GETTYSBURG
On the second day of the battle, the 124th NY was on Houck's Ridge by the Round Tops and Devil's Den.
The regiment was called the "Orange Blossoms" because they were from Orange County and wore orange ribbons on their uniforms. Their commander was Col. Ellis, who was described by Captain Charles Weygant as "a rather cold, harsh, ambitious man who sometimes chilled us with his terrible bursts of profanity." But, "In that indescribable soldierly quality which--for want of a better term--we shall call dash, he was unsurpassed by any officer in our Corps."
The 124th was trying to protect the 4th NY Battery which was under attack by the 1st Texas and 15th Georgia. Major James Cromwell of the Orange Blossoms rode to the front of the lone and led a charge that drove the Confederates back. He had just yelled, "The day is ours! when he was struck by a bullet and fell dead from his saddle.
ONE HARD FIGHT
The Confederates rallied and came back. Col. Ellis mounted a counter charge yelling, "My God! Mt God, men! Your major's down; save him! Save him!" Again the Confederates fell back. Ellis stood up in his stirrups waving his sword just as a bullet slammed into his forehead and down he went, dead.
The fighting raged hand-to-hand. The Southerners eventually won the day and took possession of the Devil's Den and Houck's Ridge and had captured three cannons. Ward's 2,200 man brigade, of which the 124th belonged, had suffered 781 casualties.
HAWAIIAN NAVY COMMANDER
A picture of Ellis is on page 87. Part of the caption reads: "A New York City lawyer, he ventured to California, becoming a fireman and then a sailor. Voyaging to Hawaii, he made friends with the island's kings and was appointed commander of Hawaii's navy. When he learned that the king had no warships, Ellis returned home to become a steamer captain."
From the Time-Life Books Gettysburg: The Confederate High Tide pages 85 and 87.
Brave Men, All. --Old B-Runner
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
