Qass. 
 Book. 
 
 
H.\\^VIc>tVa ruouuv^NfcT^ ■as^a c\*t( i>r\' 
 
 EXERCISES 
 
 CONNECTED WITU THE 
 
 ItnvciUug at i\u (Mmvaxih ^m\mmU 
 
 MECHANICA ILLE, 
 
 May 27, 1874. 
 
 i^' 
 
 ALBANY, N. Y. : 
 JOEL MUNSELL 
 
 1875. 
 
 f 
 

At a meeting of the Ellsworth Monument Association 
 held at the residence of Capt. E. D. Ellsworth, April 30th, 
 1875, it was unanimously voted that the balance of money 
 in the treasury, $^79. 60, be appropriated to the publication 
 of the proceedings at the inauguration of the monument, 
 as a memorial volume. 
 
 Bernice D. Ames, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
31n flpemortam. 
 
 MONUMENT TO COL. ELLSWORTH. 
 
 ESTTRODUCTORY. 
 
 BY REV. BERNICE DARWIN AMES, A.M. 
 
 WMle Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth was stationed at Wash- 
 ington with his regiment of Fire Zouaves, in the spring of 
 1861, Willard's Hotel took fire. The Fire Zouaves were of 
 great service in putting an end to the conflagration. In tes- 
 timony of his gratitude, Mr. Willard presented Col. Ells- 
 worth with $500; Col. Ellsworth sent it to the ^NTew York 
 fire committee, under whose auspices the regiment had 
 been raised, to be devoted to providing medals for such 
 members of the regiment as should survive. On the death 
 of Col. Ellsworth the committee voted to appropriate the 
 money to the erection of a monument to his memory. A 
 general interest was felt in the erection of such a monu- 
 ment, and in Saratoga county a committee to take charge 
 of the matter was appointed, consisting of Hon. James B. 
 McKean, Gen. E. F. BuUard and Lewis E. Smith, with 
 Gen. James M. Cook as treasurer. 
 
 It is believed that considerable sums of money were 
 raised at this time throughout the country and in the army 
 for the Ellsworth monument, but if so it is not known what 
 became of it, for very little ever reached this committee. 
 The momentous events of the war followed in such rapid 
 succession, that the subject of building monuments for fallen 
 heroes was driven from the minds of the people, the absorb- 
 ing question was, how can the life of the nation be saved ? 
 
6 
 
 After the close of tlie war, occasional attempts were made 
 to proceed with the matter, but all, for some reason or other, 
 were fruitless. In the meantime. Col. Koah L. Farnham, 
 the lieutenant colonel and successor of Col. Ellswortli in 
 command of the regiment, had died of wounds received at 
 Bull Run, and half of the funds in the hands of the New 
 York fire committee had been devoted to the erection of a 
 monument to his memory. Among other ways in which 
 the matter was pressed upon the attention of the people of 
 Mechanicville, the subject was repeatedly agitated in the 
 Mechanicville Star in 1871, the only apparent result of which 
 was the eliciting of the following letter which explains 
 itself : 
 
 To the Editor of the Mechanicville Star : 
 
 Sir : My attention was called to-day to an article in 
 your paper of May 6th in relation to the Ellsworth monu- 
 ment fund, the writer of which does not appear to me 
 to be fully conversant with the history of the fund in my 
 hands, and for the purpose of having a better understand- 
 ing of the matter I make the following explanation : 
 
 While Col. Ellsworth with his regiment of Fire Zouaves 
 was in Washington, a fire occurred at Willard's Hotel, 
 threatening a very extensive conflagration. Through the 
 activity and daring displayed by the members of the regi- 
 ment its progress was stayed, and the hotel saved from de- 
 struction. This was so highly appreciated by Mr. Willard, 
 that he gave to Col. Ellsworth |500 for the use of the regi- 
 ment. This money the colonel gave over to our committee 
 just before the advance on Alexandria where the colonel 
 lost his life. Our committee, that is the committee that or- 
 ganized and equipped the first regiment of Fire Zouaves, 
 have with this $500 added a balance of unexpended money 
 remaining in their hands after the war, and judiciously in- 
 vested the same, until about the 1st of January last it 
 amounted to $1,261. At a meeting of the committee at 
 that time, it was decided by vote that the money be equally 
 divided and appropriated for monuments to the memory 
 
of Col. Ellsworth, and Col. Farnham, the successor of 
 Col. Ellsworth in command of the regiment, whose death 
 was caused by wounds received at Bull Run. This money 
 has been placed in my hands for distribution, and the 
 only restrictions regarding it are that some recognition of 
 the Volunteer Fire Department of New York, from which 
 the regiment was organized, should be placed on the 
 monument and that satisfactory evidence be given me of 
 the erection of the monument, our object being to have 
 the money expended for that purpose and no other. 
 
 I have placed the money in the Metropolitan Savings 
 Bank of this city and will pay the same over with the ac- 
 cumulation, as soon as the monument is erected, being 
 $630.50 with interest from Ist January last. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 A. F. OcKERSHAUSEN, 380 South St., 
 Chairman of the Committee of the 
 
 First Regiment Fire Zouaves. 
 New York, June Ist, 1871. 
 
 In the summer of 1872, Rev. Hiram Dunn volunteered 
 to enter the field to canvass for subscriptions for the Ells- 
 worth monument fund. His movement, and the frequent 
 notices of it in the papers, had a favorable effect by calling 
 public attention to the matter. The Ellsworth monument 
 committee have received from the uncollected subscrip- 
 tions, handed to them by the Rev. Hiram Dunn, the sum 
 of $125 for the monument fund. During the same sum- 
 mer a letter was received by Mr. Abiram Fellows from 
 his nephew. Col. John R. Fellows, suggesting that an or- 
 ganization should be effected to take charge of the erection 
 of a monument to the memory of Col. Ellsworth, and 
 offering to give $100 towards it. Enough people now 
 seemed to be interested, in the movement, in addition 
 to those who had long been ready and waiting for action, 
 to give good promise of a successful result. After con- 
 sultation the following call was immediately drawn up and 
 circulated and the names appended were secured : 
 
" Since a promismg movement has been inaugurated for 
 
 raising funds to erect a monument to the memory of the 
 
 late Col. Ellsworth, and since it is desirable that there 
 
 should be a responsible organization located at Mechanic- 
 
 ville to take charge of the matter, we the undersigned hereby 
 
 request our fellow citizens of Mechanicville and vicinity 
 
 to meet us for the purpose of forming such an association 
 
 on Friday evening, Aug. 23d, at 7 o'clock, at the new public 
 
 hall. 
 
 Bernice D. Ames, L. E. Smith, 
 
 Charles Wheeler, E. Lockwood, 
 
 J. F. Terry, Richard Richards, 
 
 Abiram Fellows, W. W. Smith, 
 
 E. C. Chase, John W. Smith. 
 
 H. K. Cornell, 
 
 "Mechanicville, Aug. 19th, 1872." 
 
 FAMING OF OFFICERS. 
 
 At the time named a meeting was held which adjourned 
 till the next evening, Aug. 24th. At the adjourned meeting, 
 Mr. Charles A. Hemstreet was chosen President, and Mr. 
 H. S. Loper Secretary. At this meeting an Ellsworth 
 Monument Association was organized by the choice of the 
 following oflEicers, viz : Mr. Abiram Fellows, President ; 
 Prof. Bernice D. Ames, Secretary; Mr. H. K. Cornell, 
 Treasurer. A committee to have the whole charge of erect- 
 ing the monument was also chosen, which at their first 
 meeting was increased to include the following members, 
 viz: Messrs. C. A. Hemstreet, Job Gr. Viall, James C. 
 Rice, Alonzo Howland, Henry K. Cornell, Ephraim 
 D. Ellsworth, Abiram Fellows, Prof. Bernice D. Ames, 
 Mechanicville, Gen. E. F. Bullard, Troy, Hon. T. G. Young- 
 love, Crescent, Col. W. B. French, Saratoga Springs, John 
 R. Fellows and A. F. Ockershausen, New York, Fernando 
 Jones, Chicago. In reality this committee constituted the 
 Ellsworth Monument Association. The first meeting of 
 
9 
 
 the committee was held at the office of the Treasurer, 
 August 27th, to complete their organization and commence 
 operations. Meetings of the committee were held from 
 time to time in furtherance of their design. At a meeting 
 held Nov. 15th, 1872, acontract was entered into with Geo. 
 F. White, Rutland, Vt., to furnish and erect the monument. 
 The legislature of the state of ISTew York, at its session held 
 in the winter and spring of 1873, under the lead of Gen. 
 George S. Batcheller appropriated $2000 for the Ellsworth 
 monument. This liberal appropriation, which was unani- 
 mously voted, rendered the movement an assured success, 
 and greatly lightened the subsequent labors of the com- 
 mittee. It was soon after determined to improve the monu- 
 ment which had been already ordered, by the addition of a 
 bronze medallion of Col. Ellsworth to be placed upon one 
 face of the die and a bronze eao;le to surmount the shaft. 
 
 THE MOIs^UMENT. 
 
 After unexpected delays the monument was erected 
 early in November, 1873, and on the fifth of that month 
 the committee visited and examined it, and on motion voted 
 to accept it as completed, but on, account of the lateness 
 of the season, it was decided to postpone the ceremonies 
 attending the unveiling of the monument until the follow- 
 ing May. " Beautiful for situation," like Mount Zion, is 
 the Ellsworth monument. It stands in the picturesque 
 cemetery lately named the Ellsworth cemetery, situated 
 upon the brow of the hill a little south-west of the village. 
 It is located in the Ellsworth family lot near the center of 
 the cemetery and is by far the most commanding object in it. 
 Seen from the village, and a large section of the surround- 
 ing country, the monument is a beautiful and prominent 
 object. 
 
 The material of which the monument is made is Quincy- 
 granite, and it is finished with a ten-cut finish. The monu- 
 ment is five feet square at the base, and about twenty-five 
 feet in height and is beautifully proportioned. On the 
 
10 
 
 front side of the base, wliich looks towards the west, is the 
 
 word 
 
 Ellsworth 
 
 cut in has relief in glossed letters five inches long. Set into 
 the front face of the die is a bronze medallion of Col. 
 Ellsworth. The north side of the die bears the inscription : 
 
 Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth 
 Commander of the First Regiment of the New York 
 Zouaves. Born at Malta, Saratoga county, N. Y., 
 April 11th, 1837. Killed at Alexandria, Va., May 
 24th, 1861, in taking the first Rebel Flag in the War 
 for the Union. 
 
 The volunteer Fire Department of New York Co- 
 operated in the erection, of this monument. 
 
 On the east side of the die is a slab of white marble on 
 which is carved a unique and beautiful coat-of-arms, copied 
 from a drawing made by Ellsworth, rifle, sword, pistol, 
 bayonet, flag, banner, and all the accoutrements of war, 
 eflectively arranged underneath a shield. 
 
 Over all is a shield on which appears the initials E. E. 
 E. Underneath this coat-of-arms is the well-known ex- 
 tract from a letter written to his parents a little previous to 
 setting out on the expedition on which he met his death : 
 
 I am content,* * * * confident that he who noteth ^ 
 
 even the fall of a sparrow, will have some purpose 
 even in the fate of one like me. 
 
 On the south side of the die is the following : 
 
 The State of New York United in Commemorating 
 the Patriotism of Colonel Ellsworth, by contributing 
 out of the Public Funds to the erection of this monu- 
 ment. Chapter 760, Laws of 1873. 
 
 The letters of the inscriptions were sunk in the granite, 
 then gilded. 
 
 Midway up the octagonal shaft, on the west side, is carved 
 
11 
 
 a beautiful shield, and surmounting all stands a majestic 
 bronze eagle with outstretched wings. 
 
 The following is a statement of the receipts and disburse- 
 ments of the Association : 
 
 Keceived from State of New York, . . $2000.00 
 
 " " A. F. Ockershausen, . . 750.00 
 
 Lewis E. Smith, .... 28.00 
 
 Raised by Subscription, .... 2213.74 
 
 
 $4991.74 
 
 Cost of Monument, . . . . 
 
 $4141.52 
 
 Paid for Music, 
 
 100.00 
 
 Paid " use of Tent, . . . . 
 
 100.00 
 
 Paid for Foundation, 
 
 28.00 
 
 Expenses of the Dedication Ceremonies, 
 
 342.62 
 
 Cash on hand, 
 
 279.60 
 
 
 $4991.74 
 
 mAUGimATma THE MONUMENT. 
 
 May 27th, 1874, the thirteenth anniversary of Col. Ells- 
 worth's funeral at Mechanicville had been fixed upon by 
 the association as the day for inaugurating the monument. 
 
 The orator and other speakers had been selected, and 
 Gov. Dix and stafl", and numerous other civic and mili- 
 tary bodies had been invited to be present. As the day 
 approached the most ample and thorough preparations 
 were made, various committees were appointed to take 
 charge of different departments of the work, as the com- 
 mittee on order of exercises, committee of reception, 
 soliciting committee, committee on table arrangements, 
 committee on lumber, etc. The mammoth tent of the 
 Round Lake Camp Meeting Association was procured 
 for the occasion and spread in an open field in the south 
 part of the village to be used as a dining pavilion. A spacious 
 stand for the speakers, the committee, the ofiicers of the day 
 and others, was erected in the large field adjoining the 
 cemetery on the west, and seats were provided for the 
 
12 
 
 audience. The morning of the appointed day openedbeauti- 
 fully, light clouds veiled the face of the sun and tempered 
 his more vertical rays in the middle of the day so that the 
 elements could not possibly have been more propitious for 
 a large gathering in the open air. Early in the day the 
 people from the surrounding country came thronging 
 to the village in large numbers. The morning trains 
 brought great numbers from more distant places and finally 
 immense special trains from the cities of Albany and Troy 
 increased the assembled multitudes to six or eight thousand 
 people. 
 
 THE PROCESSION". 
 
 The procession was at once formed at the rail road station 
 
 under the direction of Captain William E. Fitch of Albany, 
 
 Grand Marshal. The order of march was as follows : 
 
 First Division. 
 
 Squad of Police. 
 
 Albany City Grand Army Band, A. K. Patten, band master. 
 
 Captain William E. Fitch, Grand Marshal. 
 
 Assistant Marshals, 
 Hon. Terence J. Quinn, A. H. Spierre, Frederick Swin- 
 burne and Charles Wiles. 
 
 Fifth [E] Company, Tenth Regiment Lifantry, National 
 
 Guard, State of !N"ew York, Ellsworth Zouave 
 
 Cadets, Captain James McFarlane. 
 
 Veterans of the Forty-Fourth JSTew York State Volunteer 
 
 Infantry, People's Ellsworth Regiment, Corporal 
 
 M. V. B. Wagoner, Commanding. 
 
 Sixth [F] Company, Tenth Regiment Infantry IST. G. S. N. 
 
 Y., Harris Guards, Captain George D. Weid- 
 
 man. Commanding. 
 
 Post Lew Benedict, 'Eo. 5, Grand Army of the Republic, 
 Robert H. McCormic, Commander. 
 
 Members of the Ellsworth Monument Association. 
 
 Orator, Poet and guests of the Association. 
 
13 
 
 Second Division. 
 Sullivan's Tenth Eegiment Band, J. H. B. Sullivan, band 
 
 master. 
 
 Albany Academy Cadet Battalion, three companies and 
 drum corps. Major Leonard Paige, Commanding. 
 
 Third [C] Company, Tenth Regiment Infantry, IsT. G. S. E". 
 
 Y., Osborn Guards, Captain and Brevet Major 
 
 Peter C. Bain, Commanding. 
 
 Major General Joseph B. Carr, Commanding Third Divi- 
 sion, National Guard, State of JSTew York, and staff. 
 
 Brigadier General Alonzo Alden, Commanding Tenth 
 
 Brigade !N^ational Guard, State of l!^ew York, 
 
 and staff. 
 
 Post McConihe, No. 18, Grand Army of the Republic, 
 
 Charles Newman Everts, Commander. 
 
 Post Willard, No. 34, Grand Army of the Republic, Joseph 
 Egolf, Commander. 
 
 Veterans of the Seventy-Seventh Regiment New York State 
 
 Volunteer Infantry, Bemis Heights Regiment. 
 Drum Corps. 
 
 Independent Veteran Zouaves, Captain W. F. Boshart, 
 Commanding. 
 
 Section of Battery A, Ninth Brigade, National Guard State 
 
 of New York, two (2) pieces. Captain John Pochiu 
 
 Commanding. 
 
 Upon the formation of the line the procession marched 
 down Railroad street to Main, thence down Main to Elm, 
 thence through Elm to the rail road crossing, thence through 
 West Main, and South streets, to the cemetery, through 
 which the procession moved to the stand. After the proces- 
 sion had reached the stand and its different component parts 
 had been assigned to their respective positions, the exercises 
 were opened by Prof. Bernice D. Ames, on whose nomina- 
 tion Gen. George S. Batcheller, of Saratoga Springs, was 
 chosen President. 
 
14 
 
 OIlGlANIZA.TIO]Sr COMPLETED. 
 
 At the close of his address the organization was completed 
 by the choice of the following Vice Presidents and Secre- 
 taries. 
 
 Vice Presidents : 
 
 New York — Hon. John K. Porter, Hon.' John R. Fellows, 
 Hon. Gilbert M. Spier, Hon. Stephen P. ITash, John F. 
 Seymour, Geo. A. Fellows, Hiram Ketchem, Charles A. 
 Davison. 
 
 Albany — Hon. Deodatus Wright, Hon. John H. Reynolds, 
 Hon. Geo. H. Thacher, George W. Luther. 
 
 Troy — Gen. E. F. Bullard, George H. Cramer, Samuel A. 
 House, Charles Eddy, Edgar L. Fursman, Hon. John 
 C. Greene. 
 
