he death of Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth in Alexandria, Virginia, was one of the sensational flash points at the start of the Civil War. Ellsworth was the first Union officer to be killed in the four-year-long struggle. He commanded the 11th New York Fire Zouaves, which participated in the invasion of northern Virginia on May 24, 1861. His death at the hands of a local innkeeper made him a martyr in the North. His funeral services were held in the White House, where thousands of mourners viewed his corpse lying in state in the East Room. Throughout the conflict, his name, face, and heroism would be recalled on stationery, in sheet music, and in memorial lithographs. One New York regiment, the 44th Volunteer Infantry, would dub themselves the “Ellsworth Avengers.” Francis E. Brownell, the soldier who personally killed Ellsworth’s assailant, bequeathed several artifacts to the Smithsonian Institution, including the weapons used in the incident and his congressional Medal of Honor.