First, here's more on the flags:
http://www.archives.state.al.us/refe...ags/index.html
Now for the oaths:
Here?s an oath of allegiance from an enlistment document:
http://www.websitewiz.com/genealogy/...ts/bfwest2.htm
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
From the site:
http://www.scv674.org/gacsahist8.htm
As the states left the Union, some Cadets at West Point Academy resigned their commission in order to go home to support their home State and their people. The Academy would make an attempt to stop these resignations and would attempt to bolster the support of the remaining Cadets to the Union.
The Academy required that each remaining Cadet would take a new oath of allegiance which would be different than any that they had ever taken before. It would be an oath of allegiance to the United States of America. Previously the Cadets had taken their oath of allegiance to their home States. Many Cadets refused to take this oath and resigned and returned to their home in the South.
Here is what the 1857 United States Military Academy cadet oath says, having been taken from the 1857 edition of the "Regulations for the U.S. Military Academy" (which was the last edition published prior to the War Between The States):
I, ______ of the State of _______ aged _____ years, ______ months, having been selected for an appointment as Cadet in the Military Academy of the United States, do hereby engage with the consent of my (Parent or Guardian) in the event of my receiving such appointment, that I will serve in the army of the United States for eight years, unless sooner discharged by competent authority. And I ____________ DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR [emphasis original], that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve THEM [emphasis mine], HONESTLY and FAITHFULLY [emphasis original], against all THEIR [emphasis mine] enemies or opposers whatsoever; and that I will observe and obey the orders of the President of the United
States, and the orders of the Officers appointed over me, according to the Rules and Articles of War." (end of reference)
Then, in 1861, the U.S.M.A. changed the cadets' oath. This was approved on August 3, 1861. The change was intended to stem the flow of cadets who were resigning their commissions, which was prompted by their State's secession. The new oath had a reverse effect and actually caused an increase in resignations. The regulations clause, regarding this change, reads as follows:
CHAP. XLII - An Act providing for the better Organization of the Military Establishment. Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That no cadet, who has been or shall hereafter be reported as deficient, either in conduct or studies, and recommended to be discharged from the academy, shall be returned or reappointed, or appointed to any place in the army before his class shall have left the academy and received their commissions, unless upon the recommendation of the academic board of the academy. Provided; That all cadets now in the service, or hereafter entering the Military Academy at West Point, shall be called on to take and subscribe the following oath: "I, A.B., do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and bear true allegiance to the National Government; that I will maintain and defend the sovereignty of the United States paramount to any
and all allegiance, sovereignty, or fealty I may owe to any State, county, or country whatsoever, and that I will at all times obey the legal orders of my superior officers and the rules and articles governing the armies of the United States." And any cadet or candidate for admission who shall refuse to take this oath shall be dismissed from the service. (end of reference)
This was the first time a cadet had been required to swear allegiance to the United States government, as opposed to the "United States," plural. The "United States" is also stated to be sovereign in this new oath, even above
that of the states. Then, an act was again passed on July 2, 1862, in which the cadets were required to take yet another new oath:
"I, ______ of the State of _____ aged _____ years, ____ months, having been selected for an appointment as Cadet in the Military Academy of the United States, do hereby engage, with consent of my __________ in the event of my receiving such appointment, that I will serve in the Army of the United States, for eight years, unless sooner discharged by competent authority and I ___________ do solemnly swear that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within the United States, hostile or _______ thereto. And I do further swear that to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to
the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God." (end of reference)
The changes made in 1861 became a permanent part of the oath in the 1866 edition of the "Regulations for the U.S. Military Academy." Also, in 1866, two closely related, but separate documents, were signed by the cadets - The Engagement for Service (termed "Oath of Office") and Oath of Allegiance. The former, signed upon admittance, retained the certification that the candidate had in now way supported the Confederacy. The latter, signed the following year and containing the years of service provision, also retained the clause citing loyalty to national above state government which had been used in 1861. So, you see the significance in the changes is that the United States had become a singular entity as opposed to the system of government as had been established by the U.S. Constitution.
References: "The Lost Cause" by Edward A. Pollard, Chapter 7 & 8. "Truths of History" by Mildred L. Rutherford, Chapter 12. "The Story of the Confederate States" by Joseph T. Derry, Part 3 Section 1, Chapter 1 & 2. "The Story of the Confederacy" By Robert. S. Henry, Chapter 2., U.S. Military Academy (West Point) Archives.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
I still haven't found a specific oath for the Confederacy. It looks - so far - like each state may have had an oath specific to that state, but I'm not even sure of that.
