in controversy. Some argue it’s a symbol of Southern culture while others call it a racist symbol. WOSU asked Fleischer how to contextualize Confederate relics.

“The artifact that we're offering is just contextualized by the fact that it's a historic artifact. It's not a monument. And as you can imagine, we put this online recently and it stoked a lot of controversy,” he told the station.

“There are those who think it should be destroyed, even as a historic artifact. But I guess what I would remind them is that this was a flag that a Northern officer lost his life to capture. And so it not only represents the Confederacy, but also the heroism of Union soldiers who captured it.”

Fleischer's said its weekend auction netted $2 million in sales.