Modern display of the Confederate flag initially proposed, and rejected, as the national flag in 1861. The design was instead adopted as a battle flag by the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) under General Robert E. Lee. Most popular today is a rectangularized variant of the originally square ANV battle flag, common in modern reproductions. (A similarly rectangular flag was used during the war by the Army of Tennessee under General Joseph E. Johnston.) Despite never having historically represented the Confederacy as a country nor been officially recognized as one of its flags, it is commonly referred to as "the Confederate Flag" and has become a
19th Virginia Infantry Potomac, which was preparing for its advance up the York Peninsula. After First Manassas, the Confederate Army of the Potomac was reorganized and renamed the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston. After the suicide of General Cocke on December 26, 1861, the 19th Virginia was brigaded with the 8th, 18th, and 28th Virginia Infantry Regiments and the brigade was placed under the command of Brigadier General George Pickett and designated the Third Brigade of the Second Division, which was commanded by Major General James Longstreet. The 19th loaded "three scooners" and were shipped to