How Elmer Ellsworth Met Charles de Villiers

From the blog Sept. 19, 2022, Discovering Lives "A Conversation with Meg Groeling, author of  "First Fallen: The Life of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, the North's First Civil War Hero."

Elmer Ellsworth was born in New York in 1837 and moved to Chicago in 1854 to seek his fortune. There, he met a former Zouave.  The Zouaves were a unit of the French Foreign Legion-type unit that had gained fame in the Crimean War.   That man was Charles de Villiers.

Ellsworth was apparently a very really coordinated both physically and athletically.  As a young boy he was fascinated with soldiers.  In Chicago he was working out at the Y and this Charles de Villiers became his fencing instructor.  De Villiers had served with the Zouaves in Crimea as a member of their medical corps.

Fencing was easily mastered by Ellsworth and they soon expanded to Zouave-type moves.  Together, the two developed something called the "Lightning Drill."

To see an example of Zouaves at drill go to You Tube and look up "American Legion Zouaves Jackson & Michigan Drill Team on the Ed Sullivan Show.

--Old Sercesh

Charles De Villiers Introduced Ellsworth to the Zouave Way

According to Wikipedia, Elmer Ellsworth was introduced to the zouave military ways by his fencing instructor,  Charles De Villiers, a French physician, immigrant and veteran of a zouave unit during the Crimean War.

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History New had an article "This Union soldier's death shocked the north and made Lincoln cry" by Meg Groeling.

A chance meeting  with Frenchman Charles A. De Villiers helped guide Ellsworth to a militia unit called the "Chicago Cadets of the National Guard."  De Villiers was an excellent swordsman and tutored Ellsworth in fencing and enthralled him with stories of his service during the Crimean War as an officer in a French Zouave unit.

--Old Secesh

Chales DeVilliers: Capture and Escape

As I wrote in the last post, he was taken prisoner on July 17, 1861 (the Battle of Bull Run was July 21) and sent to Richmond.  About the middle of September he escaped  in the guise of an aged, infirm and nearly blind mendicant Frenchman.  (Okay, I had to look up mendicant.  It means a beggar.)

He was able to get the prison commandants permission to go to  Fort Monroe (still under Union control) under a flag of truce that he might embark "for his dear old home in France,"

After a two week delay, the supposed Frenchman was assisted on board a transport in Norfolk and taken to a Union boat.  When safely under his own flag, he cast off his pack, green goggles and rags, thanked the officers for their politeness, shouted a loud huzza for the stars and stripes and gave them the pleasing information that they had just parted with Colonel De Villiers of the 11th Ohio.

He arrived safely in Washington, rejoined his regiment, and was brigadier general, 10 October 1861.

He had been military instructor for Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth.

His discharge from the Army on 23 April 1862, and returned to France.

--Old Secesh

Ellsworth & the U.S. Zouaves-- Part 15: Charles DeVilliers

CHARLES DeVILLIERS--  Colonel of the 11th Ohio Infantry.  Captured and sent to prison, but escaped.  Once back in the Union Army, he was court martialed on 13 counts of misconduct, including stealing from local citizens and selling to Army members.

Dismissed from service and returned to France.

This was from our speaker but I forgot his name.

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Looked up this man and found this on Virtual American Biographies.

CHARLES A. De VILLIERS

Soldier born in 1826.  He had been an officer in the French Army and afterward became colonel of the 11th Ohio Infantry.

At the beginning of the Civil War he was taken prisoner, 17 July 1861 and sent to Richmond.

Next...  His Escape.  --Old Secesh

Elmer Ellsworth and the United States Zouave Cadets-- Part 13: Some Other Members

 This is a continuation thread from a long time ago.  From December 8, 2017--  Part 12.

I was listing Ellsworth-trained Zouave Cadets who fought in the Civil War.

LUCIUS LARRABEE--  Mortally wounded July 2, 1863, at Little Round Top, Battle of Gettysburg.  Captain, Company B, 44th New York regiment, known as Ellsworth's Avengers.

HARRISON KELLY--  In 44th New York  Infantry, made up of many former Zouave Cadets.

JOHN CONANT LONG--  Became drillmaster at Camp Douglas.  Trained 50 Illinois regiments there.

JOSEPH R. SCOTT--  Mortally wounded at Stones River, January 2, 1863.

HECTOR A. AIKEN--  Captain, Co. B, 29th USCT  Severely wounded at the Battle of the Crater July 30, 1864.  Died two days later.

--Old Secesh

On Victor's Soldiers-- Part 2

The main regiment of soldiers from DeKalb County was the 105th Illinois Infantry, which had six companies of soldiers from the county.  The others were mostly from DuPage County.

It mustered in at Dixon, Illinois, and did training at Camp Douglas and then duty in Kentucky and Tennessee.  Took part in the Atlanta Campaign, March to the Sea and Carolinas.

There were also a lot of DeKalb County companies in other regiments.

