Flag: 4th Alabama Infantry (Co. E, Conecuh Guards)
Catalogue No. 86.1894.1
(PN16352-16355)
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Provenance Reconstruction:

This flag was presented to the Conecuh Guards at the Sparta Depot in Conecuh County on April 24, 1861. It was one of ten company flags used during a dress parade at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in June 1861 and was reported to be illustrated in an issue of Harper's Weekly. When the 4th Alabama was brigaded under General Bernard Bee all of the company flags were turned in except for that of the Marion Light Infantry. James W. Darby (last captain of the company) was custodian of the flag. Somehow the flag was secured and brought back to Alabama by Private Henry C. Stearns of the Conecuh Guards.

The flag was presented to the Alabama Department of Archives and History on November 22, 1907¹ by Colonel P. D. Bowles and Captain James W. Darby, both formerly of the 4th Alabama Infantry.

Sources:
      Curator's Object Files, Civil War Flags, Alabama Department of Archives and History.
      Tancig, W. J. Confederate Military Land Units, 1861-1865. New York, Thomas Yoseloff, 1967.