One of the First to Fall.
The shooting of this young patriot profoundly shocked and stirred the
Federals at the opening of the war.
Colonel Ellsworth had organized a Zouave regiment in
Chicago, and in April, 1861, he organized another from the Fire Department in New York City.
Colonel Ellsworth, on May 24, 1861, led his Fire Zouaves to
Alexandria, Virginia, seized the city, and with his own hands pulled down a Southern flag floating over the
Marshall House.
Descending the stairs with the flag in his hand, he cried, “Behold my trophy!”
“Behold mine!”
came the reply from the proprietor of the hotel,
James T. Jackson, as he emptied a shotgun into
Ellsworth's breast.
Jackson was immediately shot dead by
Private Brownell.
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The last letter |
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