On Monday, the twenty-ninth of April, 1861, fourteen days after
President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops, a regiment composed of
1,100 men, uniformed and equipped, marched the streets of New York en
route to the national capital. Riding at the head of the column was
the Colonel, a young man of twenty-four, small of stature, with
flashing dark eyes and with a look of authority and power upon his
handsome features. The crowds along the line of march cheered
enthusiastically as the regiment passed--a magnificent body of men who
at his call had rushed in the space of four days to the colors. It was
Ellsworth’s regiment of Zouaves, recruited from the firemen of New
York City, and afterwards mustered into the service as the Eleventh
New York Volunteer Infantry.
But whence came this wonderful youth who, as if by magic, had called
into being this stalwart array--bold and fearless men, resenting
restraint, but submitting cheerfully now to his iron discipline? Not
many years before, he had been but an obscure country boy of northern
New York, remote from the places of advancement and culture, a son of
worthy parents, unable, however, to contribute of their limited means
to the furtherance of the ambitious desires of their offspring. In the
brief space of a year he had achieved national prominence; having had
up to the summer of 1860 but a local reputation, confined to Chicago
and its vicinity, he became the popular idol of the entire northern
country. At the head of his United States Zouave Cadets he had toured
the leading eastern cities and won distinction for the extraordinary
perfection of drill exhibited by his command. Shining through all this
historic expedition appears preëminent the attractive personality of
the young captain--knightly, magnetic, winning, lofty of character,
able to control every one of his cadets under the imperious rule of
his native authority and undeviating rectitude.
On the morning of the twenty-fourth of May, less than a month from the
departure of the Fire Zouaves from New York, Ellsworth was killed at
Alexandria. Not in vain was his fall, for it caused the hesitating
northern people to reach firmly at last for the rifle. “Ellsworth’s
Avengers,” the Forty-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry, recruited
from every county of the Empire State, with unusual physical
requirements and moral standards, marched from their encampment at
Albany for the front on October 21, 1861. Well did they fulfill the
name they bore, for on many a battle field this somewhat Puritanical
regiment, remarkable for the scholarship and worth of its rank and
file, never forgot the assassination of Ellsworth as they carried
their rent colors against the foe. Still another regiment of New York
City firemen, the Second Fire Zouaves, or the Seventy-third New York
Volunteer Infantry, was recruited under the inspiration of Ellsworth’s
name and was mustered into the service on July 10, 1861. Reënlisting
in 1864, it had a continuous service to the close of the war and
enjoys a magnificent history.
Thus Ellsworth had, to his immediate, demonstrable credit, the
mustering in of three regiments, which constituted, however, but a
small proportion of the multitude whose patriotic devotion was evoked
by his death and who followed the flag into the service. Yet many
believe him to have been but a rash and adventurous person, vain and
superficial. My study of his life, however, convinces me of the error
of such opinion and that he was a young man of extraordinary gifts,
prudent thought, gentle, loving instincts, and one who had been
baptized with a fervent spirit of patriotism. Abraham Lincoln
recognized his wonderful abilities and admirable traits of character
and loved him for them, had his stricken, cold body brought to the
White House, and wept over his remains as he would have grieved over
those of his own son. And John Hay, in two notable magazine articles,
one written soon after Ellsworth’s fall, the other towards the close
of Mr. Hay’s career, has nothing but eulogy for the noble youth whom
he had intimately known and loved as a brother. Surely, young
Ellsworth had in him the elements of greatness! Schooled in poverty,
disciplined by hardship and disappointment, his life is yet a shining
path of pure living, high purpose, devoted patriotism, and worthy
fame.
The motorist who seeks the birthplace of Ellsworth leaves the city of
Troy, crosses to the west side of the Hudson at the northern limits of
the town, and follows the macadam road along the river northward
fourteen miles to the city of Mechanicsville. Here he will leave the
river and proceeding in a northwesterly direction over a fine state
road will reach at a distance of nine miles the little village of
Malta, Saratoga County, seven miles this side of the city of Saratoga
Springs. At Malta, Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth was born on April 11, 1837.
The hamlet is much like thousands of others scattered over our eastern
states; it claims its four corners, church, schoolhouse, and general
store, but, with its spacious square, shade trees, and pleasant
dwellings, it is more attractive than the average small village. The
house in which Ellsworth first saw the light is yet standing, a well
preserved, small, story-and-a-half structure, looking cheerfully out
on the great road where thousands pass, ignorant of the honor which it
possesses. It has been called “the low-browed cottage,” a
characterization which is appropriate, for two small, oblong windows
are suggestive of eyes peering out from under the eaves. Ephraim D.
