Colonel Ellsworth

Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth (April 11, 1837 – May 24, 1861) was a United States Army officer and law clerk generally considered the first Union casualty during the American Civil War. Colonel Ellsworth was killed while taking down a Confederate flag in Alexandria, Virginia. Immediately upon entering the city, he entered the Marshal House inn and hauled down the secession flag from the roof. As he descended the stairs he was shot by innkeeper James W. Jackson. Ellsworth died almost instantly, dyeing the secession flag with his blood. Jackson was immediately put to death by Ellsworth's men.