Unionist Patriotic Prints From The American Civil War

A pair of pro Unionist, patriotic, lithographic prints, produced in 1861, during the American civil war.

Fate of the Rebel Flag, lithographic print, courtesy of the Library Of Congress.

First of a pair of unionist patriotic prints based on paintings by William Bauly, issued by New York art publisher William Schaus in September 1861. The lithograph, "Fate of the Rebel Flag", resembles its companion piece, "Our Heaven Born Banner" in format, colouring, and its militantly Unionist theme. The print shows a nocturnal scene, in which a large warship sinks and burns on a calm sea littered with debris. The flames take on the configuration of the red, white, and blue flag of the first Confederacy flag, the blue field with seven stars being formed by the night sky showing through the flames.

Our Heaven Born Banner, lithographic print, courtesy of the Library Of Congress.

A pro-Union patriotic print, based on Frederic Edwin Church's oil painting "Our Banner in the Sky" was published in New York by Goupil & Co. in 1861. The lithographic print shows a lone Zouave (Zouave regiments were made up by volunteers not conscripts) sentry watching from a promontory as the dawn breaks in the distance. His rifle and bayonet form the staff of an American flag whose design and colors are formed by the sky's light. The print is accompanied by eight lines of verse:

When Freedom from her mountain height,
Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night,
And set the stars of glory there.
She mingled with its gorgeous dyes,
The milky baldrick of the skies,
And striped its pure celestial white,
With streakings of the morning light.