Existing comment:
The death of Colonel Elmer E Ellsworth in Alexandria, Virginia, was a flash point at the start of the Civil War. The first Union officer to be killed in the four-year struggle, Ellsworth commanded the First New York Zouaves (which became the Eleventh New York Volunteer Infantry). The Zoaves participated in the invasion of northern Virginia on May 24, 1861. Ellsworth's death at the hands of a local innkeeper made him a hero and martyr in the North. Ellsworth was a friend of President Abraham Lincoln, and a memorial service was held in the White House, where parades of mourners viewed his corpse lying in state in the East Room. Throughout the conflict, his name, face, and valor would be recalled on stationery, in sheet music, and in memorial lithographs. Francis E Brownell, the soldier who mortally avenged Ellsworth's assailant, bequeathed several artifacts to the Smithsonian Institution, including the weapons used in the incident, which are on display here. |