Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth | |
|---|---|
 Col. Elmer Ellsworth in 1861 | |
| Born | (1837-04-11)April 11, 1837 Malta, New York, U.S. |
| Died | May 24, 1861(1861-05-24) (aged 24) Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1861 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | 11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
| Signature | .png) |
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Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth (April 11, 1837 – May 24, 1861) was aUnited States Army officer, close personal friend of the 16th President of the United StatesAbraham Lincoln, andlaw clerk who was the first conspicuous casualty[2] and the firstUnion officer to die[3] in theAmerican Civil War.[4][5] He was killed while removing aConfederate flag from the roof of theMarshall House inn inAlexandria, Virginia.[6][7]
Before the war, Ellsworth led a touring military drill team, the "Zouave Cadets of Chicago". He was a close personal friend ofAbraham Lincoln. After his death, Lincoln ordered Ellsworth's body tolay in state in theEast Room of theWhite House. The phrase "Remember Ellsworth" became a rallying cry and call to arms for theUnion Army.
Born as Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth[8] inMalta,New York, Ellsworth grew up inMechanicville, New York, and later moved toNew York City. In 1854, he moved toRockford, Illinois, where he worked for apatent agency. In 1859, he became engaged to Carrie Spafford, the daughter of a local industrialist and city leader. When Carrie's father demanded that he find more suitable employment, he moved toChicago to study law and work as a law clerk.
In 1860, Ellsworth moved toSpringfield, Illinois, to work with Abraham Lincoln. Studying law under Lincoln, he also helped with Lincoln's1860 campaign for president, and accompanied the new elected president toWashington, D.C. Ellsworth stood 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) tall; the six-foot-four Lincoln called him "the greatest little man I ever met".[2] After the election,Mary Todd Lincoln's youngest half-sister, Catherine "Kittie" Todd (1841–1875), visited Springfield and became infatuated with Ellsworth and they had a brief flirtation.
In 1857, Ellsworth becamedrillmaster of the "Rockford Greys", the localmilitia company. He studiedmilitary science in his spare time. After some success with the Greys, he helped train militia units inMilwaukee andMadison. When he moved to Chicago, he becameColonel of Chicago'sNational Guard Cadets.
Ellsworth had studied theZouave soldiers,French colonial troops inAlgeria, and was impressed by their reported fighting quality. He outfitted his men in Zouave-style uniforms, and modeled their drill and training on the Zouaves. Ellsworth's unit became a nationally famous drill team.[9]
Following the fall ofFort Sumter to Confederate Army troops in mid-April 1861, andLincoln's subsequent call for 75,000 volunteers to defend the nation's capital, Ellsworth raised the11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (the "Fire Zouaves") from New York City'svolunteer firefighting companies, and was then commissioned as the regiment's commanding officer.[10]
Ellsworth was killed at the Marshall House on May 24, 1861 (the day afterVirginia's secession was ratified byreferendum) during theUnion Army's take-over of Alexandria.[6][7] During the month before the event, the inn's proprietor,James W. Jackson, had raised from the inn's roof a large Confederate flag that President Lincoln and his Cabinet had reportedly observed through field glasses from an elevated spot in Washington.[7] Jackson had reportedly stated that the flag would only be taken down "over his dead body".[4][7]
Before crossing thePotomac River to take Alexandria, soldiers serving under Ellsworth's command observed the flag from their camp through field glasses and volunteered to remove it.[11] Having seen the flag after landing in Alexandria, Ellsworth and seven other soldiers entered the inn through an open door. Once inside, they encountered a man dressed in a shirt and trousers, of whom Ellsworth demanded what sort of a flag it was that hung upon the roof.[6][11]
The man, who seemed greatly alarmed, declared he knew nothing of it, and that he was only a boarder there. Without questioning him further, Ellsworth sprang up the stairs followed by his soldiers, climbed to the roof on a ladder and cut down the flag with a soldier's knife. The soldiers turned to descend, withPrivateFrancis E. Brownell leading the way and Ellsworth following with the flag.[6][7][11]