Ellsworth, Elmer’s father, a worthy citizen and a tailor by trade, in
1836 married Phoebe Denton who resided here, and employed himself at
this place in the business of his calling. He was of English
extraction, born in the town of Halfmoon, Saratoga County, New York,
and a man of bright intellect. His grandfather, George Ellsworth, as a
boy of fifteen joined the American army operating against Burgoyne,
fought in the battle of Saratoga, and was present at the subsequent
surrender of the British army. George Ellsworth was thus a yet-living
influence to develop the patriotic and martial spirit of his
great-grandson, and, added to the special interest he took in the
exciting story of the boy-soldier’s adventures, was the realizing
assistance afforded by the proximity of the battle field, nine miles
away. Phoebe Denton could no more trace a distinguished ancestry than
could her husband, and all that is available concerning her is that on
her father’s side she had an English lineage, and on her mother’s, a
“Scotch Presbyterian.”
[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF ELMER E. ELLSWORTH, MALTA, NEW YORK]
The boyhood life of Elmer in Malta was isolated enough but was
relieved somewhat by the nearness of Saratoga Springs, which in those
times was a leading watering-place of the country, where the wealth
and fashion of the land disported itself. Many costly equipages every
season would pass through the village, bound to and from Saratoga, not
a few of them belonging to the southern aristocracy and having ebony
coachmen on the box. Only two miles east is the beautiful Saratoga
Lake, with the charms of which he was familiar. He was a good student
in the district school, but not at all precocious or remarkable as a
scholar. He was cheerful, fond of and a leader in all games and
sports, but his greatest enjoyment was in reading; he would become
lost for hours in a book, heedless of the lapse of time. His mother
was a pious woman and from her and the services of the Presbyterian
church he derived deep religious convictions which he maintained
throughout his life. He became, also, at an early age, a pronounced
temperance disciple and, having heard a lecturer say that the devil
dwelt in a cider barrel, wanted to take a “gun and cussion cap” and
shoot him. His mother has left on record many interesting instances of
his philosophical character and original sayings, but there is not
room here to give them place. I may, however, be permitted to mention
his purchase of his brother Charlie, the one other child in the
family. Charlie was three years younger than Elmer, and the older
brother conceiving a great fondness for him while he was yet a babe,
and desiring him for his own, bought him of his parents for six
shillings. From that time forward Elmer assumed a sort of guardianship
over him and maintained that sense of obligation up to the day of
Charlie’s death. At an early age he began to evidence a proclivity for
military studies and employments by exhibiting a preference for books
dealing with war and battles; when but nine years of age he drew with
wagon-paints on one side of a window shade a picture of General
Washington and staff, and on the reverse side one of General Jackson
and staff. A natural aptitude for sketching was further developed as
he grew older and was of practical help to him in his military
occupations. Many of his sketches are still preserved and cherished.
After he had spent a year as a clerk in the employ of a Mr. DeGroff,
who kept a general store at Malta, the family moved to Mechanicsville.
The ambition which Elmer had cherished of entering West Point Military
Academy might have been realized had there been at Mechanicsville
educational advantages whereby he could have gained the proper
preparation, but the village, then a place of about 800 inhabitants,
had nothing higher than district schools, and his father had not the
means to send him to an academy. He attended the school located on
North Main Street, a brick building still standing and converted into
an attractive residence. Mr. Ellsworth’s trade seems not to have
afforded him a sufficient income, for he adopted various makeshifts in
order to provide for his family, such as peddling oysters, netting
pigeons, and other like employments. Elmer was sometimes sneered at by
his companions on account of his father’s poverty and one day he
whipped a boy soundly who had called him, “oyster-keg.”
All this made a deep wound in the proud and sensitive heart of the
boy, and throughout his career, in his letters and diary, may still be
read the ever-recurring refrain of his desire to remove his parents
from lives of grinding toil and carking care. This absorbing thought
had been observed by President Lincoln and was mentioned in his letter
to Colonel Ellsworth’s bereaved parents as “conclusive of his good
heart.” But Elmer had the great privilege while living in
Mechanicsville of organizing and having under him a military company:
the Black Plumed Riflemen, of Stillwater, an historic village three
miles above Mechanicsville. At this time, although but fifteen, short
and slight of build, he would go through the manual of arms with the
heavy muskets of those days with wonderful ease and rapidity.
