Ellsworth's Avengers

DESCRIPTION: "Down where our patriotic army, near Potomac's side, Guards the glorious cause of freedom, gallant Ellsworth died." The hearers are urged to "strike" and "speed on" to destroy the traitors who killed Ellsworth
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thompson-BodyBootsAndBritches-NewYorkStateFolktales)
KEYWORDS: death soldier punishment homicide
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1861 - Death of E. Elmer Ellsworth
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thompson-BodyBootsAndBritches-NewYorkStateFolktales, p. 353, "(Ellsworth's Avengers)" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. 'Colonel Ellsworth" (subject of Elmer Ellsworth)
cf. "The Soldier's Funeral" (subject of Elmer Ellsworth)
NOTES [79 words]: Elmer Elsworth was not the first Union soldier to die in the Civil War, but he was the first to get much newspaper attention. Invading the property of a Confederate sympathizer, he tore down a Confederate emblem -- probably an illegal act. The property owner killed Ellsworth -- and was promptly killed by one of Ellsworth's men. I'd say the "uncivilized" honors were pretty well balanced in this case.
For more about Ellsworth, see the notes to "The Soldier's Funeral." - RBW
Last updated in version 4.0
File: TNY353

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