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celed event. When the president failed
to pass by, he feared he’d been found
out, learned Lincoln had changed his
plans and panicked. He and his coconspirators
fled, Booth returning to
his room in the National Hotel.
At the hotel, the first thing he saw
was the battle flag of Fort Anderson
draped over the balcony. The second
was President Lincoln standing over it.
Lincoln had given a speech during
the ceremony, but it is unknown
if Booth heard it or not. What is
known is that it so incensed Booth
that eyewitnesses described the look
on his face as “demonical.” Many
historians believe this is the moment
he abandoned all plans to kidnap the
president and began to plot his assassination.
A month later, Booth struck,
killing Lincoln in Ford’s Theatre.
The historians at Brunswick Town
knew the story but couldn’t locate
the flag. For years, it hung in the
Indiana state house but was sold
to a private collector in the 1960s.
In 2004, the flag reappeared in a
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, antique
shop with a $40,000 price tag. The
Friends of Brunswick Town/Fort
Anderson raised the money in six
months and brought the flag home.
Once authenticated and in their possession,
they let the infamous story
be known.
With all the talk of the importance
of Lexington and Concord,
and Philadelphia and Boston in the
Revolutionary War, it’s surprising
to learn the seeds of discontent were
sewn here at Brunswick Town. And
with Fort Fisher casting a shadow on
Fort Anderson, it’s surprising to learn
about the battle flag and the role it
played in American history.
Jim McKee, program coordinator
of the Brunswick Town State Historic
Site, calls it “the flag that altered
American history.” Today, it hangs in
the museum alongside placards telling
its story and celebrating the work of
the Friends of Brunswick Town/Fort
Anderson.