Throughout his life he was ever of a strong, virile constitution;
quick, active, alert, he became in after years an accurate shot and a
fine swordsman. Illustrative of his strength and agility and as
exhibiting his qualification to lead others in performing startling
feats, it is still told in Mechanicsville that one day a clerk in
Hatfield’s store (now the Mead Building) having heard a commotion in
the second story, upon investigation, found that Ellsworth and the
Black Plumed Riflemen had ascended there on a “human ladder”; the last
ones were pulled up through the doorway from the sidewalk. Though
Mechanicsville has grown to be a place of more than 8,000 population,
the older parts of the town remain very much as when Ellsworth paraded
the streets with his riflemen. The old home, a pleasant dwelling on
Ellsworth Street in the southern part of the place, still stands amid
surroundings practically unchanged. The premises front on the
embankment of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad; in the rear flows the
now abandoned section of the Champlain Canal. Just south of the home
and on the rise of ground is the residence of Robert Sears, deceased,
who was an intimate friend of the family and who accompanied the
stricken parents to New York to meet the remains of their son. Elmer
was a welcome visitor here, where he and his companion, Charles Sears,
had many a happy romp in the fields about the homestead. It is
needless to say that the remembrance of Colonel Ellsworth is still a
sacred one in the Sears family and that his memorials are cherished in
the white mansion on the hill where he was gladly entertained and duly
appreciated; for even at this early age it was evident that he was a
lad of superior parts. Certain of the citizens have suggested changing
the name of the place to “Ellsworth” and erecting a fitting monument
in the midst of the city, a commendable proposal, though there are
already nine villages named Ellsworth in as many states of the
country, and notwithstanding that a noble granite memorial to his
memory, unveiled with elaborate and impressive ceremonies on May 27,
1874, stands in the Mechanicsville cemetery.
Elmer’s stay in Mechanicsville did not embrace above a year or more,
and after having had considerable success in selling papers on the
railway trains, he secured the consent of his father to leave home and
try to make his own way in the world. He, therefore, in 1852, secured
employment as a clerk in the store of Corliss & House, Troy, dealers
in linen goods, where he remained about a year. The career of
Ellsworth from now on to 1858 is difficult to follow in detail on
account of the as yet scarcity of data from which to construct a
satisfactory narrative. It is known, however, that from the time he
left Mechanicsville to the hour of his death, his life, though in its
last two years astonishingly prominent and in point of honorable fame
highly successful, was throughout an experience of almost unremitting
hardship and poverty; a beating about from one employment to another;
a weary history of uncongenial labor and foiled ambition. It is
probable that he was, to use his own words, endeavoring to “make a
bold push for fortune,” that he might quickly relieve his parents of
that toil and privation, the remembrance of which seems to have burned
into his soul to remain smarting there through the long years. Perhaps
it would be charity to allow the mantle of forgetfulness to remain
upon this period of unrequited effort, though from the glimpses we
have in it of Ellsworth he is smiling and cheerful through it all,
ever maintaining the most scrupulous honor and unblemished character.
But the American people will desire the uncovering of every detail of
the life of this remarkable young genius and martyr, whose very gifts
of mind and heart, like those of many another, made him the prey of
fortune.
On August 2, 1917, there appeared in the _Telegraph-Courier_ of
Kenosha, Wisconsin, a letter from Charles H. Goffe, a former resident
of the city, and among his reminiscences of Kenosha is the following
concerning Ellsworth in the summer of 1853, Elmer being then sixteen
years old. I have nothing with which to corroborate Mr. Goffe’s
statement, but as it has the impress of truth and corresponds, though
in an exaggerated manner, with what I have learned of Ellsworth’s
traits of character, I am disposed to give it acceptance. It is my
opinion that, having saved a sum of money from his salary as a clerk
in Troy, he resolved to “plod along” no further but to “make a bold
push for fortune” in the West, and endeavor to find by prospecting a
more promising field. Mr. Goffe writes:
“There was also boarding at Mrs. Bell’s at this time, a young man of
handsome features and fastidious ways, accentuated by a repelling
hauteur and exclusiveness, so often found peculiar to genius. His
associates were few and his disposition was not calculated to make
intimates of those he came in contact with. No one seemed able to
penetrate the mystery of his personality and yet there was something
about the youth which arrested the attention of all. But he was
obsessed with a penchant or habit born perhaps of idle vanity of
writing (or scribbling) his name in a bold, flowing, and not
ungraceful hand, upon every scrap of paper, on the weatherboards of
the house, and on gate and fence posts, a name which a few years later
was on every tongue, flashed in the headlines of the daily press, and
stamped in deathless lines upon the history of his country--the name
of Elmer E. Ellsworth…. In the fall of 1853, when the Kenosha High
School opened for the winter term under Professor DeWolff, Mr.
