Elmer Ellsworth – A Civil War Death as a Portent

Elmer Ellsworth – A Civil War Death as a Portent

Elmer Ellsworth was the very first Union Soldier to die in the Civil War.

He defied defending the Constitution against traitors, literally giving his life for the flag.  

But Elmer Ellsworth was more than just a brave and good patriot, defending the USA against racist terrorists. The first Union casualty of the Civil War was an extremely dear friend of President Abraham Lincoln. The death of courageous Elmer Ellsworth serves as a portent of the very personal suffering the nation would have to endure to protect the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

A native of the beautiful town of Malta, New York, Elmer Ellsworth was a bright and ambitious young man. He grew up in nearby Mechanicville, where they still honor the brave men who gave their lives fighting those who deny civil rights. For a while, he lived in New York City.

At 17, Elmer Ellsworth moved to Rockford, Il. He worked in a patent office and became military drillmaster of the Rockford City Greys. He met and courted Caroline Spafford, a member of one of Rockford’s most prominent families. He had his heart set on a career in the military. Her father insisted that Ellsworth find a more lucrative career. Elmer Ellsworth quickly decided on law.

Elmer Ellsworth moved to Chicago to study law and became a colonel in Chicago’s National Guard Cadets. (He also trained men to serve in militia units in both Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin.) From Chicago, he went to Springfield, IL, to study with Abraham Lincoln. Although Lincoln started as an unpolished jackleg country lawyer, by 1860, he was one of the best-known and most prosperous attorneys in the State. Lincoln had served with distinction in the Illinois Legislature, been a Congressman, and narrowly lost a race for the Senate by the time Ellsworth arrived in 1860.

Lincoln, who had a notoriously chilly relationship with his eldest son, Robert, immediately took to handsome Elmer Ellsworth. He guided the young man’s study in law. Lincoln delighted in mentoring bright young men. Quickly, Elmer Ellsworth became a family friend. He delighted Lincoln’s younger boys by playing with them and teaching them military drills. John Hay, Lincoln’s secretary/biographer, was another man Lincoln would mentor. Of Elmer Ellsworth, he said, “Lincoln loved him like a younger brother.”

In 1860 Elmer Ellsworth campaigned with Lincoln. He accompanied his idol to the polls and stood beside him when he made his famous farewell speech. When Lincoln made his famous train ride East, Ellsworth served as a de facto bodyguard.

With the war looming, Ellsworth returned to New York City to recruit firemen into his Zouave unit. (A military unit known for colorful uniforms and precise expertise at drilling.) His unit came to Washington, and he moved into the White House. White House visitors and government officials often saw Ellsworth at Lincoln’s side.

The Death of Elmer Ellsworth

When Virginia attempted to secede from the Union, Ellsworth and his men were sent to Alexandria to occupy the city. Elmer Ellsworth was aware that a large Confederate flag flew over the Marshall House, a hotel. Its owner was a vicious slave owner and reported slave abuser, as well as an ardent secessionist. Lincoln could see the flag from the White House. Ellsworth and his men entered the city without resistance. He made his way to the hotel and climbed the stairs, removing the flag of the traitors. As he descended the stairs, the owner shot him at point-blank range with a shotgun. The shot hit Elmer Ellsworth in the chest.

Bullet hole in the uniform of Elmer Ellsworth

He died not long after. Mrs. Lincoln personally made a flower wreath for the casket. Lincoln had gone to the Navy Yard to view Ellsworth’s body. He was overcome with grief, sobbing, “My boy! My boy! Was it necessary this sacrifice should be!” Ellsworth’s casket was placed in the White House before being returned for burial in New York. “Remember Ellsworth!” became a powerful Union rallying cry. In the sick, perverse logic of the traitors, a plaque was dedicated praising Ellsworth’s murderer.

Up until the day of his assassination by another murderous racist traitor, Abraham Lincoln was deeply affected by the suffering and death of the men in the Civil War. That the first death of the Civil War would be a personal friend of Lincoln’s seems a portent for the grief the nation would endure before slavery was abolished and the rebellion crushed. He wrote to the parents of Elmer Ellsworth with great compassion:

“In the untimely loss of your noble son, our affliction here is scarcely less than your own. … In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon the sacredness of your sorrow, I have ventured to address this tribute to the memory of my young friend and your brave and early fallen child. May God give you that consolation which is beyond all earthly power.”