Listen to Robert K. Wittman’s True Spies Podcast: Operation Bullwinkle

FBI Agent Robert K. Wittman had a rule of thumb for greeting out-of-town targets: meet them up at the airport so there’s less chance they’re carrying a weapon. That’s how Wittman found himself at Philadelphia International shaking hands with Civil War artifact collector Charlie Wilhite. They chatted like old friends on the shuttle bus to Embassy Suites where the shady dealer would lay out his stolen treasure in full view of the FBI’s hidden surveillance cameras.

Robert always used his given name while working deep undercover (the more lies you tell, the more you have to remember) which allowed him to focus on his legend and the job at hand, Wittman recalled in his biography, Priceless. On the day in question, a chilly day in 1998, he was in disguise as a Civil War art and antiquities dealer looking to buy stolen merchandise.

Robert had been with the Bureau for a decade and had already rescued a stolen Rembrandt and a missing copy of the Bill of Rights. Now he had his heart set on recovering the neatly folded red, white, and blue silk cloth laid out before him - a 19th-century American flag with 35 gold stars in the blue corner square. It was the battle flag of the 12th Regiment Infantry, Corps d'Afrique, a near-sacred artifact in African American history and one of only five such flags to survive the Civil War.

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The FBI’s Art Sleuth

The flag seemed like the real deal. The Army curators’ 1960s property tag was still attached to the banner. "Beautiful, ain't she?" Charlie Wilhite asked.

Regimental flags held significance beyond ceremonial value. In the chaos of battle, flag-carrying soldiers were a signal for troops to follow, making the flag bearer a target of the opposition. It was a role that entailed great honor and great risk. This was the battle flag of the 12th Regiment Infantry, the Corps d’Afrique - known as the ‘blood cloth’ from the Civil War. Five soldiers had died carrying the flag. Its cultural value - in the eyes of historians and the FBI - was priceless.

Wittman was tempted to call in the SWAT team immediately but he wanted answers to a few questions first. The battle flag was stolen while being moved from Fort McNair to Fort Jackson, S.C., and a Civil War relic dealer tipped off the the Bureau that Wilhite was trying to sell it. Robert wanted more details and Charlie Wilhite revealed that the flag - once proudly displayed in a museum - had changed hands in a cash-only deal conducted in a parking garage.

Now Charlie was looking to offload the object for $28,000 cash, plus money to cover his flight in from Kansas City. At that point, Robert had enough and twisted his nose with his thumb and forefinger - the 'go' sign for FBI agents standing by in raid gear to close in on Charlie.

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The Corps d’Afrique‍

Wilhite pleaded guilty to concealing a stolen object of cultural heritage at a time when the sentencing guidelines for such crimes were low. Charlie developed cancer and was given three years' probation before he died in 2000.

The case had its impact nonetheless. It was a springboard for the US Sentencing Commission to increase the penalty for theft of cultural heritage items. The Corps d’Afrique comprised Civil War regiments, established in 1862 and was composed of liberated Black slaves fighting as soldiers for the Union. Despite their crucial role, they received inferior pay and benefits compared to white regiments, with strict segregation enforced. Gen. Nathaniel Banks organized the 12th Regiment Corps d'Afrique in the Port Hudson, La., region in 1863, later integrating it into the 50th regiment of the US Colored Troops during the formation of USCT in 1864. 

At a ceremony in D.C., FBI Director Louis Freeh handed the battle flag to the Army's chief historian, Brig. Gen. John S. Brown. "For soldiers always, the flag has captured the essence of everything that they are fighting for," Brown said. "It is all that is on the battlefield with them when they face death. I think it's particularly fitting that this flag represents men who rose to fight against slavery for themselves and their families and… secured their freedom and all their descendants for all the generations to come."

Joseph Lee, who leads a Philadelphia-based re-enactors group, was deeply moved by the FBI operation: "Touching that flag sent chills through my body. Even thinking about it now, tears well in my eyes. They cause my heart to palpitate. Because this was true, living African American history. I had heard about it, read about it, dreamed about it, but now I was part of it."