One of two flags that flew from the locomotive of the Lincoln funeral train on the route between Albany and Utica, New York.

Until the Executive Order of June 24, 1912, neither the order of the stars nor the proportions of the flag was prescribed. Consequently, flags dating before this period sometimes show unusual arrangements of the stars and odd proportions, these features being left to the discretion of the flag maker. In general, however, straight rows of stars and proportions similar to those later adopted officially were used. The principal acts affecting the flag of the United States are the following:

• Flag Resolution of June 14, 1777 - stated: "Resolved: that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."

• Act of January 13, 1794 - provided for 15 stripes and 15 stars after May 1795.

• Act of April 4, 1818 - provided for 13 stripes and one star for each state, to be added to the flag on the 4th of July following the admission of each new state.

• Executive Order of President Taft dated June 24, 1912 - established proportions of the flag and provided for arrangement of the stars in six horizontal rows of eight each, a single point of each star to be upward.

• Executive Order of President Eisenhower dated January 3, 1959 - provided for the arrangement of the stars in seven rows of seven stars each, staggered horizontally and vertically.

• Executive Order of President Eisenhower dated August 21, 1959 - provided for the arrangement of the stars in nine rows of stars staggered horizontally and eleven rows of stars staggered vertically.

The "Stars and Bars" flag was adopted March 4, 1861, in the first temporary national capital of Montgomery, Alabama, and raised over the dome of that first Confederate capitol. Marschall also designed the Confederate army uniform.

On May 19, 2016, the United States House of Representatives voted to ban the display of Confederate flags on flagpoles at Veterans Administration cemeteries, by a 265-159 vote. The ban was contained in an amendment (House Amendment 592, 114th Congress) to House bill 2822, an appropriations bill.

What the Confederate flag really means to America today, according to a race historian. ... But flying high in front of the building was another symbol: a Confederate flag. Some argue that the flag is a symbol of slavery and oppression, while others insist that it is purely a matter of Southern heritage and pride.

The flag's stars represented the number of states in the Confederacy. The distance between the stars decreased as the number of states increased, reaching thirteen when the secessionist factions of Kentucky and Missouri joined in late 1861.

The civil war officially began on April 12, 1861 when Confederate forces bombarded the Union controlled Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay. ... There were many causes of the civil war, including differences between northern and southern states on the idea of slavery, as well as trade, tariffs, and states rights.

List of Confederate Generals

Robert E. Lee

General Robert E. Lee was the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and is known as the most accomplished Confederate general.

Stonewall Jackson

General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson fought boldly and with great success from Bull Run to his death from a mistaken shot from a Confederate sharpshooter at the battle of Chancellorsville.

J.E.B. Stuart

General J.E.B. Stuart was an accomplished cavalry commander known for his skill at reconnaissance.

Nathan Bedford Forrest

Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest was one of the most feared Confederate leaders. He was an innovative cavalry commander who started the war as a private.

James Longstreet

General James Longstreet was Robert E. Lee’s most capable and consistent generals. He led the First Corps of the Army Of Northern Virginia.

Braxton Bragg

General Braxton Bragg led the Army Of Mississippi and Tennessee from the battle of Shiloh to Chattanooga.

George Pickett

General George Pickett was a Confederate general whose unsuccessful attack on the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg is now known as Pickett’s Charge.

Bloody Bill Anderson

William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson was a brutal killer, leading pro-confederate units on attacks against Union forces throughout the war.

Albert Sidney Johnston

Albert Sidney Johnston fought and battled in five U.S. wars, the last being the Battle of Shiloh, where he was shot and later bled to death.

John Mosby

John S. Mosby was a Confederate Cavalry Commander known for his speed and elusiveness.

P.G.T. Beauregard

Pierre Gustave Toutant (PGT) Beauregard was a Confederate General who gained fame for being the man to fire the first shot of the civil war when he bombarded Fort Sumter.

A.P. Hill

A.P. Hill was a confederate General best known for commanding the "Light Division." He was commander Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson’s most trusted general.

