Hetty Cary
| Hetty Cary | |
|---|---|
Hetty Cary
|
|
| Born |
May 15, 1836 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Died | September 27, 1892 (aged 56) Baltimore, Maryland |
| Spouse(s) |
John Pegram (m. 1865) H. Newell Martin (m. 1879–92) |
| Parent(s) | Wilson Miles Cary, Jane Margaret Carr |
Hetty Carr Cary (May 15, 1836 – September 27, 1892) was the wife of CSA General John Pegram and, later, of pioneer physiologist H. Newell Martin. She is best remembered for making the first three battle flags of the Confederacy (along with her sister and cousin). Hetty was related to two of Virginia's most influential families, the Jeffersons (through her mother’s family) and the Randolphs (through her paternal grandmother, Virginia Randolph Cary). She was also a lineal descendant of Pocahontas.
Henry Kyd Douglas, in I Rode With Stonewall, described Hetty as "the most beautiful woman of her day and generation" and "the handsomest woman in the Southland -- with her classic face, her pure complexion, her auburn hair. her perfect figure and her carriage, altogether the most beautiful woman I ever saw in any land."
Hetty was wholeheartedly a supporter of the South, even when in the North and among Union soldiers. On one occasion, she waved a smuggled Confederate flag from a second-story window as Federal troops marched through Baltimore. An officer of the passing regiment allegedly pointed Hetty out to his colonel, asking, "Shall I have her arrested?" The colonel looked at her and replied: "No, she is beautiful enough to do as she pleases."
Hetty and her sister Jennie smuggled drugs and clothing across the Potomac through the Union blockade for Confederate troops. They were forced to leave Baltimore after federal authorities discovered her Southern sympathies. They escaped to Richmond, where they then lived with their cousin Constance Cary and her mother, who served as the girls' chaperone. The three young ladies became known as the Cary Invincibles.
Due to confusion among the troops during the First Battle of Bull Run due to the similar design and color of the Confederate flag, the Stars and Bars, and the Union flag, the Stars and Stripes, Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard recommended that the Confederate flag be changed.
...
Wikipedia