Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1901-07-10
This goes to New York"

believe Ellsworth went up TO get that
dag IN the interest of peace and good
order. He was moved, / believe, bv
the thought that if seen by his men
1t might be taken as provocation to
do lswless acts. 1t was not bravado
that inspired him; the act was
prompted by the earnest desire to be
prudent and avoid trouble.
His action in sending Sergeant
Marshall back for Captain Coyle
and Company A always seemed to
me convincing proof that be did not
leave the regiment for the purpose of
taking the flag, as be has often been
asserted by some. for if that was his
intention why did he Immediately
upon coming in sight of it send for
aid?
Why did he not go in the most di-
rect line to the house instead of 60
ing as be did?
We started down the stairs from
the attic to the third floor.
was leading. Ellsworth was the
hrst behind, In the act of rolling up
the flag into a small bundle. AS |
came upon the first landing, which
turned with half dozen steps be-
fore leading to the floor, there stood
man with a double barreled gun
resting on the banisters aud the
muzzle pointing at my breast
Up to this time everything had
been so quiet we were not anticipa-
ting trouble. BY the instinct of
self-preseryation, more manipulating
else, l jumped, and as | did SO l
threw down the barrel of my gun on
his, and both guns slid down the
banister until they reached the turn,
and then fell apart.
My jump cleared the steps from
the landing TO the floor, but before
could gain my equilibrium the man
had thrown up his gun in position,
and just ms Ellsworth came in view
on the landing he fired. Then he
whirled and leveled at me. AS he
did SO fired and sprang forward
with my bayonet. That motion saved
my life, for the heavy charge of
buckshot went just over my head
and through the door behind me.
The muzzle of the gun was with
in three or four feet of Ellsworth's
breast. The charge of buckshot
struck him just above the heart.
With the single exclamation, "My
God!" he fell forward from the land
ing to the floor.
Jackson, who killed Ellsworth,
WAS shot in the corner of his left eve
through the brain. The bayonet
pierced his heart. He fell backward
to the landing midway between the
second and third floors From the
beginning to the end he never spoke.
can only account for my escape
by the suppOsitiOn that when l came
into view on the landing, Jackson
wsvered for u moment. That gave
me q chance to leap to the floor and
saved my life.
do not think he knew who had
gone up to take down the flag. He
had been celebrating the passage of
the ordinance of secession and had
gone to bed drunk at z O'Clock that
morning.
There had been threats by citizens
to take down the flag, and jackson
had sworn to defend it. He had
been awakened hurridly by some
body and told that we had gone up
to get the flag.
Without waiting to dress, for he
wore only his shirt and pantaloons,
he seized his gun and took his place
on the landing.
A strange incident happend at the
moment of Ellsworth's death. Up
on the breast of his vest he wore the
Badge of the Baltimore City Guards,
which had been given him while in
that city in 1860. 1t bore the let
ters b. g. q. in German text in the
center of a blue garter, in which was
the latin motto: mon solemn nobis
set pro patria" ('Not for ourselyes