It was a tradition for the Battle of Selma Official T-Shirt to help promote the "Save the Flags" project at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The Alabama Civil War Flag Collection located at ADAH and supervised by Bob Bradley is the third largest in the nation. In the mid 1980's when the restoration of the flags began many were in very poor condition. Since that time the Battle of Selma has raised awareness for the Flags by putting them on the Official T-shirts and has raised thousands of dollars for their restoration.

The 148th Tattered Banners T-Shirts are here!  On sale at Swift Drug Company in Selma.

147th is sold out!

Water's Battery Battle Flag

This flag is believed to have been issued to Waters' Battery of Mobile, Alabama early in 1863. Only two other flags of this design (white St. George's Cross on a blue field) are known to have survived. One, the flag of the 22nd Alabama Infantry (86.2759.1) is in the Archives' collection. The other flag, believed to be that of the 24th Alabama Infantry, is in the collection of the Chicago Historical Society. Captain David Waters retained possession of his battery's flag following the war. After his death, the flag was left to his daughter, Mrs. Maude Waters Johnston. Mrs. Johnston gave the flag to Robert J. Burns, her husband's nephew. The flag was donated to the Alabama Department of Archives and History on September 7, 1959 by Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Burns, 2329 San Felipe Road, Houston, Texas.

The 146th Anniversary Battle of Selma T-Shirt is still on Sale at Swift Drug Company or you may contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to receive one by mail. 

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Presented to the Hayneville Guards (Co. E, 6th Alabama Infantry) by the Ladies of Hayneville, Alabama in 1861.  It was said to have hung behind the desk of William howard Taft in the War Department.  The Flag was returned to Alabama in 1905 and was misidentified until 1999.  It was probably captured in Hayneville during Wilson's Raid.
 

2010 official T-shirt

It honors the Flag of the Marion Light Infantry also know as Company G, 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment.  It was painted by Nicola Marschall and donated to the Company by the ladies of Marion.  It became the Regimental Flag of the 4th Alabama which carried it in to battle at First Manassas in 1861. 

From the Alabama Department of Archives and History Provenance:  "In addition, according to an account attributed to the flag bearer, he was carrying this flag at the first Battle of Manassas when he witnessed the conversation between General Bernard Bee and Captain Porter King which resulted in Thomas J. Jackson receiving the nickname "Stonewall." The flag was brought home by Captain King who returned to Marion after one year of service. He later gave the flag to his son Porter King. The flag was presented to the Alabama Department of Archives and History by Mrs. Porter King on March 15, 1904. "

This flag received conservation treatment and was prepared for display by Textile Preservation Associates, Inc. of Sharpsburg, Maryland, in February 2000.

The 2009 Official T-Shirt was a limited edition.  The Flag spotlighted for the Official T-shirt in 2009 has special ties to the Selma community and much more.

This particular Flag was sewn by the half sisters of Mary Todd Lincoln, Miss Elodie Todd and Martha Todd White of "White-Force Cottage" of Selma. It was presented to Selma's own "Magnolia Cadets" in April 1861. Elodie Todd later married the Captain of the "Magnolia Cadets", N. H. R. Dawson. The "Magnolia Cadets" went on to become Company C of the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment. Their first engagement was as part of Bernard Bee's Brigade at the 1st Battle of Manassas.

Captain Dawson and Elodie were both active members St. Paul's Episcopal Church where he served as Warden, Vestryman and Convention Delegate before and after the War. St. Paul's Church was burned as Union Forces under Gen. James H. Wilson destroyed anything of military value to the Confederate Government. Captain Dawson served as a member of the Building Committee that built the current Richard Upjohn designed building. And the Communion Ewer presented to the congregation in 1869 by Abraham Lincoln's sister-in-law is still in use today. After Elodie's death in 1877, Nathaniel Henry Rhodes Dawson became Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives and in 1886 became the U.S. Commissioner of Education( now Secretary of Education). Both are buried in Old Live Oak Cemetery.

The Flags that these men, whether north or south, fought under were special to them. In a time when tactics demanded that the infantry ranks form straight lines and deliver devastating rifle volleys into the opposing ranks, the Flag in the center of the line was the only constant. The Color Bearer was the most honored post. So when we look on these flags today we should see them not as a piece of cloth but as the personification of the men that lived and died under them. That is the way those Civil War soldiers would have seen them. The "Magnolia Cadets Flag" was donated to the ADAH in 1903 by the Dawson's son Henry of Minter, Alabama.