Four flags from the American revolution that were captured by a fairly notorious British cavalry officer have been sold at auction by one of his descendants. The flags were auctioned by Sotheby's for a record $17.3 million dollars.
The final price of 17.3 million dollars was way in excess of the high estimate of 10 million dollars.
All four flags were bought by a telephone bidder whom Sotheby's said wished to remain anonymous.
The flags had been taken as trophies of war by a British cavalry officer, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who provided the model for the extremely unlikeable British commander in the 2000 movie "The Patriot," starring Mel Gibson.
The highlight of the sale was a flag belonging to a regiment of the Continental Light Dragoons that was captured during a 1779 engagement in New York.
Bidding on what was the earliest surviving American flag to display 13 red-and-white stripes opened at 800,000 dollars and closed five minutes later at 12.3 million dollars.
The three remaining flags, captured near the border of North and South Carolina in 1780, were sold as one lot for five million dollars.
Only around 30 Revolutionary War flags are known to exist, and the Sotheby's lots were notable for being in unusually good condition.
The auction house identified the seller of the collection as Captain Christopher Tarleton Fagan, a direct descendant of the officer who captured them.
It's kind of sad to see relics like those going to a private collector. On the other hand, they were in private hands all along. Too bad, though. For however long Sotheby's leaves the site functional, there is a place to view the flags in detail. It can be found here. They are in beautiful condition.
Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton was the British commander of a Tory cavalry unit known as the "Green Dragoons". Tarleton's methods and tactics led to many charges of atrocities against Americans.
