U.S. Zouave Cadets of Chicago, 1860

You Zouave corps, O haughty France! We looked on as a wild romance, And many a one was heard to scoff At Algiers and at Malakoff; Nor did we Yankees credit quite Their evolutions in the fight. But now we're very sure what they Have done can here be done to-day, When thus before our sight deploys The gallant corps from Illinois -- American Zouaves! -- Anonymous poem, 1860

Ellsworth was born at Malta, Saratoga County, in New York, on April 11, 1837, and raised in the Hudson River town of Mechanicville. As a youth he struggled to support his impoverished family by selling newspapers and clerking at a dry-goods store, his hope of attending West Point a pipe-dream. When he was 17 years old, Ellsworth moved to Chicago. Though unsuccessful in business, he began to rise to prominence in the State Militia. In 1857 a chance encounter with Charles DeVilliers, a veteran of the French Zouaves, prompted Ellsworth to explore the intricacies of French light infantry drill, and he began considering the possibility of forming an American Zouave unit. After a brief period studying law in the Springfield office of Abraham Lincoln -- who became a lifelong friend -- Ellsworth returned to Chicago where he transformed a lackluster local militia outfit into the "United States Zouave Cadets." Ellsworth required that his hand-picked volunteers be "morally upright," abstain from alcohol and tobacco, and subjected them to a strict regimen of physical training. He outfitted his Cadets in a Zouave uniform of his own design, and drilled them in tactics he had adapted from French manuals.

Though short of stature, Ellsworth was a striking, athletic figure, who exuded authority. He was an ideal drillmaster, and by the summer of 1860 his U.S. Zouave Cadets of Chicago were being hailed as the finest militia unit in the Midwest.

Ellsworth and his Chicago Zouaves on tour. (Click on the image for a more detailed view. Image Size: 162.5K)

Not content to rest on his laurels, Ellsworth issued a blanket challenge to the State Militias of a dozen states: That his Zouaves would compete against them in drill competition for the prize of a specially commissioned flag. On July 2, 1860, Ellsworth and 50 of his best men embarked on a six-week tour that took them to 20 cities, including Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Zouaves humbled their competitors and awed thousands of spectators who came to watch their superbly choreographed exhibitions, while the handsome commander became an overnight celebrity. Newspapers described Ellsworth as "the most talked-of man in the country."

The high point of the tour came in New York City, where tens of thousands gathered to watch the Zouaves drill in City Hall Park, and local journals were effusive in their praise. The New York Times noted "Their bronzed features, sharp outlines, light, wiry forms, muscular developments and spirited, active movements, give them an appearance of dashing ferocity." The Herald hailed the Zouaves' "dashing confidence and elasticity, which we do not see in any of our own companies... Every movement of the company was so splendidly precise, that a new sensation indeed was experienced." By the time the Zouave Cadets returned to Chicago, there was no question that they had truly won the prize of best-drilled militia unit. Moreover, like a Zouave "Johnny Appleseed," Ellsworth had scattered in his wake the seeds of what became known as "The Zouave Craze."

To the right, Ellsworth drills the U.S. Zouave Cadets of Chicago, 1860

Almost overnight dozens of American Zouave companies sprang into existence, sporting a variety of garb that in most cases owed more to Ellsworth's version of the Zouave outfit than the true French uniform.

Bored with the study of law, the 24-year-old Ellsworth welcomed the coming of War, and after traveling to Washington with his friend, newly elected President Lincoln, he hastened to New York to raise an entire regiment of Zouaves for the Union. He called upon Manhattan's Volunteer Firemen, whose physical fitness and intrepid bearing seemingly qualified them as ideal volunteer soldiers, and within days the 11th New York Infantry -- "Ellsworth's Fire Zouaves" -- were mustered, hastily uniformed in a light-weight gray uniform of Ellsworth's design, issued a variety of firearms, and ready to embark for the defense of the Capital. Their parade down Broadway on April 29, 1861, was a frenzy of patriotic enthusiasm, and on their arrival in Washington the Fire Zouaves received a personal welcome from Abraham Lincoln. The President's Secretary, John Hay, described the Zouaves as "a jolly, gay set of blackguards," who "were in a pretty complete state of don't care a damn, modified by an affectionate and respectful deference to their Colonel." In fact, Colonel Ellsworth had his hands full attempting to discipline and train the rowdy, hard-drinking and boisterous firemen. Their antics and occasional depredations made them few friends in the Capital, and it was in part to redeem the reputation of his "Pet Lambs" -- as Ellsworth ironically dubbed his troublesome soldiers -- that the Colonel insisted his unit be assigned to the Federal force preparing to occupy the Virginia shore of the Potomac River. In large part due to his friendship with the President and Lincoln family, Ellsworth and his Fire Zouaves were belatedly included in the invasion plans.

On the early morning of May 24, 1861, they filed aboard steamships and crossed the Potomac to seize the town of Alexandria, Virginia. After landing at the city docks, Colonel Ellsworth led a small detail of men in search of Alexandria's telegraph office. But upon reaching the corner of King and Pitt Streets, he abuptly changed his intentions. A huge Secessionist banner was fluttering atop a 30-foot pole on the roof of the Marshall House hotel. "Boys," Ellsworth told his companions, "we must have that flag!"

"Ellsworth's Avenger," Corporal Francis Brownell, standing on the flag from the Marshall House.

Ascending to the roof, Ellsworth cut the halyards and hauled down the Stars and Bars. With Corporal Francis E. Brownell in the lead, the group of Zouaves were descending the hotel stairway when all of a sudden a burly civilian stepped from the shadows and leveled a shotgun at Colonel Ellsworth, who was preoccupied with folding the captured banner. The man was James W. Jackson -- innkeeper of the Marshall House -- who had sworn to kill any man who attempted to take his flag. Corporal Brownell attempted to knock Jackson's weapon aside, but stumbled on the steps and the shotgun roared out -- the shot tearing into Ellsworth's heart. As the Colonel sprawled down the steps, Brownell rose and fired, his bullet striking Jackson in the face. The innkeeper's second barrel went off as he toppled backward, Brownell following up his shot with a bayonet thrust into the dying Secessionist.

Elmer Ellsworth had been instantly killed, and the Union had its first Martyr of the Civil War. Devastated by the loss of his young protogé, Abraham Lincoln ordered that Ellsworth's body lie in state in the East Room of the White House. "Avenge Ellsworth!" became a Northern battle-cry, and the death of the charismatic founder of the "Zouave Craze" spurred even more volunteers to don the flashy attire Ellsworth had championed. Dozens of Zouave units would fight on the battlefields of that war, from Bull Run to Appomattox; and one of the finest of them was the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, "Duryee's Zouaves."

The death of Ellsworth, May 24, 1861

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