Augustus van Horne Ellis

Augustus van Horne Ellis (May 1, 1827 – July 2, 1863) was an American lawyer, sea captain, and soldier. He was a brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War, and was killed in action at the Battle of Gettysburg in southern Pennsylvania. [Raus, Edmund. "A Generation on the March: The Union Army at Gettysburg" (1996). Ellis was brevetted after his death to brigadier to date from Gettysburg.]

Early life and career

A.V.H. Ellis was born in New York City and educated in the city's public schools. He later attended Columbia University. Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, he was a lawyer in New York City. At some point, he moved to California where he became a tax commissioner and a fireman, and later, a sea captain. Ellis is said to have voyaged to the Kingdom of Hawaii, where he became friends with the king of the islands. Kamehameha III appointed Ellis as the head of the Hawaiian Navy, but when Ellis discovered that the navy had no warships, he returned to California and became captain of a steamship. [Clark, Champ. "Gettysburg: Confederate High Tide" (Time Life Books: 1985) is the source for A.V.H. Ellis's interesting antebellum career.]

Civil War

When the Civil War began, Ellis was living in New Windsor, New York. He joined the 71st New York State Militia as a captain and accompanied the regiment to Washington, D.C., where it became part of the newly organized Army of Northeastern Virginia under Brig. Gen. Irwin McDowell. Ellis saw his first combat action at the First Battle of Bull Run. He was then asked by Charles H. Van Wyck to help train the 56th New York Infantry, a three-years' volunteer regiment. [ [http://www.hudsonrivervalley.org/HRVR_22.1.pdf "Hudson River Valley Review", Marist College, Vol. 22, No. 1, Fall 2005.] ] On September 5, 1862, Ellis became the first colonel of the newly raised 124th New York Infantry. [ [http://www.geocities.com/124th/Officers.html 124th New York website] ] The regiment had been recruited from mainly Orange County. After training and drilling, the 124th joined the Army of the Potomac in Northern Virginia. [Raus, "Generation"]

Ellis and his men saw no heavy fighting until May 1863. Then, at the Battle of Chancellorsville, he gave the 124th the nickname of "Orange Blossoms". He admonished the soldiers, "Let the girls of old Orange hear a good report of this day's work." The regiment lost 40% of its strength at Chancellorsville. [Pfanz, Harry. "Gettysburg: The Second Day" (1987).]

Within a month after Chancellorsville, the 1march 24,ed north with the rest of the Army of the Potomac towards Gettysburg. The regiment was part of Ward's Brigade in Birney's Division of Daniel Sickles' Third Corps. On the second day of action at Gettysburg, they found themselves posted on Houck's Ridge near the large rocks of Devil's Den. Because of the heavy casualties at Chancellorsville, the 124th only numbered 18 officers and 220 men when it went into action against John Bell Hood's Confederate division on July 2. [Pfanz, "Gettysburg: The Second Day"]

Their position fronted a triangular-shaped field. As Benning's brigade attacked the 124th, Ellis and his field officers remained mounted on atop their horses. An officer in the regiment protested, but Ellis simply replied, "The men must see us today." [Pfanz, "Gettysburg: The Second Day"] This phrase gave title to a painting by Civil War artist Don Troiani that depicts Ellis and the 124th at Gettysburg. [ [http://www.historicalartprints.com/hap/cmd?CMD=DETAIL&parent=null&prodid=28 The Men Must See Us Today] ] By all accounts, Ellis was brave and cool during the fighting. He remained in the saddle, sword drawn, urging his men to stand firm amongst the extreme chaos and smoke of the fighting. At the height of the fighting, a bullet slammed into Ellis's forehead. He pitched dead off his horse. [Pfanz, "Gettysburg: The Second Day"]

In the battle for control of the triangular field, the 124th New York lost 28 men killed, 57 wounded, and 5 missing. [Raus, "Generation"] Ellis's body was returned to New York City, where he was buried in Manhattan's Saint Mark's Church-In-The-Bowery. [ [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5844752 Find a Grave website] ] A friend of Ellis recalled that he was "a rather cold, harsh ambitious man, and sometimes chilled us with his terrible bursts of profanity; but he was every inch a soldier." [Raus, "Generation"]

Memorialization

, the brigade commander and colonel of the regiment, a) Vincent was a brigade, not regimental, commander at Gettysburg and b) Pennsylvania monuments could not contain descriptions or identifications that indicated individual deeds so Vincent's name is not listed as that of the mutton-chop officer on top of the 83rd's Monument.]

In 1868, the United States Army built a new fort in Gallatin County, Montana Territory, to provide protection for travelers using the Bozeman Trail. The post was named "Fort Ellis". It served as a base for part of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry until being decommissioned in 1886. [ [http://www.gallatin.mt.gov/Public_Documents/GallatinCoMT_WebDocs/Trivia Official Gallatin County website] ]

The Augustus van Horne Ellis Camp #124 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in Goshen, New York, was named in his honor. The camp annually awards a high school senior the Augustus van Horne Ellis Memorial Scholarship. [ [http://suvcw.org/ny/camps/ellis/home.htm SUVCW Camp 124 website] ]

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