Well, apparently not in Alexandria, VA. For those of you who don't know who Col. Elmer Ellsworth is, I'll give you some background. The incident that made his name famous is a result of the Federal occupation of Alexandria after Virginia voted to succeed on May 23rd. The rebel troops marched south out of town, as the northern troops marched in to occupy. According to the commemoration I went to yesterday, Alexandria has the distinction of being the Southern city that had the longest occupation during the war. The Union troops came by steamboat and marched across the bridges the morning of the 24th, and would not leave the city again until the end of the war.
Now, back to Ellsworth. Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth (now that's a name) was born in 1837 in New York. He moved to Chicago and studied law. In 1860, he went to Springfield, Illinois and worked in the law office of Abraham Lincoln. Ellsworth ended up helping Lincoln in his campaign for the presidency that year. They became close friends, and Ellsworth accompanied Lincoln to Washington when he took over as President in 1861. After Lincoln called for volunteers following Ft. Sumter, Ellsworth went back to his native New York and raised the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment ( known as the Fire Zouaves) comprised from the volunteer firefighters. If you've ever seen pictures of the Zouaves, they in many cases have very colorful uniforms. They were apparently modeled after French colonial troops from Algeria.
Anyway, as the story goes, there was a sizable Confederate flag that flew from the Marshall House in Alexandria, and could reportedly be seen from the White House. Apparently Ellsworth offered to retrieve the flag for Lincoln, and as the troops occupied the city on the 24th of May, he took a group of men and entered the Marshall House Inn and went upstairs to remove the flag. The owner of the property, James W. Jackson, had been heard to say previously that the flag would be removed over his dead body. Well, Ellsworth took it down and was coming down the steps when he was met by Jackson and was shot in the chest with a shotgun and killed instantly. One of Ellsworth's men, Corporal Francis Brownell, immediately shot and killed Jackson.
Lincoln was very upset by the death of his friend, and had him lay in state in the White House for a period of time before he was taken back to New York. "Remember Ellsworth" became a huge rallying cry across the North. Northern papers had illustrations and stories about the "murder" of Ellsworth. On our way to Charleston last week, we had spent some time in Fredericksburg, VA. I went in to an antique shop and was digging around the Civil War collectibles, when I came across a 2" by 2" piece of paper with an illustration of the man and the saying "Remember Ellsworth" written underneath. This was cut from the corner of a piece of stationery from the time. If it had been a little less expensive, I would have grabbed it.
Contrast this with the picture below. This is a plaque from the building where the Marshall house once stood. It is now the Monaco Hotel. There is no mention of Ellsworth, just the story about how Jackson was "killed by Federal troops defending his property and personal rights." He was noted as a martyr in the South, in the same way Ellsworth was in the North. Propaganda was as big a part of this conflict as any since. The newspapers really had an influence on swaying public opinion.
The event in Alexandria itself was kind of interesting. I couldn't stay around all afternoon, so I didn't get to see Robert E Lee who was to make an appearance at 3:45. It was held at the Market Square, and there were 50 or so groups at various tables around the square. Some were re-enactor groups ( or living history interpreters as I have been corrected), the National Park Service as well as some of the local parks that have remnants of forts, and historic places like churches hospitals. There was also a good representation of the African American experience, with representatives from the Civil War African American Memorial and Museum in DC ( been there, worth a visit), Alexandria Black History Museum and Freedmen's Cemetery, and the US Colored Troops.
There were also heritage groups there for those whose ancestors fought in the war. The Sons of Union Veterans and Daughters of Union Veterans were there, just a few tables down from the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Didn't notice the United Daughters of the Confederacy however. I did spend a few minutes talking to the guys at the SCV table. Have a 3rd great grandfather that was in the Mississippi Infantry - we'll see. The following pictures are some from just walking around the event.
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