The National tribune., 1907-04-18

our entrance to the city Of Alexandria
| will be holly contested, as 1 am just
informed that large force have ar
rived there to-day. Should this happen,
my dear parents. It may be my lot to
| be injured in some manner. Whatever
may happen, cherish the consolation
that was engaged In the performance
Of a sacred duty. and tonight, thinking
over the probabilities Of the morrow
and the occurrences Of the past 1 am
perfectly content to accept whatever
my fortune may be, confident that He
who noteth even the fall of sparrow
will have some purpose even in the tate
of one like me. My darling and ever
loved parents, good-by. God bless. pro-
| tect and care for you. Elmer"
| The Fire Zouaves start.
| Promptly at a. M Captain. after
ward Admiral. Dahlgren appeared off
the camp with the transports, and the
| regiment was quickly formed on the
beach and embarked. 1t made a bril-
liant scene in the moonlight. There was
a slight chill upon the air. and the Zou-
| ayes wrapt themselves in their red
blankets as they formed about the
campfres with their glittering arms and
| marched down to the beach.
| BY o'clock, just as the sun was be-
ginning to send his first rays over the
Anacostia Hills, the transports arrived
opposite Alexandria, to find the Paw
| nee already lying there with her ports
open. her guns loaded and run out and
everything ready for action. A boat
| filed with armed marines and carrying
a flag of truce put out from the Pawnee
for the dock to demand the surrender
of the city. This was an independent
| action on the part of the commander
of the Pawnee. as Col. Ellsworth in
tended, If necessary. to fight his way
into the hogan landing 10
men at once. There We're a few senti-
nels on guard. who fired their muskets
and then ran back into the town, fol-
lowed by some shots from the Zouaves.
Otherwise the streets were entirely de-
serted and the regiment moved rapidly
forward, deploying on different streets,
according to the orders given the Cap
Iains by the Colonel.
EIIsworth's Death.
Col. Ellsworth's first thought, after
seeing his men in possession of the
town. was the interruption of the tele-
graph communications and he started
for the office, accompanied by H. J. Win
ser, of the regiment; Rev. e. w. Dodge.
the Chaplain, and q newspaper corre-
spondent. Later he called a Sergeant
and squad from the company nearest
to him. On the way to the telegraph
office he noticed the flag flying from
the Marshall House, which had been
such an irritation to him for weeks asl
he lay in camp across the Potomac and
which he conceived was an insult to the
President, as it seemed to be visible
from the White House at Washington
He forgot the telegraph Office for n
moment, and turned into the Marshall
House. He met a man in his shirt
sleeves and pantaloons, who claimed to-
be a bOarder in the house Ellsworth
rushed upstairs. followed by his men,
and in the attic found a ladder by which
he climbed to the roof, and, cutting the
halyards with Winser's knife, pulled the
flag down. He started on his return
e. Brownell of Co. A of the Fire Zou-
ayes. Brownell had his gun loaded and
bayonet fixt. At the first landing the
man whom they had accosted suddenly
emerged from a doorway and, leveling
a double barreled shotgun at Ellsworth,
fired straight at his heart, and Els
worth fell heavily down the remaining
steps. The man turned like a fash to
fire the other barrel at Brownell Asi
the gun went off the slugs with which
it was loaded went over the Zouave'sl
head, landing in the panels of a door.
Instantly Brownell fired his rifle, and
shot the man in the face, making a
frightful wound. Almost before the
man fell Browneil shortened his gun,
and plunged the saber bayonet thru his
body. Such was the force that the body
fell down the steps and lay beside that
of Ellsworth.
Brownell Immediately reloaded his |
rifle, and brought it to bear upon two
other men. who had been reused by the |
commotion and We're starting for the
door. He threatened to shoot them if |
they stirred a step or raised an alarm.
They proved to be travelling men, who
had no comprehension of what was
happening, and We're. terribly alarmed. |
The other privates leyeled their muskets |
and commanded the halls which con-
verged at the points. The Chaplain and |
Winser ran out to inform the regiment |
as to what had happened. A detach- |
ment was instantly sent in, accompa-
MED by a Surgeon, but there was no
need for the latter's services. Col. Ellis
worth had been dead some minutes, and
handsome as he had always appeared |
in life, he seemed even more so in |
death |
Presently a screaming woman ran out
from one of the rooms and threw her.
self upon the body of the assassin, when |
it was discovered that he was James,
T. Jackson, the keeper of the hotel. and
the woman was his widow. A guard
was at once thrown around the hotel, |
for it was feared that the enraged Zou-
ayes would sack and burn it. Those |
who were in We're denied egress till the
matter could be investigated. Els |
worth's body was tenderly lifted up and
carried to the wharf, whence it was sent
TO Washington. The funeral was held
in the East Room of the White House.
with President Lincoln as the chief
mourner. Then the remains were taken
to New York. accompanied by a guard
of honor, and great crowds gathered at
every station to pay respect to the
young hero. At New York the body lay
in state in the City Hall, and was after
ward carried in imposing procession
thru the streets to the depot, to be sent
for burial to Eilsworth's birthplace at |
Mechanicsville.
The Country MOurned.
The whole country mourned intensely, |!
and commemorative services were held
quite generally at differen5 places in the
North.
Subscriptions for monument at once
began to flow in, but the best monu-
ment was the 44th n. Y, the Ellis
worth Avengers" or the Peoples Ellis
worth Regiment which was recruited
under the auspices of the Ellsworth AS
ISOLATION. The original plan was to
enlist from every ward and town of the
State one picked man, and in this way,
tho the plan was not rigidly adhered to,
a most superior class of recruits was
obtained The regiment made mag
niE haf