Rare Civil War flag sold at Columbus auction for $468,000
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A long-lost Confederate flag, captured at the Battle of Gettysburg and among the rarest Civil War artifacts, sold for $468,000 at an Ohio auction house last month.
Carried by the 11th Virginia Infantry during Pickett's Charge, a failed Confederate assault in 1863 on the Gettysburg battle's third day, the flag was acquired after heated bidding between four phone bidders on April 26 at Fleischer's Auctions in Columbus. The charge, named after Gen. George Pickett, who led more than 12,500 soldiers that day, resulted in mass casualties and ultimately led to the Confederacy's defeat.
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The auction house, one of the nation's leading purveyors of early American antiques and artifacts, previously estimated the flag could sell for $150,000 to $300,000.
'It's recognition as one of the most valuable Civil War artifacts sold in recent years rightfully reflects its importance,' auction president Adam Fleischer said. 'We were honored to facilitate the sale and ensure it was preserved so that future generations can appreciate and learn from it.'
The flag was one of 564 lots in Fleischer's premier spring auction, yielding a combined price realized of $2,326,440. Other items included a portrait of Revolutionary War artillerist Alexander Ramsey Thompson I, accompanied by his commission signed by President George Washington, which sold for $50,400.
A high-grade sword presented by the 3rd Mississippi Infantry to Colonel Richard H. Ballinger sold for $90,000, and a cast of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's bust portrait by Augustus Saint-Gaudens was acquired for $120,000.
While all Confederate battle flags are rare, the one sold by Fleischer is significant because it's the only unaccounted-for flag that was captured from a regiment in Pickett's division, Fleischer said. Other such flags are accounted for and reside in museums or institutions, which means this flag is the only one left that's privately owned.
Several Virginia color bearers who carried the flag were wounded or killed before it was captured by Cyren B. Lawton, a Union lieutenant from the 16th Vermont Infantry who died shortly after in hand-to-hand combat. The flag was preserved by fellow Vermont officer Henry F. Dix, who quietly passed down the artifact through generations of his family.
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Still, the flag's whereabouts were generally unknown for more than 150 years, Fleischer said. Dix's family held onto the artifact until about the 1940s or '50s, when it was given to a family friend who also passed it down. The flag didn't resurface until the owner brought it to a Georgia collector show in 2021, and the discovery was announced to the collecting community.
The artifact's current owner turned to Fleischer's, which also sold the sword of Civil War Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman last May, to list the flag for bidding.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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