As Brownell reached the first landing place, Jackson jumped from a dark passage, leveled adouble-barreled shotgun at Ellsworth's chest and discharged one barrel directly into Ellsworth's chest, killing him instantly. Jackson then discharged the other barrel at Brownell, but missed his target. Brownell's gun simultaneously fired, hitting Jackson in the middle of his face. Before Jackson dropped, Brownell repeatedly thrust hisbayonet through Jackson's body, sending Jackson's corpse down the stairs.[6][7][11]
Ellsworth became the first Union officer to die in the Civil War.[12] Brownell, who retained a piece of the flag, was later awarded aMedal of Honor for his actions.[3][13][14]
Lincoln was deeply saddened by his friend's death and ordered an honor guard to bring his friend's body to theWhite House, where he lay in state in theEast Room.[2][15][16] Ellsworth's body was then taken to theCity Hall in New York City, where thousands of Union supporters came to see the first man to fall for theUnion cause.[15] Ellsworth was then buried in his hometown of Mechanicville, in the Hudson View Cemetery (see:Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth Monument and Grave).[15]
Thousands of Union supporters rallied around Ellsworth's cause and enlisted. "Remember Ellsworth" became a patriotic slogan.[17] The44th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment called itself the "Ellsworth Avengers" as well as "The People's Ellsworth Regiment".[18][19]
Simultaneously, Jackson became a celebrated martyr for the Confederate cause.[4][7][20] A plaque that theSons of Confederate Veterans placed within ablind arch near a corner of a prominent hotel that stood on the former site of the Marshall House commemorated Jackson's role in the affair for many years. However,Marriott International removed the plaque in 2017 shortly after it purchased the hotel (see:Marshall House historical marker).
After the Marshall House incident, soldiers and souvenir hunters carried away pieces of the flag and inn as mementos, especially portions of the inn's stairway,balustrades, andoilcloth floor covering.[7][18][21] Relics associated with Ellsworth's death became prized souvenirs. One of the most noteworthy was the so-called "Ellsworth Pitcher," anironstone molded ceramic vessel depicting the incident. The pitcher was designed by Charles Coxon and made by Millington, Astbury & Poulson inTrenton, New Jersey, Numerous examples were sold to northerners wishing to honor Ellsworth's memory and demonstrate their patriotism and support for the Union cause.[22]
President Lincoln kept the captured Marshall House flag, with which his sonTad often played and waved.[4] The flag apparently passed to Brownell, and upon his death in 1894, his widow offered to sell small pieces of the flag for $10 and $15 each. She presented one fragment to "an early mentor" of her husband's; his descendants apparently sold it more than a century later.[23]
Today, most of the flag is held by the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center inSaratoga Springs, which also has Ellsworth's uniform with an apparent bullet hole.[24] Another fragment is held by theSmithsonian Institution'sNational Museum of American History, along with a blood-stained piece of oilcloth and a scrap of redbunting from the Marshall House.[25] Yet another fragment is held byBates College's Special Collections Library.[26] A fragment bearing most of a star is on display at theFort Ward Museum and Historic site in Alexandria, along with thekepi that Ellsworth wore when he was killed, patriotic envelopes bearing his image, and the "O" from the Marshall House sign that a soldier had taken as a souvenir.[27]
Artifacts collected during the construction of the Hotel Monaco were preserved by local archeologists. They may be seen in theTorpedo Factory Art Center's third floor exhibit (the Alexandria Archaeology Museum), three blocks away on King Street.
The newcounty seat ofPierce County, Wisconsin, located in the undeveloped center of the county to settle the controversy between two established cities, was namedEllsworth, Wisconsin, in his honor. He is also the namesake ofEllsworth, Michigan; DC'sFort Ellsworth, and possiblyEllsworth, Iowa; Ellsworth, Kansas; and Mount Ellsworth near Green River, Utah. Ellsworth Avenue in theBronx, New York is named in his honor.[28] InPittsburgh, Pennsylvania,Ellsworth Avenue and possibly Elmer Street are named in his honor.[29]
In 1936, theGreenwich Village Historical Society installed a flagpole honoring Ellsworth at the eastern end of Christopher Park at the intersection ofChristopher Street and Waverly Place. It sits directly across Waverly Place from the historic Northern Dispensary building and across Christopher Street from theStonewall Inn. The flagpole is within the boundary of theStonewall National Monument, but theNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation maintains responsibility for the flagpole. Since 2017, New York City has flown aRainbow flag (LGBT) on the flagpole.