 Waterford — Wm. T. Seymour, John C. House, Hon. 
 Isaac C. Ormsby, Hon. C. A. Waldron, William Burton, 
 Dr. Chauucey Boughton, Geo. W. Eddy, J. B. Enos. 
 
 Half moon — Hon. T. G. Younglove, William Tripp, John 
 Tripp, James H. Prime. 
 
 Malta — Col. C. T. Peek, A. H. Hemphill, James Tripp. 
 
 3IechamcviUe — Abiram Fellows, Prof. Bernice D. Ames, 
 Job G. Viall, Henry K. Cornell, Capt. AlonzoHowland, Jas. 
 C. Rice, C. A. Hemstreet, Dr. Wm. Tibbetts, Wm. C. 
 Talmadge, Dr. IT. H. Ballou, Frank Pruyn, Charles 
 Wheeler, J. F. Terry, J. W. Ensign, W. W. Smith, 
 Wm. M. Warner, T. P. Lockwood, JSTelson Shonts, George 
 Rogers, Rev. George C. Morehouse. 
 
 Schuylerville — George Strover, Daniel A. Bullard, George 
 F. Watson, Chas. W. Mayhew, Dr. C. H. Payn, Henry 
 Clay Holmes. 
 
 Stillwater — Gilbert Y. Lansing, Jared W. Haight, 
 Stephen Wood, George W. Neilson, William Taylor, Geo. 
 A. Ensign, Thomas M. Myers, Dr. Chauncy Bull. 
 
 Saratoga Springs — Hon. Augustus Bockes, Hon. John 
 C. Hulburt, Hon. H. H. Hathorn, Hon. Charles S. Lester, 
 
15 
 
 Hon. James B. McKean, Wm. H. McCaffrey, James L. 
 Cramer, Gen. W. B. French, Col. W. M. Searing, Capt. 
 B. F. Judson, Hon. James M. Marvin, J. H. Breslin. 
 
 Clifton Park — George Dater, John Peck, William May- 
 hew, William Mott. 
 
 Rock City — Hon. Geo. West, Clarence Kilmer. 
 
 Ballston Spa — James W. Horton, Hon. George G. Scott, 
 Col. W. T. Odell, H. A. Mann, J. S. L'Amoreux, Hiro 
 Jones, J. R. Harlow, Col. B. F. Baker, Thomas JS'oxon. 
 
 Secretaries ; 
 
 New York — Col. John Hay, Albert Vernam, Joel Sey- 
 mour. 
 
 Albany — Harvey A. D wight. Dr. Henry R. Haskins, Nor- 
 man Seymour. 
 
 Troy — John M. House. 
 
 Waterford — Col. S. P. Smith, D. M. Vanhovenburgh. 
 
 Mechanicviile — Lewis Howland, David S. Baker, Henry 
 H. Ross, Thomas Terry, George Lockwood, C. H. Betts, C. 
 M. Fort, Joshua Anthony, Stephen Lee, E. B. Lockwood. 
 
 Malta — Henry Yanhyning, G. E. Denton. 
 
 Stillwater — Daniel Ellsworth, Dr. Frank Thomas, Edgar 
 Holmes, Gilbert P. Rowley, D. B. Holmes. 
 
 Ballston Spa — Hon. !N"eil Gilmour, C. E. Fitcham. 
 
 Halfmoon — Henry Clark, J. H. Clark. 
 
 Clifton Park — Rev. John Campbell, P. S. Jones. 
 
 EXERCISES AT THE STAl^D. 
 
 The exercises at the stand continued to the close accord- 
 ing to the following programme, copies of which were 
 generally distributed among the audience. 
 
 Gen. E. F. Bullard had also been expected to speak, but 
 was unable to be present. He however furnished the com- 
 mittee with a copy of the remarks that he would have de- 
 livered, if he had been present. They will be found in this 
 
16 
 
 memorial volume. Gren. Egbert L. Viele of Kew York 
 had been invited to give an address on the occasion, but 
 was unable to be present on account of illness. 
 
 Order of Exercises. 
 
 1. Appointment and Address of the Presiding Officer, 
 
 Hon. George S. Batcheller, of Saratoga Springs, 
 K. Y. 
 
 2. ISTaming of Vice Presidents and Secretaries. 
 
 3. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. Charles D. Flagler. 
 
 4. Music — " American Hymn," M. Keller. 
 
 5. Unveiling of the Monument — Military Salute, Ar- 
 
 tillery and Band. 
 
 6. Life Sketch of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth, by Edward L. 
 
 Cole, Esq., of Troy, K Y. 
 
 7. Music — "Memorial Overture," J. H. B. Sullivan. 
 
 8. Oration, by Hon. Julius C. Burrows, M. C, of Michigan. 
 
 9. March — "The Soldier's Farewell," E. Hare. 
 
 10. Poem, by William H. McElroy of Albany, N". Y. 
 
 11. Address, by Lt. Francis E. Brownell, U. S. A., Ells- 
 
 worth's Avenger. 
 
 12. Music — Descriptive Fantasia — " Recollections of the 
 
 Siege of Petersburgh," J. H. B. Sullivan. 
 
 13. Benediction, Rev. Charles D. Flagler. 
 
 At that point in the exercises after the band had played 
 the " American Hymn," the ceremony of unveihng the 
 monument took place. While the artillery and band 
 joined in a grand military salute, a committee advanced 
 from the stand to the Ellsworth lot and touched a spring 
 which threw oif the covering in a moment, and displayed 
 the imposing granite shaft to the eyes of the multitude. It 
 was a moment of thrilling and peculiar interest and one 
 not soon to be forgotten by the assembled thousands. 
 
 At the close of the exercises at the stand the procession 
 reformed and marched to the mammoth dining pavilion, 
 where the military and other invited guests were provided 
 
17 
 
 with a bountiful repast, abundant provision for which had 
 been contributed by the people of the surrounding country 
 and provided by the committee. 
 
 All the varied exercises of the day passed off successfully 
 and to the great apparent satisfaction of the people. 
 
 iN'ot an untoward incident occurred to mar the complete- 
 ness of the demonstration. It was a matter of great pride 
 and of high gratification to the members of the association 
 that they were permitted to see their labors, which had 
 been prosecuted through many months, crowned with such 
 grand and triumphant success. 
 
 And now in the publication of this memorial volume the 
 association close their labors which have been voluntary, 
 sometimes arduous and self-sacrificing, and wholly unre- 
 quited, except by the satisfaction which they feel as they 
 now resign the trust which was originally reposed in them 
 by the partiality of their fellow citizens, in the consciousness 
 that they had been instrumental in discharging an obliga- 
 tion sacredly due to the memory of the illustrious dead and 
 in doing what they could to perpetuate the memory of a 
 career which shall be to the living a memory and an in- 
 spiration. 
 
 " On Fame's eternal camping ground 
 
 His silent tent is spread, 
 While Grlory guards with solemn round 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 " How sleep the brave who sink to rest, 
 With all their country's honors blest." 
 
 OPEJ^ESTG ADDRESS. 
 
 Hon. GrEORGE S. Batcheller then spoke as follows : 
 Mr. Chairman and Fellow Citizens, I esteem it a high 
 honor to be permitted to participate in the patriotic solem- 
 nities of this day. We are assembled to pay a fitting 
 tribute to the memory of one whose course was brief, 
 
18 
 
 brilliant and immortal. Here, within sound reach of the 
 cannon whose echoing thunders marked the progress of 
 the great battle nearly a centur J ago, which in my estimation, 
 decided the natal day of the Republic, we come to raise the 
 memorial column to the young hero who was the first of 
 his rank to lay down his life to preserve and perpetuate 
 that country which our revered fathers then won upon the 
 plains of Saratoga. 
 
 There are events in the course of every nation which 
 mark epochs in its history. They stand forth like the 
 grand mountain ranges and lakes of our own dear land, to 
 command the attention and admiration of the world. 
 
 They attach their associations to the mind and heart of 
 the whole people so that they are no longer the exclusive 
 legends of a locality, but are the household treasure of the 
 entire land. Such are the deeds, such the memory of Elmer 
 E. Ellsworth. We are upon historic ground. Let the me- 
 mories of the Revolution descend to inspire the thoughts of 
 this hour. Let the country for which his life was given be 
 the cherished idol of every home. Let the action of our 
 civil life be so moulded that it will become but a continued 
 pulsation of those noble hearts which ceased to throb upon 
 the glorious fields of our country. Let the commonwealth 
 be upheld with purity and integrity. Let the sentiment of 
 virtue in public aflairs become so thoroughly infused and 
 firmly established that it will henceforth be as honorable 
 to serve the State in civic spheres as it ever has been upon 
 the field of battle. When public men shall become promi- 
 nent exemplars of a chivalric rectitude in all affairs, when 
 rising generations shall aspire to emulate their record and 
 all shall feel assured that in their control the Government 
 will illustrate in reality what the fathers ordained, a Republic 
 with perfect principles administered by faithful and honest 
 men, then shall Ellsworth and his brave compatriots not 
 have died in vain. Let us then consecrate this monument 
 to the gallant dead, and commemorate the cause of him 
 w^ho now slumbers at its base, by dedicating here an altar 
 
19 
 
 upon which the fires of patriotism and public virtue 
 shall glow and brighten even unto the perfect day. 
 
 Thanking you, gentlemen of the committee, for selecting 
 me to preside on this occasion, I will proceed with the 
 order of exercises which you have established. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev, Charles D. Flagler. 
 Let us unite in Prayer. 
 
 Almighty Grod, our Heavenly Father, King of kings and 
 Lord of lords. Thou that guidest the planets in their course 
 and the seraph in his path. Thou whose empire is so vast 
 and who art being worshipped by myriads upon myriads 
 around Thy throne, and by Thy Church universal upon 
 earth, we rejoice that Thine ear is always open to the 
 supplications of even Thy most obscure creatures. We 
 desire to come into Thy presence reverentially because of 
 Thy greatness and holiness ; humbly because of our weak- 
 ness and sinfulness, and gratefully that we are here so richly 
 laden with the experience of Thy loving kindness and 
 Thy tender mercies. Oh Thou that rulest among the 
 armies of heaven and among the nations of the earth, we 
 assemble here to day, not as partizans, not as adversaries, 
 but with arms reversed we come into Thy presence as 
 citizens and as representatives of this great republic ; to 
 specially return thanks to Thee, oh Thou King of kings, 
 for all the steps by which Thou hast advanced us to the 
 position of an independent nation. , When the dark 
 clouds of war were hovering over us, threatening to destroy 
 us from among the nations. Thine invisible hand hast 
 guided us ; Thou didst impart wisdom to the court, dis- 
 cretion to the cabinet and valor to the camp. We thank 
 Thee that Thou didst lead our armies in the heat of battle 
 and that with Thy breath Thou didst banish the clouds 
 from our political sky and restored peace to our borders, 
 and that as again we lift up our hearts in thankfulness to 
 
20 
 
 Thee and place upon Thy altar our tribute of gratitude, we 
 can say with Tby servant, Thou hast not dealt thus with 
 any other nation. Oh Thou that makest wars to cease to 
 the ends of the earth, accept our thanks and while we are 
 assembled here on this soil, consecrated by our many 
 prayers and tears and by the ashes of our loved ones, oh 
 do Thou guide us ; do Thou preside over us in all these 
 deliberations. Our Heavenly Father look Thou in mercy 
 upon us, and grant that from these mounds and monuments, 
 we may be taught important lessons of wisdom ; from the 
 graves of those who have died in the peaceful pursuits of 
 life, may we learn the evanescence of all temporary things, 
 and from the graves of those who have lingered away their 
 lives in the hospital or fallen upon the field of battle, may 
 we also realize that the greatest pageantry of life will soon 
 pass and the hero's triumph be silent in the grave. Merci- 
 ful Heavenly Father, as we are assembled here to-day to 
 give expression to our regard, to our esteem, to our love 
 for the gallant soldier who fell in the early dawn of our 
 national struggle, as we give such expression by the boom- 
 ing of cannon, by the inspiration of music, by the voice of 
 eloquence, oh, may we here recognize the same guiding 
 hand that courageous officer recognized and feel that in 
 his fall Thou didst have some purpose. "While we learn 
 here the lessons of his early life and the secret of his success 
 as a soldier, may we realize that all that is valuable in our 
 civil and religious institutions must be based upon honor 
 and upon intelligence. And now. Father in Heaven, Thou 
 who lookest upon the nations of the earth even as a drop in 
 the bucket, as the small dust in the balance, Thou that weigh- 
 est the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance, watch 
 Thou over us as a nation, protect us from all foes, whether 
 domestic or foreign, and we pray that this star in the west 
 may never go down. May this our nation be united long 
 years to come and ever remain an asylum for the oppressed 
 of all nations. Omnipresent One, as we stand by the 
 grave of the gallant colonel, to whose memory we are here 
 
21 
 
 to-day to pay our tribute of respect and love ; as we and 
 future generations stand by that grave wbere friendship 
 will weep, where affection will mourn, and where pity will 
 mingle with grief, oh may this monumental stone pointing 
 to the skies lead our thoughts to the celestial temple, where 
 we trust he whose memory we honor is with the great army 
 of the Lord, where conflicts are unknown and where he 
 wears a crown of glory. Oh Thou Divine Commander, 
 hear Thou us, in this our petition, not for any worthiness 
 of ours, but for the sake of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, 
 and to the King eternal, immortal and invisible, we will 
 ascribe all honor and glory, now and forever. — Amen. 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 "American Hymn," M. Keller. 
 
 UNYEILma THE MONUMENT. 
 
 The monument was here unveiled with a military salute 
 by artillery and band. 
 
 LIFE SKETCH. 
 
 Mr. Edward L. Cole, of Troy, next spoke as follows : 
 The duty of mine this hour and the honor is to sketch 
 briefly the life of him who is resting yonder beneath that 
 granite shaft, glistening in the sunshine of this May day, 
 to tell the plain, unadorned story of his early life, his few 
 years of manhood and his sad death. 
 
 A few miles away to the west and northward, in the 
 little village of Malta, on the 11th day of April, 1837, 
 Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth was born. The air he first drew 
 in came to him after sweeping over the plains made historic 
 by the success of the patriot arms, and the first tales that 
 were told him, after the nursery rhymes, were those that 
 
22 
 
 taught Mm how, iu the years gone by upon the fields of his 
 native country, one of the decisive battles of the war for 
 independence was fought. As year after year of his life 
 rolled away the seed that had been sown by the story of 
 the revolutionary sires upon Bemis Heights germinated 
 and grew apace until, in after years, it came to blossom and 
 to fruit. At his mother's knee he was taught the rudi- 
 ments of education and, mingled with the story of his letters, 
 that kind mother told him the story of the cross. Through 
 all his life there ran the strong current of belief in prayer. 
 He did not wear his belief openly upon his sleeve, but under 
 all his actions, in the silence of his closet, in his letters to his 
 mother there was ever breathed a firm. belief in the Chris- 
 tianity of this day and in the divine Providence that over- 
 shadoweth all things. 
 
 At the district school -house that still stands over in 
 yonder village, Ellsworth first knew the rule of the school 
 and mingled with school-fellows. A favorite with his 
 master, loved by his school-mates, quick to learn, apt of 
 memory, young as he was, he had a love of such books as told 
 of wars and the lives and deeds of men, great in arms. His 
 school-life has but little of interest beyond a proud, sensi- 
 tive, affectionate lad, hampered by circumstances, a mind 
 reaching beyond his years, an ambition going out beyond 
 the life of a village lad, a soul flashing out at times, to the 
 close observer a prophecy of a future that should be stored 
 with events, great either in good or evil for him ; a dutiful 
 son, a leader in boyhood sports, a thinker beyond his years, 
 yet not remarkable. Such is the story of his life as a lad. 
 
 In 1851 he entered the store of Mr. Degroff'in this yonder 
 village, such a store as you find in all villages. A year 
 here learning the w"ays of life and men, then to the city of 
 Troy, where his entrance into the busy world began ; away 
 from his home, from his mother, from the scenes of his 
 youth, a venturer with a frail bark upon the sea of life, his 
 only chart, a school education and the precepts of kind 
 parents. At Troy he first felt the rough contact of the 
 
23 
 
 struggle for wealth and bread. A year there, then his 
 footsteps turned toward the metropolis of the nation, think- 
 ing, as he said to his father in his request to be allowed to 
 go : " That faithful, honest clerks were always wanted there : 
 that one who knew his duty and would do it, could not fail 
 to succeed." The year he remained in N^ew York was an 
 eventful one for him. It was the year in which the seeds 
 sown by the story of the victory of Gates at Saratoga, nur- 
 tured by the tales of the heroes of the war, that he had 
 conned so often, began to show the inner life that had so 
 long lain dormant in him. He attended every drill of the 
 Seventh Regiment that it was possible for him to do, read 
 books of tactics, and first felt the breaking of the light of 
 those ideas of his, regarding military organization, that 
 afterwards came to such splendid fruition. From 1855 to 
 1859, there is but little item of interest to the world at large, 
 in the life of our hero. It was a struggle for place, for posi- 
 tion in the mercantile world. Baffled by hard and un- 
 toward circumstances, but through all and in all, his leading 
 idea still grew apace. He perfected himself in all the 
 accomplishments of a soldier. He was, of the strictest type, 
 a self-denialist. Everything that tended toward the perfect 
 soldier, in thought, study or deed, was his. He became a 
 master of the several systems of tactics, of the use of the bay- 
 onet and under the tuition of De Villers, an accomplished 
 swordsman. During the latter part of this period he was the 
 drill master of the Governor's Guard of Wisconsin, educat- 
 ing it to the standard of the finest military body in the.great 
 West. It was during this period, that Ellsworth made the 
 effort to enter the ranks of the students of law. He applied 
 by letter to one of the most able lawyers of Chicago. His 
 application was unsuccessful, but the tone of his letter 
 making the application, shows the determined iron 
 spirit of the man. In it he said : " I am determined to 
 study law, and succeed if I have to borrow a copy of 
 Blackstone and study in the Court House cupola. But I 
 want to start right and rather than not do so, would enter 
 
24 
 
 your office in any capacity, build fires, if nothing else is to 
 be done, and trust to time to work my way to the position 
 I desire." For some reason his request was not granted, 
 but his idea of being a law student was not abandoned. 
 