Ellsworth attended for a while, but was not satisfied with school
life, and suddenly dropped out of view and was for a time forgotten.”
Mr. Goffe says that when, two years later, he went to Muskegon, across
the lake in Michigan, he learned that Ellsworth had associated with
and been adopted by the Ottawa Indians who dwelt in those parts. After
describing how he had been created a chief among them, made the
recipient of high honors, and adorned with unique and gaudy apparel.
Mr. Goffe continues:
“But, alas, when the novelty of barbaric glory and display had become
stale, and the craving for other conquests and other scenes, and
perhaps dreams of awaiting glories had disturbed his vision, this
eccentric child of genius suddenly disappeared from his tribe and had
gone no one could tell where. His people waited long, but he returned
no more, and the red-skinned maidens of the tamarack swamps waited and
sighed in vain for the handsome young chief on whom they had doted,
and for whom they had hoped and dreamed. And the seasons came and
passed, and the moons had filled their horns many times only to wane
and the white chief came no more.”
As stated before, it is probable that Ellsworth visited Kenosha and it
is likely, too, that on his way home he stopped at Muskegon and was
with the Indians for a brief period, but that he remained there a year
or more, as Mr. Goffe was told, or that he made any extended stay
among the Redskins is highly improbable, though I realize that in
expressing this opinion I am throwing ashes on what purports to be a
romantic episode.
Returning to Mechanicsville and casting about for employment,
Ellsworth recalled that in one of his trips between Troy and his home
he had met on the train a gentleman from New York who, evidently
attracted by his intelligent and prepossessing appearance, drew him
into conversation and impressed himself favorably on the youth’s mind
and memory. Thinking that this transient friend might help him, he
inserted a “personal” in the New York _Herald_ which in due time
brought a letter from the gentleman, who proved to be a drygoods
merchant, and after a preparatory correspondence Ellsworth was made a
clerk in his store. This was in 1853, the year of his visit to the
West and Kenosha.
[Illustration: DRAWING MADE BY COLONEL ELLSWORTH
Reproduced from the original in the Wisconsin Historical Library]
Concerning the two years that he spent in New York I have been able to
secure but fragmentary and disconnected data. He remained but half of
this period in the employ of the merchant referred to and when, in
1855, he went to Chicago, he did so in company with a party of
engineers by whom he had been employed in improving the channel at
Hellgate, not far from New York. This work was carried on by the aid
of divers who deposited the explosive on the surface of the rock and
this being fired by electricity and confined somewhat by the weight of
water effected considerable execution. Just what part Ellsworth played
in this work or how long he was engaged in it is not known. While in
New York he was afforded an opportunity of acquiring a better
knowledge of military tactics through the drills of the Seventh
Regiment, which he attended on every available occasion.
He was eighteen years of age when, with his brother, he went to
Chicago, hoping to make better progress in providing means for the
ease, security, and happiness of their parents. For, while yet a
little boy in Malta, having been pained by the cruel words of a
companion who had sneeringly remarked that his mother wore “patched
shoes,” he had told her that he would some day earn a lot of money so
that she would be a lady as well as the best and “ride in a carriage.”
This ambition for his mother, that she might “ride in a carriage,” was
referred to hopefully in a letter dated Madison, Wisconsin, November
15, 1858. Though his brother, after remaining but a brief season in
Chicago, seems to have given up the battle and returned home, Elmer
held on and through the most discouraging experiences persevered and
at last achieved a success which repaid him for all his suffering and
humiliation.
Not long after his arrival in Chicago he engaged himself as a clerk to
Arthur F. Devereux, of Salem, Massachusetts, who was in the patent
soliciting business and who later became an officer in the Eighth
Massachusetts Regiment. Ellsworth after a time became a partner with
Mr. Devereux and the firm enjoyed prosperity when, through the
defalcation of one whom they trusted, everything was lost and Elmer
found himself without a dollar struggling again for the bare
necessities of life. Three years had been passed in this business, as
appears from Ellsworth’s own words. He writes: “In an evil hour I
placed confidence in an infernal scoundrel, was robbed of everything
in a moment, saw the reward of three years’ toil fade from my eyes
when about to grasp it.”