Richard Ewell

Richard Stoddert Ewell led numerous battles during the Civil War, but his failure to capture Cemetery Hill on day one at Gettysburg led to his men and himself to be captured and imprisoned at Richmond.

Joseph Johnston

General Joseph Johnston was the highest ranking officer to leave the U.S. army to join the Confederacy. He fought in many of the Civil War’s major battles and died of pheumonia.

Jubal Early

Jubal Anderson Early was known for his aggressive and sometimes reckless style.

Kirby Smith

Edmund Kirby Smith commanded armies in Tennessee and the Trans-Mississippi Theaters.

John Bell Hood

John Bell Hood (1831-1879) was reputed for his aggressive and bold commands, a reputation which continued in battles despite his physical disabilities.

Barnard Bee

Barnard Elliot Bee Jr. fought only until the First Bull Run and is known for giving the nickname "Stonewall" to Brigadier general Thomas J. Jackson.

Lewis Armistead

Lewis Addison was a successful Confederate General who fought and died at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Porter Alexander

Edward Porter Alexander was a Brigadier General known for being the first man to use signal flags to send messages using signal flags.

Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870)

was an American and Confederate soldier, best known as a commander of the Confederate States Army. He commanded the Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865. A son of Revolutionary War officer Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III, Lee was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy and an exceptional officer and military engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. During this time, he served throughout the United States, distinguished himself during the Mexican–American War, and served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy.

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (1824-63)

was a war hero and one of the South’s most successful generals during the American Civil War (1861-65). After a difficult childhood, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in time to fight in the Mexican War (1846-48). He then left the military to pursue a teaching career. After his home state of Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, Jackson joined the Confederate army and quickly forged his reputation for fearlessness and tenacity during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign later that same year. He served under General Robert E. Lee (1807-70) for much of the Civil War. Jackson was a decisive factor in many significant battles until his mortal wounding by friendly fire at the age of 39 during the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863.

Born in poverty, Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)

had become a wealthy Tennessee lawyer and rising young politician by 1812, when war broke out between the United States and Britain. His leadership in that conflict earned Jackson national fame as a military hero, and he would become America’s most influential–and polarizing–political figure during the 1820s and 1830s. After narrowly losing to John Quincy Adams in the contentious 1824 presidential election, Jackson returned four years later to win redemption, soundly defeating Adams and becoming the nation’s seventh president (1829-1837). As America’s political party system developed, Jackson became the leader of the new Democratic Party. A supporter of states’ rights and slavery’s extension into the new western territories, he opposed the Whig Party and Congress on polarizing issues such as the Bank of the United States. For some, his legacy is tarnished by his role in the forced relocation of Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi.

Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877)

was a Confederate general during the Civil War (1861-65). Despite having no formal military training, Forrest rose from the rank of private to lieutenant general, serving as a cavalry officer at numerous engagements including the Battles of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Brice’s Crossroads and Second Franklin. Known for his maxim “get there first with the most men,” Forrest was relentless in harassing Union forces during the Vicksburg Campaign in 1862 and 1863, and conducted successful raiding operations on federal supplies and communication lines throughout the war.

Educated at West Point, George S. Patton (1885-1945)

began his military career leading cavalry troops against Mexican forces and became the first officer assigned to the new U.S. Army Tank Corps during World War I. Promoted through the ranks over the next several decades, he reached the high point of his career during World War II, when he led the U.S. 7th Army in its invasion of Sicily and swept across northern France at the head of the 3rd Army in the summer of 1944. Late that same year, Patton’s forces played a key role in defeating the German counterattack in the Battle of the Bulge, after which he led them across the Rhine River and into Germany, capturing 10,000 miles of territory and liberating the country from the Nazi regime. Patton died in Germany in December 1945 of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.