 Having made up his mind to pursue a given direction of 
 life, his iron will did not change at the least breath of ad- 
 verse fortune. He became a student of law, a hard reader 
 and diligent worker at the dusty and dry sections of Kent, 
 Blackstone and Story, supporting himself in the meantime 
 by copying legal papers. This year was his hardest struggle 
 for life. He had no pleasures : he knew but few friends. 
 The secret of how he lived was known only to himself and 
 the baker from whom he daily purchased his loaf of bread. 
 During this period he never slept in a bed or never sat at 
 the social board of a friend. His proud spirit would not 
 accept an invitation to dine when he knew he had not the 
 power to repay it. His constitution, never enfeebled by 
 excesses, enabled him to endure privations that ordinary 
 men would have fallen under. He knew no wrong. His 
 faith in the future was great; his abstinence gave his brain 
 the bright look into the future that comes from frugality, 
 a clear mind and heart. He was at once a dreamer of prac- 
 tical day dreams and an active worker. He believed, urged 
 and argued the greatness of the future of Mexico when an- 
 nexed to the United States : he believed that with her 
 wealth of minerals, her climate, her geographical position 
 she might become the great state of the union. This was 
 no chimerical idea but one founded upon the immense re- 
 sources of the country. He would erect upon the fallen 
 empire of the Montezumas, by and through the industry and 
 labors of the Anglo Saxon race, a state that should have 
 no peer, wrested by toil from the hand of semi-barbarism. 
 But the great, the controlling idea of Ellsworth's life was 
 that which he evolved from his mind, in early boyhood, 
 that the years and study had perfected. This was, to form 
 in each state skeletons, as it were, of regiments, each having 
 its full complement of thoroughly drilled officers always 
 
25 
 
 ready : a framework always ready at a few days' warning 
 to be filled into a perfect regiment. His mind with a pro- 
 phetic intuition seemed warned that the years would not 
 be many ere a regiment, well officered and manned, speedily 
 to be placed in the field would be worth a division three 
 months later. It is thus those who are the leaders of great 
 innovations, stand, as it were, upon the hill tops and first 
 catch the light of the coming day, while the majority of 
 the world in the valleys below still grope in the dark. Had 
 the years of 1859 and 1860 seen his idea perfected, the war 
 that was a struggle of over four years would have been a 
 war of three months, but he was in advance of the age, he 
 was a prophet with but few followers. Yet the world to- 
 day pays the tardy compliment to his genius, by acknow- 
 ledging the truth of his theories and yet so acknowledging, 
 like the world, does not avail itself of their worth by fol 
 lowing them. At this time he was the picture of a soldier. 
 His form though slight was of the size of the elder Napo- 
 leon, the head, poised like that of a statue, covered by 
 curling black hair, dark eyes, bright and serene, a nose 
 like that you see on Roman medals, a light moustache just 
 shading the lips that were continually curving into sunny 
 smiles. His voice deep but musical, his address soldierly, 
 sincere and courteous, his dress tasty and faultless, the 
 fascination to gather friends and keep them, a cavalier of 
 the days of romance, stainless, loyal and brave. Bayard 
 himself would have been proud of him, his duty and the 
 principles of his life,- his gage of conduct, like the knights 
 of the Round Table : 
 
 " To reverence tlie king as if he were 
 Their conscience, and their conscience as their king, 
 To break the heathen and support the Christ, 
 To ride abroad redressing human wrongs 
 To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it, 
 To lead sweet lives in purest chastity, 
 To love one maiden only, cleave to her. 
 And worship her by years of noble deeds. 
 Until they won her : " 
 4 
 
26 
 
 For the rest, 
 
 * * " high thoughts and amiable words 
 And courtliness, and the desire of fame, 
 And love of truth and all that makes a man." 
 
 Such a man was Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth when he, on 
 the 4th day of May, 1859, organized the United States 
 Zouave Cadets of Chicago, the organization that first gave 
 his name to the world. Disregarding the old rules for the 
 school of the soldier, he boldly struck out into a new system 
 entirely at variance with all thoughts upon military, taught 
 them by new methods to the perfection of soldierly conduct, 
 taught them to be abstemious and enforced by rigid discipline 
 such teaching. Through his eiForts the directors of the 
 United States Agricultural Society ofl:ered a set of magnifi- 
 cent colors to the best drilled company in the nation. Ells- 
 worth's command received them and soon after started on 
 their march through the principal cities of the union. It was 
 one of triumph and good nature, conceding to his command 
 the palm of superiority. N"ew York, the acknowledged 
 champion of half a century in the perfection of her citizen 
 soldiery, was forced to confess that out of the West had come 
 soldiers before whom her pride — the Seventh — was as a 
 raw recruit. Everywhere th6 command was praised and 
 admired and Ellsworth was, for the hour, the most talked 
 of man in the country. Thus far had he advanced. He 
 had demonstrated to the rigid martinets of the old school 
 the efficacy of his drill. He had gained a hold upon the 
 respect and admiration of the people that would command 
 him attention. After his return to Chicago, still intent 
 upon carrying out his great idea of skeleton and speedy 
 mobilzation of militia regiments, he went to Springfield. 
 He believed in the success of Mr. Lincoln and he hoped in 
 such event to secure his help in carrying out the great idea 
 of his life, the founding of a National Militia Bureau, such 
 bureau to have all possible information and control of the 
 aailitia ; the distribution of information regarding the 
 
27 
 
 militia ; a system of instruction for the militia ; the uniform 
 organization and. equipment of State troops. Lincohi, quick 
 to read men and know their place, took him as a student 
 in his law office, and there was begun that friendship between 
 he who was to be the saviour of a nation and the soldier 
 whose memory this day we honor. During the months of 
 Ellsworth's study he perfected and further amplified the 
 military passion of his life. He also made, during the 
 presidential campaign of that year many earnest and elo- 
 quent speeches for his party reminding all who heard him 
 of the early and palmy days of the Douglas. 
 
 To the leacislature of Illinois that winter he submitted a 
 bill embodying his ideas of militia reform, but no progress 
 was made with it before them. At the invitation of the 
 president elect he went with him as one of his escort to 
 Washington. Now, with the chief executive of the nation 
 as his friend and adviser, all seemed bright and fair in life 
 before him. Ellsworth wished a position in the War 
 Department that should give him the opportunity to become 
 the head of a bureau that should eiFect the reforms he 
 wished, but the jealousy of the officers of the regular army, 
 who are and always were fosilized against any scheme of 
 reform regulating the militia, threw so many difficulties in 
 the way of the young hero that his task seemed almost hope- 
 less, and yet not altogether so, for from documents which 
 I have seen I am led to believe that it was already decided 
 upon that such a bureau should be formed, and he assigned 
 to the head of it, with the rank of brevet lieutenant 
 colonel. At about this time, he was commissioned second 
 lieutenant in the regular army. While these plans were 
 going forward Ellsworth fell sick. While lying ill, the 
 storm clouds of war gathered dark and the south winds 
 bore northward the rumors of the coming strife. The fall 
 of Sumter roused him to health and strength ; the young 
 hero could not be idle or sick at such a time. In his own 
 words, he " felt that he had a great work to do, to which his 
 life was pledged ; yet he could ask no better death than to 
 
28 
 
 fall before the walls of Sumter." Scarce had the echo of 
 the first gun fired against the flag on Sumter's walls died 
 away, than he was en route for 'New York, proceeding 
 thither without orders, without assistance or authority, the 
 fixed purpose in his mind that his own native State should 
 have the first regularly organized volunteer regiment at 
 the capital of the nation. 
 
 On his way he made up his mind that from the ranks of 
 the JSTew York firemen, men used to danger, duty and obe- 
 dience, he would recruit his ranks. In a few days his regi- 
 ment, the First ^ew York Zouaves, were en route for 
 "Washington, and were on the 7th day of May at "Washington, 
 mustered into service. It is a strange, proud circumstance 
 of this regiment, and more proud still for its young com- 
 mander, that while other regiments were being mustered 
 for thirty days, sixty days, three months and two years, his 
 was the only regiment which was mustered in for the 
 war. Others might be content to do sixty days' fighting, 
 but the young hero, only twenty-four years old, was deter- 
 mined that, though the war should be long or short, he and 
 his regiment would be in at the beginning and stay in until 
 the death. This marks again the determination and iron 
 will of Ellsworth. 
 
 Through his grace in winning men to him, through his 
 capacity to command, this regiment, composed for the most 
 part of men from the rougher walks of life, feared and 
 obeyed his slightest wish, while they loved him as a brother. 
 After a few days of drill and of discipline, on the 23d 
 of May, through the efi:brts of Colonel Ellsworth, they were 
 ordered to cross into Virginia and cooperate in the attack 
 on Alexandria. They were to march on the morrow. 
 Late in the night he sought his tent, where in the hours 
 that preceded the march he busied himself with the detail 
 of regimental arrangements for the morrow. In these 
 hours his heart went out to his loved ones, to her whom 
 his heart held so dearly, to his father and mother, and as if 
 even then he felt the shadow of the fate that was for him 
 
29 
 
 on the morrow, he wrote to his parents : " 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 in the fate of one like me. * * * God bless, 
 protect and care for you." 
 
 At early morn the regiment reached Alexandria. In 
 the light winds of the sunny May morning from a house 
 top, whose walls had sheltered "Washington, floated a rebel 
 flag, flaunting its treason. To allow his regiment to see it 
 would result in the demolition of the house. To save 
 bloodshed, to avert a calamity, the brave colonel with a 
 file of men ascended to remove the obnoxious rag. In a few 
 moments he had hold ol the halyards, the flag was lowered. 
 Descending the stairs with the baleful colors in his arms, he 
 was met by the owner of the house, a blinding flash, a 
 sudden report from a rebel musket, followed instantly by 
 a flash from a Union gun, a thud of northern steel, and the 
 souls of the patriot and the assassin passed back to their 
 Maker. The one dying in defense of the principles of human 
 freedom, his country and its laws, a martyr. The other, dying 
 the death qf a traitor, his name given an infamous noto- 
 riety by the cowardly assassin act, that brought its retribution 
 in his instant death. Ellsworth had fallen in the line of 
 duty ; for him the reconnoisance of life had ended, the 
 bugle liad sounded the recall, and his spirit returned to its 
 Maker. The beloved of all who knew him, the typical 
 type of the northern soldier, true, generous, loydl and brave 
 his death was the call for a hundred thousand men to spring 
 to arms. Sad though it was, it may have been the necessary 
 instrument through which a nation woke to the realization 
 that the war was one of reality. Years have not dimmed 
 the glory of his name nor shadowed the sad lustre of his 
 fate. To-day the men-at-arms of the republic claim his 
 memory as their heritage. His history is a page of the 
 archives of our Republic. His grave shall be the shrine 
 to which the lovers of liberty shall turn to mourn a hero 
 who fell in their cause. Words can pay no prouder tri- 
 
30 
 
 bute than these from the pen of the now sainted Lincoln, 
 written to the father and mother of our hero r 
 
 " In the untimely loss of your noble son, our affliction here 
 is scarcely less than your own. So much of promised use- 
 fulness to one's country, and of bright hopes for one's self 
 and friends, have rarely been so suddenly darkened, as in 
 his fall. In size, in years and in youthful appearance a 
 boy only, his power to command men was surprisingly 
 great. This power, combined with a fine intellect and in- 
 domitable energy, and a taste altogether military, constituted 
 in him, as seemed to me, the best natural talent in that de- 
 partment I ever knew. And yet he was singularly modest 
 and deferential in social intercourse. My acquaintance 
 with him began less than two years ago, yet through the 
 latter half of the intervening period it was as intimate as 
 the disparity of our ages and my engrossing engagements 
 would permit. To me he appeared to have no indulgences 
 in pastimes, and I never heard him utter a profane or an 
 intemperate word. What was conclusive of his good 
 heart, he never forgot his parents. The honors he labored' 
 for so laudably, and, in the sad end, so gallantly gave his life, 
 he meant for them no less than for himself. 
 
 In the hope that it maybe no intrusion upon the sacred- 
 ness of your sorrow, I have ventured to address this tribute 
 to the memory of my young friend, and your brave and 
 early fallen child. May God give you the consolation which 
 is beyond all earthly power. 
 
 Sincerely your friend in a common affliction, 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 " Memorial Overture." 
 
31 
 
 ORATION. 
 
 Hon. Julius C. Bureows, M. C. of Michigan, then de- 
 livered the following oration : 
 
 Fellow Citizens : Thirteen years ago to day, and almost 
 at this very hour, followed by a nation in mourning amid 
 demonstrations of profound and universal sorrow, you re- 
 ceived and consigned to their final resting place, within 
 the soil of his native State, the mortal remains of Colonel 
 Ellsworth. 
 
 Borne on the wings of lightning to the remotest confines of 
 the Eepublic, to every camp and cabin came the sad intelli- 
 gence that Ellsworth was dead. That he who so recently 
 went forth in all the pride of manhood followed by the prayers 
 and hopes of a nation, had fallen a bleeding sacrifice upon 
 his country's altar. The nation stood grief-stricken and 
 appalled. From its executive head to the humblest citizen of 
 the Republic, there was but one sentiment pervading all 
 loyal hearts and that of deepest sorrow and irreparable loss. 
 From the watch-towers of the Republic, sentinel called to 
 sentinel through the thick darkness of the nation's night 
 " Ellsworth is dead !" That cry, at first a terror, became an 
 inspiration. Paying to his memory a hurried, but sincere 
 tribute of respect, every arm was nerved with a double 
 power, every heart quickened with a firmer purpose to sus- 
 tain and carry forward the cause in which he was so 
 devotedly engaged and for which he freely offered up his 
 life. Years have passed since then ;• years of fratricidal 
 strife and bloodshed; years which have witnessed the 
 baptism of a nation in the blood of more than half a million 
 of its citizens ; years of the breaking down of a despotic 
 power and the up-building of the shattered frame work of 
 civil government, crowned at last with the blessing of na- 
 tional union and peace. Though almost a decade has passed 
 since the close of that contest yet you have returned to-day 
 to do fresh honor to the memory of him who was amono- 
 
32 
 
 the earliest martyrs to tliat cause of constitutional govern- 
 ment and civil liberty. Standing to-day in the presence of 
 this wailing muh'itude and by the shadow of this monu- 
 mental shaft marking the impressive silence, broken only 
 by solemn dirge and the mournful wail of drooping banners 
 rustling in the breeze ; beholding upon these upturned 
 faces the lingering shadow of a heavy grief, the sublime 
 truth is proclaimed, that, though dead, the memory of his 
 virtues still lives undimmed by time and sacredly pre- 
 served in the hearts of the American people. Let us then, 
 to day, while standing above his ashes and beneath the flag 
 for which he fell, recount his virtues and learn as best we 
 may the lessons of his life. Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth was 
 born at Malta, Saratoga county, l^ew York, on the 11th day 
 of April, 1837. Springing from the ranks of the people, 
 unaided by fortune or position he entered the conflict of 
 life, armed only with an indomitable courage and a royal 
 nature. These were his tempered weapon and shield and 
 right gallantly he used them. His boyhood, like that of 
 most American youth, was spent at home and in the common 
 school where he secured a fair English education and that 
 early training so essential to future usefulness. Early in 
 life he seemed to be ambitious to make the profession of 
 arms his study and pursuit, exhibiting for it unusual fond- 
 ness. With this in view, we find him at an early age 
 anxiously looking forward to the time when, as a cadet at 
 "West Point, he might have the opportunity of acquiring 
 that military training deemed essential to military renown. 
 But circumstances beyond his control (the want of influential 
 friends and a sufficient fortune) thwarted his purposes and 
 he was forced to yield reluctant submission to what undoubt- 
 edly seemd to him a cruel and relentless fate. But, although 
 West Point was refused him, yet one thing could not be de- 
 nied or taken from him and that was the God-given right and 
 inborn capacity to make himself outside and independent of 
 it, the peer of any man within it. Though thus thwarted 
 in his ambition and crushed in his first, best hope, yet in spirit 
 
33 
 
 and purpose lie was unconquered and unconquerable. So 
 unswerving was lie in his determination that you might deny 
 to him the education of your schools ; exclude him from the 
 avenues of business by the insuperable barriers of poverty ; 
 place beyond his reach or control all those helps which 
 wealth or position can command, yet nothing could turn 
 him aside from the deep seated purpose of his life. 
 
 There are some men greater than circumstances, superior 
 to all difficulties and who, when others despair, strike master 
 blows against fearful odds. Such was the peculiarity of 
 Ellsworth's character and to it, more than any thing else, he 
 owed his wonderful success. Baffled for the moment in 
 his hopes of receiving a military education in the schools, 
 he turned his back upon home and friends and pushed out 
 alone into the world, a mere boy, to meet and contend with 
 life's duties and responsibilities. After engaging in business 
 for a short time in the city of 'New York, he removed to 
 Chicago, whereas a patent solicitor he acquired a favorable 
 reputation and a fair livelihood. 
 
