| Marshall House | |
|---|---|
 The Marshall House Inn (photo 1861) | |
  | |
| General information | |
| Type | Hotel |
| Location | 480 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia, United States |
| Coordinates | 38°48′16.90″N77°2′40.45″W / 38.8046944°N 77.0445694°W /38.8046944; -77.0445694 |
| Demolished | 1950s |
The Marshall House was aninn that stood at 480 King Street (near the southeast corner of King Street and South Pitt Street) inAlexandria, Virginia. At the beginning of theAmerican Civil War in 1861, the house was the site of the killing ofCol. Elmer E. Ellsworth during theUnion Army's takeover of Alexandria. Ellsworth was a popular and highly prominent officer and a close friend of PresidentAbraham Lincoln.
Ellsworth was the first conspicuous Union Army casualty and the first officer killed in battle during the war. He was shot by the inn's proprietorJames W. Jackson after removing aConfederate flag from the roof of the inn. Jackson was immediately killed after he killed Ellsworth. Ellsworth's death became acause célèbre for the Union, while Jackson's death became the same for theConfederacy.
Ellsworth, a young Illinois lawyer who was a friend of the Lincoln's and founder of the11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment known as the "Fire Zouaves", was killed at the Marshall House on May 24, 1861 (the day afterVirginia's secession was ratified byreferendum) during the Union Army's take-over of Alexandria.[1][2][3] 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.[3] Jackson had reportedly stated that the flag would only be taken down "over his dead body".[3][4][5]
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.[6] 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.[1][6]
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.[1][3][6]
As Brownell reached the first landing place, Jackson jumped from a dark passage, leveled adouble-barreled gun 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 shot, 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.[1][3][6]
Ellsworth became the first Union officer to die while on duty in the Civil War.[2] Brownell, who retained a piece of the flag, was later awarded aMedal of Honor for his actions.[7][8][9]
Ellsworth's body was taken back across thePotomac to Washington, D.C. and waslaid in state in theEast Room at the White House.[10] Immediately after the incident, thousands of Union supporters rallied around Ellsworth's cause and enlisted, and "Remember Ellsworth" became a patriotic slogan.[7] The44th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment called itself the "Ellsworth Avengers" as well as "The People's Ellsworth Regiment".[11][12] Confederates meanwhile hailed Jackson as a martyr to their cause.[3][13]
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.[3][11][14] After the war ended, the Marshall House served as a location for a series of small businesses, but still attracted tourists from both the North and the South.[3] Largely reconstructed after an 1873 fire that anarsonist caused, the building was torn down around 1950.[3][15]
The City of Alexandria has erected a wayfinding sign near the southeast corner of King Street and South Pitt Street. The sign relates the history and significance of the Marshall House, together with historical photographs and other information.[13]
In 1999,sociologist and historianJames W. Loewen noted in his bookLies Across America that theSons of Confederate Veterans had placed a bronze plaque on the side of aHoliday Inn that had been constructed on the former site of the Marshall House. Loewen reported that the plaque described Jackson's death but omitted any mention of Ellsworth.[16]Adam Goodheart further discussed the incident and the plaque (which was then within ablind arch near a corner of aHotel Monaco) in his 2011 book1861: The Civil War Awakening.[17]
The plaque called Jackson the "first martyr to the cause of Southern Independence" and said he "was killed by federal soldiers while defending his property and personal rights ... in defence of his home and the sacred soil of his native state".[18] In full, it read:
THE MARSHALL HOUSE
stood upon this site, and within the building
on the early morning of May 24,
JAMES W. JACKSON
was killed by federal soldiers while defending his property and
personal rights as stated in the verdict of the coroners jury.
He was
the first martyr to the cause of Southern Independence.
The justice of history does not permit his name to be forgotten.
–––––––––––––––– O –––––––––––––––
Not in the excitement of battle, but coolly and for a great principle,
he laid down his life, an example to all, in defence of his home and
the sacred soil of his native state.
VIRGINIA
In 2013,WTOP reported that some Alexandria residents were advocating the removal of the plaque, but that city officials had no control over the matter as the plaque was on private property.[19] However, in December 2016,Marriott International purchased The Monaco, added it to itsboutiqueAutograph Collection and renamed it as "The Alexandrian".[20] By October 2017, the plaque was removed from The Alexandrian and had given it to the local chapter of theUnited Daughters of the Confederacy.[21]
During and after the Marshall House incident, relics associated with Ellsworth's death became prized souvenirs. President Lincoln kept the captured Marshall House flag, with which his sonTad often played and waved.[4] The New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center inSaratoga Springs now holds in its collections most of the flag, as well as Ellsworth's uniform. The uniform contains a hole through which aslug apparently entered.[22]
TheSmithsonian Institution'sNational Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. holds in its collections a fragment of the flag, a blood-stained piece ofoilcloth and a scrap of redbunting that remain from the encounter at the Marshall House.[23]Bates College's Special Collections Library inLewiston, Maine holds another fragment of the flag.[24]
In 1894, Brownell's widow was offering to sell small pieces of the flag for $10 and $15 each. A fragment of the flag that Brownell had given to an early mentor at the time of Ellsworth's funeral was sold during the 21st century after being retained by the mentor's family for many years.[9]
TheFort Ward Museum and Historic site in Alexandria displays thekepi that Ellsworth wore when he was killed, patriotic envelopes bearing his image, most of a star from the flag that is still stained with Ellsworth's blood, and the "O" from the Marshall House sign that a soldier took as a souvenir.[13][25]
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.
As of Dec. 20, Sage Hospitality began managing the hotel while also becoming a franchised member of Marriott's Autograph Collection along with the Morrison House in Alexandria, after sale of properties.
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.ISBN 9781400032198.LCCN 2010051326.OCLC 973512612. Retrieved2019-01-25 – viaGoogle Books.
Media related toMarshall House, Alexandria Virginia at Wikimedia Commons