In the last issue of the Drummer, I wrote about Granby’s Civil War hero, Colonel Richard E. Holcomb, who died in battle at Port Hudson, Louisiana. When Holcomb’s body was returned to Granby for burial, many of his things were sent back in his trunk, such as his canteen, his uniform, with all the shoulder boards of his rank as Lieutenant, then Major, and finally Colonel. Also sent back were uniform buttons, both large and small, a leather belt with a buckle, and a few other items.
The most curious artifact was the Louisiana Secession Flag. Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26, 1861, during the Buchanan Administration. James Buchanan was President before Abraham Lincoln, and during his time in office, six other States from the South also seceded from the Union. However, Louisiana did not join the Confederacy until March 21, 1861. When Louisiana did join, they used the Confederate flag. For nearly two months, Louisiana was its own “country.” In those two months, Louisiana had its own flag.
The Louisiana Secession flag is 82 inches long and 59 ½ inches wide. It has thirteen stripes, and each stripe is approximately 4 ½ inches wide. Each stripe represents one of the original colonies. However, the stripes are colored red, white, and blue. Those colors represent France, as France owned Louisiana until it was sold to the United States, the transaction which became known as the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The Gold Star in the corner of the flag represents Spain, which owned Louisiana for nearly 60 years, before selling the territory to France.
Included with this flag was a bow, which would be on top of the flag’s pole. The bow of the flag is 16 inches long with a width of 9 inches with colors of red, white and blue, with a gold braid at the top of the bow and gold fringe at the bottom. This secession flag was only used in administrative buildings as a presentation flag and never used in battle.
As of 2010, there were only four Louisiana secession flags in existence, and we have one at the Salmon Brook Historical Society. The Salmon Brook Historical Society was fortunate enough to have this flag and Colonel Holcomb’s items as his relatives, who had preserved his possessions for over 80 years before donating them to the Salmon Brook Historical Society to be shared with the public.
To see Colonel Holcomb’s belongings, come tour the Salmon Brook Historical Society on Sundays, starting Sunday, June 2 from 2 to 4 p.m. If you want to learn more about Colonel Holcomb, join the Salmon Brook Historical Society by calling 860-653-9713 or go online at salmonbrookhistoricalsociety.com.