Two of the soldiers from Victor died in March 1865, one in Pittsburgh, Pa. on March 17 and the other in Louisville, Ky. on March 30.  The 105th was at the Battle of Bentonville in North Carolina on March 17-19 and Goldsboro on March 24 and then the advance on Raleigh in April, so, unless the two men were on other duties, it is not likely they were in the 105th.

One man died in Alexandria, Va., on April 23, 1861, which was pretty early in the war and before the 105th was mustered in September 2, 1862.  So it is not likely he was in the 105th.  Alexandria wasn't occupied by Federal troops until May 24, when Col. Ellsworth was killed.

The other Victor man died in Alexandria as well on January 26, 1862.

So, not sure of the circumstances of their deaths.

--Old Secesh

Nathaniel Dawson describes First Manassas Battlefield-- Part 3: "Fierce Looking Fellows. They Fought Well"

July 25

"I went over the field yesterday.  The scene was awful.  The dead Yankees were still lying unburied in many places.  I saw as many as one hundred in a space of an acre.

"They belong to Ellsworth's Zouaves who were reduced from 1,100 to 200 men.  God seems specially to have marked them for  vengeance.  They wore blue pants and red shirts and are fierce looking fellows.  They fought well."

--Old Secesh

Wisconsin's Governor's Guard Trained With Ellsworth

From Warriors of the Rebellion.

Earlier, I was wondering whether or not the Governor's Guard militia group had trained/drilled with Elmer Ellsworth when I read that Lucius Fairchild, future colonel of the 2nd Wisconsin of the famed Iron Brigade and governor of Wisconsin, had joined this elite group in 1858 when Ellsworth was training militia groups in Wisconsin.  I surmised that he had.

According to this site, officers of the Governor's Guard from Madison had drilled with Elmer Ellsworth before he gained fame with the U.S. Zouave Cadets in Chicago.

So, They Had Met.  --Old Secesh

44th New York, Ellsworth's Regiment-- Part 2: Losses During War

Everyone reported to Albany where they organized under orders of October 21, 1861, mustering for three years' service.  They left the state on October 21, 1861.

They were honorably mustered out October 11, 1864, under Colonel Freeman Conner at Albany.

During the war they lost KIA:  Officers 5, 120 enlisted.  Of wounds received in battle: 1 officer and 62 enlisted.  Of disease and other causes:  2 officers and 145 enlisted

Fifteen men died at the hands of the enemy.

Total 335 deaths.

At the Battle of Gettysburg, they were on the left of the Union line at Little Round Top where they suffered their greatest loss with 111 killed, wounded or missing.

--Old Sexesh

44th New York, Ellsworth's Regiment-- Part 1: An All-New York Unit

From the New York History Project.

They were sometimes called the Ellsworth Avengers or People's Ellsworth regiment.

Colonel Stephen W. Stryker recruited the regiment under the auspices of the Ellsworth Association of the State of New York.  The original plan was to get one man from every ward and town in the state but this was not adhered ro.

The counties of Albany and Erie each gave two companies and Herkimer County gave one.

--Old Secesh

Freeman Conner's Swords-- Part 2

Freeman Conner carried his second sword at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville Gettysburg, Spotsylvania and other battles.

He was born in Exeter, New Hampshire.  When his 11th New York did not reorganize in 1862, he went to New York and enlisted as a private in the new 44th New York Infantry and then became captain of Co. D, where he got his first sword.  Later, he was promoted to major and then lieutenant colonel.

Both swords surfaced in August 1995 at a house for sale in Glencoe, Illinois, -- not far from Lake Forest Academy where Conner taught before the Civil War.  The two swords were sold to two different individuals that day.

They were reunited by Chicago collector Richard K. Tibbals in September 2001.

The two swords did not sell at the auction in 2005.

Always interesting on hearing what happened to items after the war.

--Old Secesh

Freeman Conner's Swords-- Part 1: Two Offered at Auction in 2005

From the Cowan's Auctions site.

These two swords were offered at a November 2005 auction by the company.

One of the two swords was bullet struck.  Freeman Conner and the 44th New York were instrumental in the defense of the Little Round Top on July 2, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg.

The sword is inscribed:  "Capt. Freeman Conner / from Company D / P.E.R. (People's Ellsworth Regiment?) /  The flat side was struck by a bullet and evidently the sword was out when struck.

Conner was promoted to major in July 1862 and suffered the first of two wounds at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862.

--Old Secesh

Freeman Conner of the 44th New York-- Part 1

The next person our Ellsworth presenter mentioned was Freeman Conner, who he said was lieutenant colonel of the 44th New York eventually.  He was wounded twice during the war at the battles of Fredericksburg and the Wilderness.

He commanded a brigade in the valiant defense of the Little Round Top on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

At this point in the presentation, Doug Dammann was just showing pictures of these men and saying a few things.  I am doing a more involved research.

--Old Secesh

Lt. Knox Carries On His Friend's Legacy-- Part 3: "Remember Ellsworth"

Two months later, at the Battle of Bull Run, the 11th New York charged the Confederates with the fierce cry "Remember Ellsworth!"  Two weeks after that, Lt. Knox left the 11th to join the new 44th New York Infantry.