 But his ardent love for a military life still followed him. 
 He became captain of a military company and watching 
 carefully the progress of the Crimean war he became con- 
 vinced that the zouave organization and drill was the best for 
 military purposes. Sending to France for the necessary 
 books he made himself thoroughly acquainted with all the 
 evolutions. It may be doubted whether such a military 
 company as the Chicago Zouaves was ever before organized. 
 Every man was sworn to total abstinence from spirituous 
 liquors, tobacco, gambling and from visiting any places of im- 
 morality. Profanity was made a ground of prompt dismissal 
 from the company. Politeness of address and chivalrous cour- 
 tesy of demeanor in private as well as public relations, were 
 rigidly exacted. To exact these things from those under his 
 influence and command was but to enforce upon them the 
 unwritten statutes of his own heart by which his life was re- 
 gulated and controlled. In less than one year after the or- 
 ganization of this company, it became under his instruction 
 5 
 
34 
 
 the best drilled, the best equipped and the most efficient for 
 action ever seen in America and probably in the world. For 
 their proficiency in drill they won a stand of colors at the 
 Illinois State Fair. 
 
 In 18G0, Col. Ellsworth with his Zouaves visited New 
 York, Boston and many of the principal cities of the east 
 and was everywhere received with enthusiasm and his 
 fame and that of his Zouaves at once became national. Re- 
 turning to Chicago, he organized a regiment and tendered 
 its services to the state. He was then but twenty-three 
 years of age, yet the ambition of his life had been partially 
 satisfied. He had become the leader of a military organi- 
 zation and his whole soul seemed wrapped up in its success. 
 It was during Ellsworth's residence in Illinois that he 
 formed the acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln and became 
 a student in his office, commenced the study of the law and 
 in the campaign of 1860, which resulted in the election of 
 Mr. Lincoln, Ellsworth took an active part. His acquaint- 
 ance with Mr. Lincoln resulted in an attachment between 
 them as lasting as their lives, and at the earnest solicitation 
 of the president elect, Ellsworth accompanied him on his 
 eventful journey to the capital. Such was Mr. Lincoln's es- 
 timate of his abilities as a military man that he intended 
 assigning him to a high position in the War Department 
 with a view to the thorough reorganization of that branch 
 of the military service. But the rebellion came suddenly 
 upon us and any position in civil life was then ill-suited to 
 his bold and intrepid spirit. The lightnings of civil war, 
 which as a bolt from heaven shivered the solid walls of 
 Sumter, kindled within his breast, a flame of military en- 
 thusiasm and patriotic devotion, which mounted higher 
 and higher until quenched in his own blood. On the 15th 
 day of April, 1861, Abraham Lincoln issued his first pro- 
 clamation for 75000 volunteers and Ellsworth immediately 
 sought and obtained permission to recruit for the call. 
 Hastening to New York city he at once enters upon his 
 work with all the energy and enthusiasm of his nature. 
 
35 
 
 On the 18tli day of April, only three days after the pro- 
 mulgation, the following notice appeared in the New York 
 daily papers : 
 
 " The New York Firemen Zouave Regiment.'' 
 
 " Col. Ellsworth, of Zouave fame, has commenced the 
 organization of a Zouave regiment in this city, to be com- 
 posed entirely of members of the Fire Department. None 
 other are to be received but those who have done service 
 in the department and are able-bodied men, and are willing 
 to submit to the hardships that are encountered by the 
 volunteers. A meeting of the chief of the department and 
 leading members, will be held this morning, in order to 
 make a final decision as to what course they will pursue. 
 
 " In connection with the above the following poster has 
 been distributed : 
 
 " Down with Secession ! 
 " The Union must and shall be preserved. 
 " To the members of the New York Fire Department : 
 
 " The Government appeals to the New York Fire De- 
 partment for one regiment of Zouaves. The subscriber is 
 detailed in New York for the purpose of drilling and 
 equipping the regiment after being organized. The com- 
 panies will be allowed to select their own ofiicers. 
 
 " Col. Ellsworth, 
 
 " of Chicago Zouaves." 
 
 On the following day, April 19th, the New York Herald 
 contained this notice : 
 
 " The Fire Department Zouaves." 
 
 "One of the prominent features of the expedition to be 
 sent from this city, for the defense of the federal govern- 
 ment, will be the military corps organized from the brave 
 
36 
 
 firemen of ISTew York. Colonel Ellsworth of the Chicago 
 Zouaves has deeply interested himself in this movement 
 and has in connection with the principal ofiicers of the 
 Fire Department of the city issued the following circular : 
 
 " First Regiment N. Y. Zouaves, 
 
 " Head Quarters 5th Avenue Hotel. 
 
 *' To the .Firemen^ Officers^ Active and Exempt Members and 
 Friends of the Fire Department : 
 
 " Gentlemen : We are entering upon a struggle for the 
 maintenance of our government, our institutions and our 
 national honor. The compliment has been paid you of 
 applying for a fall regiment of your own men. The fire- 
 men of New York must give an account of themselves in 
 this contest.- We appeal to you to turn out and give Ells- 
 worth a regiment of firemen who can sustain the name 
 of the New York Fire Department under any and all cir- 
 cumstances." 
 
 On the same day recruiting stations for this regiment 
 were opened in various parts of the city. It might 
 be asked why Ellsworth made choice of the firemen of 
 New York city, as the men out of whom his regiment 
 w as to be formed ? why these bold, reckless and indomi- 
 table spirits were the only ones to be received into his 
 command? He himself has best answered it. In reply to 
 a friend who made inquiry of him as to his motive in this 
 selection, he said : " I want the New York firemen for there 
 are no more efifective men in the country and none with 
 whom I can do so much. Our friends at Washington are 
 sleeping on a volcano and I want men who are ready at 
 any moment to plunge into the thickest of the fight." 
 While others pronounced the insurrection an adventure 
 of but sixty days' duration how clearly he saw and appre- 
 ciated the extent of the danger, how clearly the only way 
 to meet it. He saw the whole south in arms, the constitu- 
 tion of the Republic and its flag trampled in the dust, its 
 fortresses surrendered with shameless treachery, treason 
 
37 
 
 lurking in every department of the government, star after 
 star going out in the national galaxy, a confederacy of 
 revolted states organized with all the machinery of na- 
 tional and state government in full and complete operation, 
 the approaches to Washington from the north beset with 
 danger while to the southward, and in the very face of the 
 capita], flaunted the defiant banner of revolt, beneath which 
 it was hourly expected an attack would be made upon the 
 beleaguered city, while in his ear was ringing the echo of 
 Sumter's guns, sounding the death knell of the departed 
 union. 
 
 It was at such an hour as this that he wanted men, not 
 for pomp and parade, not for show, not for idle review, but 
 men of lofty daring, imbued with courage and heroism 
 akin to his own, and who, in his own language, would be 
 " ready at any moment to plunge into the thickest of the 
 fight." On the morning of April 20th Colonel Ellsworth 
 issued his first order as follows : 
 
 " First Regiment New York Zouaves. 
 
 " The members of the above organization will assemble at 
 their company head quarters this evening at 7 o'clock pro- 
 ceed to Palace garden for the purpose of final organization 
 and election of oflicers. 
 
 " By order of 
 
 " E. E. Ellsworth, 
 " Colonel Commanding.'' 
 
 The meeeting of the several companies at Palace garden 
 at the time mentioned in the foregoing order disclosed the 
 fact that already twelve hundred firemen had been en- 
 rolled under Ellsworth's command. It was at this meeting 
 that a full regimental organization was perfected and Ells- 
 worth chosen by the unanimous voice of the regiment as 
 its colonel, and in the evening he received orders from the 
 War Department, directing his future movements. Thus 
 
38 
 
 within five days after the call for volunteers, and within 
 forty-eight hours after he entered upon the work of raising 
 his regiment, Colonel Ellsworth, as the result of his in- 
 domitable energy and acknowledged ability stood at the 
 head of twelve hundred brave men, ready to march to the 
 front. From this time, until the hour of his departure, 
 Colonel Ellsworth was constantly engaged in drilling and 
 equipping his command. At last the order came for him 
 to move his regiment to Washington, and on the 30th of 
 April, selecting eleven hundred picked men out of the 
 twenty-three hundred who had enlisted under his call, he 
 started for the seat of war. The rumor of his intended de- 
 parture was the signal for a grand ovation to the command 
 and its commander. Wherever they appeared they were 
 hailed with shouts of the wildest 'enthusiasm and Colonel 
 Ellsworth was everywhere the centre of all eyes and all 
 hearts. 
 
 The president of the fire department, in presenting a stand 
 of colors to the regiment, said to Colonel Ellsworth as he 
 placed them in his hands : " Take them, place them in the 
 midst of your gallant band, and wherever the fight is the 
 thickest and the bullets fly the fastest, let this banner be 
 borne, and may you and your comrades, in the hour of 
 trial and battle, remember the proud motto emblazoned 
 upon it : ' The Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall 
 wave.' Let this be your war-cry as you rush to the onset. 
 Let it nerve your arms and fire your hearts. Wave this 
 banner in triumph only and do you bring it back, though 
 it be tattered and torn in the fight. Swear by this flag to 
 live, by this flag to die." 
 
 Though no such oath was necessary on the part of Colonel 
 Ellsworth and his brave men, yet in accepting the colors, 
 he took occasion to make this solemn vow : " I do not know," 
 he said, " that any of the hard duty I have had to perform 
 within the last ten days could compare to the task now 
 before me. There are many things I had rather undertake 
 than to express the sentiments of the firemen composing 
 
39 
 
 this regiment. As far as the duty to come is concerned, 
 lam with them, one in feeling and sentiment. ButI cannot, 
 to the fullest extent, participate in all the feelings of pleasure 
 they must experience in receiving this beautiful stand of 
 colors from their old companions. It is peculiarly pleasing 
 to them, leaving here as they are about to do, to attempt 
 a new and untried duty, to receive this token of interest in 
 proof that their movements will be watched, their every act 
 regarded, and the pride that the department will take in 
 whatever they may achieve. If any thing could add to the 
 eagerness with which they depart upon their duty, it would 
 be the fact that the best feelings, not only of the fire de- 
 partment but of the citizens of N"ew York at large, are with 
 them. I know, this, for I believe that, although my ac- 
 quaintance with them is brief, I fully understand their 
 feelings. And what I say for myself, I say for all of them, 
 that so long as any of us live, so long as one single arm 
 responds to the promptings of the heart, this flag will not 
 be disgraced by any act of the 'New York Zouaves. We 
 s hall carry that flag into battle. On behalf of the regiment 
 I will say, that should we come back, we will bring back 
 these colors as pure and as unsullied as they are now. To 
 this we pledge our lives." 
 
 Oh ! with what stern fidelity he kept that oath ! In three 
 short weeks he brought that banner back to you, not with 
 his strong right arm, but folded over his bleeding breast, 
 unstained, but with his heart's best blood. Leaving New 
 York on the 30th of April he reached the capital on the 
 3d of May, where he immediately went into camp and 
 devoted his time and attention to the discipline of his regi- 
 ment. 
 
 Washington was now garrisoned with 20,000 troops, and 
 the people were growing impatient for an advance. Every 
 day thousands of armed forces from the north were hurrying 
 to the front all along the border of the rebellious states, but 
 as yet, no invasion of any of these states had been ordered or 
 taken place. No efibrt had been made to reassert or enforce 
 
40 
 
 federal authority over any portion of the seceded territory. 
 The government was content, for the time being, to make 
 secure what it already possessed. At last, on the 23d day 
 of May, 1861, the long looked for order came, and 13,000 
 troops were detached with instructions to march into Vir- 
 ginia and take possession of Alexandria on the Virginia 
 side of the Potomac, seven miles belowWashington. It 
 was the first offensive movement on the part of the go- 
 vernment against the confederacy and at once attracted the 
 attention of the whole nation. In this movement. Colonel 
 Ellsworth became deeply interested. While others looked 
 on with indifference or patiently waited for orders, he, 
 learning of the intended advance, sought the commanding 
 general and begged the privilege of having a place assigned 
 him in this first forward movement of the war. His request 
 was granted and he was placed in command of that portion 
 of troops which was to descend the river and enter the city 
 from the front, while the other division was to cross long 
 bridge, march upon Alexandria and attack it from the rear. 
 Something of his heroic daring, lofty patriotism and 
 generous spirit, may be gathered from the following address 
 to his regiment, the night preceding the advance. Calling 
 his men into line, he said : " Boys, yesterday I understood 
 that a movement was to be made against Alexandria. I 
 went to see General Mansfield and told him that I would 
 consider it as a personal affront if he would not allow us 
 to have the right of the line, which is our due, as the first 
 volunteer regiment sworn in for the war. All I can say, 
 is prepare yourselves for a nice little sail and at the end of it, 
 a skirmish. Go to your tents, lie down and take your rest 
 until two o'clock, when the boat will arrive and we go 
 forward to victory or death. When we reach the place of 
 destination, act as men. Do nothing to shame the regiment. 
 Show the enemy that you are men as well as soldiers and 
 that you will treat them with kindness until they force you 
 to use violence. I want to kill them with kindness. Go 
 to your tents and do as I tell you." 
 
41 
 
 What determined courage and generous kindness breathed 
 in every word of that brief address. Returning to his silent 
 tent, he then spoke to others, separated far from him, words 
 so full of filial tenderness and patriotic devotion ; of such 
 manly courage and sublime trust, that I should do violence 
 to his memory should I withhold them. 
 
 " Washington, D. C, May 23, 1861. 
 
 " My Dear Father and Mother : The regiment is ordered 
 to move across the river to-night. We have no means of 
 knowing what reception we are to meet with. I am in- 
 clined to the opinion that our entrance to the city of Alex- 
 andria will be hotly contested, as I am just informed that 
 a large force has arrived there to-day. Should this happen, 
 my dear parents, it may be my lot to be injured in some 
 m.anner. Whatever may happen, cherish the consolation 
 that I was engaged in the performance of a sacred duty ; 
 and to-night, thinking of the probabilities of to-morrow 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 fall of one like me. My darling and ever-loved parents, 
 good bye, God bless, protect and care for you . 
 
 "Elmer." 
 
 What need of granite or epitaph. Here is a monument 
 imperishable as history ; should that shaft grow infirm upon 
 its solid base and topple into ruin, here is a nobler monument 
 as enduring as time. Fittingly have you engraven upon 
 this marble shaft these sacred words : " He who noteth even 
 the fall of a sparrow, will have some purpose even in the 
 fall of one like me." Well might you have also inscribed 
 on its summit, where the first light of the opening day 
 might illumiiiate it, this other sentiment : " I was engaged 
 in the performance of a sacred duty." On the 24th, at two 
 o'clock, the troops were in motion, and in the first gray of 
 6 
 
42 
 
 the morning Ellsworth was in front of Alexandria. He 
 was one of the first to land and comprehending at a glance 
 the necessities of the situation, he ordered one detachment 
 to tear up the railroad while he, with another, hurried to 
 seize the telegraph station, to prevent all knowledge of the 
 movement being sent to Richmond. On his way through 
 the streets, his eyes caught sight of a confederate flag flying 
 over the Marshal House. Instantly his loyal heart was on 
 fire with all that love for the old flag, and hatred for its 
 rival, of which his lofty nature was susceptible : he saw 
 in his own, all he had been taught to hold sacred and dear ; 
 in that, all he abhorred. This was the banner of our fathers, 
 that of their recreant children ; this spoke of union, that 
 of disunion ; this of strength, that of weakness ; this of a 
 glorious past, that of a doubtful future ; this of loyalty, that 
 of treason ; this of liberty, that of slavery ; this of a govern- 
 ment for all the people, that of a government for the few ; 
 this of equality, that of caste ; this of the nobility of man- 
 hood, that of the nobility of ancestry; this of everything 
 dear to the true American heart, that of everything which 
 it could not honor, nor respect ; this spoke of one country, 
 one people and one flag eternal and indivisible, that of a 
 divided country, a discordant people and a dishonored flag. 
 
 Seeing and feeling all this, as one with Ellsworth's na- 
 ture could, we may understand something of the signiflcance 
 of his heroic deed as he uttered the cry, " That flag must 
 come down," and suiting the action to the word, bounded 
 like lightning to the stafl" and with his own hand tore it 
 down but while bearing it away in triumph, the assassin's 
 bullet enters his manly breast and he falls. " Oh ! what a 
 fall was there my countrymen. Then you and I and all of us 
 fell down, while bloody treason flourished over us." Say 
 not it was rashness or folly, say not that it was a useless 
 sacrifice, but rather remember and cherish it as an act of 
 the sublimest heroism and purest self sacrificing devotion. 
 
 It was love for the flag which prompted it. It was this 
 love for the flag which prompted a nation to rally round it 
 
43 
 
 in its defense. It was this love for the flag which kept it 
 flying over city and fortress, to be lowered only as the last 
 act of surrender. It was this love for the flag which in- 
 spired that ringing order from your own heroic Dix : " If 
 any man attempt to haul down the American flag, shoot 
 him on the spot." It was this love for the flag, which 
 flung it to the breeze over the rebellious city of New 
 Orleans, on the anniversary of "Washington's birth-day, be- 
 neath which an hundred armed men held a mob at bay and 
 kept it flying, until the going down of the sun. It was 
 this love for the flag, which warmed the breast of that brave 
 soldier at Vicksburg, who, when his comrades deserted him , 
 refused to retrace his steps and planting his colors within 
 twenty yards of the enemy's rifle pits, stood by them all 
 the day long. It was this love for the flag which kept it 
 flying over the crumbling walls of Sumter amidst shot and 
 shell and only lowering it at lagt with the honors of a na- 
 tional salute. It was this love for the flag which gave voice 
 to that sublime declaration of Major Anderson, the hero 
 of Sumter : " Grod Almighty nailed that flag to the mast 
 and I could not have lowered it, if I had tried." It was this 
 love for the flag which inspired the minister of the Gospel 
 to exclaim : "Let the flag of our country wave from the 
 spire of every church in the land, with nothing above it 
 but the cross of Christ." It was this love for the flag which 
 fllled the soul of the dying soldier at Belmont, who with 
 both limbs shot away, was found singing, in death, " The 
 Star Spangled Banner." It was this unutterable love for 
 the flag, which no prison terrors could destroy, that 
 prompted the boys at Libby, on the anniversary of their 
 country's independence, to tear up their scanty clothing of 
 red, white and blue and blend it together on their prison 
 wall, in imitation of their country's flag. Akin to this was 
 Ellsworth's love for his flag and with such love the act 
 which cost him his life, was a deed of lofty heroism. 
 
