EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth Commemorative Pitcher Made in Trenton, New Jersey in 1861

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth Commemorative Pitcher Made in Trenton, New Jersey in 1861

Written by Owen Edwards in a feature story published in the April 2011 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine, titled, The Death of Colonel Ellsworth, "One of the quieter commemorations of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War - but one of the most intriguing - can be found in an alcove at the end of a main hallway at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Between two rooms housing highlights of the museum's Civil War collection, a new exhibition, "The Death of Ellsworth," revisits a once famous, but now largely forgotten incident.

The focal object is a 3 3/8-by-2 3/16-inch photograph of Union Army Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth (1837-1861), a dashing figure, his left hand resting on the hilt of his saber.

Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth (1837-1861)

Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth (1837-1861)

Ellsworth was the First Union Soldier Killed in the Civil War

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute

The image was taken around 1861 by an unknown portraitist in the New York studio of Matthew Brady, the photographer who would become indelibly associated with Civil War images.

Ellsworth was a man with large military ambitions, but his meteoric fame came in a way he could not have hoped for: posthumously. At the age of 24, as commander of the 11th New York Volunteers, also known as the First Wave Zouaves, Ellsworth became the first Union officer killed in the war.

On May 24, 1861, the day after Virginia voters ratified the state convention's decision to succeed from the Union, Ellsworth and his troops entered Alexandria, Virginia, to assist in the occupation of the city. As it happened, an 8-by-14 foot Confederate flag - large enough to be seen by spyglass from the White House - had been visible in Alexandria for weeks, flown from the roof of an inn, the Marshall House.

At the Marshall House, Colonel Ellsworth just happened to meet the one person he didn't want to meet - innkeeper James Jackson, a zealous defender of slavery with a penchant for violence.

Ellsworth approached the inn with only four troopers. Finding no resistance, he took down the flag, but as he descended to the main floor, Jackson fired on Ellsworth at point-blank range with a shotgun, killing him instantly. One of Ellsworth's men, Cpl. Francis Brownell (1840-1894), then fatally shot Jackson.

A reporter from the New York Tribune happened to be on the scene; news of the shootings traveled fast. Because Ellsworth had been a friend of Abraham Lincoln, his body was taken to the White House, where it lay in state, and then to New York City, where thousands lined up to view the cortage bearing Ellsworth's coffin. Along the route, a group of mourners displayed a banner that declared: "Ellsworth, His blood cries for vengeance."

"Remember Ellsworth!" became a Union rallying cry, and the 44th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment was nicknamed Ellsworth's Avengers."

While recently visiting the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, New Jersey, I viewed a new exhibit called "The Civil War Flag Collection of New Jersey" - included in this exhibit were four molded pitchers decorated with the same scene, made by Millington, Astbury & Poulson about 1861 in Trenton, which commemorated the death of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth.

Furthermore, the museum also included a June 15, 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly, "This issue of Harper's Weekly chronicled the death of Colonel Ellsworth. The scene depicted in the popular periodical mirrors that found on the Ellsworth pitcher, indicating it as a possible source of inspiration for the pitcher's design."

The Colonel Ellsworth pitcher is highly regarded today among collectors and museums, such as an example that is currently on display in the Americana Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth Commemorative Pitcher Made in Trenton, New Jersey