Averasboro

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We have visited Fort Sumter where the first shot in the Civil War was fired and today we visited the Averasboro Battlefield where the last big battle was fought. During this battle which took place over two days, 1200 were wounded and at least 350 killed. We drove up the road where the battle advanced which is now lined with wheat and corn farms. Some of the homes along the road which were used as headquarters and hospitals are still standing and some have been restored and are used as private residents today. We found out that what is considered today by most as the Confederate flag (all red with a blue X with stars inside) is in reality the battle flag. There were actually 3 Confederate flags. The first looked much like the Union flag with 7 stars in a circle on a blue background with 2 red and 1 white stripe. This was confused with the Stars and Strips of the Union flag so it was changed. The second was the familiar Confederate blue X with white stars but was located in the upper left corner much like the Union flag. The rest of the flag was all white. They abandoned this flag because when hanging limp all you might see was the white and confuse it as a surrender flag. On the third flag they added a vertical red stripe at the end so as not to confuse it with a surrender flag when limp. Ironically enough, no one complains about the real Confederate flag, Only what they think is the Confederate flag which is in reality the battle flag.