 Concealing his death from his command, for fear of 
 terrible vengeance on the whole city, his lifeless remains 
 
44 
 
 were borne back to Washington and at the request of Pre- 
 sident Lincoln were placed in state at the Executive Man- 
 sion. His death was the subject of general comment and 
 universal sorrow from the chief executive of the nation 
 to the humblest citizen in the land. 
 
 A correspondent, who visited the Executive Mansion on 
 the morning of the 25th of May, gives the following account 
 of how the news of Ellsworth's fall was received by Presi- 
 dent Lincoln. He said : " I called at the White House this 
 morning with Senator Wilson of Massachusetts to see the 
 president on a matter of pressing public business and as 
 we entered the library, we marked the president standing 
 before a window, looking across the Potomac, running at 
 the foot of the presidential grounds. He did not move 
 until we approached very closely when he turned round 
 abruptly and advanced toward us extending his hand, 
 saying, ' Excuse me, but* I cannot talk.' We supposed 
 his voice had given way for some cause or other and we 
 were just about to inquire, when to our surprise, the pre- 
 sident burst into tears and concealed his face in his hand- 
 kerchief. He walked up and down the room for some 
 moments and we stepped aside in silence, not a little moved 
 at such an unusual spectacle in such a man and in such a 
 place. After composing himself somewhat, the president 
 took his seat and desired us to approach. He said : ' I 
 will make no apology, gentlemen, for my weakness ; but 
 I knew poor Ellsworth well and held him in great regard. 
 Just as you entered the room. Captain Fox left me, after 
 giving me the painful details of Ellsworth's unfortunate 
 death. The event was so unexpected and the recital so 
 touching that it quite unnerved me.' The president here 
 made a violent effort to restrain his emotions and after a 
 pause, he proceeded to give us the incidents of the tragedy. 
 As he closed his relation he exclaimed : ' Poor fellow ! it was 
 undoubtedly an act of rashness, but it only shows the heroic 
 spirit that animates our soldiers, from high to low, in this 
 righteous cause of ours. Yet who can restrain their grief 
 
45 
 
 to see them fall in such a way as this ; not by the fortunes 
 of war, but by the hand of an assassin.' There is one fact 
 that has reached me, which is of great consolation to my 
 heart and quite a relief after this melancholy affair : I learn 
 from several persons that when the Stars and Stripes were 
 raised again in Alexandria many of the people actually 
 wept for joy and manifested the liveliest gratification at 
 seeing this familiar and loved emblem once more floating 
 above them." Let this consolation be ours and not only 
 that it waves over Alexandria but that this " familiar and 
 loved emblem" once more floats over every foot of Ameri- 
 can soil, amidst the universal rejoicings of a united people. 
 
 It is said that in the early days of the rebellion, our flag 
 was placed vdthin a rude coffin and borne in mimic sorrow 
 through the streets of Memphis and lowered to its grave, 
 in token of its final death. Little was it thought that so 
 soon, amid the thunders of war, it was to come forth again, 
 redeemed and purified by the blood of martyrs, to hold 
 sovereign sway for ever and ever. 
 
 Fellow Citizens : Commendable as have been your efforts 
 to give expression to your estimate of his private and public 
 virtues, yet no monumental marble can fittingly proclaim 
 the true nobility of his character. Had you lain its founda- 
 tion stones broad and deep upon the immutable granite, 
 it would not have been firmer than were his convictions of 
 duty : had its summit pierced the heavens, it would not have 
 been loftier than was his patriotism ; had you burnished its 
 sides until they were as resplendent as the noon-day sun, 
 it would not have been brighter than his heroic deeds : 
 had you chiseled his name so deep into its marble front 
 that it might defy the ravages of time, it would not have 
 been more enduring than was his fidelity. For this high 
 sense of duty which gave stability to his purposes ; for this 
 exalted patriotism, which acknowledged no restraint ; for 
 this sublime heroism, which was insensible to danger ; for 
 this unswerving fidelity, which no power could alienate or 
 corrupt, and for this pure life and heroic death, will his name 
 
46 
 
 go down among tlie brightest of history, to the latest gene- 
 ration. And though this marble prove treacherous to its 
 sacred charge and crumble into ruin : should all knowledge 
 even of the spot where his ashes rest, fade from the memory 
 of living men : yet so long as our banner rides on the breeze, 
 so long as a solitary star remains to light up its folds, so 
 long as a single arm can be found to be raised in its defense, 
 just so long will the memory of his virtues and his valor be 
 perpetuated and preserved. 
 
 Be it ours to emulate his example and may the time 
 speedily come when all bearing the proud name of an 
 American citizen from every quarter of the Republic, for- 
 getting the bitterness of the past and looking forward only 
 to the grand possibilities of the future, shall stand together 
 in fraternal unity and peace beneath the banner of our 
 fathers, lifting no arm but in its defense, breathing no prayer 
 but for its protection, and thus sustained and upheld by the 
 invincible power of a united people, may it float forever on 
 land and sea, the pride of the nation and the hope of the 
 world. 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 March, "The Soldier's Farewell." 
 
 POEM. 
 
 Mr. W. H. McElroy of Albany read the following ori- 
 ginal poem : 
 
 " This world of ours, this wise old world," 
 
 " Shouts out to every son 
 " Whose flag in life's great fight's unfurled — 
 
 " Look out for number one 
 " Be earnest, plucky, watch and wait, 
 " Confusion seize the sleeper, 
 But on the march don't carry weight " 
 You're not your brother's keeper. 
 
47 
 
 At all of us these worldly cries 
 
 Forever more are stouted 
 No word about self sacrifice, 
 
 No pity for the routed : 
 We're trumpeted to do our best 
 
 To lead the marshalled host, 
 And — let the Devil take the rest 
 
 The halting hindermost. 
 
 And spiritless would be the march, 
 
 And oft would droop the banners, 
 Did there not sound down Heaven's arch, 
 
 Clear as the stars' hosannas, 
 A voice that makes the dark ways clear, 
 
 That prompts sublime endeavor, 
 By teaching that the life lost here 
 
 Is found up there forever. 
 
 The old man kissed the negro child 
 
 Held up beside the scaffold, 
 He marked the fatal noose and smiled, 
 
 And what was death but baffled ? 
 The pulseless heart of old John Brown, 
 
 In silent grave they bury. 
 His soul time's path goes marching down — 
 
 No halt for Harper's Ferry ! 
 
 A lone star flag floats in the air. 
 
 And bright young eyes have spied it; 
 Who strikes it low had best prepare 
 
 To lay his life beside it : 
 The hand which hauled it down forsooth 
 
 Knocked at Death's ebon portal. 
 It oped and lo ! God's fount of youth 
 
 And Ellsworth was immortal ! 
 
 Friends hedged him round, friends fond and true. 
 
 Fame caught him in her meshes, 
 Skies spread above him cloudless blue — 
 
 Whose future was so precious ? 
 But as his life burst into bloom 
 
 He manfully resigned it — 
 And this the lesson from his tomb 
 
 (Who lose their life shall find it). 
 
48 
 
 He laid his life in weakness down, 
 
 And at the self same hour 
 The cross changed to a victor's crown, 
 
 And weakness rose in power. 
 Thenceforth he led a two-fold life, 
 
 One in celestial regions, 
 The other in the crimson strife 
 
 Still fighting 'mid the legions. 
 
 Still fighting, when the lightning bore 
 
 The tidings to the nation. 
 That Elmer Ellsworth never more 
 
 Might toil for her salvation. 
 Then, ere his sword could gather rust, 
 
 A countless host embraced it. 
 And swore the flag he trailed in dust 
 
 Should stay where he had placed it. 
 
 So, being dead, he spoke and fought — 
 
 In battle's fiercest brunt, 
 His mem'ry deeds of valor taught, 
 
 Still kept him in the front, 
 Still saw his comrades on his breast 
 
 A golden circlet i gleaming 
 " Non nobis sed pro patria," 
 
 The best of mottoes deeming. 
 
 To-day, as rolls Potomac's stream 
 
 No picket guard stands by it ; 
 'Twould seem like ravings of a dream 
 
 To ask if all was quiet. 
 Long since the sword forgot its foes, 
 
 And lost its love of harming, 
 And now, beat to a plow, it shows 
 
 All that it knows of farming. 
 
 The angel of peace with us abides 
 To shape the future story — 
 
 To urge us on with rapid strides 
 From glory unto glory. 
 
 1 When Ellsworth was shot at Alexandria, the bullet from Jackson's (his 
 murderer's) gun drove a gold circlet which the young hero had worn 
 on his breast into his heart. It bore the inscription, " Non nobis sed pro 
 patria. " 
 
49 
 
 But if Secession ever wills 
 
 To raise the old cry louder, 
 Then God again will run His mills 
 
 And grind it into powder. 
 
 Rest here amid the flowers of May , 
 
 Thou to fell treason fateful, 
 We plant this shaft and thus would say. 
 
 The Country's not ungrateful. 
 To-day her spirit's hovering here, 
 
 0, more than flow'r of Sparta, 
 She names thee, dearest of her dear, 
 
 Fair freedom's foremost martyr. 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 Lieutenant Francis E. Brownell, U. S. A. spoke as follows : 
 It has been often charged, even by those who intend to 
 honor Ellsworth, that he lost his life while committing a 
 very rash and reckless act; and some military men, in- 
 spired, perhaps, by not the most laudable of motives, have 
 insisted that the young soldier lacked the very principle 
 which he exacted from others, discipline and obedience to 
 orders. To me it is plain that he sacrificed his life in the 
 endeavor to preserve order and enforce discipline. The 
 history of the foundation of his regiment, of the unexampled 
 feat accomplished in its organization and equipment, the 
 difficulties he encountered and the obstacles placed i,n his 
 way by those who looked with jealous eyes upon his achieve- 
 ments and the discouragements, vexations and annoyances 
 of the few days spent in Washington prior to the fatal morn- 
 ing of the 24th of May, 1861, will show the groundlessness 
 of the charge. 
 
 Let me briefly rehearse the events preceding the tragedy. 
 On the 17th of April, 1861, Ellsworth left Washington for 
 the city of ISTew York, for the purpose of organizing his 
 regiment. The two following days he spent in consultation^ 
 with the representatives of the ISTew York fire department. 
 7 
 
50, 
 
 On the 22d the rolls were full and two companies had been 
 formed for each letter of the regiment. The question then 
 was not who should go, but who should be left behind. 
 Ellsworth settled the matter with his usual promptness and 
 decision by placing the companies opposite each other and 
 selecting those who he wished to have go, from appearance 
 of the men. 
 
 On the 25th of April we were uniformed and, with the 
 exception of arms, equipped for the field. The 26th was 
 spent in the endeavor to procure arms from the State, and 
 not being successful Ellsworth appealed to the men whose 
 generosity and patriotism enabled him to raise the regiment, 
 for aid in this particular. They nobly responded by sub- 
 scribing some $60,000, with which Sharp's rifles of various 
 calibre were purchased. These rifles, which were of ten 
 different patterns, were placed in our hands on Sunday, the 
 28th, and it was announced in the papers that we should leave 
 for "Washington on that day. The announcement proved 
 premature; but on the following day, escorted by the l^ew 
 York fire department, amid the cheers of countless thou- 
 sands, the regiment took up its line of march for the point of 
 embarkation. While on the march, new obstacles presented 
 themselves. Ellsworth received orders from the major 
 general commanding the milita in New York, sent to him, 
 I have understood, from the headquarters at Albany, not to 
 leave the city. On the corner of Broadway and Canal street 
 he received a more peremptory order not to leave and the 
 regiment was halted. Here Major General Wool, com- 
 manding the department of the East, came up, and Ellsworth 
 appealed to him. Wool enquired why they wished to detain 
 him, to which he replied that the only reason he knew of 
 was that he had a few more men than the state militia law 
 recognized. At this time it must be recollected we had 
 not yet been mustered into the service of the United States. 
 Wool replied, "If that is all, you have my permission to 
 proceed." The regiment then resumed its march, embarked 
 upon the steamer Baltic for Annapolis, and upon its arrival 
 
51 
 
 there proceeded by rail to Washington. It was then quar- 
 tered in the capital. The city was full of unorganized and 
 undisciplined troops and depredations of all sorts were 
 committed almost with impunity. Some of these were 
 charged upon our regiment. Ellsworth, with that true 
 chivalry and generosity which characterized him, paid the 
 damage, and from that time out every act of plunder was 
 laid upon the Fire Zouaves. 
 
 I do not wish to convey the idea that our regiment was 
 any better than the others, but this I do know ; it was not 
 much worse and many of the acts committed by others 
 were falsely accredited to us. Ellsworth's soul, trained in 
 the severest school of discipline, revolted at the disorder 
 and he procured an order changing our quarters from the 
 capital to the eastern shore of the Potomac. Here he bent 
 his energies to the task before him. Drills were undertaken, 
 discipline enforced. Now came rumors of an intended 
 invasion of the sacred soil. Ellsworth knew that once in 
 the field he could the more readily compel obedience and 
 make soldiers of his men, than he could in the vicinity 
 of the demoralized city of Washington. Ellsworth asked 
 to be sent to Virginia ; the citizens of Alexandria, held 
 upon parole by the guns of the Pawnee, requested that if 
 tlieir town was to be occupied the Fire Zouaves should not 
 be sent among them. Ellsworth was told that he might go 
 on one condition, viz : that if any breaches of discipline or 
 misbehavior occurred the regiment should be mustered out 
 of service. To many here present to-day such a contingency 
 would seem slight. You who were in the service at that 
 time and fully appreciate the term, will agree with me when 
 I say that Ellsworth might rather have been mustered out 
 if possible a hundred times by the angel of death than have 
 had the threatened disgrace put upon him. Up to the day 
 before we left for Alexandria we had never received any- 
 thing from the hands of the general government except 
 rations, and camp and garrison equipage. Overcoats and 
 new arms promised us in New York never came. This 
 
52 
 
 treatment naturally caused considerable feeling among a 
 portion of the men, and all these things made Ellsworth 
 anxious for the conduct of the regiment upon which his 
 future military career so largely depended. I shall never 
 forget the concluding remark made to us in a brief ad- 
 dress about eleven o'clock the night before his death. 
 " No matter," said he, " what may occur to-morrow, not a 
 shot must be fired without proper orders 5" and so far as I 
 know this order was not violated save in the single instance 
 following his death. After crossing the river, Ellsworth 
 left the regiment, in company with the Rev. Mr. Dodge, 
 chaplain, a Mr. Winser and Mr. House, correspondent of 
 the New York Tribune, with the intention of ascertaining 
 the condition of affairs in the city ; a guard of five accom- 
 panied him. When we came within sight of the Marshall 
 House, with the rebel flag flying, Ellsworth directed the ser- 
 geant to return to the regiment, which was scarcely five 
 squares distant and entirely out of sight, and order Captain 
 Coyle with Co. A to the scene as quickly as possible. He 
 then passed on beyond the house, but, doubtless reflecting 
 that the sight of the flag would enrage the men and might 
 lead to the very consequences he was endeavoring to avoid, 
 turned back, passed into the house and, while coming down 
 the stairs with the flag upon his arm, laid down his life — 
 as I claim, a sacrifice to his country and his endeavor to 
 preserve order. I have always felt that his animating pur- 
 pose was simply to preserve the peace. A word from him 
 and the Marshall House would have been levelled to the 
 dust. He was too brave a man to order the guard to go 
 where he would not, and it was too small to think of divid- 
 ing it, and too noble himself to think for a moment that the 
 very person he was trying to shield would assassinate him. 
 It was not bravado that inspired his deed and led to his 
 death, but rather the simple, manly, direct way a prudent 
 soldier under all the circumstances would have adopted to 
 save a town from sacking and its inhabitants from slaughter. 
 
53 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 Music. — Descriptive Fantasia, " Recollections of the 
 siege of St. Petersburgh." 
 
 COMMUNICATION. 
 
 The Secretary then read the following communication 
 from the United States Zouave Cadets at Chicago : 
 
 " At a meeting of the surviving members of the United 
 States Zouave Cadets held at the Sherman House, in 
 Chicago, on Friday May 22d, 1874, it was announced that 
 the monument erected at Mechanicsville, New York, above 
 the grave of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth, the original com- 
 mander of this company, would be unveiled on Wednesday, 
 the 27th instant. 
 
 " On motion a committee composed of Freeman Conner, 
 E. B. Knox, and Sidney P. Walker, was appointed to pre- 
 pare a suitable expression of the sentiment of those present. 
 The address as prepared was unanimously adopted and is 
 as follows : 
 
 " The surviving members of the United States Zouave 
 Cadets desire to express our gratification at the merited 
 and timely recognition of the chivalrous valor of one who 
 was once our youthful commander. Whoever honors him 
 touches a chord to which our hearts instinctively respond. 
 We deeply regret our inability to be present at the beau- 
 tiful and interesting ceremonies. We send these im- 
 perfect expressions of our sympathy and love to those 
 who are his own blood, and also to those of our country- 
 men who have united in rearing this memorial, and pos- 
 sess in common with ourselves the heritage of his fame. 
 We would remind you, friends, that while this beautiful 
 monument will serve to express our devotion to his memory, 
 it can not add to the lustre of the name of Ellsworth. He 
 carved his own monument, out of material as lasting as the 
 
54 
 
 granite Mils, broad at the base, and with an apex towering 
 amid the clouds. By one act of heroic self-sacrifice he 
 leaped to the summit, and with the eyes of the whole world 
 fixed upon his solitary figure, contented thus and then to 
 die. The ' glory which springs from the soldier's sepul- 
 chre' is.his forevermore. The violets bloom above him, 
 and glisten with the precious chrysm of a nation's tears. 
 While you clasp hands about his grave, friends and country- 
 men, may you feel the union of our hearts and yours in 
 the prayer ' God bless our native land ! ' 
 
 " May the genius of liberty seem to whisper in your ears, 
 that while the love of freedom dwells in human hearts, 
 the cause of patriotism shall not fail of such heroic blood. 
 
