Importunate words throng me for expression, but they cannot be
accommodated further; the rage and grief of the Fire Zouaves and their
hardly-prevented purpose of burning the city of Alexandria; the
universal sorrow and demonstrations of grief all along the funeral
route from Washington to Mechanicsville. I would like to tell of my
acquaintance with and reminiscences of Ellsworth’s parents, of how the
government provided liberally for them, of how their son Elmer
fulfilled in death the desire that he had been unable to accomplish in
life: that his mother might “ride in a carriage.”
The fame of Ellsworth is destined to live on and to increase, for he
individualized those elements of character which are loved and admired
by the race universally. There was a deep well of patriotism in his
romantic, generous nature, informed and directed by a keen and
comprehensive intellect. Though his life is almost like a fairy tale,
it is steadied and rationalized by deep thoughtfulness, filial
affection, and unaffected piety. The far generations will linger
reverently over that final word of love to his parents and will shed a
tear as they read of his last look at the portrait of the bride of his
heart and of his going out to die. Ellsworth will yet come to his own
and be appreciated and valued and loved for what he was: one of the
noblest, purest, and ablest patriots who ever died for his country.
[128] This article, which is intended to serve as an
introduction to a biography of Colonel Ellsworth which I
hope to bring out, comprises but a fraction of the data
bearing upon his life and times which I have in my
possession. To those who have afforded me assistance in the
collection of this material I am deeply grateful; in
particular I desire to express my indebtedness to the
following persons: Milo M. Quaife, superintendent, State
Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison; Caroline M.
McIlvaine, librarian, Chicago Historical Society; Eugenia S.
Godfrey, Rockford, Illinois; Mrs. Jessie Palmer Weber,
librarian, Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield;
Isabella K. Rhodes, acting reference librarian, New York
State Library, Albany; Jessie F. Wheeler, Reference
Department, Troy Public Library; William A. Saxton, chief,
Bureau of War Records, Albany, New York.
[129] Ellsworth’s diary has disappeared from view and there
is a report which bears considerable evidence of being
accurate that it was destroyed in later years by Ellsworth’s
parents. However this may be, it was given, upon his death,
to Corporal Brownell, who had killed Jackson, his assassin.
John Hay seems to have had access to it at one time, for in
an article by him in _McClure’s Magazine_, VI, 354, many
citations from the diary are given. Prior to this, an
unidentified writer in the Chicago _Times_ of October 28,
1883, and in the _National Tribune_ of October 15, 1885
cites so extensively from Ellsworth’s diary as to render it
probable that he had possession of it either at that or at
some prior time.
[130] The letter to Miss Spafford is owned by her sister,
Mrs. Charles H. Godfrey, of Rockford. The letter to
Ellsworth’s parents has been published in photographic
reproduction in the _Photographic History of the Civil War_,
edited by Francis T. Miller (New York, 1911, 10 vols.), I,
351.
[131] This letter is in the collection of Judd Stewart. It
was privately printed in facsimile, with appropriate editing
by Frederick H. Meserve, by the Quill Club of New York in
1916.