Rare Autograph and Manuscript Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/19/2015
EllSWORTH WAS THE FIRST SOLDIER KILLED IN THE CIVIL WAR!
Dated Chicago, April 29, 1859. Four pages, manuscript on lined paper, including petition and muster roll, signed Maj. E.E. Ellsworth. In custom slipcase. 12.75"h. 8.75"w Elmer Ellsworth (1837-1861) was an ambitious young man whose rise to prominence was cut short on May 24, 1861 when he became the first Union soldier killed in the Civil War. He was killed in the process of removing a Confederate flag from the roof of a Virginia hotel. Ironically and tragically, Ellsworth, the man who had worked to prepare men of Illinois for war, was the first casualty of the Civil War. On May 24, 1861, Ellsworth, the recently appointed head of militias, led the New York Fire Zouaves to Alexandria. He saw a Confederate flag hanging above the Marshall House Hotel. Afraid that his men might grow excited at the sight of it, he and another man went up the stairs to remove the flag. While descending the stairs James W. Jackson, the owner of the hotel, appeared and shot Ellsworth. Elmer E. Ellsworth was twenty-four years old. The whole Northern United States mourned Ellsworth's death.
The Rockford Register editor wrote, "In Rockford Col. Ellsworth was well known and our citizens were cast into the deepest gloom when the telegraph brought the news of his death." When Lincoln heard of Ellsworth's death, he was shocked. He demanded that the body lie in state in the White House, until its return to Ellsworth's hometown in New York.
This historical document is accompanied with 5 rare period CDV's of related to Ellsworth. (1) An Mathew Brady image(1861)of Ellsworth backmarked form Anthony and Brady Galleries. (2) Image of Ellsworth done by Gurney and Son, 1863. (3) A rare period photo showing The Marshall House, in Alexandria, Va. where he was shot, back marked Bowden, Taylor & Co. Alexandra, Va. (4) is an unmounted original photo of Corporal Francis E. Brownell, the one who killed James Jackson and later was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. The last photo shows one of Ellsworth's Chicago Zouaves, stamped L.N. Schmidt, 302 Milw. Ave. Chicago.
This is truly a One of a Kind Treasure and collection which would be the Pinnacle of any Civil War collection.
ELMER ELLSWORTH SIGNED ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIZATION AND MUSTER ROLL FOR THE CADET ATTACHMENT TO THE 60TH ILLINOIS MILITIA
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