Show zi 99 4 elmo Scott Sall k G oH 6 Released by Western Newspaper Union I Ellsworth and His THE name of Ephraim Elmer Ilmer Ellsworth is almost forgotten now but 80 years ago It was on the lips of millions of Americans As the youthful colonel of one of the most picturesque bodies of sold cry ery the United States has eve ever I known he was something of a military Idol and ana a nat onal hero So when he was shot down by br a Confederate sympathIzer m in Alexandria Va on May 24 1861 he not only became the first officer of his rank to lose hIs life in defense of the Union but buthIs buthis buthis hIs death d d much to inflame the North against the South in m the early days of the Civil war I Ellsworth was born on April 23 I 1837 the son of a poor tailor in the vIllage of Malta N Y Even In hIs youth he showed a fondness for military 1 fe and while he was st U II IIa Ua a school boy in fn Mechanicsville he organIzed and commanded a corn com company pany which bore the high sounding name of The Black Plumed RIfle RIflemen Riflemen Riflemen men of Stillwater He tried to ob obtain obtain taro tain an appointment to West Point but tailed failed through lack of political influence So he started west to seek his fortune Eventually he landed in ChIcago where he was chosen captain of a natIonal guard company He outfit outfit- outfitted outfitted outfitted ted them m zouave uniforms re- re renamed renamed re renamed named them the Chicago Zouave Cadets and soon made them one of kf 4 y yiti f t va iti z l C t tl l the best drilled mil m tary units in the countr country After an exhibition tour of the East m in 1860 he returned to Illmo sIn s sIn sIn In Springfield he became a student stu student student dent in the law office of Abraham Lincoln who had recently been nom mated for tor Pres dent by the Republican lican party S nce nee political cam campaigning seemed more exciting than studYing young Ellsworth plunged into it with the greatest enthusiasm and so won the esteem of Lincoln that he was melted invIted to accompany the President elect to Washington Lincoln when he became Prest President dent planned to make his young law student and ex eJ zouave the head of the nat sat on s militia system But thiS was blocked by the professional soldiers in m the war depart department meat ment and Ellsworth had to content contentI I hImself with a commission as secand sec second second i and ond lieutenant I Then Fort Sumter was fired upon and Lincoln called for 75 volun volunteers volunteers leers to defend the Union Ellsworth Ells Ellsworth Ellsworth worth immediately resigned his commissIOn and hurried to New NewYork NewYork York city to organize the men of ot the New York fire department as a vol volunteer volunteer volunteer regiment In less than two weeks he was back m Washington as colonel of the Eleventh New York infantry mantry known as the Fire Zou ayes aves fully equipped drilled and ready to take the field fieldOn fieldOn On May 24 the Fire were a part of ot a force ordered to cross the Potomac and occupy parts of Virginia Ells Ellsworth Ellsorth orth s reg ment was sent to Alexandria where their commander saw a Confederate flag Hying over a hotel the Marshall house He dashed into the hotel rushed up to the root and tore tare the Hag flag down As he was return rig ng ne he was met m In the hallway by J W Jackson the proprietor who fired fireda a bullet through the young colonel s heart President Lincoln ordered that Ellsworth s body be taken to the WhIte House t here it lay in m state in the historic hl East Room Later It was escorted down Pennsylvania avenue by a detachment of cavalry followed by carriages in which rode the Pre Pres Pren dent and members of h s scab scab scab cab net to the railroad station There It was placed m n a special tram train whIch bore the young commander to his burial place in MechanIcs MechanIcsville vile ville N Y Two days later President Lincoln wrote a long letter of condolence to Ellsworth s father and mother mothel It ItIs Itis Itis Is even more noteworthy than the famous letter to Mrs Bixby which It has recently been revealed was not written by Lincoln at all but by his secretary John Hay In In It instead of writing about a soldIer whom he had never seen Lincoln was paying tribute to a man whom he had known personally as a law clerk in his office In Springfield and his companion on the fateful jour journey journey journey ney to Wash and whom fie ne had grown to love j |