The Marshall House (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

The Marshall House stood upon this site, and within the building on the early morning of May 24, 1861 James W. Jackson was killed by Federal soldiers while defending his property and personal rights as stated in the verdict of the coroners jury. He was the first martyr to the cause of Southern Independence. The justice of history does not permit his name to be forgotten. Not in the excitement of battle, but coolly and for a great principle, he laid down his life, an example to all, in defense of his home and the sacred soil of his native state Virginia

Erected by Sons and Daughters of Confederate Veterans.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

More about this marker. The marker is affixed to a corner of the Hotel Monaco in Old Town Alexandria. It is located on the South Pitt Street and King Street corner of the building. Marker has been permanently removed.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Regarding The Marshall House:
On May 24, 1861 Union Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth of the 11th New York "Fire Zouaves" was shot to death by innkeeper James Jackson after having torn down the Stars and Bars flying from the roof of the hotel. Jackson in turn was killed on the spot by one of Ellsworth's men. In the immediate aftermath of Ellsworth's death, the young colonel and friend of President Lincoln became a martyr for the Northern cause. The South exalted Jackson as a defender of property rights in the face of Yankee aggression.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows information from the Fort Ward Museum Historic Site and Museum Collections:

Ft. Ward Museum in Alexandria, VA has an exhibit of artifacts related to the Ellsworth episode.

Photo of the Marshall House flag on display:
The flag is in the collections of the New York State Military Museum. The flag was conserved at the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation’s textile laboratory at Peebles Island in Waterford.

James W. Jackson's Name:
on Alexandria's Confederate Monument Added to the east side of the Monument in 1900.

James W. Jackson:
“In 1861 Jackson was 37 years old. His biographer described Jackson's face as “remarkable” in its expression…Grim, stern, obstinate determination was stamped emphatically on every feature. The forehead was low, and on it the hair, always slightly short, stood up defiantly.“ — Fort Ward Museum.

The Death of Colonel Ellsworth:
In this ca. 1862 painting by Alonzo Chappel, James W. Jackson shoots Elmer Ellsworth at the Marshall House; Corporal Brownell in the center is about to shoot Jackson in turn. On the stair behind Ellsworth is NY Tribune reporter Edward H. House. On display at the Fort Ward Museum.

Section of the Marshall House Flag:
“Alexandria innkeeper James Jackson raised the city's first Confederate flag over the Marshall House in April of 1861 after hearing news of the Virginia Convention's act to adopt a state ordinance of secession. Made by an Alexandria sailmaker and his family, the flag was patterned after the “Stars and Bars,” with red and white bars and a circle of seven stars on a blue field. An eighth star was added in the center for Virginia. Can you see the stain on a portion of the star? It is believed to be Elmer Ellsworth's blood. The largest section of the Marshall house flag is in the historical collections of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.” — Fort Ward Museum.

“O” from the Marshall House Sign:
“The Marshall House became a mecca for souvenir hunters after the deaths of Ellsworth and Jackson. A Union soldier from Rhode Island documented in a letter how he had taken a portion of the building's exterior sign “…I got in Alexandria at the Marshall House where Ellsworth was killed (took) the letter “O” of the sign off the house. They are built of gilt letters…” The soldier also obtained pieces of the stairway and banister as mementos. This practice was so common that by 1862 when the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne visited the Marshall house, he wrote “The memorial-hunters have completely cut away the original woodwork…thus it becomes something like a metaphysical question whether the place of the murder actually exists.” — Fort Ward Museum.

Kepi belonging to Colonel Elmer Ellsworth:
“Col. Elmer Ellsworth was celebrated in the early days of the Civil War as a Union hero whose death in Alexandria, Virginia claimed him as the North's First Martyr. Ellsworth popularized the Zouave movement in America by organizing the Chicago Zouave Cadets in 1859. At the beginning of the Civil War, he raised the 11th New York “Fire” Zouaves, a regiment which participated in the Federal occupation of Alexandria on May 24, 1861. Zouave officers usually wore red kepis, a color typical of Zouave uniforms. Ellsworth's kepi reflects how officer' caps were often decorated with rows of gold braid, which indicated rank, and a Hungarian know design on the crown. The three vertical gold stripes on the sides of the cap's crown signified a field officer.” — Fort Ward Museum

Hotel Monaco:
Today the site of the Marshall House at King and Pitt Streets is occupied by the Hotel Monaco.

Jackson 20:
Strangely, “Jackson 20”, the bar at the Hotel Monaco, is named for Andrew Jackson, not James W. Jackson.

Ellsworth. Memorial:
Full title: Ellsworth. Memorial Col. E.E. Ellsworth, the patriot martyr. The Marshall house, Alexandria, Va. Francis E. Brownell, the avenger of Ellsworth. Photographed By Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, 1861

Photographs show Colonel Elmer Ellsworth of Field and Staff, 11th New York Infantry Regiment; Marshall House at the corner of King and Pitt Streets, Alexandria, Virginia, the scene of the assassination of Col. Ellsworth on May 24, 1861; and Lieutenant Francis Brownell of Co. A, 11th New York Infantry Regiment, who killed James Jackson after he murdered Col. Ellsworth. -- Library of Congress