American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Featuring Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana & Historical Documents

Lithograph with hand-coloring, 1861, visible 10 3/8 x 13 3/8 in., on wove paper, toning with some dampstaining, matted and framed to 17 3/8 x 21 1/4 in., (not examined out of frame). 

A lithograph depicting the dramatic and patriotic death of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth (1837-1861). An associate of Lincoln and the popularizer of Zouavism in the United States, Colonel Ellsworth raised the 11th New York in the opening weeks of secession. He led the regiment into Alexandria, Virginia the day after that state's secession on 24 May 1861. They met little resistance, but Ellsworth spotted a secessionist flag on an inn and went to take it down with seven other soldiers. Having retrieved the flag, he was shot point-blank with a double-barrled shotgun by the irate innkeeper, killing Ellsworth instantly. He was avenged instantly by Private Francis E. Brownell. Ellsworth is recognized as the first conspicuous death of the Union and a martyr for the cause.