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Gay, James D. (fl. 1861-1879) Death of Colonel Ellsworth

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03617.06 Author/Creator: Gay, James D. (fl. 1861-1879) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Sheet music Date: circa 1861 Pagination: 1 p. ; 23.3 x 13.4 cm. Order a Copy

Composed by Gay and published and printed by J.H. Johnson at No. 7 North Tenth Street in Philadelphia. Upper left corner has image of Ellsworth standing on a Confederate flag while an American flag is draped behind him. Caption of the image says "Remember Ellsworth!" Song is sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. Contains six stanzas. Last stanza says: "Our flag's insulted, friends are slain, / And must we quiet be? / No, no, we'll rally round the flag / Which leads to victory. / Our flag, the glorious Stars and Stripes, / Forever must she wave, / Where true men live and die each day, / Their country for to save; / Their country for to save. / Where true men live and die each day, / Their country for to save."

Colonel Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth, a friend of Abraham Lincoln, was commander of the 11th New York Infantry, a unit of Zouaves from the New York City Fire Department. He was killed on 24 May 1861, attempting to remove a Confederate flag from the Marshall House, a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia.

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