Elmer Ellsworth was the first Union officer to die in the Civil War. He was killed while removing a Confederate flag from the roof of the Marshall House in Alexandria.

Born Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth in Malta, New York, he grew up in Mechanicville New York. In 1854, he moved to Rockford, Illinois, where he worked for a patent agency. In 1857, Ellsworth became the drillmaster of the “Rockford Greys”, a local militia company. After some success with the Greys, he helped train other militia units in the Midwest. He subsequently moved to Chicago to study law. After moving there, he became Colonel of Chicago’s National Guard Cadets. 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. In 1860, he moved to Springfield, Illinois to study law under Abraham Lincoln. He also worked on Lincoln’s presidential campaign and accompanied the newly elected president to Washington, D.C.

When the war broke out Ellsworth raised the 11th NY Volunteer Infantry Regiment (the Fire Zouaves) from New York City’s volunteer firemen and was commissioned as the regiment’s commanding officer. On May 24th, the day after Virginia seceded from the Union, Federal troops were ordered to cross the Potomac and seize Arlington Heights and Alexandria.

Since April 17th, the Marshall House proprietor in Alexandria, James W. Jackson, had flown from the inn’s roof a large Confederate flag that President Lincoln and his Cabinet had observed. Jackson had reportedly stated that the flag would only be taken down “over his dead body”. Before crossing the Potomac River, soldiers serving under Ellsworth’s command observed the flag from their camp through field glasses. The camp, known as Camp Lincoln, was about 4 miles from the White House on Giesboro Point (modern day Giesboro Park). Three steamers arrived there at 2:00 AM on the 24th to transport the men to Alexandria. A Federal Navy officer from the Pawnee arrived in Alexandria at 5:30 AM under a flag of truce informing the Virginia militia they would have until 9:00 AM to leave town. All but 25 of the 500 militia men under Captain Terrett left and the other 25 were captured. As Ellsworth’s regiment was landing, the 1st MI was crossing Long Bridge and moving on the town from the north.

After crossing the river, a company of the Zouaves went to destroy the railroad leading to Manassas. Ellsworth led a small force toward the telegraph office to cut the wires. On the way they saw the flag flying over the Marshall House. Ellsworth and his small squad along with a chaplain, the regiment’s secretary and a reporter from the New York Tribune entered the inn through an open door. Ellsworth proceeded up the stairs followed by his men, climbed to the roof on a ladder and cut down the flag.

The soldiers descended, with Private Francis Brownell in the lead followed by Ellsworth with the flag. As Brownell reached the first landing, Jackson jumped from a dark passage, and with a double-barreled shotgun shot Ellsworth in the chest killing him instantly. Jackson then discharged the other barrel at Brownell but missed his target. Brownell shot Jackson in the face and repeatedly bayoneted him, sending Jackson’s corpse down the stairwell. Ellsworth became the first Union officer to die in the Civil War. Brownell, who retained a piece of the flag, was later awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions.

Lincoln, ordered an honor guard to bring the body on the steamer, James Guy, to the White House where he lay in state in the East Room. His body was taken to New York’s City Hall, where thousands of mourners came to see the first man to fall for the Union. Ellsworth was buried in his hometown of Mechanicville, in the Hudson View Cemetery. Thousands rallied around Ellsworth’s cause and enlisted. “Remember Ellsworth” became a patriotic slogan. The 44th NY called itself “Ellsworth Avengers”. After the Marshall House incident, soldiers and souvenir hunters carried away pieces of the flag and inn as mementos. President Lincoln kept the captured Marshall House flag, with which his son Tad often played with. The flag apparently passed to Brownell, and upon his death in 1894, his widow sold small pieces of it.

Today, most of the flag is held by the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center (61 Lake Avenue) in Saratoga Springs, New York, which also has Ellsworth’s uniform with a bullet hole in it. Another fragment is held by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, along with a blood-stained piece of oilcloth and a scrap of red bunting from the Marshall House. Yet another fragment is held by Bates College’s Special Collections Library. A fragment bearing most of a star is on display at the Fort Ward Museum (4301 West Braddock Road) in Alexandria, along with the Kepi 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. These are shown below.

Union regiments began working on fortifications across the Potomac. The Zouaves built Fort Ellsworth just west of Alexandria on Shuter’s Hill, the first of 68 forts and batteries that were constructed around Washington, D.C.

The site of Fort Ellsworth today.

James Jackson’s body was carried to Fairfax Court House and buried in the Fairfax City Cemetery (entrance- 38.8477975, -77.3118683) on May 25th. The house became a tourist attraction for Union soldiers who removed the stairwell and flagpole for souvenirs By June 7th the house and furniture were in ruin.

A Union sailor also died that day. He was from the Pawnee and died from a fall. He was climbing the flagpole at the Alexandria city-hall attempting to fix the halyard so that the Federal flag could be raised when he lost his balance.

Source

The Glories of War, Small Battles and Early Heroes of 1861 by Charles P. Poland Jr.