The occurrence of this catastrophe brings Ellsworth’s career down to
1858, he then being of the age of twenty-one. Connected with the
business of a patent solicitor are certain legal aspects that require
attention, and having in this way in a manner been introduced to the
law, he determined to prepare himself for the full practice of that
profession. He therefore entered the law office of Mr. J. E. Cone as a
student. The remuneration he received for copying legal papers was
wholly inadequate; for a time he slept on the floor of the office, and
suffered, not infrequently, the pangs of hunger. During these months
of hard study, drudgery of copying, and abject poverty, he retained
his interest in military affairs, though he had no active part in them
for the reason that he could not afford the expense of belonging to a
company. However, he joined a gymnasium and made the acquaintance of
Dr. Charles A. DeVilliers, who was an instructor in fencing, evidently
in that institution. Dr. DeVilliers was destined to play an important
part in the military education and career of Ellsworth, for he revived
in him his ardent martial spirit and encouraged him in his desire to
acquire an intimate knowledge of the French Zouave system of tactics
and uniform with a view to introducing them into this country.
DeVilliers was competent for this purpose, having served with a French
Zouave regiment in the Crimean War and was familiar with all the
details of their drill and equipment. The name and system were derived
by the French in 1830 from the members of a mountain tribe of Algeria,
(Arab., Zwawá) who, arrayed in oriental costume, wide trousers, fez,
and loose jacket, were in their rapidity of movement and ferocity of
courage famed as fighters. Ellsworth, of a romantic nature and a lover
of the novel and dramatic, was attracted by this now famous and
spectacular system, and sent to France for books fully explaining it
and set himself to acquire the language that he might read them. In
the meantime, with Scott’s and Hardee’s books of tactics open before
him, he perfected himself in the manual of arms, not hesitating to
introduce improvements of his own where they seemed desirable, his
endeavor being to bring ease, grace, and celerity into every movement.
Under DeVillier’s instruction he became the best fencer in Chicago,
while his “lightning drill” attracted attention as he exhibited it in
the gymnasium.
His reputation having reached as far as Rockford, Illinois, he was
engaged in the summer of 1858 to drill the Rockford City Grays, a
company that had been organized two years earlier. The corps made good
progress and in September went into camp on the fairgrounds, remaining
four days, during which time military companies from Elgin, Freeport,
and Chicago visited the encampment. During his stay at Rockford
Ellsworth made the acquaintance of Miss Carrie Spafford, to whom he
became engaged, and for whom to the day of his death he cherished the
highest regard and the deepest affection. Her father, Mr. Charles H.
Spafford, was one of the pioneers and a leading citizen of the place
and with his family was attached to Ellsworth and befriended him more,
perhaps, than any others outside of his immediate relatives. In his
last letter to Miss Spafford he refers to her parents as “father and
mother.” Mrs. Charles H. Godfrey, a sister of Miss Spafford, still
resides at Rockford and occupies the dwelling where Colonel Ellsworth
visited the family in 1858, and though she has no remembrance of him
she cherishes the honor that her Christian name, Eugenia, was by him
proposed for her to the family when he fondled her on his knee. Miss
Carrie Spafford married Charles S. Brett, both of whom with their only
son are deceased, Mrs. Brett having died in 1911 at the old home where
the Colonel visited her. Not only did Ellsworth win the friendship and
regard of the Spafford family, but his cordial manners and magnetic
personality made him a marked individuality and a popular hero
throughout the town.
In the following month of October Ellsworth went to Madison,
Wisconsin, and was employed there in drilling the Governor’s Guard, a
military company organized in February of that year and made up of the
leading young men of the place. It is on record that on October 15,
1858, he was elected commandant of the Guard and began drilling the
company, which at the beginning numbered twenty-five men, three
evenings in each week. There is nothing to indicate how long he
remained at Madison, though a letter to his mother, already referred
to, bears date, “Capitol House, Madison, Wis., Nov. 15th, 1858,” and
it is probable that he was with the Governor’s Guard in its parade of
December 26 following, concerning which a Madison newspaper says,
“They appear much improved in a military point.” The State Historical
Society of Wisconsin has in its archives several interesting memorials
of Ellsworth’s sojourn in Madison. There is some evidence that he
drilled a company in Springfield, Illinois, at about this period, but
the statements are so indefinite and inconclusive that I have
refrained from giving them as facts. In a study of this kind it is
necessary carefully to compare, weigh, and sift all the materials of
information.
