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Civil War Soldiers - Ellet
| Ellet, Alfred W., brigadier-general,
U.S. Army, was born at Penn's Manor, Bucks county, Pa., worked on a
farm, and studied civil engineering at Bristol academy. When his
brother, Charles Ellet, was ordered by the war department, in 1861, to
purchase vessels and convert them into rams, he accompanied him, being
commissioned lieutenant-colonel. They completed their fleet at
Cincinnati and steamed down the river to Memphis, defeating the
Confederate fleet there, on June 6, 1862, and sinking or disabling
eight of the nine Confederate ironclads. Col. Charles Ellet received a
wound in the battle which proved fatal and left the command of the
fleet to Alfred, the appointment being confirmed later by the
secretary of war. With the "Monarch," accompanied by the "Lancaster,"
he steamed 50 miles up the Yazoo river and discovered and reported the
presence of the "Arkansas." He was promoted brigadier-general of
volunteers, Nov. 1, 1862, for gallant and meritorious service at the
capture of Memphis, and in 1863 was assigned to the Department of the
Mississippi and placed in command of the marine brigade. He added to
his distinctions in March, 1863, by running the Confederate batteries
at Vicksburg, and after that was kept busy moving Gen. Grant's troops.
He burned Austin, Miss., May 24, 1863, in retaliation for information
furnished by citizens to the Confederates of Gen. Chalmer's command,
which nearly resulted in the capture of one of his transports. Gen.
Ellet resigned his commission, Dec. 31, 1864, and engaged in the
practice of his profession as a civil engineer. He died in Kansas in
1895. Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal
States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908
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