Marshall House - Site of Ellsworth's Death

Item CDV-8053

Description

Marshall House - Site of Ellsworth's Death
Backmark: Alexandria, VA
CDV is from the Mike McAfee Collection
The Marshall House was an inn that stood at 480 King Street (near the southeast corner of King Street and South Pitt Street) in Alexandria, Virginia. At the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861, the house was the site of the killing of Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth during the Union Army's takeover of Alexandria. Ellsworth was a popular and highly prominent officer and a close friend of President Abraham Lincoln.

Ellsworth was the first conspicuous Union Army casualty and the first officer killed in battle during the war. He was shot by the inn's proprietor James W. Jackson after removing a Confederate flag from the roof of the inn. Jackson was immediately killed after he killed Ellsworth. Ellsworth's death became a cause célèbre for the Union, while Jackson's death became the same for the Confederacy.

Information taken from Wikipedia