A definite landmark in the life of Ellsworth is his diary, commenced
on his twenty-second birthday, April 11, 1859, and continued for a
brief period.[129] This was in the spring following his agreeable and
successful military employment at Rockford and Madison, but from which
he seems to have derived no considerable emolument, for the entries in
his diary relate experiences of his struggle with poverty. Concerning
the purpose of the journal, he says: “I do this because it seems
pleasant to be able to look back upon our past lives and note the
gradual change in our sentiments and views of life; and because my
life has been and bids fair to be such a jumble of strange incidents
that, should I become anybody or anything, this will be useful as a
means of showing how much suffering and temptation a man may undergo
and still keep clear of despair and vice.” These pages afford an
intimate view of his character and one which can be obtained from no
other source; for they are even more personal and confidential than
his letters to the members of his own family. They tell in easy,
fluent style of his poverty, temptations, dawning success,
meditations, and laborious study of the law in the office of Mr. Cone,
to which he had returned after his engagement had expired in Madison.
Among the earlier entries in the diary is the account of his election
on April 29, 1859, as commandant of the United States Zouave Cadets,
of Chicago, a company superseding the National Guard Cadets,
instituted three years previous, which company had become practically
defunct. On abandoning the old name and armory the Zouaves made their
quarters in the Garrett Block on ground now occupied by Central Music
Hall. The drill and discipline of the corps grew to be more exacting
and severe probably, than that to which any military company was ever
subjected, for Ellsworth’s aim was to improve the men “morally as well
as physically” and “to place the company in a position second to none
in the United States.” The rules adopted and rigidly enforced
proscribed drinking or even entering, without a valid excuse, a
barroom, forbade visiting houses of vulgar resort, and gambling rooms,
and prohibited the playing of billiards in public places. Ellsworth,
himself, all his life was very abstemious; in a letter to his brother
in 1858, he writes: “I don’t use tobacco in any shape whatever; I
drink neither tea or coffee.” Running all through his career is the
unmistakable evidence, especially visible in his private papers, that
he was above all a moral champion: that his ethical principles
overshadowed and governed his military ambitions. The proficiency of a
cadet was no recommendation to his leniency: if he transgressed the
rules, he must go: twelve of his best drilled men were expelled at one
time for drinking; but such was his influence over his command that as
they dwindled away there was never a stampede, even under the
laborious drills and the prohibitory discipline.
On the Fourth of July Ellsworth, having had the cadets in training but
little more than two months, gave a public drill in front of the
Tremont House and at once won the admiration of hostile critics, who
pronounced the exhibition unrivaled outside West Point. This success
was all the more remarkable when it is considered that Ellsworth had
acquired his military knowledge entirely from self-instruction, never
having been a member of a company when he began the occupation of
drillmaster. Moreover, he was still very poor, subsisting part of the
time on nothing better than crackers; but he could write proudly in
his diary on the night of the Fourth: “Victory, and thank God!”
At Chicago on September 15 of the same year, at the seventh annual
fair of the National Agricultural Society, Ellsworth with his Zouaves
won a stand of colors valued at $500, which had been offered as a
prize in a competitive drill. Owing to the fact that only one other
company drilled for the award, though the contest had been open to any
militia company in the country, great dissatisfaction prevailed
throughout the East and South that the Zouaves should under the
circumstances be accorded such a distinction. The old military
companies of the eastern cities scorned the pretentions of the
“prairie boys,” and ridiculed the idea of their being able to compete
successfully with themselves. For Ellsworth had added fuel to the fire
by challenging any company in the United States or Canada to drill for
the champion colors, offering to pay their expenses to and from
Chicago and stating that, starting on the following twentieth of June,
the Zouaves would visit the leading cities of the country for the
purpose of meeting those companies which had not found it convenient
to come to Chicago.
[Illustration: COLONEL ELLSWORTH AND FRANCIS E. BROWNELL
(IN LOWER RIGHT-HAND CORNER)
From original photographs in the collection of Frederick H.
Meserve, New York]
The discipline and drill, beginning early in February, became more
exacting than ever, as it was felt by the company that in order to
retain the colors the orders of the commandant must be scrupulously
observed. Ellsworth told them that “everything except business and the
company must be sacrificed” and that till the date set for the
departure, drills must be held every evening, except Sunday, from
seven to eleven o’clock. Associated with the drill, which was
practiced with knapsacks weighing twenty-three pounds, were strenuous
athletic exercises, while through the month of June the men slept on
the floor of the armory wrapped in their blankets. The start was
postponed from June 20 to July 2, owing to the death from smallpox of
Ellsworth’s brother, who was a member of the company. This bereavement
was a hard stroke for the commandant, who was already burdened with
the care and discipline of the company and anxiety for the results. It
was estimated that five weeks would be consumed in the tour and that
the expenditures would approximate $7,000, but the funds were far from
being raised when the day of departure arrived. Moreover, the
company’s goods and chattels were attached by certain ex-members who
had loaned it money and who were now smarting from the effects of
Ellsworth’s severe discipline; but this difficulty was quickly
relieved by the generosity of Chicago citizens.
