2008-09
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/31/2008
John O. Foster was a Methodist minister attached to the 24th Army Corps and is said to have preached the first sermon following the fall of Richmond, April 4th, 1865. Foster landed at City Point on April 2nd, 1865 at 2 PM and upon his arrival helped tend to the wounded from both sides that had arrived by train nearby. Foster also had the opportunity to watch the bombardment of Petersburg. That evening Foster watched Richmond burn, was given pass to enter the city. On April 3rd or 4th, Foster, undoubtedly the first Union chaplain in the City, was given a section of the enormous Confederate flag which flew over the Confederate State House. On April 5th, his diary states he visited the Confederate Treasury. He noted: "Promises to pay [bonds] in ton lots- told help yourselves- Did so...." Foster obtained as many varieties of bonds and Confederate money as he could, and glued the sections of the Confederate flag he had obtained unto them. A label was later affixed to one section stating: "Confederate money valuable as curios! Pieces of flag floating over Capitol at Richmond on day of capitulation". Foster then preached under guard at the Presbyterian Church to an audience composed of mostly liberated slaves. A copy of the above label is included , to certify that the flag remnant in this display is from the flag taken from the Confederate Capitol in Richmond, with the edge turned over, to show a portion of a Confederate bond or banknote, which Foster removed from the Treasury and glued onto the flag. The flag remnant is from the flag taken from the Confederate Capitol with the edge turned in this display, to show a portion of the Confederate bond or banknote, Foster removed from the Treasury and glued thereon. The photo shows the missing flag on the Capitol as well as the new "Stars and Stripes" floating in the breeze nearby. .
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