On the battlefield, Knox was very brave, receiving three brevets, including one for gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg where the 44th played a key role in the defense of Little Round Top.

After the 44th mustered out in 1864, Edward Knox joined the regular Army until wartime wounds caused his retirement in 1870.  He returned to Chicago and joined the Illinois National Guard.  One day in late 1889, while walking door-to-door to raise money for his guard unit, he suffered a stroke and collapsed.

He died at the age of 52 on April 9, 1898, the 25th anniversary of Lee's surrender at Appomattox.  His funeral was held in the drill room of his unit's armory and he is buried at Hillside Cemetery in Eastport, Maine.  He was born in Eastport in 1838.

--Old Secesh

Lt. Knox Carries On His Friend's Legacy-- Part 2: How Knox Met Ellsworth

"I could scarcely credit my own senses.  There lay one whom I had seen only a few minutes before full of life and the vigor of early manhood, cut down without a moment's warning by the hand of an assassin.  His face wore a very natural expression and excepting its pallor, his countenance looked the same as in life."

In the 1850s, both Elmer Ellsworth and Edward Knox had moved to Illinois from different states.   Knox joined the National Guard Cadets militia in Chicago.  In 1859, Ellsworth took over the group and really turned it into one of the crack drill units in the country.  They even went on tour of the United States to show their prowess.

Accompanying Abraham Lincoln to Washington, D.C., Ellsworth went to New York City and raised the 11th New York Infantry.  The captains of the regiment were elected by the men, but Ellsworth appointed the first lieutenants.  Close personal friend Knox was 1st lieutenant of Company A.

--Old Secesh

Lt. Knox Carries On His Friend's Legacy-- Part 1: Friend of Elmer Ellsworth

From the May 24, 2011, New York Times Opinionator by Ronald S. Coddington.

Edward Knox was a trusted lieutenant and good friend of Elmer Ellsworth.

Minutes before he died, Ellsworth had dispatched a sergeant with the request for Knox and his men to come immediately.  Knox was just blocks away when Ellsworth was shot and didn't hear the shotgun blast.

Knox was  told to go in quickly to see his friend.  He recounted:  "Stepping over the body of Jackson who still lay where he had fallen, I entered the room where all that was mortal of my beloved friend and comrade lay in silent death.

"I will not attempt to describe my emotions while gazing at the sad scene."

--Old Secesh

Major Edward B. Knox, One of Ellworth's Men

Doug Dammann also mentioned the name of Edward Knox as being one of Elmer Ellworth's men from the 11th New York and 44th New York regiments.

From the New York Unit History Project.

At age 23, Edward Knox was first lieutenant in Co. A, 11th New York.

After he left the 11th, enrolled August 8, 1861, at Albany, New York and mustered into Co. I, 44th New York as a first lieutenant, September 23, 1861,  for a three year tour of duty.  he became adjutant of the regiment September 25, 1861.

He was wounded in action on May 27, 1862, at Hanover Court House, Virginia.

Promoted to captain of Co. D on July 4, 1862 and mustered in as a major July 14, 1862.  Wounded in action May 8, 1862 at Laurel Hill, Virginia.

Mustered out with the rest of the regiment on October 11, 1864.

--Old Secesh

Stephen W. Stryker, One of Ellsworth's Boys-- Part 2

On October 13, 1863, he was commissioned into the Field & Staff of the 18th New York Cavalry Regiment.  On October 30, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and dismissed November 1, 1864.

Of two high ranking positions in regiments, he was  discharged from command of the 44th New York Infantry July 4, 1862, and dismissed from the 18th New York Cavalry on November 1, 1864.

I bet there is a story there but haven't found it.

--Old Secesh

Stephen Stryker, 11th and 44th New York Infantry-- Part 1

The speaker, Doug Dammann,  also talked about this man at the November 14, 2017, McHenry County Civil War Round Table meeting on Elmer Ellsworth.

I did some more research on him.

From Unit History Project for 11th New York Infantry Regiment.

He was 24 years old when he enlisted on April 20, 1861, in New York City as a first lieutenant.  On May 7, 1861, he was commissioned into "B" Company , 11th NY Infantry, raised and commanded by Elmer Ellsworth, and resigned July  29, 1861.

Promoted to captain on August 8 and major on August 12.

On October 12, 1861, he was commissioned into the Field & Staff of the New York 44th Infantry. and promoted to colonel the same day to command the regiment.  He was discharged from the 44th on July 4, 1862.

--Old Secesh

44th New York Infantry: "Ellsworth's Avengers"

Formed in mid-1861 and wore Americanized zouave uniforms in honor of Col. Elmer Ellsworth.  Its first commander was Colonel Stephen Stryker, who formed it and was a former lieutenant in Ellsworth's 11th New York.  In his honor, they were known as the "Ellsworth Avengers."

Several other members were formerly in Ellsworth's Chicago Cadet Zouaves, including Col. Freeman Conner, Major Edward B. Knox and Captain Lucas Larrabee, who commanded Company B. and was killed at Gettysburg.

--Old Secesh