The last reunion of Ellsworth’s Chicago Zouaves was held at the
Wellington Hotel, Chicago, in November, 1910, at which eight members
were present; five absentees were known to be living at that time. I
have recently corresponded with Mr. J. M. DeWitt of New York, who is
actively engaged in practical affairs, with Mr. Frank E. Yates of
Chicago, and, through his family, with Mr. J. A. Clybourn, of the same
city, who is in very poor health. This band of men, sifted out by
Ellsworth and tried by the fire of his rigorous discipline and
training, not only achieved the reputation of being perhaps the most
perfectly drilled military company in history, but held important
places in the army during the Civil War and multiplied the
instructions and principles which they had derived from their
commandant.
The Chicago Historical Society has in its Ellsworth collection a
crayon sketch drawn by him and evidently designed to serve as copy for
the printer in preparing memorials of the tour, to be presented to the
members of the company. Upon it are inscribed in consecutive order the
names of the cities visited and the military organizations by whom the
Zouaves were escorted and entertained, though the dates do not appear
in all cases. The itinerary follows:
Chicago, July 2, 1860; Adrian, Mich., July 3 and 4; Detroit, July 5;
Cleveland, July 6 and 7; Niagara Falls, Sunday; Rochester, July --;
Syracuse, July --; Utica, July --; Troy, July 12; Albany, July 13; New
York, July 14, 15, 16, --, 18, 19, 20; Boston, July 21, 22, 23, 25;
Charlestown, Mass., July 24; Salem, July --; West Point, July 26, 27;
Philadelphia, July 28; Baltimore, Aug. --; Washington, D. C., Mount
Vernon, Aug. --; Pittsburgh, Aug. --; Cincinnati, Aug. --; St. Louis,
Aug. --; Springfield, Aug. --; Chicago, Aug. 15.
The Zouaves were accompanied throughout their tour by a band of
eighteen pieces, the Light Guard Band of Chicago; but though the
company went forth with fine melody and unique and brilliant uniforms,
they were hardy soldiers with bronzed faces and wiry, agile frames,
who lived abstemiously and slept each night on the floor of their
quarters. Temptations to indulge in wines and liquors were before them
daily, but they resolutely turned away to take up the arduous work of
their program. They were very young and somewhat undersized; by no
means a stalwart array, as might be expected; but the wonderful
precision, celerity, and grace of their drill and evolutions
astonished and thrilled every town they visited, and the accounts of
their marvelous proficiency, telegraphed ahead, aroused widespread
curiosity and brought great crowds to observe them wherever they went.
Though the tour was made for the purpose of inviting competition, not
a company ventured to face them, all cheerfully according them the
palm of superiority.
The period in which the tour was made could not have been more
opportune; a critical presidential election was on, with Abraham
Lincoln heading the Republican party which stood for the nonextension
of slavery, and with the avowal rife in the South that, should he be
elected, war would ensue. Thus, the people were disposed to look with
interest and enthusiasm upon military demonstrations. Ellsworth’s
experience was not, however, entirely without anxiety, owing to the
lack of funds, which, until New York City was reached, was a source of
worry; but at this point and in Boston large amounts were derived from
exhibition drills given before immense audiences, and henceforward no
difficulty was experienced on this score. The company reached Chicago
on Tuesday, August 15, was accorded an ovation irrespective of party
affiliations, and escorted to the accompaniment of pyrotechnics and a
torch-light procession, to the “Wigwam” where Lincoln had been
nominated, which was filled with more than 10,000 people. Mayor
Wentworth gave a congratulatory address which was briefly responded to
by Captain Ellsworth, after which, it now being midnight, the company
was banqueted at the Briggs House.
Not long after this triumphant return Ellsworth resigned his
commission and the company disbanded. Its career having been
brilliant, though brief, it was better, it seemed to him, that the
organization should dissolve rather than deteriorate under less
rigorous discipline. Ellsworth, without delay, seeming to realize that
armed strife was at hand, organized a regiment of Zouaves in northern
Illinois, officered it with men from his old company, and presented
the force to Governor Yates to direct as he might deem expedient.
