Flag, Battle - The Battle of Center Point, Arkansas
Object number2008.155.01
Date1868
MediumCotton, Wool
Dimensions25 1/2 x 59 in. (64.8 x 149.9 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum Collection
DescriptionA flag used during the Battle of Center Point, Arkansas, in November 1868. The flag was carried by Major Josiah Demby who was put in command of the First Regiment, Arkansas State Guard by Governor Powell Clayton. The flag is made of cotton and wool constructed in the pattern of a U.S. National flag and features white stars situated inside of a blue canton along with red and white stripes. It has 30 five-pointed stars that were cut out of plain-woven, undyed cotton and appliqued to each side of the flag. The stars are arranged with a square of twenty around the outer perimeter of the canton with a circle of nine inside of the square and one additional star in the center of the circle. There are 13 stripes with appliqued text stating "Our Motto", "A. Strict. Observence. Of The Law", "US Grant", and "Battle of Centerpoint. Nove. The 12th 1868". Josiah H. Demby was a native of Georgia and served in the Civil War in Company G, Fourth Regiment, Arkansas Calvary, U.S. Army. He was discharged on June 30, 1865, at Little Rock, Arkansas, and remained in the state for the rest of his life. He represented Scott, Polk, Montgomery, and Hot Springs Counties in the General Assembly in 1868 and Montgomery County in 1879.
Major Demby was put in command of the just activated First Regiment, Arkansas State Guard by Governor Powell Clayton to restore order in counties affected by the Ku Klux Klans. In October 1868, the KKK and other anti-government forces were travelling through counties in Texas, Indian Nation, and Louisiana Lines, killing and running out citizens and Civil Officers. Demby, along with General R.F. Catterson, marched on Center Point, Arkansas, and engaged in battle. In the end, the Militia took 60 prisoners and Klan activity was suppressed for the time being. Josiah H. Demby's recollection of the Battle of Center Point was published posthumously in "Major Josiah H. Demby's History of Catterson's Militia", Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Volume 16, Summer 1957, page 203.
Status
Not on view
