CIVIL WAR SHIP’S IDENTIFICATION PENNANT OF UNION ARMY TRANSPORT, S.S. KENESAW, 1863-1864.

CIVIL WAR SHIP’S IDENTIFICATION PENNANT OF UNION ARMY TRANSPORT, S.S. KENESAW, 1863-1864. Rare ship’s name identification swallowtail pennant of the riverboat S.S. Kenesaw, a steamboat chartered by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department for the transport of troops and supplies on the Tennessee River in 1863 and 1864. During the 19th C, in the decades preceding and following the Civil War, flags of this type identified the name of the ship from which they flew and served as advertisements for travel on inland rivers for the companies who owned them. During the War, when chartered under contract by the Union Army or the Union Navy, these same flags served to identify the ship flying them during operations involving a flotilla of several vessels. The numerous Hudson Riverboat paintings by the Bard Brothers depict such flags flying on nearly every steamboat that the Bards were commissioned to paint, flying either from the bow sprint, from a staff at amidships, or from the ship’s gaff, in conjunction with the national ensign. As plentiful as these large identification and advertising pennants were, few survive (and that of the S.S. Mary Eliza is the only other flag of this type to have surfaced during the last decade). The identification pennant of the S.S. Kenesaw is typically large, measuring 45″ + on its hoist by about 168″ (only 162″ remain) on its tapering, swallowtail cut fly. The tapering field is composed of three wool bunting horizontal bars, the uppermost red (15″ wide at the heading), the middle dark blue (16″ wide at the heading) and divided into a swallowtail 135″ from the hoist, and the lowest white (14″ wide at the heading). The central blue bar bears the ship’s name “KENESAW” in white cotton block letters, each 11-3/4″ high, formed from 1-3/4″ wide fabric, appliqued to the obverse side so that the name reads properly and then reappliqued to the reverse side in mirror image to match the obverse stitching. A 2″ wide white cotton heading finishes the hoist edge, to which a single rope, looped into eyelets at each end, has been hand stitched to secure the flag to a halyard. Painted in blue lettering on both sides of the hoist is the name “C.E. Bliven, for Captain (and later Brevet Major Charles E. Bliven, an assistant quartermaster in the U.S. Army from 23 October 1864 until 31 May 1866, who undoubtedly brought this flag back to Ohio with him at the close of his army service. Excellent provenance demonstrates that this flag was donated to the Toledo Soldier’s Memorial by Captain Henry W. Bigelow, Company H, 14th Ohio Infantry, and that it was subsequently transferred to the Toledo Zoological Society, who subsequently deassessed the Memorial’s materials in the last decades of the 20th C. CONDITION: very good for its type and use. As is typical of swallowtail flags that saw service, the tips of the swallowtail are worn away, most notably on the upper (red) bar. A period patch, 9″ x 15″, is also evident in the lower (white) bar about 6” from the hoist, but this repair is thought to be contemporary to the flag’s use during the Civil War, and does not detract from the flag’s appearance. 4-57467 HMM (4,500-6,500)

Auction: Firearms - Spring 2006

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	122G.	$4,600.00	CIVIL WAR SHIP’S IDENTIFICATION PENNANT OF UNION ARMY TRANSPORT, S.S. KENESAW, 1863-1864. Rare ship’s name identification swallowtail pennant of the riverboat S.S. Kenesaw, a steamboat chartered by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department for the transport of troops and supplies on the Tennessee River in 1863 and 1864. During the 19th C, in the decades preceding and following the Civil War, flags of this type identified the name of the ship from which they flew and served as advertisements for travel on inland rivers for the companies who owned them. During the War, when chartered under contract by the Union Army or the Union Navy, these same flags served to identify the ship flying them during operations involving a flotilla of several vessels. The numerous Hudson Riverboat paintings by the Bard Brothers depict such flags flying on nearly every steamboat that the Bards were commissioned to paint, flying either from the bow sprint, from a staff at amidships, or from the ship’s gaff, in conjunction with the national ensign. As plentiful as these large identification and advertising pennants were, few survive (and that of the S.S. Mary Eliza is the only other flag of this type to have surfaced during the last decade). The identification pennant of the S.S. Kenesaw is typically large, measuring 45″ + on its hoist by about 168″ (only 162″ remain) on its tapering, swallowtail cut fly. The tapering field is composed of three wool bunting horizontal bars, the uppermost red (15″ wide at the heading), the middle dark blue (16″ wide at the heading) and divided into a swallowtail 135″ from the hoist, and the lowest white (14″ wide at the heading). The central blue bar bears the ship’s name “KENESAW” in white cotton block letters, each 11-3/4″ high, formed from 1-3/4″ wide fabric, appliqued to the obverse side so that the name reads properly and then reappliqued to the reverse side in mirror image to match the obverse stitching. A 2″ wide white cotton heading finishes the hoist edge, to which a single rope, looped into eyelets at each end, has been hand stitched to secure the flag to a halyard. Painted in blue lettering on both sides of the hoist is the name “C.E. Bliven, for Captain (and later Brevet Major Charles E. Bliven, an assistant quartermaster in the U.S. Army from 23 October 1864 until 31 May 1866, who undoubtedly brought this flag back to Ohio with him at the close of his army service. Excellent provenance demonstrates that this flag was donated to the Toledo Soldier’s Memorial by Captain Henry W. Bigelow, Company H, 14th Ohio Infantry, and that it was subsequently transferred to the Toledo Zoological Society, who subsequently deassessed the Memorial’s materials in the last decades of the 20th C. CONDITION: very good for its type and use. As is typical of swallowtail flags that saw service, the tips of the swallowtail are worn away, most notably on the upper (red) bar. A period patch, 9″ x 15″, is also evident in the lower (white) bar about 6” from the hoist, but this repair is thought to be contemporary to the flag’s use during the Civil War, and does not detract from the flag’s appearance. 4-57467 HMM (4,500-6,500) Auction: Firearms - Spring 2006 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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