Excellent group of Ellsworth related relics and souvenirs, including:

1. Autograph letter signed by "Julius" to his brother "Ben." Washington, D.C., 5 June 1861. 4 pages, 8vo, on letter sheet featuring a portrait of Ellsworth. The letter contains a swatch of carpet from the "Marshall House" Inn as well as a piece of the "Secession flag" which Ellsworth removed from the Marshall House's roof.

Writing to his brother, Julius comments on mutual friends who have enlisted and achieved various officer appointments and promotions. Suspecting that he will be mustered out soon (after 30 days service), he admits that "we don't want to go home until we have a brush with the enemy." On the last page, next to Ellsworth's portrait, he writes: "Enclosed is a piece of the carpet on which Col. Ellsworth fell when he was killed by Jacobson in the Marshall House in Alexandria. Keep it to remember me by. I send also a piece of the secession flag staff." Both relics are included with the original letter.

2. Wood relic from Marshall House, Alexandria. The relic is inscribed in ink: "Marshall House / Ellsworth killed / Alex. Va." Mounted to period card reading: "Piece of the Marshall House at Alexandria, Virginia where Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth was killed May 24th, 1861. / Presented by Mrs. Crocker."

3. Sixteenth "gem" plate tintype portrait of Ellsworth in uniform. Period brass frame with suspension ring. Cardstock backing printed: "Colonel [Elm]er E. Ellswor[th] / Assassinated, May [24] 1861."

Small tintypes of prominent officers and politicians were mass produced and distributed by Abbott & Co. of New York City.

Elmer E. Ellsworth (1837-1861) was the first conspicuous death of the American Civil War. Already well known before the war thanks to his touring military drill team, the Zouave Cadets of Chicago, Ellsworth was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln and campaigned with him in 1860. At the outbreak of war, Ellsworth raised the 11th New York Infantry, which was predominately comprised of volunteer firefighters. They were known as the Fire Zouaves. It was this unit that Ellsworth led into Alexandria, Virginia the day after that state's secession on 24 May 1861. There, Ellsworth and his men met little resistance, but Ellsworth spotted a secessionist flag on an inn and went to take it down. Having retrieved the flag, he was shot point-blank by the irate innkeeper, killing Ellsworth instantly.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Historic Photography, Early Photography, Tintypes, Relics, Ephemera, Manuscripts, Letters, Documents]