 "Freeman Connor, Chairman. 
 
 " E. B. Knox, Secretary:' 
 
 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 The President spoke as follows : 
 
 Fellow Citizens : The absence of General Viele, who is the 
 next speaker on this programme, brings these interesting 
 ceremonies to a close. But before this audience is dismissed, 
 I cannot forego taking a liberty which is not upon the pro- 
 gramme and that is to express what I believe to be the 
 sentiment of every person, of praise and gratitude to the 
 gentlemen who have formed the Ellsworth Monument 
 Association and the Local Executive Committee who, not- 
 withstanding all kinds of discouragements, have labored and 
 worked in this cause of love and affection until success at- 
 tended their efforts and they have seen this triumphant day — 
 much is due to them. Their efforts have been persistent, 
 without interruption. No history will record their deeds 
 and it is but a fitting termination to these ceremonies that 
 we should give them the praise and credit that is due them 
 for the services that they have rendered ; which have cul- 
 minated in the erection of that beautiful monument. 
 Fellow Citizens, there is one more point and that is the pre- 
 
55 
 
 sence here of so many veterans, scarred and maimed, and 
 the splendid staff of officers who have come here to join in 
 this tribute of praise. Many are in uniform and many 
 are in citizen's dress, standing in the background, yet who 
 could tell us more than we ever knew of the hardships, 
 trials, courage and energies required to serve three years 
 in the army of the Republic. To those we here give credit 
 and honor and especially to the officers and members of that 
 regiment known as the " Ellsworth Avengers," the 44th. 
 You will see their badges scattered around and the wearers 
 quiet and unobtrusive, but with hearts filled with patriotic 
 fire, that shall only be extinguished when they lay down 
 their lives. "We should remember these men and not fail 
 to do them honor and credit. Above all let me thank 
 the committee of arrangements, and especially the ladies 
 who have labored or worked so hard and so nobly in the'cause 
 until their hearts rejoice when a little more of their services 
 will be required to complete the pleasure of this occasion. 
 Deity himself has smiled upon us here and everything has 
 passed off without blemish and without fault. The com- 
 mittee have reason to be thankful and rejoice not only in 
 the triumphs celebrated here to-day, but in the fact that 
 they are celebrated by so many in our midst. I am re- 
 minded, in alluding to the 44th regiment, the Ellsworth 
 Regiment, that these two symbols to the right and left of the 
 stand are the symbols they bore through the brunt of the 
 war, and they bear many honors. 
 
 The exercises will now close with the Benediction by the 
 Chaplain. 
 
 BEKEDICTIOK 
 The Rev. Mr. Flagler, the Chaplain, then pronounced 
 the following Benediction : Great God of nations look in 
 mercy upon us and grant that we may all become the true 
 soldiers of Christ and at last meet one great and Divine Com- 
 mander in heaven. May grace, mercy and peace abide with 
 us forever. Amen. 
 
56 
 
 THE HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 General E. F. Bullard, of Troy. 
 
 All great revolutions in which the cause of humanity 
 has been advanced, have had their baptism in blood. 
 
 Ellsworth, the first hero martyr of our last American 
 armed conflict, had his birthplace upon the plains of 
 Saratoga within ten miles of the locality where the memora- 
 ble battle of Stillwater was fought. 
 
 When we look to the history of this country and find 
 that for over two centuries its soil has been enriched by 
 the best blood of the race in its struggle for freedom, we 
 are almost in doubt which has the greater honor, Saratoga 
 for being the place of his nativity, or Ellsworth for being 
 the offspring of that historic ground. 
 
 On the 4th day of July, 1609, Charaplain, the represen- 
 tative of the French, first entered this State through the 
 lake, since bearing his name and on the 30th day of the 
 same month fought, with the then peaceful natives, the first 
 battle that history has recorded as having taken place 
 within its borders. 
 
 Only a few days later, and in September of the same 
 year, Hendrick Hudson discovered one of the most beauti- 
 ful rivers upon the globe, and in the famous Halfmoon, 
 as early as October, 1609, sailed up to the mouth of the 
 Mohawk, landed upon the banks at Saratoga and named 
 that point Halfmoon. The dust of Ellsworth now reposes in 
 the town of that name, upon the banks of the river at our 
 feet, only eight miles above the point where Hudson then 
 made his landing. Only a few years later, and in 1620, 
 the Puritans landed at Plymouth rock, and from thence 
 westward advanced in their career of moral conquest. 
 
 From the day when Champlain reached this country, 
 until the treaty made between France and England, Feb- 
 ruary 10, 1763, when the former ceded to England all of 
 
57 
 
 its dominion on this continent, the valley of the upper 
 Hudson, and the soil of Saratoga has been the highway 
 over which have marched and countermarched the armies 
 of freedom. From yonder hills the brave C>1. Williams 
 led his men into the valley of the Hudson, where he gave 
 his life for the cause of our fathers. Here passed the 
 Enghsh in 1755 on their way to meet the French and 
 savages under Dieskau at Lake George, where the great 
 battle was fought under Sir William Johnson, near the 
 point where the waters divide and flow northerly into the 
 St. Lawrence, and southerly into the New York bay. 
 He also passed in 1758 the array of Abercrombie of 17,000 
 soldiers on their way to attack the French at Ticonderoga. 
 In sight of this place for years the brave men from New Eng- 
 land passed on their way to join in the strife of this great 
 warfare which has done so much to advance the cause of 
 civilization. During that century and a half our sparse 
 population were schooled in the armed conflict to determine 
 whether the Protestant-English or the Catholic-French 
 should be the dominant power on this continent. As the 
 consequence of that experience only a few years later the 
 infant colonies threw ofi* the foreign yoke and declared 
 their manhood July 4, 1776, just 167 years after the arrival 
 of Champlain, the first white adventurer in this wilderness. 
 
 On the 19th day of September, 1777, our armies met 
 those of the mother country under Burgoyne, at Stillwater, 
 and that great battle which turned the tide of the war in 
 favor of the colonies was fought upon this range of hills 
 within eight miles of the place where we stand to-day 
 
 Thus for nearly two days the soil of Saratoga was con- 
 secrated by blood freely shed in the cause of human 
 progress, while the hardy sous of native ore were being 
 purged into patriots and freemen. 
 
 To show the value of the institutions which Ellsworth 
 gave his life to save, it may be interesting to compare this 
 country now with what it was ninety years ago at the close 
 of the revolutionary war. Then the whole nation had 
 
58 
 
 about three millions aud now it has forty millions of people. 
 Then ISTew York state had but about three hundred thou- 
 sand ; now it has over five millions. Then Saratoga county 
 had only about three thousand, while now it contains the 
 happy homes of over fifty thousand people. 
 
 The monument wo this day dedicate, stands in full view 
 of the great channels of travel and commerce, and within 
 twelve hours ride, reside more than eight millions of people, 
 whose virtue and intelligence are unsurpassed by any other 
 nation or people upon the globe. Such was the place 
 where our hero first saw the light of day. Such is the 
 place upon the banks of the noble Hudson where his ashes 
 repose, and upon these Halfmoou heights, the affection 
 and patriotism of the nation have erected this monument, 
 and as remembrances of the life, the services and the 
 martyrdom of the heroic dead. By this act may we con- 
 secrate ourselves to the cause of truth and justice, and 
 remember that the institutions that he gave his life to sustain 
 can only be perpetuated by educating ourselves and our 
 posterity to be just, and to do unto others as we would that 
 they should do unto us. 
 
 Lincoln loved Ellsworth as he did his own child, and it 
 is a remarkable coincidence that one should be the first and 
 the other the last martyr of the war. 
 
 Ellsworth was inspired with a great purpose, although 
 it was never fully revealed to him. By his example, his 
 life and his death, he accomplished more for the cause of 
 freedom than he could by a true life of four score years. 
 His life was not a failure. He was predestined for the 
 mission he made full, aud his name is rightly written in 
 the highest niche of fame. 
 
 The following lines were written by Gen. Bullard's wife 
 for the occasion. 
 
 We gather here this day to proffer 
 
 A slight memento for the brave ; 
 The best our hearts could offer 
 
 Would be poor for such a grave. 
 
59 
 
 'Tis not gold or gilding, 
 
 That giveth lasting fame ; 
 The true heart unyielding, 
 
 To wrong, oppression, shame. 
 
 The hardest stone may crumble, 
 Throughout long ages rust ; 
 
 The tallest pile may tumble, 
 And mingle with the dust. 
 
 Not so with the martyred dead. 
 The centuries make more bright. 
 
 For truth with their names are wed, 
 And handed down in light. 
 
 The fleeing years keep adding to 
 
 The lustre always bright ; 
 And Ellsworth of the chosen few. 
 
 Hath climbed the highest height. 
 
 He fought not for the spoils of war, 
 
 But saw work to be done j 
 His body bore the bullet's scar, 
 
 He gave his life and won. 
 
 On this lofty slope the wind harp plays 
 High music, deep, profound ; 
 
 The tall grass to its time doth sway. 
 O'er Ellsworth's hallowed mound. 
 
 To view the ground where martyr lies, 
 'Tis naught but common clay ; 
 
 Yet he lives beyond the skies 
 Centuries as a day. 
 
FUNERAL SERMON, 
 
 Delivered at Bryan Hall, Chicago, June 2, 1861. 
 
 BY KEY. Z. M. HUMPHREY. 
 
 " In perils, among false brethren." — II Cor., xi, 20. 
 
 The significance of this expression, as illustrated by the 
 event vp"hich has brought this assembly together, is too 
 obvious to require one word of mine. I will not detain 
 you, then, my friends, by carrying your thoughts into 
 Asiatic cities, when they so naturally turn towards the 
 American Alexandria. I will not speak of traitors in the 
 church, when you are thinking only of traitors in the State. 
 I will not speak of an Apostle delivered, while you are 
 thinking of a Patriot dead. You have come hither to-day 
 upon a sad, but honorable errand. You have come with 
 martial music, but the strains we have heard were those 
 of a requiem. You, soldiers, have brought your cherished 
 banners, but they are draped in mourning. It seems but 
 yesterday that we were watching a lithe and active figure 
 as it led this company — a company of which we all were 
 proud — through the complicated evolutions of its drill. 
 The echoes of the quick, decisive words of command seem 
 even yet to be ringing in our ears, but, alas ! the voice 
 that uttered them is hushed forever, and to-day the country 
 mourns because her gallant Ellsworth is dead. 
 
 To realize it, is not easy. We know that slaughter is 
 thetradeofwar, but assassination is only one of its infre- 
 quent incidents, and it is difficult to comprehend that, with- 
 out the exposure of a battlefield, the work of war has been 
 wrought upon him whose memory we are assembled here 
 
61 
 
 to hionor, as effectually as if he had fallen at the cannon's 
 mouth, or in storming some "imminent and deadly breajch." 
 We have all read the story of his death. Let us endeavor 
 to make the event seem real by imagining the scene. First, 
 picture to your minds a tent in the camp — the full, soft 
 moon reveals every outline of its exterior, while within sits 
 a manly form, bending over a table, on which materials 
 for writing are laid. Lift the curtain, and you see an expres- 
 sion of tenderness on the face of the occupant, and, perhaps, 
 a tear glistening in his eye, as the pen in his hand rapidly 
 traces those messages of love, which the true soldier, with 
 a conflict before him, always wishes to send to the absent. 
 Then picture a fleet of transports dropping down the Poto- 
 mac, as the heavy gray of dawn begins to dim the stars. 
 Then, the debarkation, conducted under the level light of 
 the rising sun. Then imagine a group of soldiers, with 
 Ellsworth at its head, looking up from a street in Alexan- 
 dria towards some object, the sight of which arouses the 
 strongest emotions in those who behold it. It is the flag 
 of treason, floating like a baleful meteor of tri-colored train 
 above the house, where, in Revolutionary days, our "Wash- 
 ington was accustomed to repose. Next, see the little group 
 upon the roof of the house, and clustered about the flag- 
 staff. The hand of Ellsworth is on the halyards — down 
 comes the defiant bunting — it is gathered into the arms 
 of the leader. There is but one more scene to fancy. It 
 is within the house. The group of soldiers are on the 
 stairs, descending towards the street. First goes a private, 
 then the commander bearing his captured trophy. The 
 private has reached the floor. Two or three steps behind 
 him is the oflnlcer. Quick as thought a half-dressed form 
 rushes from a darkened passage. A gun is presented at 
 the breast of the ofiicer. It is fired ! There is another ex- 
 plosion — then another, followed by the instantaneous 
 thrust of a bayonet, and both Ellsworth and his murderer 
 are dead. See them, both on their faces, one staining with 
 blood the symbol of treachery he still holds in his arms, 
 the other still clasping the weapon by which that blood was 
 
62 
 
 shed. Behold them, and say, would you be, at this moment, 
 the patriot or the assassin, both rushing together into the 
 presence of their God? 
 
 My friends, we have no coffin before us to-day. There 
 is no pale face to convince us by its marble coldness and 
 inflexibility, that he whose memory we embalm is dead. 
 Do we need it, when, to our shuddering spirits, such a scene 
 is revealed ? 
 
 Let us linger upon that scene no longer ; but, turning from 
 it, try to do a partial justice to our honored dead, by tracing 
 swiftly the history of his life ; by forming some estimate 
 of his character; and by unfolding some of the more ob- 
 vious thoughts suggested by his brief, but brilliant career. 
 
 In the town of Malta, Saratoga county, New York, 
 is a low-browed cottage, which, but for some associated 
 event, would scarcely challenge the special attention 
 of the stranger ; but that cottage is destined to be known 
 and respected, while it stands, as the birth-place of Elmer 
 E. Ellsworth, the patriot martyr of Alexandria. Like a 
 majority of those whose names the world " will not willingly 
 let die," he was cradled, not in luxury, but in rustic 
 simplicity, and he was early enured to those habits of manly 
 self-dependence by which he was subsequently distin- 
 guished. 
 
 The history of his childhood and school days is as yet 
 unwritten, but we know that his martial tastes w^ere de- 
 veloped at an early period. It has been stated that a part 
 of his education was obtained at the Military Academy at 
 "West Point, but this I believe is a mistake. He came to 
 Chicago in 1855 for peaceful purposes, thinking more of 
 machinery than military tactics, but he had not long been 
 a resident of this city before he became identified with its 
 military interests, and was soon favorably known for his 
 soldierly qualities throughout the State. 
 
 Soon after the Crimean war, he became acquainted with 
 a French Zouave, and through him obtained a knowledge 
 of the peculiar tactics of this modern style of soldier. He 
 soon became convinced that this system of tactics could be 
 
63 
 
 adapted to the American mind and muscle with great ad- 
 vantage to the service in some of the exigencies of war ; 
 and on making the experiment he soon achieved a success 
 whose brilliancy has never been paralleled in the history 
 of our citizen soldiery in time of peace. Of that success I 
 do not need to remind you. I need not speak of the tri- 
 umphal march made by his command through the Eastern 
 States last summer. We all felt that that march was an 
 honor to our city, and when upon the return of the corps, 
 it was announced that they were immediately to disband, 
 we felt a regret, something like that with which we would 
 see a beautiful and perfected instrument broken in pieces — 
 something like that with which we should see a statue 
 dashed into fragments j ust as the sculptor has received the 
 crown from an admiring world. Then came the reaction , 
 and we were tempted to say " What is all this worth ? Have 
 we been admiring merely a martial show? Have we been 
 only amusing ourselves like children gazing at flamingoes ? ' ' 
 But, almost before we had ceased to express our disappoint - 
 ment over what seemed to be wasted effort and useless 
 pageantry, we were startled by the cry, "to arms !" with 
 which our long and flattering peace was broken. Then 
 we saw for what high purpose these Zouaves, almost un- 
 consciously, had been fitting themselves, and when Col. 
 Ellsworth began to collect his regiment from among the 
 firemen of Kew York, we felt that no step in his work had 
 been in vain. It is safe to say that, although his system 
 has not been formally adopted by military authorities of 
 our country, it has modified all our military operations. 
 The spirit of our departed Ellsworth will yet live in the 
 influence he has exerted on our armies ; it will nerve many 
 an arm and direct many a blow on the field of battle, as 
 his name will be the war-cry with which many a soldier 
 will rush into the fray. It was believed, in ancient times, 
 that the ghosts of departed warriors hovered over their 
 still living companions in arms, when they went out to 
 fight, to lead and to help them. It will not be necessary 
 that the ghost of Ellsworth should linger about the camp 
 
64 
 
 over wliicli he lately presided, or precede his late command 
 to the contest, while everywhere, in his spirit, his influence, 
 his military principles he will live, though in the person of 
 those whom he has inspired, he be. struck down a thousand 
 times. The murderer's bullet is enough to destroy all 
 that is mortal of him, but no shot, nor shell, nor steel can 
 touch that life in others which will survive so Ions: as there 
 s hall be a single Zouave to bring his tattered flag into the 
 field, when the roll-call of his regiment is read after the 
 contest is over. 
 
