All About A Flag

North Carolina native William Bruce Mumford was hung in New Orleans, Louisiana June 7th 1862 for desecrating a United States flag.


On April 26th 1862 Union Captain Henry W Morris of the USS Pocahontas sent Marines ashore in New Orleans, Louisiana to raise a United State flag over the mint. As they raised the flag, angry New Orleans locals gathered around them. Seven of the onlooker including William Bruce Mumford decided they would remove the flag. The USS Pocahontas fired on the men and Mumford was hit with a piece of brick. Mumford took the flag carrying it to City Hall to give to the Mayor. Amid cheers from the crowd, he walked with it, all the while onlookers ripped pieces of the flag, so that Mumford deliver a tatter.

Union Major General Benjamin Butler who was in command of New Orleans arrested Mumford May 1st 1862. Mumford was charged with “high crimes and misdemeanors against the laws of the United States, and the peace and dignity thereof and the Law Martial”. He was brought before a military tribunal on May 30th 1862 and found guilty of treason. Butler issued an order to have Mumford executed. On June 7th 1862 just before noon Mumford was brought to the mint to be hung. He was given a chance to say some final words. Mumford spoke of his patriotism for the Confederacy, and his respect for the United States flag which he had fought under during the Mexican - American War.

On June 18th 1862 the Confederate Governor of Louisiana, Thomas Overton Moore had Mumford declared a hero of the Confederacy. Mumford was placed in a vault in Cypress Grove Cemetery in New Orleans, his body would latter be moved to the Confederate Monument in Greenwood Cemetery, New Orleans.

A web site that has more information about this topic is 1862: William B. Mumford, flag desecrator

Second Time At Fair Oaks

As a part of the Petersburg / Richmond Campaign, the Second Battle of Fair Oaks was fought on October 28th 1864.

Ulysses S Grant ordered an assault on Fair Oaks to draw attention from a larger Federal offensive around Petersburg. A combination of Union forces lead by Major General Benjamin Butler’s 10th attacked Confederate defenses along the Darbytown Road, and marched north to Fair Oaks. The Union troops were repulsed my Major General Charles W Field’s Confederate soldiers. The Rebels took some 600 Union soldiers prisoners with another 500 killed or wounded. The Confederates lost only 450. The diversion didn’t work as the Union troops failed to move around the end of the Confederate lines.

Laughing At A Union Funeral

Eugenia Levy Phillips was released from Ship Island Mississippi on September 11th 1862, where she was held for laughing during a Union soldier’s funeral in New Orleans.

Eugenia Levy Phillips was born to a prominent Jewish family in 1819 in Charleston South Carolina. After marring Philip Phillips they moved to Mobile Alabama, where her husband an attorney became a US Congressman in 1853. After his first term was up the family stayed in Washington DC where he practiced law. Unbeknownst to her husband who was against secession, Eugenia’s loyalty lie with the south and she was suspected to be working for Rose O'Neal Greenhow’s spy ring. In August 1861 the whole Phillips house hold was placed under arrest for spying. With help from friends the family including Edwin M Stanton the family were released and moved south, first to Richmond and then onto New Orleans Louisiana.

New Orleans at this time was occupied by General Benjamin Butler and his Union troops. It was here that she ran into trouble by laughing out loud at a Union funeral procession, which was in violation of Butler’s Women’s Order which read, “As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subjected to repeated insults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered, that hereafter, when any female shall, by word, gesture, or movement, insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation.” General Butler had her arrested and placed on Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico on June 30th 1862, where she was held until September 11th 1862. By the time her husband was able to gain her release Eugenia was quite ill with fever.

Eugenia Levy Philips died at the age of 82 in 1902 while living in Georgia.

Another place for more information
Journal of Mrs. Eugenia Levy Phillips, 1861-1862

Battle of Baton Rouge

Hoping to take control of the state again, the Confederates tried to re-take the capital at Baton Rouge Louisiana on August 5th 1862. The plan was for a combined force on land and water between the CSS Arkansas and Major General John C Breckinridge’s corps, of 5000 men. Breckinridge’s troops reached the outskirts of Baton Rouge early on the morning of August 5th. The Confederates formed two divisions and pushed back some of the Union troops they encountered.

Union gunboats located in the river started shelling Breckinridge’s men. The CSS Arkansas, which had had success against the Union fleet earlier at Vicksburg, didn’t make it to the battle. After a trip of 200 miles her engines failed, and she was scuttled by the crew. Union commander Brigadier General Thomas Williams had advanced notice of the Confederate attack, and had his men fall back to a line they could defend. Soon after this move Williams was killed, and he was replaced by Colonel Thomas W Cahill. Cahill ordered a counterattack forcing the Breckinridge’s Rebels to retreat..

The Confederates were unable to retake Baton Rouge. The battle was over by ten in the morning. There were heavy causalities on both sides. The Confederates lost about 456 dead, wounded or missing, the Union side saw losses of 383. Union forces remained under threat at Baton Rouge and on August 20th 1862 General Benjamin Butler order the Union troops pulled back to New Orleans.

Slave Catching

Her name was Lucy, and she was a slave from Wheeling, Virginia [now West Virginia] and on January 23rd 1861 when she ran to Cleveland, Ohio she became the last slave to be returned under the Fugitive Slave Law.

Senator James Murray Mason of Virginia drafted the second Fugitive Slave Law under pressure from the south and as part of the Compromise of 1850. There were to be special commissioners with complete jurisdiction, there would be no trail by jury and the fugitives were not allowed to speak for themselves. There were penalties for marshals who refused to enforce the law, as well as individuals who aided blacks with their escape. If a slave was returned to their master, the person bringing that slave back would receive a payment.

The Law led to abuses and caused the number of abolitionist to rise. Many states enacted Personal Liberty Laws which extended Habeas Corpus, the privilege of jury trial and severely punished false testimony. The state of Wisconsin's Supreme Court went so far in 1859 as to declare the Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional. The beginning of the Civil War changed things. In May 1861 Major General Benjamin Butler declared that slaves were contraband of war. It wasn't until June 28th 1864 and the Act was repealed.