Having become acquainted with Mr. Lincoln, he now entered his law
office, not so much to pursue his somewhat neglected law studies as to
promote a scheme which he was evolving of reorganizing the militia of
Illinois and eventually of the whole country: to unify and bring the
entire system more completely under the control of a central
authority. Here begins to be manifest a wide grasp and a broad vision
for which Ellsworth has never been given credit. To enjoy a reputation
as a successful drillmaster and to control efficiently a company of
fifty men was but the rudiment of his ambition and capacity; his mind
went out firmly and sanely to broad fields, and he impressed his ideas
upon Mr. Lincoln, who sought to give him an opportunity at the
national capital to work out and put in operation these desirable
measures. A start was attempted in a bill dictated by Ellsworth and
introduced in the Illinois legislature while he was in Springfield,
but though it was successful in the House, it failed in the Senate
through causes other than a lack of merit.
During the autumn, Ellsworth employed himself on the stump, speaking
for the Republican candidates, and exhibited decided gifts as an
orator; a fine voice and presence, abundant humor and fluent
expression gained him a ready hearing. In the meantime he had resumed
his legal studies and later, passing a satisfactory examination, was
admitted to the bar a few weeks before Mr. Lincoln started on his
journey to Washington. The president-elect had invited Ellsworth to
accompany him on the trip in the capacity of an officer to safeguard
him by superintending the disposition of the crowds that everywhere
met him. Arriving at the capital he was incapacitated with the
measles, but when, on his twenty-fourth birthday, April 11, 1861, Fort
Sumter was summoned to surrender, he soon shook off the lethargy of
his convalescence, resigned his lieutenant’s commission, borrowed what
money John Hay had at his disposal, and started for New York, resolved
to raise a regiment for the service. In this he was promptly
successful among the firemen of the city and in a remarkably brief
space, at the head of the Eleventh New York Volunteer Infantry, was on
May 7 mustered into the service in front of the Capitol at Washington
and in the presence of President Lincoln. For a few days the regiment
was quartered in the Capitol building, but as the command was
acquiring a tendency to disregard the proprieties of the service,
Colonel Ellsworth secured for it a camp on the south side of the east
branch of the Potomac, on the high ground in the vicinity of the
Insane Asylum, believing that here he would have the men under better
control. An interesting, and to the Fire Zouaves a complimentary,
event occurred while the regiment was in Washington. Willard’s Hotel
having taken fire, Ellsworth and his men after vigorous efforts
quenched the flames and saved the building, much to the gratification
of Mr. Willard, who entertained them at breakfast and gave Colonel
Ellsworth a purse of $500 to employ for the benefit of the regiment.
This money the Colonel turned over to the committee that organized and
equipped the Fire Zouaves, and it was eventually divided equally and
applied toward the erection of monuments for Ellsworth and his
successor, Colonel Farnham, who died of wounds sustained at the first
battle of Bull Run.
On the evening of Thursday, May 23, the regiment was ordered to be
ready to move at a moment’s notice, and at 2 o’clock A. M. of the
twenty-fourth marched from its camp and boarded the steamers _James
Guy_ and _Mount Vernon_. In the bustle and stress incident to the
departure, the busy Colonel found time to write two remarkable
letters: one to his parents, the other to Miss Spafford, his fiancée.
They breathe a presentiment of death and were found (at least the
former, and I think the latter) upon his body. The letter addressed to
Miss Spafford has not appeared before in print and has been read by
but a limited number of persons. Colonel Ellsworth’s last act before
leaving his tent was to look at her portrait and place it in his
bosom.[130]
My dear Father and Mother: The Regiment is ordered to move
across the river tonight. We have no means of knowing what
reception we are to meet with. I am inclined to the opinion
that our entrance to the City of Alexandria will be hotly
contested, as I am just informed that a large force have
arrived there today. Should this happen, my dear parents, it
may be my lot to be injured in some manner. Whatever may
happen, cherish the consolation that I was engaged in the
performance of a sacred duty; and tonight, thinking over the
probabilities of tomorrow, and the occurrences of the past,
I am perfectly content to accept whatever my fortune may be,
confident that He who noteth even the fall of a sparrow will
have some purpose even in the fate of one like me.
My darling and ever-loved parents, good-bye. God bless,
protect and care for you. ELMER.
* * * * *
My own darling Kitty. My Regiment is ordered to cross the
river & move on Alexandria within six hours. We may meet
with a warm reception & my darling among so many careless
fellows one is somewhat likely to be hit.
If anything _should_ happen--Darling just accept this
assurance, the only thing I can leave you--The highest
happiness I looked for on earth was a union with you--You
have more than realised the hopes I formed regarding your
advancement--And I believe I love you with all the ardor I
am capable of--You know my darling any attempt of mine to
convey an adequate expression of my feelings must be simply
futile--God bless you, as you deserve and grant you a happy
& usefull life & us a union hereafter. Truly your own,
ELMER.