 In character. Col. Ellsworth was richly endowed both 
 by nature and by cultivation. K, as was once supposed, 
 when the scarlet uniform of the Zouave was thous-ht to be 
 a symbol of his fiery nature, to be counted worthy of this 
 name, is to be ferocious as well as brave, brutal as well as 
 d auntless, a sort of human tiger, without even the velvet 
 over the claws, then Col. Ellsworth was no model Zouave. 
 He was brave to a fault. There seemed to be no such word 
 as fear in his vocabulary, because there was no corresponding 
 feeling in his heart. He was a dashing and brilliant officer, 
 always as ready to set an example as to utter a command ; 
 but his bravery was made courage — true royal courage — 
 by the invigorating influence of moral principle. It was 
 always a prominent point in his military creed, that the 
 effective soldier must observe the rules of morality as well 
 as the articles of war ; and his original company of Zouaves 
 put to shame many a soldier of milder title, by their rigid 
 abstinence from vicious indulgence. 
 
 He was distinguished by his power of control over his 
 subordinates. If he was ever thought severe and distant, 
 his severity was always praised in the end, and his distance 
 only seemed to temper the love of his soldiers with respect. 
 In discipline he was no martinet, yet, his discipline was 
 more perfect than if he had been. It is doubtful whether 
 any mere martinet could have controlled the regiment he 
 raised in the city of N"ew York as he did. Men called 
 them, ironically, his "pet lambs." Whatever else is true 
 of them, they followed, obeyed, and loved him as if they 
 
65 
 
 had been a peaceful fold, and he their shepherd. The 
 tidings of his death were received by them first with a storm 
 of vengeance, then with a softer rain of tears. 
 
 He was a man of original and independent mind. His 
 system of tactics was in many particulars new ; his pub- 
 lished work is not a mere translation from foreign sources. 
 Had he lived, he would doubtless have shown his original- 
 ity in the manoeuvres of the battlefield and the management 
 of the campaign. 
 
 Added to his other soldierly qualities, was a spirit of heroic 
 self-devotion. He was always ready to sacrifice his own 
 interests to the cause he loved, and to the country he was 
 sworn to defend. When attending President Lincoln on 
 his journey to Washington, he was assiduous in providing 
 for his comfort, and removing all causes of danger or an- 
 noyance. This was a journey which he supposed might 
 be fraught with peril, and he was heard to say, that if it 
 became necessary to lay down his life in defending that of 
 the president elect, he should not hesitate a moment to do 
 it. It is significant that after he had fallen, when his 
 clothing was removed, a patriotic medal was found hanging 
 upon his breast and stained with his blood. Some soldiers 
 carry in that sacred place a lock of hair cut from some 
 dear head, or a miniature faintly portraying the features of 
 some beloved friend whose shrine is in the heart which 
 beats beneath the picture. So might the gallant Ellsworth 
 have done ; if he did not, it was not because his heart was 
 an empty shrine. We are not told what else was found 
 above that heart when it had ceased to beat, but this was 
 found there, — a golden medal bearing this inscription — 
 Non solum nobis sed pro imtria. 
 
 Col. Ellsworth was a man of tender affections and quick 
 sensibilities. When on the eve of his tour to the East, last 
 summer, his only brother, a member of his command, was 
 attacked by a violent and contagious disease. Col. Ells- 
 worth watched over him day and night with incessant care, 
 until a proper regard for the health of his command forced 
 9 
 
6Q 
 
 him, at their solicitation, to refrain ; and when at length 
 the brother died, and I was called to attend his funeral, I 
 found no stoical mourner beside the coffin, nor in the tears 
 then shed could I find the mockery of grief And when 
 I read that letter written by the surviving son to his parents, 
 on the evening before that fatal day in Alexandria, closing 
 with these tender words : 
 
 " My darling and ever loved parents, good bye. God 
 bless, protect and care for you," 
 
 I was reminded of a remark which he dropped at his 
 brother's funeral, when expressing his grief at his loss, be- 
 cause they had come together to this city, hoping to provide 
 an evening home for their aged parents. Those parents 
 are destined to close their eyes upon the world in the same 
 brown cottage which has sheltered them so long. There 
 will be no stalwart arm to bear them up when the grass- 
 h opper becomes a burden, but when they come to totter 
 along the path which leads from the cottage to the grave- 
 yard, looking first at the empty cradle where the babe once 
 lay, and then at the turf beneath which the man reposes, 
 they will have this to console them, that they gave birth 
 to a hero, and that it was no small part of his nobility that 
 he loved them so well. 
 
 It will console them, too, to think that his religious 
 sensibilities had not been destroyed hj contact with a 
 selfish world or an irreligious camp. They will often read 
 over and think over, when memory has taken the words 
 into her keeping, those precious lines in that last letter, 
 written when the premonition of death fell like a shadow 
 athwart the page : 
 
 " Whatever may happen, cherish the consolation that I 
 was engaged in the performance of a sacred duty : and to- 
 night, thinking over the probabilities of the morrow 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." 
 
 It is said by his companions, that when his brother lay sick 
 
67 
 
 in tlie armory, he was seen repeatedly to kneel beside his 
 bed in prayer ; that he would rise in the night again and 
 again, and seeming to forget that others were near, would 
 break out into earnest and audible petitions to God for 
 the life of his brother. In saying this, I am not claiming 
 that he was faultless. I offer no decision as to his religious 
 character as judged by Him before whom the heavens are 
 unclean; but this I will say, that he was not one of those 
 who think it unbefitting the soldier to look out sometimes 
 into the mysterious future ; who regard prayer as a mock- 
 ery, and trust in God as a sentimental delusion. 
 
 Believing as we do in an overruling Providence, there is 
 something mysterious in his death. Had the list of all our 
 military officers been laid before us, and had we been 
 directed to run the pen through the name of him who could 
 best be sacrificed at Alexandria, surely, surely we should 
 not have obliterated the name of Ellsworth. And had that 
 name been blotted for us by some prophetic pen, and the 
 mode of his death had been left to us, we should have chosen, 
 last of all, that he should perish by the hand of an assassin. 
 We would have put him at the head of his regiment, and 
 had him cheer on his soldiers to some glorious achievement. 
 We would have had him fall as the gallant Wolfe fell on 
 the heights of Abraham, while the glad shout, " They fly, 
 they fly," should resound in his dying ear. But God has 
 taught us that He can spare whom we cannot, and that 
 there is " glory " enough in a patriot's death, though it 
 come not upon the scarlet field. 
 
 To us his life seems to have gone out at its brilliant be- 
 ffinninff. It was like a rocket bursting at the commence- 
 ment of its flight, when it bids fair to touch the stars. God 
 has taug-ht us that He can afford to have some brilliant 
 lives go out when they have but begun. To us it seems 
 that had he lived he would have made a most accomplished 
 general. God is teaching us that His instruments may 
 sometimes be more effectual by breaking in His baud, just 
 as He begins to use them. We look mournfully over the 
 laud, aud ask who will take the place of Ellsworth at the 
 
68 
 
 head of his wild brigade. Who will carry out the system he 
 had so ably inaugurated ? But God is teaching us not to be 
 too anxious for the future, by the calm serenity with which 
 He strikes the knell of those whom men value most, when 
 the inevitable hour is come. 
 
 Possibly we may yet be able to see, when the tangled skein 
 of future providences shall have been smoothed into the 
 straighter lines of history, precisely how his death was of 
 more use to his country than his life could have been. Al- 
 ready we see how profoundly it has stirred the patriotic 
 feeling of the land. Since the blood of Massachusetts red- 
 dened the streets of Baltimore, nothing has occurred which 
 has so contributed to rouse and consolidate an already 
 united North. Had Ellsworth fallen in battle, he would 
 have been but one of many, and the attention of the coun- 
 try would have been divided by a long and bloody list. 
 The bulletin would have read, perhaps, " Alexandria is 
 taken and a hundred lives were lost." Now it reads, " Alex- 
 andria is taken and Ellsworth is dead." And history will 
 perpetuate it thus: "On the 24th of May, Alexandria was 
 taken and Ellsworth was slain." Like the single cardinal 
 flower in the meadow, drawing all eyes to itself, the name 
 of Ellsworth will glow like an ensanguined spot upon the 
 historic page, and thus it may turn out that we shall unite 
 in saying that it was not only better for his country but 
 more glorious for himself that he alone should die. 
 
 Soldiers ! there are no " chances " in war. There are 
 sudden deaths ; there are fearful wounds. There is pesti- 
 lence stealing into a tent at midnight, as well as cannon 
 shot dashing through solid columns in the day. Before 
 either of them the soldier may fall, but he deceives him- 
 self who talks, when he enlists, of " taking the chances of 
 war." I heard of a clergyman who prayed, not long since, 
 that every bullet might have its billet, and so carry the 
 message of death to the traitor's heart. Every bullet has 
 its billet, whether it rushes from the rifle of the patriot or 
 of the traitor, in this important sense, that all things are 
 ruled or overruled by God. Fear not, then, when you go 
 
69 
 
 forth to the contest, if you are called beneath the sulphurous 
 curtams of the battle, lest by a sudden death the great pur- 
 poses of your life should be broken off. Your purposes 
 may be, but not God's purposes respecting you. As in 
 the case of the lamented Ellsworth, the full circle of life 
 may be rounded at the age of twenty-five, and when that 
 circle is swept, be it sooner or later, it is time for us to die. 
 If it be the will of God that you should perish amid the 
 providences oiwdiV, I could not ask that you be spared, though 
 we should miss you and mourn for you. But I can ask, 
 and will, that you may be prepared to die, by repentance 
 toward God and faith in his dear Son. Then we can dis- 
 miss you without a fear, for then to give up your Hfe for 
 your country will be but to march in triumph through the 
 gates of bliss. We may not be permitted to welcome you 
 back with a laurel wreath, but Christ shall welcome you 
 with a starry crown. 
 
 Let us all pledge ourselves anew to-day, to our country 
 and to our country's God. On this holy Sabbath — in this 
 hall, where, to-day, the altar of worship is erected beside 
 the altar of liberty, while these faces of the long line of 
 the presidents of these United States — which we hope to 
 keep united yet — look down upon us, let us pledge our- 
 selves anew, by the memory of Ellsworth, to our country 
 and our country's God ! 
 
" Dulce est pro Patria mori." 
 
 ORDER OF EXERCISES 
 
 OHiESOFTlUTECOLlOLLSWOm, 
 
 In Bryan Hall, Chicago, Sunday, June 2, 1861. 
 
 fl© ''^MlwMiW liplim/-'^ %j Hi I^IgM imti iaii,j 
 
 Composed erpressly for the occasion by A. J. Vaas. 
 
 1. Invocation, By Rev. R. H. Clarkson. 
 
 JVIusic "by the dioir. 
 
 Dread Jehovali ! God of nations 1 
 From tliy temple in the skies, 
 
 Hear thy people's supplications, 
 Now for their deliverance rise. 
 
 Tho' our sins, our hearts confounding, 
 Long and loud for vengeance call, 
 
 Thou hast mercy more abounding, 
 Jesus' blood can cleanse them all. 
 
 Let that love vail our transgression ; 
 
 Let that blood our guHt efface ; 
 Save our nation from oppression, 
 
 Save from spoU om- chosen place. 
 
 Lo ! with deep contrition turning, 
 Humbly at thy feet we bend ; 
 
 Hear us, fasting, praying, mourning. 
 Hear us, spare us, and defend. 
 
 Prayer, By Rev. Dr. Tiffany. 
 
 Music, By the Choir, 
 
 I would not live alway ; I ask not to stay 
 Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the way ; 
 The few lurid mornings that dawn on iis here. 
 Are enough for life's woes — full enough for its cheer. 
 
 I would not live alway ; no, welcome the tomb. 
 Since Jesus has lain there I di'cad not its gloom ; 
 There sweet be my rest, till He bid me arise, 
 To haU Him in triumph, descending the skies. 
 
 I would not live alway, away from my God, 
 
 Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode ; 
 
 Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains. 
 
 And the noontide of glory eternally reigns. 
 
 Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, 
 Their Savior and brethren transported to greet ; 
 While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll. 
 And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul. 
 
 4. Sermon, 
 B. Music, . . . 
 
 By Rev. Z. M. Humphrey. 
 By the Choir. 
 
 My country 1 'tis of thee. 
 Sweet land of Liberty, 
 
 Of thee I sing ; 
 Land where my fathers died ; 
 Laud of the Pilgrim's pride ; 
 From every mountain side. 
 
 Let Freedom ring. 
 
 My native country ! thee. 
 Land of the noble Free, 
 
 Thy name I love ; 
 I love thy rocks and rills. 
 Thy woods and templed hUls ; 
 My heart with rapture thrills. 
 
 Like that above. 
 
 6. Benediction, 
 
 GEN. R. K. SWIFT, 
 
 Marshal. 
 
 Let music swell the breeze. 
 And ring from all the trees 
 
 Sweet Freedom's song ; 
 Let mortal tongues awake, ' 
 Let all that breathe partake ; 
 Let rocks their silence break. 
 
 The sound prolong. 
 
 Our father's God ! to Thee, 
 Author of Liberty ! 
 
 To Thee we sing ; 
 Long may our land be bright 
 With Freedom's holy light. 
 Protect us by Thy might, 
 
 Great God, our King. 
 
 By Rev. Paul Anderson. 
 
 S. SEXTON, 
 
 Pros, of 'the Day. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 RECEPTIOI^r OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 
 
 To THE Committee of Arrangements for the Reception 
 
 OF THE President Elect. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 Being charged with the responsibility of the safe con- 
 duct of the President elect, and his suite to their destina- 
 tion, I deem it my duty, for special reasons which you will 
 readily comprehend, to offer the following suggestions : 
 
 First: The President elect will under no circumstances 
 attempt to pass through any crowd until such arrangements 
 are made as will meet the approval of Col. Ellsworth, who 
 is charged with the responsibility of all matters of this 
 character, and to facilitate this, you will confer a favor by 
 placing Col. Ellsworth in communication with the chief of 
 your escort, immediately upon the arrival of the train. 
 
 SECOND : arrangement OF CARRIAGES : 
 
 First Carriage, 
 
 The President Elect, 
 
 Col. Lamon, or other Members of his Suite, 
 
 One or two members of the Escort or Committee. 
 
 Second Carriage, 
 Col. E. V. Sumner, U. S. A., 
 Maj. D. Hunter, U. S. A., 
 Hon. N. B. Judd, of Illinois, 
 Hon. David Davis, of Illinois. 
 
72 
 
 Third Carriage^ 
 
 Col. E. E. Ellsworth, 
 
 Capt. Hazzard, 
 
 John Gr. Mcolay, Esq., Private Secretary, 
 
 Member of the Escort. 
 
 Fourth Carriage, 
 
 Eobt. T. Lincoln, 
 
 John M. Hay, Assistant Secretary, 
 
 Two Members of the Escort. 
 
 The other members of the suite may be arranged at 
 your pleasure by your committee on the cars. 
 
 Two carriages will be required to convey Mrs. Lincoln 
 and family and her escort from the cars. 
 
 ARRANGEMENT OF ROOMS : 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's secretaries will require rooms contiguous 
 to the President elect. 
 
 A private dining room with table for six or eight persons. 
 
 Mr. Wood will also require a room near the President 
 elect, for the accommodation of himself and secretary. 
 
 The other members of the suite will be placed as near 
 as convenient. 
 
 For the convenience of the committee, a list of the names 
 of the suite arranged in their proper order is appended. 
 
 Trusting, gentlemen, that inasmuch as we have a com- 
 mon purpose in this matter, the safety, comfort and con- 
 venience of the President elect, these suggestions will be 
 received in the spirit in which they are offered. 
 
 I have the honor to be your Obedient Servant, 
 
 W. S. WOOD, 
 
 Superintendent 
 
73 
 
 CALL TO EQUIP FIRE ZOUAVES. 
 
 To THE Citizens of New York. 
 
 A regiment of volunteers, to be composed of members 
 of the New York Fire Department, and to be commanded 
 by Col. Ellsworth (late of Chicago Zouaves), is now forming 
 to aid the general government in the suppression of 
 rebellion, and the citizens of New York are- earnestly 
 requested to aid them, by advancing the necessary funds 
 to complete the arrangements, and provide the necessary 
 uniforms, equipments, &c. 
 
 The following named gentlemen are authorized to re- 
 ceive subscriptions : 
 
 Jno. Decker, Chief of the Fire Department, 21 Elizabeth Street. 
 Wm. H. Wickham, President Fire Department, Collins' Wharf, foot 
 
 of Canal Street, and 54 South Street. 
 A. J. Delatour, Vice-President, 25 J Wall Street. 
 J. R. Piatt, Secretary Fire Department, 79 Murray Street. 
 Henry A. Burr, President Board of Trustees, corner Cliff and 
 
 Frankfort Streets. 
 Geo. F. Nesbit, Secretary Board of Trustees, corner Pearl and Pine 
 
 Streets. 
 John S. Giles, Treasurer, 34 Elizabeth Street. 
 Zophar Miles, Trustee, 144 Front Street. 
 A. F. Ockershausen, Trustee, 21 Rose Street. 
 James Y. Watkins, Trustee, 16 Catherine Street. 
 James Kelly, 32 Chambers Street, and 21 Irving Place, Treasurer. 
 Henry B. Venn, 384 Bowery. 
 
 David Millikin, Ex-President of the Fire Department. 
 William Wright, of Maifcland & Co., 65 Beaver Street. 
 John A. Gregier, Mercantile Insurance Co., 65 Wall Street. 
 Owen W. Brennan, 88 Elm Street. 
 
 A. F. Ockershausen, 
 Chairman. 
 
 George F. Nesbit, 
 
 Secretary. 
 10 
 
74 
 
 ACTION OF THE FIEE DEPAETMENT 
 
 Of New Yokk, 1861. 
 