George Edward Pickett (1825-1875)

was born in Richmond, Virginia. He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at the age of 17, and graduated last in his class at West Point in 1846. He was immediately sent to participate in the Mexican-American War where he received to brevet promotion for being the first to climb a parapet at the Battle of Chapultepec. After the Mexican-American War, Pickett continued to serve in the United States military and was assigned to the Washington Territory, where he became involved in a land dispute with Great Britain known as the Pig War. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Pickett resigned from the United States military and was appointed as a colonel in the Confederate army. After briefly commanding the defense of the Lower Rappahannock River, he was appointed a brigadier general on January 14, 1862. Pickett first saw combat during the Peninsula Campaign, where he led his brigade at the battles of Williamsburg, Seven Pines, and Gaines’ Mill. At Gaines’ Mill, Pickett was wounded in the shoulder and forced out of command until September of 1862. In October of 1862, Pickett was promoted to major general and placed in command of a small division in General James Longstreet’s corps. He and his command were present at the battle of Fredericksburg, but saw only little combat, and then took part in the Suffolk Campaign. Pickett’s most important role in the war however would come at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Confederate general Lewis Addison Armistead (1817-1863)

fought in Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia until mortally wounded and captured at the height of Pickett’s Charge on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Armistead was born February 18, 1817 in New Bern, North Carolina, the son of Gen. Walker Keith and Elizabeth Armistead. His family having a strong military tradition, Lewis entered West Point as a cadet in 1834, but was dismissed in 1836, allegedly for breaking a mess-hall plate over the head of future comrade Jubal Anderson Early. Nevertheless he was appointed to the regular army in 1839 and fought under his father during the Seminole Wars in Florida, where he was promoted to first lieutenant. Armistead served in the Mexican War and was thrice decorated for bravery. At the battle of Chapultepec, he was wounded and, “the first to leap into the Great Ditch.” Following the Mexican War, Armistead was stationed on the western frontier, where he met and befriended Pennsylvanian and future opponent Winfield Scott Hancock.

James Longstreet (1821 -1904)

was a U.S. Army officer, government official and most famously a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861-65). One of Robert E. Lee’s most trusted subordinates, Longstreet played a pivotal role in Confederate operations in both the Eastern and Western Theaters of the war. Known as “Lee’s War Horse,” Longstreet first distinguished himself in early Confederate victories at the Battles of First and Second Bull Run before mounting a pair of successful defensive stands at the Battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg in 1862. Longstreet played a controversial part in the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, in which he reluctantly oversaw “Pickett’s Charge,” a doomed offensive that resulted in a Confederate defeat. Longstreet later took part in the crucial Confederate victory at the Battle of Chickamauga in Tennessee, and was seriously wounded during the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. After the war Longstreet’s criticism of Robert E. Lee’s tactics and his support of Lincoln’s Republican party—in particular the 1868 presidential campaign of Ulysses S. Grant—led to repeated attacks on his character in the South. Longstreet would go on to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and as a railroad commissioner before his death in 1904.

Ambrose Powell Hill (1825-1865),

better known as A.P. Hill, was a U.S. Army officer who served as a Confederate general during the Civil War (1861-65). Hill entered the Civil War in March 1861 as a colonel and experienced a meteoric rise to the rank of major general in the spring of 1862. As commander of a fast-moving unit called the Light Division, Hill served at the Battles of Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run (Second Manassas), Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. During this time he established himself alongside officers like James Longstreet and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson as one of General Robert E. Lee’s most trusted subordinates. Hill was promoted to corps command in May 1863, but his involvement in the later stages of the war was marked by an uneven combat record and poor health. Hill was mortally wounded by Union troops outside of Petersburg in April 1865. He died at the age of 39.

John Singleton Mosby (1833 -1916)

was an unlikely hero. Born in 1833 in Powhatan County, Virginia, he was a sickly child and was often picked on at school. Being bullied did not seem to bother Mosby, however, as he had exceptional self-confidence, and he learned to fight back at an early age. In 1849, he attended the University of Virginia, excelling in Classical Studies, but once again he ran up against bullies. During a confrontation with a fellow student, Mosby pulled a pistol and shot his adversary in the neck. He was promptly arrested, sentenced to one year in jail, and issued a $500 fine. He was also expelled from the university. After receiving a pardon from the Governor of Virginia due to ill health, Mosby was released from jail in early 1854. During his time in jail, he had befriended the prosecuting attorney, William Robertson, who allowed Mosby the use of his law library. Mosby continued to study law after his release, and was admitted to the bar that same year.