Show 7 aa 3 elm w co 44 av Ite leased by western newspaper union ellsworth Ella worth and his THE HE name of ephraim elmer ellsworth Is almost forgotten now but 80 yeara ago it was on tho the lips of millions of americans As the youthful colonel of one of tho the most picturesque bodies of soldiery the united states has ever known ho he was something of a military idol and a national hero so when he was shot down by a confederate sympathizer in alexandria va on may 24 1801 tie he not only become became the first officer of his rank to lose his life in defense of tho the union but his death did much to inflame the north against the south in the early days of the civil war ellsworth r was born on april 23 1837 tho the son of a poor tailor in the village of malta N Y even in his youth he showed a fondness tor for military life and while he was still a school boy in Mechanics mechanicsville ville he organized and commanded a company which bore bora tho the high sounding namo name of the black plumed riflemen of stillwater ile he tried to obtain an appointment to west point but tailed failed through lack of political influence so he started west to seek his fortune ev eventually ho he landed in chicago where he was chosen captain of a national guard company ile he outfitted them in zouave uniforms renamed them the chicago zouave C abets cadets and soon made them one of X the best drilled military units in the country after an exhibition tour of the babi east in 1860 1800 he returned to illinois in springfield he became a student inthe in the law office of abraham lincoln who had recently been nominated tor for president by the republican party since political campaigning pai gning seemed more exciting than studying young ellsworth plunged into it with the greatest enthusiasm and so won the esteem of lincoln that he was invited to accompany the president elect to washington line lincoln oln when wien he became president planned to make his young law student and ex zouave the head of the nations militia system but this was blocked by the professional soldiers id the war dep department art and ellsworth had to content himself with a commission as second lieutenant then fort sumter was as fired upon ajon and lincoln called tor for volunteers to defend the union ellsworth immediately resigned his commission and hurried to new york city to organize the men af ake t e new york fire department as a volunteer regiment in less than two weeks he was back in washington as colonel ot of the eleventh new york infantry known as the fire zou aves fully equipped drilled and ready to take the field on may 24 the fire Zou aves were a part of a force ordered to cross thy the potomac and occupy parts of virginia EU Ell regiment was sent to alexandria where their commander saw a confederate flag flying over a hotel the marshall house lie he dashed into the hotel rushed up to tho the root roof and tore the flag down at As he was returning he was met in the hallway by J W jackson the proprietor who fired a bullet through tha young colonels heart president lincoln ordered that Ell body be taken take n to the white mite house where it lay in state in the historic tabt room later it was escorted down pennsylvania avenue by a detachment ot of cavalry followed by carriages in which rode the president and members of isla ht cabinet to the railroad station there it was placed in a special train which bore the young commander to his burial place e in mechanics ville N Y two days later president lincoln wrote a long letter of condolence to Ell father and mother it 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 hl his secretary john hay in it instead of writing about a soldier whom he lie 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 an the fateful j jour our uey to washington and whon whom 1 he had grown t tw lve live |