 A meeting of the Committee recently appointed by the 
 Fire Department to superintend the equipment and 
 departure of the First Regiment Fireman Zouaves, (Col. 
 Ellsworth,) was held at the Astor House yesterday after- 
 noon, A. F. Ockershausen acting as chairman. The 
 following preamble and resolutions were unanimously 
 adopted : 
 
 Whereas^ This Committee (who so recently aided in 
 raising and organizing the above regiment, to go forth in 
 defence of our Constitution, our Union and our Flag), 
 having learned, with deep sorrow, of the death of Colo- 
 nel Ellsworth, while in the discharge of his duty, and 
 while hauling down the flag of traitors, do most deeply 
 sympathize with his afilicted family and friends, and the 
 regiment he so ably commanded in his lamentable dis- 
 aster. A gallant, brave and energetic officer has fallen 
 in his Country's cause, and the State and the Nation 
 mourn his loss, therefore 
 
 Resolved^ That this Committee will attend the funeral 
 obsequies of the late Col. Ellsworth, and they invite the 
 Trustees, the President and officers and ex-officers, the 
 Fire Department generally, to join in carrying their 
 respects to the soldier who chose to command a regi- 
 ment of the New York Firemen, and has proved himself 
 worthy of the trnst reposed in him. 
 
 Resolved^ That a Committee of six from this bod}- be 
 appointed to proceed to Washington, to take charge of 
 the honored remains, and escort them to this city, or 
 such other place as the family and friends of the deceased 
 may designate. 
 
 Resolved^ That a Committee of five be appointed with 
 power to make such arrangements as they may deem 
 necessary upon the receipt of the remains in the city. 
 
75 
 
 The Committee appointed to take charge of the body 
 on its arrival in the city, organized by the appointment 
 of A. Delatour, No. 25| Wall street, as Chairman, and 
 James Kelly, Receiver of Taxes, Secretary. 
 
 The following gentlemen comprise the Committee of 
 arrangements : John Decker, Chief of the F. D., Henry 
 B. Vern, Henry A. Burr, Zophar Mills, James G. Wat- 
 kins, and Geo. F. ]S"esbitt. 
 
 MEETING OF COLUMBIAN ENGINE CO., NO. 14. 
 
 At a special meeting of the company, held at the Ea- 
 gine House, on Sunday, the 26th inst., the following pre- 
 amble and resolutions were unanimously adopted : 
 
 Whereas, This company, in common with our brother 
 members of the department, having embraced the idea 
 of forming a Zouave regiment, feel peculiar pride in the 
 remembrance of the fact that the gallant Col. Ellsworth, 
 at the time of his death, wore upon his breast the badge 
 of this company, which had been solicited by him from 
 one of our members. Therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed from 
 this company to wait upon the Board of Fire Commis- 
 sioners, and solicit from them, that the badge of the Fire 
 Department, which Colonel Ellsworth wore at the time of 
 his death, be presented to his father. 
 
 Resolved, That they also, be solicited not to issue a 
 badge of the same number, in order that it may remain 
 through all time, a silent testimonial of heroic daring, and 
 departed worth. 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the bereaved, 
 parents of Colonel Ellsworth, and fondly hope and trust 
 that their loss may prove his gain. 
 
76 
 
 THE PALL BEARERS OF COL. ELLSWORTH. 
 
 Hon. Hamilton Fish, 
 John Jacob Astor, Jr., . 
 GrEN. Prosper M. Wetmore, 
 
 Union Defence Committee. 
 
 Col. Edward Hincken, 
 
 Col. Fred Townsend, 
 
 Col. Wm. H. Allen, 
 
 Col. Asboth, 
 
 Robert T. Hawes, Comptroller of the City of Kew York. 
 
 Wm. H. Wickham, President of the Fire Department. 
 
 Henry A. Burr, President of the Board of Trustees. 
 
 John Decker, Chief Engineer of the Fire Department. 
 
 Wm. M. Tweed, Commissioner of the Fire Department. 
 
 George F. JSTesbit, 
 Zophar Mills, 
 James Kelly. 
 
 Zouave Fireman Com. 
 
 ELLSWORTH'S FUNERAL IN TROY— THHITEEN 
 YEARS AGO. 
 
 [FROM THE troy TIMES, MAY 27, 1861.] 
 
 The remains of the gallant soldier arrived here about 
 11 o'clock. They were brought upon the steamer McDonald, 
 which was draped in mourning, attended by the Troy com- 
 mittee, the guard of honor detailed from Washington to 
 escort the corpse, committees from the New York fire 
 department and common council, Albany firemen and 
 zouaves, several citizens of Albany, and the following gentle- 
 men who were specially detailed by President Lincoln to ac- 
 company the deceased to Mechanicville : Augustus Haight, 
 Washington ; Col. J. H. Stover, New York ; Hon. E. C. 
 
77 
 
 Larned, S. F. Gale and L. Boomer, Chicago. The body- 
 was dressed in a full-dress uniform, and was contained in 
 a splendid rosewood coffin, which was beautifully decked 
 with evergreens. The sword and cap of the deceased lay 
 upon the coffin. The body was received at the foot of 
 Liberty street by the Troy military, firemen, common 
 council and citizens. The docks were lined with people, 
 all manifesting the most solemn and heartfelt sympathy 
 with the occasion. After a delay of about half an hour, 
 caused by some misunderstanding as to the position of 
 some of the companies, a procession was formed as follows : 
 
 Gen. Allen, marshal. 
 
 Police of Troy, uniform caps and black clothes. 
 
 Doring's band. 
 
 Troy City Rifle Company. 
 
 Columbian Guards. 
 
 Republican Guards. 
 
 Wool Guards. 
 
 Jackson Guards. 
 
 Cohoes and Waterford Millitary. 
 
 Albany Zouave Cadets, "A" Co. 10th Regt. K G. S. 
 N. Y., with drum corps. 
 
 Troy City Artillery. 
 
 Col. Lawton. 
 
 Hearse, drawn by four splendid black horses, flanked 
 
 by Engine Company No. 1 and Troy Citizens' 
 
 Corps. 
 
 Lieut. Laflin and Private Boies of Ellsworth's Chicago 
 Zouaves. 
 
 Guard of honor from Ellsworth's Fire Regiment, in- 
 cluding Francis E. Brownell. 
 
 Carriages containing father of deceased and New York 
 committee. 
 
 Gen. Wool and staflf. 
 
78 
 
 Officers of Col. Frisby's Regiment. 
 
 Troy and N'ew York Common Councils 
 
 Carriages with committees. 
 
 Schreiber's band, Albany. 
 
 Delegation of Albany Firemen. 
 
 Engine Company 'No. 2. 
 
 Washington Volunteers. 
 
 West Tro}'^ Fire Department. 
 
 Albany delegation of citizens. 
 
 Troy Drum Corps, under command of Capt. Sherman of 
 Ellsworth's Chicago Zouaves. 
 
 The procession moved down Washington to Second, 
 up Second to Broadway, and marched directly to the depot. 
 The streets were lined with spectators, and it was no un- 
 common thing to see ladies weeping at the windows as 
 the funeral cortege passed. Corporal Brownell rode upon 
 the seat of the hearse, and carried with him the secession 
 flag for which the brave Ellsworth lost his life. Many of 
 his friends shook hands with him during the march to the 
 depot. The bells were tolled as the procession moved 
 through the city, and an air of solemn stillness, broken 
 only by the funeral strains of the band, pervaded the streets 
 through which it passed. Brownell lost a beautiful gold 
 flag presented to him by Hon. D. E. Sickles, in New York, 
 but was subsequently so fortunate as to have it returned 
 to him. — Gen. BuUard of Waterford, Cols. Phelps and 
 McKean of Saratoga and Saxe of this city, with the staff 
 of Gen. Allen, flanked the hearse during the march. The 
 hearse was drawn into the depot, and the body was at once 
 placed on board a special train of cars for Mechanicville. 
 The train consisted of twenty-five cars, under charge of 
 Conductor McCaffrey, for the conveyance of all who chose 
 to go up and take part in the last sad rites of sepulture, 
 and was filled with nearly all connected with the procession. 
 
79 
 
 All the military, civic bodies and delegations of firemen, 
 with engine company JSTo. 1, as a body, attended the remains 
 to Mechanicville. The demonstration throughout was a 
 noble one, and was worthy of the young hero. The pro- 
 cession was most imposing, and it was indeed grateful 
 to witness the depth of sentiment expressed by all classes, 
 and the generous regard which was so cheerfully mani- 
 fested. The demonstration was alike a tribute of respect 
 to the deceased and the cause in which he lost his life. 
 
 LETTER OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 
 
 The following letter was written to the father and mother 
 of Ellsworth. 
 
 In the untimely loss of your noble son, our affliction is 
 scarcely less than that of your own. So much of promised 
 usefulness to one's country, and of bright hopes for one's 
 self and friends, have rarely been so suddenly darkened as 
 in his fall. In size, in years and youthful appearance a boy 
 only, his power to command men was surprisingly great. 
 This power, combined with fine intellect and indomitable 
 energy, and a taste altogether military, constituted in him, 
 as seemed to me, the best matured talent in that depart- 
 ment I ever knew, and yet he was singularly modest and 
 deferential in his social intercourse. My acquaintance with 
 him began less than two years ago ; yet through the latter 
 half of the intervening period, it was as intimate as the dis- 
 parity of our ages and my engrossing engagements would 
 permit. To me he appeared to have no indulgences or 
 pastimes, and I never heard him utter an intemperate or 
 profane word. What was conclusive of his good heart, he 
 never forgot his parents. The honors he labored for so 
 laudably, and in the sad end so gallantly gave his life, he 
 meant for them no less than for himself. 
 
 In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon the sacred- 
 ness of your sorrow, I have ventured to address this tribute 
 
80 
 
 to the memory of my young friend and your brave and 
 early fallen child. May God give you the consolation that 
 is beyond all earthly power. 
 
 Sincerely your friend in common affliction, 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
 The following is the draft of an unsigned letter, written 
 but not officially transmitted : 
 
 Executive Mansion, March, 1861. 
 To the Secretary of "War. 
 
 Sir : you will favor me by issuing an order detailing 
 Lieut. E. E. Ellsworth, of the 1st Dragoons, for special 
 duty as adjutant and inspector general of milita affairs, 
 for the United States, and, insofar as existing laws will ad- 
 mit, charge him with the transaction, under your direction, 
 of all business pertaining to the militia, to be conducted as 
 a separate bureau, of which Lieut. Ellsworth will be chief : 
 with instructions to take measures for promoting a uniform 
 system of organization, drill, equipment, etc., of the TJ. S. 
 militia, and to prepare a system of instruction for the 
 militia, to be distributed to the several states. You will 
 please assign him suitable office rooms, furniture, etc., and 
 provide him with a clerk and messenger, and furnish him 
 such facilities in the way of printing, stationery, access to 
 records, etc., as he may desire for the successful prosecution 
 of his duties ; and also provide, if you please, in such man- 
 ner as will best answer the purpose, for a monthly payment 
 to Lieut. E., for this extra duty, sufficient to make his 
 pay and emoluments equal that of a major of cavalry. 
 
81 
 
 GEN. BANKS'S LETTER TO A TROJAN" — HIS 
 OPnnON OF ELLSWORTH. 
 
 Gen. E. F. Bullard of this city (Troy), has received the fol- 
 lowing letter from Gen. N. P. Banks, which explains itself: 
 
 Boston, May 6th, 1874. 
 
 Senate Chamber. 
 My Dear Sir : It would give me very great pleasure to 
 deliver the oration at the dedication of the Ellsworth Monu- 
 ment, the 27th instant, did my engagements permit. But 
 I find it will not be in my power. I knew Colonel Ells- 
 worth well, and appreciated the heroic traits of character 
 which he exhibited in his short but glorious career. I 
 regret deeply that I cannot join his friends and admirers 
 upon this interesting occasion. "With most sincere thanks 
 for your kind remembrance, I remain your friend, &c. 
 
 N. P. Banks. 
 E. F. Bullard, Esq., Troy, N. Y. 
 
 ELLSWORTH. 
 [May 24, 1861.] 
 by william h. burleigh. 
 
 Who keeps his faith in God and man, 
 By sore temptation unsubdued ; 
 Who trusts the Right and loves the Good, 
 
 Lives long — however brief his span. 
 
 True life is measured not by days, 
 
 Nor yet by deeds, though bravely wrought 
 Its truest gauge is noblest thought, 
 
 And this commands our highest praise. 
 11 
 
^2 
 
 So, though men say, " Alas ! how brief 
 
 His course whose death we mourn to-day ! " 
 The prescient soul must answer, " Nay — 
 
 Ye wrong him with this bitter grief." 
 
 What seems our loss hath this redress — 
 His life, by generous will and act. 
 No dream, but an eternal fact, 
 
 Is rounded into perfectness. 
 
 He is — not, was : — the pulse that beat 
 
 But yesterday within his frame. 
 
 To-day is like a living flame 
 In every manly breast we meet. 
 
 Poured through thousand hearts, the life 
 That ebbed in his, asserts its sway. 
 An impulse that forbids delay, 
 
 When Duty summons to the strife. 
 
 And hosts, by that grand impulse moved, 
 With eager haste their weapons clasp, 
 And swear to save from Treason's grasp 
 
 The country and the cause he loved. 
 
 So sanctified by martyr-blood, 
 To us that cause is doubly dear ; 
 And who, remembering him, will fear 
 
 To stand for Right as Ellsworth stood ? 
 
 For faith like his its like begets. 
 And courage, though the hero die 
 Doth multiply and multiply 
 
 In large excess of our regrets. 
 
 And thus one soul, that never swerved 
 From duty, fills a land with light ; 
 And countless arms are nerved for fight 
 
 By one strong arm that death unnerved. 
 
 So, best . . . since so, the largest good 
 Results — nor need we sum the cost, 
 For lives so lost are never lost 
 
 To Freedom saved by martyr-blood. 
 
For bim, henceforth his country claims 
 The ground as holy where he sleeps, 
 And, like a loving mother, keeps 
 
 His name among her dearest names. 
 
 And when Love bids his monument 
 Lift its pure column to the air, 
 No fitter legend can it bear 
 
 Than his brave words — "I am content 1 " 
 
 " Content — whatever fate be mine — 
 
 A sacred duty bids me go, 
 
 And though the issue none can know, 
 I hear and heed the voice divine. 
 
 " Content — since confident that He 
 To whom the sparrow's fall is known, 
 Will have some purpose of his own 
 
 Even in the fate of one like me. " ^ 
 
 golden words ! faith sublime ! 
 
 spirit breathing holy breath ! 
 
 For such an one there is no death, 
 But crescent potencies through time ! 
 
 And still, where loyal arms roll back 
 The crimson tide of traitorous war, 
 His memory, like a beacon-star. 
 
 Shall shine above the battle's rack — 
 
 A flame, the patriot's heart to cheer 
 And give new temper to his sword — 
 A fire, to blast the rebel horde 
 
 And melt their courage into fear. 
 
 And when — Rebellion's power subdued — 
 Shall dawn for us a better day. 
 When Peace again resumes her sway 
 
 And links the bands of brotherhood — 
 
 ' la the last letter addressed to his parents, penned but a few hours 
 previous to his assassination, Col. Ellsworth says : " Whatever may happen, 
 cherish the consolation that I was engaged in the performance of a sacred 
 duty ; and to-night, thinking over the probabilities of the morrow and the 
 occurrences of the past, I am perfectly content to accept whatever my for- 
 tune 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." 
 
84 
 
 From North to Soutli, from East to West, 
 His name shall be a household word, 
 Revered and loved wherever heard. 
 
 And treasured with our worthiest. 
 
 So, for his land, the good he meant. 
 Won in the triumph of the Right, 
 His spirit, starred with Heaven's own light. 
 
 Once more shall say — " I am content \" 
 
 ELLSWORTH'S AVENGERS. 
 
 BY A. LORA HUDSON. 
 
 Down where the patriot army, . 
 
 Near Potomac's side. 
 Guards the glorious cause of freedom. 
 
 Gallant Ellsworth died. 
 Brave was the noble chieftain : 
 
 At his country's call 
 Hastened to the field of battle, 
 
 And was first to fall. 
 
 Strike, freemen, for the Union ! 
 
 Sheath your swords no more 
 While remains in arms a traitor 
 
 On Columbia's shore ! 
 
 Entering the traitor city 
 
 With his soldiers true. 
 Leading up the Zouave column. 
 
 Fixed became his view. 
 See that Rebel flag is floating 
 
 O'er yon building tall ; 
 Spoke he, while his dark eye glistened, 
 
 Boys that flag must fall ! 
 Strike, freemen, &c. 
 
 Quickly from its proud position, 
 
 That base flag was torn. 
 Trampled 'neath the feet of freemen, 
 
 Circling Ellsworth's form ; 
 
85 
 
 See him bear it down the landing, 
 
 Past the traitor's door, 
 Hear him groan ! Oh, God, they've shot him ! 
 
 Ellsworth is no more. 
 
 Strike, freemen, &c. 
 
 First to fall, thou youthful martyr, 
 
 Hapless was thy fate ; 
 Hasten we as thy avengers 
 
 From thy native state. 
 Speed we on, from town and city, 
 
 Not for wealth or fame. 
 But because we love the Union, 
 
 And our Ellsworth's name. 
 Strike, freemen, &c. 
 
 Traitors' hands shall never sunder 
 
 That for which you died. 
 Hear the oath our lips now utter 
 Thou our nation's pride. 
 By our hopes of yon bright heaven, 
 
 By the land we love, 
 By the God who reigns above us, 
 
 We'll avenge thy blood. 
 Strike, freemen, &c.