11 - Occupation

Summary

In June 1862 three white women in occupied Alabama got into a dispute with a Union officer over a Confederate flag. Described as a “baby flag” by one of the women, that small textile had great significance to all parties. The incident happened in Huntsville, which the Northern army had taken over in April of that year. From the beginning of the occupation, civilians and soldiers had been in conflict over many issues, tangible and intangible. The display of the flag was highly controversial, perceived as a defiant gesture toward the occupiers. Rowena Webster, one of the three women, was evidently carrying the flag in her hand; when an officer tried to take it from her, she resisted. Showing that he took the dispute very seriously, he threatened to put the smallpox virus into the houses nearby if she refused to give up the flag. Then Yankee troops arrested all three women and took them to US Major General Ormsby Mitchel of the Army of the Ohio. Their conversation was an anticlimax. Even though Mitchel was strongly pro Union, as well as an abolitionist, he seemed reluctant to punish these women, mainly because of their gender. He decided to warn them to behave better in the future, and they were released. The incident was a standoff, as were so many disputes that took place during occupation.