Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-23
COL. ELLSWORTH.
The Story of His Death as Told by One
of the Sunny Southland.
How Ellsworth and Wilson Raised their Com
panies From the slums of New York
Instances of Patriotism.
For the Gazette.


Mr.. Editor:-In your Issue Of Febru-
airy 20, under the heading of GA Young
Hero,'' you gave an account Of the as
sassination Of Col. Ellsworth. Who was
| Col. Ellsworth? He was colonel of one
the two notorious zouave regiments that
were raised in New York in May '6l.
The other was commanded by the noto-
rious Billy Wilson. Col. Ellsworth made
himself the favorite of the ladies (the
kind, I suppose, that accompanied the
grand army to witness the battle at Ma
nassas, July 81, 1863 at the Astor
House and Wizards hotel, by his long
hair, gymuastic grace and red uniform,
and he boosted of a great deal of politi-
| President Lincoln. To the standard Of
this young man, and also to that of a
notorious bully and marauder by the
name Of Billy Wilson, focked all the va
grant and unruly classes of the great me-
| tropolis of New York. The latter boosted
| that when his regiment was moved off it
would be found that not thief, high
wayman or pickpocket would be left in
! the city. The people of New York and
| Washington were strangely enraptured
with the spectacle of these terrible and
| ruthless crusaders, who were to strike
terror to the hearts of the southern
| people. Anecdotes of their rude and
| desperate dispositions, their brutal
| speeches and their exploits Of rowdysm
were told with glee and devoured with
| unnatural satisfaction. In Washington
| people were delighted by anecdotes that
| Ellsworth g 20 laves made practice of
| knocking their officers down; that their
| usual address to the sentinels was: essay,
| fellow, I'm a-goin to quit this ranch;'
| that on rainy days they seized umbrellas
! from citizens on the streets, and Knocked
| them III the gutter if they demonstrated;
| that, in the most entire good honor,
| they levied contributions of boots, shoes,
| liquors and cigars on tradesmen; and
that the "gallant colonel'' Gas your
| correspondent would have great mar
| TYR habitually wore bowie knife two
| feet long. The freaks and eccentricities
| were not only excusable, they were adj
| mirable. The untamed courage of the
| New York firemen and rowdies, said the
! people, were to be SO useful and con-
| spicuous in the war, and the prophecy
| was, that these men, so troublesome to-
| ward quiet citizens who came in contact
| with them, would be the first to win
| honorable laurels on the field of battle.
| Billy Wilson frequently marched his reg
| iment up Broadway to pay visits to the
| principal hotels. On one of these occasions
| he marched them in the barroom of one
| and gave the order "Attention - At
| tention was paid, and the bystauders
| preserved silence.
"Kneel dowu!'' shouted the colonel.
The men dropped upon their knees.
''You do solemnly swear to cut off the
head of every id secessionist you meet
during the war?''
"'We swear was the universal re-
Spouse.
"The gallant souls,'' said a New
York paper, "then returned in good or
| der to their quarters.
Can anyone find any great, military
| genius in such set of Arabs2 1 think
Mr.. Hays had better try hts hand again.
He surely can find martyr in the per-
son Of Col. Uric Dahlgreen, and the
schoolboy, Littlepage the assassin, for
he captured the famous Dahlgreen pa
| pers. Or he might find some genius in
Gen. Pope, the man who meyer saw only
the back Of enemies.
A word now, In defense of our south
ern dead. l know the slayer of Col.
Ellsworth was branded in the North as
an assassin, and now, here in the South,
twenty nine years afterward, to hear it
again! Why not let this heroic dust rest?
History does not permit such q term to
be applied to O man who defended his
| country's flag aud the integrity of his
home with his life. The circumstances
of this tragedy were this: Upon the oc-
cupation of Alexandria by the Federals,
n~Sh fn6n fa anc
from the Marshal house. Accompanied
by four of his companions, determined
to secure it as his prize, he found his
way into the hotel, assembled the stairs
and climbed by ladder to the top of the
house, where he secured the obnoxious
ensign. AS he was descending from the
trap door with the flag on his arm, he
was confronted by Mr.. Jackson, the
proprietor of the hotel, who, aroused
from his bed by the unusual noise, half
dressed and in his shirt sleeves, with q
double barreled gun in his hands, faced
Ellsworth and his four companions with a
quiet and settled determination.
'This is my trophy, - said the Federal
commander, pointing to the flag.
"And you are mine,' responded the
Vlrginian, as with quick aim he dis
charged his gun full into the breast of
Col. Ellsworth, and the next instant
sank by his side a breathless corpse, from
bullet through his brain aud bayonet
thrust at the hands of one of the SOL
diers. The character of this man is said
to have been full of good traits aud ma
tive chivalry. He was captain of an
artillery company in his town. He was
known to his neighbors as person who
united dauntless and unyielding cour-
age with the most generous impulse. AS
week before his death ''union'' man
from Washington had been seized in the
streets of Alexandria and crown threat
ened to shoot or hang him, when Jackson
went to his rescue, threatened to kill any
man who would modest him and saved
HIM from the vengeance Of the mob. A
day before the federal occupation of the
town, in conversation in which some
such movement was conjeotured, his
neighbors demonstrated with him about
making his house sign for the enemY's
attack by the flag which fioated over It.
he replied that he would sacrifice his life
in keeping the flag flying, and by day
break the next day he sealed in death his
promise. Will you call this courage
bravery? No. no; Jackson never thought
of the five fold against him Bravery