by Deidre Woollard
(RSS feed)
Jun 25th 2010 at 12:45PM
It was 134 years ago today, June 25, that George Armstrong Custer
and his 7th Cavalry fought and were overwhelmed by Lakota Sioux and
Northern Cheyenne at Little Big Horn River. There were no survivors
among those who fought under Custer's direct command and very few
artifacts remained on the field. But one relic, a cavalry guidon, or
swallow-tail flag, was hidden under the body of a dead trooper and
discovered three days after the battle by Sergeant Ferdinand Culbertson,
who was assigned to a burial party.
Sothebys
New York will sell this flag in October in a sale titled: October 2010:
Custer's Last Flag: The Culbertson Guidon from The Battle of the Little
Bighorn.
Since 1895, the delicate silk flag has been preserved at the Detroit
Institute of Arts. It had been given by Culbertson to Charles and Rose
Fowler of Detroit in approximately 1880 and was purchased from Rose
Fowler Reidel by a public contribution in 1895. The flag carries an
estimate of $2 to 5 million and proceeds from the auction will be used
by the museum for future art purchases. The guidon will be unveiled to the
public in September.
"This immortal battle flag represents the spirit, the bravery and the
tragedy of one of the most dramatic moments in American history,"
commented David Redden, Vice Chairman of Sotheby's. "Battle-worn
and bullet-torn, the Culbertson Guidon conjures the ferocity of that
terrible battle."
"The Detroit Institute of Arts has been a steward of this flag for more
than 115 years," said Graham W. J. Beal, DIA director. "In 1895, the
flag fit in with the wide range of artifacts collected and displayed at
that time. It remains, without doubt, an important historical treasure,
but has long since ceased to meet current criteria as a work of art. It
makes sense for us to sell it for the benefit of the collection."
According to
an article in the Detroit News, the museum has not revealed any
information on what objects might be bought instead. The flag itself
will hopefully find a home in another museum's collection.
For more information on rare flags, check out our recent piece on the
Stars and Stripes as folk art.