Song:"Brave Men, Behold Your Fallen Chief" on IMSLP byJoseph Philbrick Webster
He is a character in the 2012 filmSaving Lincoln, in which his death is portrayed.
Ellsworth only recently (2021) became the topic of a full-length book by Meg Groeling entitledFirst Fallen: The Life of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, the North’s First Civil War Hero (Savas Beatie, 2021).
Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth born Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth was born to Ephraim D. Ellsworth and Phebe Denton on April 11th 1837 at The Rogers Hotel inMalta, New York. Ephraim and Phebe also had another son named Charles Ellsworth who was born 3 years after Elmer in 1840. Charles died almost a year before Elmer on June 16th 1860, aged 18-19. Charles was buried at Hudson View Cemetery inMechanicville, New York in the Ellsworth and Denton Family plot. Elmer's father, Ephraim D. Ellsworth worked as atailor and his mother, Phebe Denton took in boarders. Elmer Ellsworth changed his name from Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth to Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth around 15 so he wouldn't be confused with his father. Elmer's grandfather, George D. Ellsworth, joined theContinental Army during theAmerican Revolutionary War at age 15 and served as a private, looking out forTories with hisregiment. George, enlisted afterGeneral.John Burgoyne's invasion and was present at his surrender at TheBattle of Saratoga. George served in theNew York State Militia commanded by Capt. Joshua Taylor. The Militia served in the12th Albany County Militia Regiment. commanded by Col.Jacobus Van Schoonhoven.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)Relic hunters soon carried away from the hotel everything movable, including the carpets, furniture, and window shutters, and cut away the whole of the staircase and door where Ellsworth was shot.
NEW YORK STATE MILITARY MUSEUM: .....
The museum's collection includes the uniform coat Ellsworth was wearing when Jackson fired a shotgun into his chest as the 24-year-old officer descended the stairs leading to the Marshall House's roof. The coat, still showing the hole where the slug entered, is on display, along with one of Ellsworth's swords and a Zouave drill manual.
Jackson's flag — originally 14 feet by 24 feet — is among the museum's collection of more than 800 Civil War battle flags, the largest state collection in the nation. Large swaths of the banner were cut up for souvenirs after Ellsworth's death; about 55 percent of the original flag survives. One of several large stars on Jackson's flag was removed and saved by Ellsworth's uncle, who later donated the item to a local Civil War veterans group. The neighboring Town of Saratoga came into possession of the star, which was donated to the museum in August 2006, reuniting it with the flag for the first time in more than 140 years.
The artifacts include uniforms, weapons, artillery pieces, and art. A significant portion of the museum's collection is from the Civil War. Notable artifacts from this conflict include Colonel Elmer Ellsworth's (the Union's first martyr) uniform, ... .
The journal also includes several loose pieces of paper including one paper with a red piece of cloth pinned to it. This paper has a note claiming that "This is a piece of the flag which was raised over the mansion house in Alexandria by Col. E. E. Ellsworth just before his assassination."
FORT WARD MUSEUM AND HISTORIC SITE: .....
In addition to displays on the everyday life of Civil War soldiers, the museum features an exhibit on the "Ellsworth incident."
The exhibit includes a lock of his hair, a red kepi (cap) he wore, photographs of the young officer in uniform and contemporary published accounts of his death at the hands of James Jackson.
Most of a star from Jackson's secessionist flag, still stained with Ellsworth's blood, is on display, along with the "O" from the Marshall House sign, one of the many pieces of the structure torn off the building by souvenir-hunting Union soldiers seeking a memento from the spot where Ellsworth was slain.
Goodheart, Adam (2012).1861: The Civil War Awakening.New York:Vintage Books, a division ofRandom House, Inc. pp. 288–289.ISBN 9781400032198.LCCN 2010051326.OCLC 973512612. RetrievedJanuary 25, 2019 – viaGoogle Books.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Media related toElmer Ellsworth at Wikimedia Commons
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