Elmer E. Ellsworth

Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth
Col. Elmer Ellsworth in 1861
Born(1837-04-11)April 11, 1837
Malta, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 24, 1861(1861-05-24) (aged 24)
Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
Buried
Hudson View Cemetery
Mechanicville, New York, U.S.
AllegianceUnited States
Service / branchUnited States Army
Years of service1861
RankColonel
Unit11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Battles / warsAmerican Civil War
Signature
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Portrait of Elmer Ellsworth by unknown artist after Mathew Brady photograph (2011)
Last letter written by Elmer Ellsworth (dated May 23, 1861)
The Marshall house where Col Ellsworth was shot
The Hotel Monaco, now The Alexandrian, on the site of the Marshall House, seen in 2009.
Private Francis Brownell
Library of Congress
Death of Col. Ellsworth
(Currier and Ives engraving, 1861)
United States National Archives
Coat and Pants of Colonel Ellsworth (paired images)
The grave of Elmer E. Ellsworth, located in Hudson View Cemetery, Mechanicville, NY
Photographs show Colonel Elmer Ellsworth of Field and Staff, 11th New York Infantry Regiment; Marshall House at the corner of King and Pitt Streets, Alexandria, Virginia, the scene of the assassination of Col. Ellsworth on May 24, 1861; and Lieutenant Francis Brownell of Co. A, 11th New York Infantry Regiment, who killed James Jackson after he murdered Col. Ellsworth. From the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Photographs by Mathew Brady[1]

Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth (April 11, 1837 – May 24, 1861) was a United States Army officer and law clerk who was the first conspicuous casualty[2] and the first Union officer to die[3] in the American Civil War.[4][5] He was killed while removing a Confederate flag from the roof of the Marshall House inn in Alexandria, Virginia.[6][7]

Before the war, Ellsworth led a touring military drill team, the "Zouave Cadets of Chicago". He was a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. After his death, Ellsworth's body lay in state at the White House. The phrase "Remember Ellsworth" became a rallying cry and call to arms for the Union Army.

  1. ^ "Ellsworth. Memorial Col. E.E. Ellsworth, the patriot martyr. The Marshall house, Alexandria, Va. Francis E. Brownell, the avenger of Ellsworth". Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries. Library of Congress. 1861. Retrieved February 12, 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Elmer Ellsworth". U.S. National Park Service. June 17, 2015. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  3. ^ Edwards, Owen (April 2011). "The Death of Colonel Ellsworth". Smithsonian. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  4. ^ Leepson, Marc (Fall 2011). Greenberg, Linda (ed.). "The First Union Civil War Martyr: Elmer Ellsworth, Alexandria, and the American Flag" (PDF). The Alexandria Chronicle. Alexandria, Virginia: Alexandria Historical Society, Inc.
  5. ^ Hawthorne, Frederick W. "Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments", The Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides, Hanover PA 1988 p. 54 & 55
  6. ^ (1) "The Murder of Colonel Ellsworth". Harper's Weekly. 5 (232): 357–358. June 8, 1861. Retrieved January 28, 2019 – via Internet Archive.
    (2) "The Murder of Ellsworth". Harper's Weekly. 5 (233): 369. June 15, 1861. Retrieved January 28, 2019 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ Snowden, W.H. (1894). Alexandria, Virginia. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company. pp. 5–9. LCCN rc01002851. OCLC 681385571. Retrieved January 29, 2019 – via Google Books. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)