Ellsworth's Zouaves Fifes w/ Contemporary Note
Rare relics from the iconic Union martyr, Elmer Ellsworth, and his "Fire Zouaves."
The group includes:
1. Wood fife with brass ferrules.
2. Rosewood with silver ferrules and lead fipple ("cheater") with tightener.
3. Contemporary note accompanying the fifes, reading in full: "Two fifes picked up at Alexandria Va. after Ellsworth was shot at the Marshal House for hauling down the Rebel Flag. These were used in Ellsworth's zouaves fife & drum corps. Presented to Al. E. Fostell by Mr. J. Dreifus of Alexandria."
Elmer E. Ellsworth (1837-1861) is the popularizer of Zouavism in the United States and is considered the first conspicuous death of the American Civil War. Already well known before the war thanks to his touring military drill team, the Zouave Cadets of Chicago, Ellsworth was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln and campaigned with him in 1860. At the outbreak of war, Ellsworth raised the 11th New York Infantry, which was predominately comprised of volunteer firefighters. They were known as the Fire Zouaves.
It was this unit that Ellsworth led into Alexandria, Virginia the day after that state's secession on 24 May 1861. There, Ellsworth and his men met little resistance, but Ellsworth spotted a secessionist flag on an inn and went to take it down. Having retrieved the flag, he was shot point-blank by the irate innkeeper, killing Ellsworth instantly.
The Dreifus family were a Jewish family that emigrated from Buttenhausen, Germany to the United States aboard the S.S. Logan in October 1859 and settled in Alexandria, Virginia. The patriarch was Simpson Simon Dreifus (1802-1861) who is enumerated as a rag maker in the 1860 Federal Census. Together with his wife Caroline (1812-1881), they had six children, including two who could have been the previous owner of these fifes: Julius Dreifus (1841-1910) and Joseph Dreifus (1853-1932).
Rare relics from the iconic Union martyr and his Fire Zouaves.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Musical Instruments, Fife & Drum Corps, Fifes, Flutes, Ephemera, Jewish History, Judaica]
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Rare relics from the iconic Union martyr, Elmer Ellsworth, and his "Fire Zouaves."
The group includes:
1. Wood fife with brass ferrules.
2. Rosewood with silver ferrules and lead fipple ("cheater") with tightener.
3. Contemporary note accompanying the fifes, reading in full: "Two fifes picked up at Alexandria Va. after Ellsworth was shot at the Marshal House for hauling down the Rebel Flag. These were used in Ellsworth's zouaves fife & drum corps. Presented to Al. E. Fostell by Mr. J. Dreifus of Alexandria."
Elmer E. Ellsworth (1837-1861) is the popularizer of Zouavism in the United States and is considered the first conspicuous death of the American Civil War. Already well known before the war thanks to his touring military drill team, the Zouave Cadets of Chicago, Ellsworth was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln and campaigned with him in 1860. At the outbreak of war, Ellsworth raised the 11th New York Infantry, which was predominately comprised of volunteer firefighters. They were known as the Fire Zouaves.
It was this unit that Ellsworth led into Alexandria, Virginia the day after that state's secession on 24 May 1861. There, Ellsworth and his men met little resistance, but Ellsworth spotted a secessionist flag on an inn and went to take it down. Having retrieved the flag, he was shot point-blank by the irate innkeeper, killing Ellsworth instantly.
The Dreifus family were a Jewish family that emigrated from Buttenhausen, Germany to the United States aboard the S.S. Logan in October 1859 and settled in Alexandria, Virginia. The patriarch was Simpson Simon Dreifus (1802-1861) who is enumerated as a rag maker in the 1860 Federal Census. Together with his wife Caroline (1812-1881), they had six children, including two who could have been the previous owner of these fifes: Julius Dreifus (1841-1910) and Joseph Dreifus (1853-1932).
Rare relics from the iconic Union martyr and his Fire Zouaves.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Musical Instruments, Fife & Drum Corps, Fifes, Flutes, Ephemera, Jewish History, Judaica]
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
