Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth (1837 - 1861)

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Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth

Birth:	Apr. 11, 1837 Malta Saratoga County New York, USA
Death:	May 24, 1861 Alexandria Alexandria City Virginia, USA
Civil War Union Army Officer. He was the first commissioned Union Army officer killed in the Civil War. Soon after the war began he helped recruit and raise the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry (known as the "Fire Zouaves"), and was appointed it's Colonel and commander. When Union forces occupied Alexanderia, Virginia in late May 1861, Colonel Ellsworth was killed in the act of removing a Confederate flag from the Marshall House Hotel. Private Francis Brownell of the 11th New York subsequently shot the man who killed the Colonel, and was awarded the Medal of Honor for the deed (this was the earliest act that would warrant a CMOH in American History). He was a close friend of President Abraham Lincoln and as such, was accorded the respect given only to Presidents. His body lay in state for several days in the rotunda of the capital and was then transported north on a train draped with black flags. Search Amazon for Elmer Ellsworth

Burial: Hudson View Cemetery Mechanicville Saratoga County New York, USA
Maintained by: Find A Grave Record added: Mar 07, 1999 Find A Grave Memorial# 4668