SOLD!!!
An outstanding cabinet card of Major Reuben E. Wilson and the flag of the Yadkin Gray Eagles, 11th North Carolina Infantry and Co. A, 1st Battalion North Carolina Sharpshooters!  Yes, the Major is an amputee!  He lost his leg April 2, 1865 at Petersburg in a charge.  A shell cut off his left leg.  There are not many photographs of Confederate battle flags. 

 

The Yadkin Gray Eagles were the first company raised in Yadkin County, North Carolina.  Upon their arrival in Virginia, the company was mustered into Confederate service as Company B, 11th Regiment North Carolina Volunteers, later the 21st Regiment North Carolina State Troops.

 

At the reorganization of the Confederate army at Manassass in February 1862, Companies B and E were detatched from the regiment and redesignated Companies A and B, 1st Battalion North Carolina Sharpshooters.Lt. Reuben E. Wilson of Company B was promoted to Captain on the company.  When the battalion commander was promoted to regimental command, Wilson was promoted to major and given command of the battalion.

 

This battalion was an active participant in nearly every battle fought by the Army of Northern Virginia, from Manassas to Appomattox, and because of what was called their "peculiar and efficient drill", engaged in many skirmishes in which the main army did not participate.

 

The above flag was presented to the Yadkin Gray Eagles upon their departure for Virginia.  It was made from the silk dresses of the young ladies of the county and presented to the company by Miss Lou Glen, later Mrs. Joseph Williams.  The captain, in receiving it on behalf of the company, closed his speach with these words:

 

"When this cruel war is over, Miss Lou,

This flag untarnished shall be returned to you."

 

This is perhaps the only Confederate company flag that was carried through twenty-six battles, from Manassas to Appomattox, through the war and returned "untarnished," to its donors.  In 1898, the daughter of Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Robert Daniels, was the guardian of the flag.  THe flag was later presented to the state of North Carolina.

 

On August 9, 1862, in a charge against the enemy near Warrenton, Va., Major Wilson was severly wounded when a minie ball broke both bones of the right forearm.  At the same time, his left leg was shattered below the knee ba a grape-shot, which disabled him for several months.  On April 2, 1865, in a charge at Petersburg, he was again wounded, his left leg cut off by a shell.  He was hospitalized, paroled on April 21, rearrested, and taken to Libby Prison, where he remained until December 20, 1865.

 

When life returned to normal, Major Wilson ran a successful mercantile business in Augusta, Georgia.

 

This photograph is a post-war picture of Major WIlson flanked by the flag of his company, the Yadkin Gray Eagles.

 

This information came from "The Flags of CIvil War North Carolina" by Glenn Dedmondt and the "Confederate Veteran" magazine.

 

The photograph was taken by Farrell & Edwards, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  A corner of the card is missing but this does not hurt the actual photograph.