The Flag of Lee's Legion 1781

 

In my previous posting about Lee's Legion I mentioned I was not sure about the documentation of the Legion's flag.  Here is as much as I could pull together about that flag.  

The present flag that is associated with Lee's Legion is owned by Stafford Hall, the home of the Lee's of Virginia.  It was purchased through the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation in 1947 from Francis Bannerman and sons.  The flag itself is made of silk and is 2' 4" wide by 4' 11" long.  Shortly after it was acquired for Stafford Hall the flag was folded, mounted and sealed in a case measuring 26" x 26" by the National Archives in 1948.   It  was remounted in 1983 for exhibition and placed on display.  In 2009 it was removed from display for preservation reasons. Due to exposure to light the the textile colors were fading and there was some deteriorating of the fabric.

The flag is of tan or brown material with a brown horses head and light tan main in the center. The white scrolling has a medium blue center with the words "U.S. Light Dragons." The wording used is very curious as that term was not used by the United States military until the 1790's and the War of 1812.  Since there is no history of where the flag came from before Bannerman sold it it might have been a militia flag from that time period.  In addition there us no mention of this flag in Richardson's book, "Standards and Colors of the American Revolution."

Since the documentation for this flag is so poor I do not intend to use it for my miniature regiment.

The conclusion is my opinion only and I leave it up to each individual if they wish to add it to there miniature regiment.  Often there is so much we do not know and too much information lost that all we can do is come up with a best guess for what we do.  Hence my habit of presenting  what I know or have found out and make my best guess based on that.

Bibliography and links to where to fund it:

The owners of the flag with some background on it:

https://www.stratfordhall.org/the-mysteries-of-museum-collections/

The Son's of the Revolution of the Commonwealth of Virginia site with a illustration of the flag:

http://srvirginia.org/light-horse-harry-lees-light-dragoons-guidon/

For much more about the Legion:

Sherman, William T.  "Lee's Legion Remembered."

https://archive.org/details/LeesLegionRemembered/page/n1/mode/2up