Lincoln’s Young Friend - A Memorial Day Message (Article 93)
This photograph of Union Army Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth was taken in the spring of 1861. Civil War was eminent and the twenty-four year old intended to help quell the rebellion!
Abraham Lincoln had met Elmer two years earlier through an acquaintance in Chicago Illinois; and the young man had obviously made a lasting, and very positive, impression. Ellsworth was a law apprentice in Chicago when, after Abraham Lincoln had won the November 1860 election to be the next President of the United States, he applied to become a political assistant to the President-elect. At that time, Presidents were not inaugurated until March, so Lincoln had a few months to transition from being a busy country lawyer to President of a nation facing the real prospect of secession by several southern states. And, even worse, the possibility of Civil War! After Lincoln was inaugurated in March 1861, the war clouds gathered and on April 12, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter.
There would be Civil War and Elmer Ellsworth was prepared to serve his country.
Soon after the start of the war, Lincoln and several others, including Illinois militia commanders, recommended Elmer, who had just turned twenty-four, for an officer commission in the Union Army. However, unlike many appointed officers early in the war whose military incompetence was soon evident, Elmer was well prepared for the military. While in Chicago, before joining Lincoln’s staff, he had been an officer in the local militia, and senior officials had noted his military professionalism.
He was initially given the rank of Captain and was sent to New York City to raise enlistees, who he would then train as new soldiers. He successfully raised the 11th New York Volunteer Regiment, which, in part, consisted of men who served in the city’s volunteer fire departments. Ellsworth had an interest in military history and admired the Zouaves, a flamboyant, but lethal, Algerian fighting force which served in the French army and he wanted his unit to reflect that tradition. He designed uniforms for his men which resembled the Zouave’s, including their baggy trousers and red embellishments, and he instilled in the new soldiers a sense of the Zouave camaraderie that would enable them to fight as a team. His unit became known as the “Fire Zouaves” and quickly won the respect of staff Generals in Washington DC. His success with the New York regiment, and the recommendations of his former commanders, resulted in Elmer’s quick promotion to Colonel in the Union Army; and he was given a critical assignment.
Colonel Ellsworth was placed in charge of one of the detachments which guarded the White House and the President.
Because of his daily proximity to the Lincoln family, and his gregarious nature, Elmer and the two younger Lincoln boys became regular companions when Elmer was off-duty. He even won over Mary Todd Lincoln, which was never easy. During that time, while the young officer was always respectful of his duties and the President’s position, the two men also became close friends. The very tall Lincoln, at about six feet four inches, towered over the five-foot, six-inch Ellsworth, as they periodically strolled the grounds of the White House in quiet conversations. But, while we do not know of what they spoke, it is noteworthy that Lincoln later referred to his friend as “The greatest little man I ever met.”
On Thursday afternoon, May 23rd, Colonel Ellsworth attended a staff meeting and was given his group’s mission for the next day. The state of Virginia had just announced that its citizens had voted to secede from the United States and that meant that Washington DC was vulnerable to attack as Virginia lay just across the Potomac River. Colonel Elmer and his men, along with other Federal units, were to cross the river and occupy the city of Alexandria, Virginia.
That evening, Elmer Ellsworth wrote a letter to his parents, expressing his love for them and included this paragraph.
“We do not know what we will be met with, but I am inclined to be optimistic. If it may be that I am injured in some manner, cherish this consolation that I was engaged in the performance of a sacred duty. I am perfectly content to accept whatever any future may be.”
On Friday, May 24, 1861, Colonel Ellsworth led his men across the river into the new Confederate state of Virginia and into the town of Alexandria, which they were expected to secure as a protective buffer for Washington DC. The Union soldiers were able to rapidly deploy within Alexandria as they encountered no armed resistance, and hardly any verbal protests. So far, it was a peaceful occupation of the enemy city.
For the past several weeks, a large Confederate flag had flown from the roof of the Marshall House Hotel in Alexandria; a sight that could be seen from Washington DC and which irritated some Northern politicians and military leaders. At some point, Colonel Ellsworth decided to go to the hotel and remove the flag; and he selected four soldiers to accompany him. As the group entered the lobby, those patrons who were there simply stepped aside. Ellsworth bounded up the stairs, located the passage to the roof, and lowered the Confederate flag. As he was descending the stairs back to the lobby, carrying the flag, the owner of the hotel suddenly appeared with a gun and shot Colonel Ellsworth.
The Union soldiers fired back and killed the assailant, but they could not save their commander. Elmer Ellsworth, at only twenty-four years old, died instantly; and became one of the earliest Union soldiers, and the first Union officer, to lose his life in the Civil War. However, as we now know, there would be hundreds of thousands more who also did not come home!
Colonel Ellsworth’s body was taken to the White House where the President was presented with the confiscated flag. In a solemn ceremony, Abraham Lincoln and his family would mourn the loss of their friend. Personally, Lincoln was devastated, and on May 25th, penned this letter (in part) to the soldier’s parents.
“To the Father and Mother of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth,
My dear Sir and Madam,
In the untimely loss of your noble son, our affliction here, is scarcely less than your own. So much of promised usefulness to one’s country, and of bright hopes for one’s self and friends, have rarely been so suddenly dashed, as in his fall. In size, in years, and in youthful appearance, a boy only, (but) his power to command men was surprisingly great. This power, combined with a fine intellect, an indomitable energy, and a taste altogether military, constituted in him, as it seemed to me, the best natural talent, in that department, I ever knew. And yet he was singularly modest and deferential. My acquaintance with him began less than two years ago; yet through the latter half of the intervening period, it was as intimate as the disparity of our ages would permit. To me, he appeared to have no indulgences, I never heard him utter an intemperate word. What was conclusive of his good heart, he never forgot his parents. The honors he labored for so laudably, and in the end, so gallantly gave his life, he meant for them, no less than for himself. In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon the sacredness of your sorrow, I have ventured to address you this tribute to the memory of my young friend, and your brave and early fallen child. May God give you the consolation which is beyond all earthly power.
Sincerely, your friend in a common affliction.
A Lincoln”
In memoriam for Colonel Elmer Ellsworth and all of those many others who, since the American Revolution began over 250 years ago, gave their lives in service to our Country. May they rest in peace.