Jun 21, 2016 - Sale 2420

Sale 2420 - Lot 86

Unsold
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
(CIVIL WAR.) Fabric purporting to be cut from the famous Colonel Ellsworth flag. Irregularly shaped swatch of frayed red wool, about 2 inches square, stitched to a 3 x 4-inch slip of paper with an early manuscript caption reading "A Peice of the Flag Col. Ellsworth raised on the Marshall House, 1861." [Alexandria, VA, 1861?]
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Additional Details

As Virginia debated secession from the Union, an enormous Confederate flag was sewn in an Alexandria sailmaker's workshop, 14 by 24 feet. James W. Jackson flew it from a flagpole at his Marshall House hotel, where it was visible from the White House. Virginia voted to secede on 23 May 1861, and the next day Union troops moved swiftly to occupy the town. Among them was Colonel Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Zouaves, a personal friend of President Lincoln. Ellsworth stormed the hotel, removed the flag from its pole, and then was shot by Jackson as he ran down the stairs with it. Jackson was in turn killed by one of Ellsworth's men, and the flag was brought back to Washington. Ellsworth was regarded as the first martyr to the Union cause, and over the years the famous Ellsworth flag was cut to pieces by souvenir hunters. The remaining portion of the flag is now at the New York State Military Museum.
The present flag fragment purports to be from the one which Ellsworth "raised on the Marshall House, 1861." The famous flag was taken down by Ellsworth, rather than raised. This factual error aside, we do not know if the present fragment comes from the original Marshall House flag, but it somewhat resembles other fragments which have been preserved over the years, as well as close-ups shown in a conservation video of the original flag by the military museum. The weave on this small fragment seems a bit looser, perhaps due to the fraying. with--a carte-de-visite of Colonel Ellsworth by J. Gurney & Son.