The Schroeder Books

With the 11^th New York Fire Zouaves In Camp, Battle, and Prison:  The Narrative of Private Arthur O’Neil Alcock in The New York Atlas and Leader

             Edited by Brian C. Pohanka and Patrick A. Schroeder.  Published by SCHROEDER PUBLICATIONS 2011.  Hardcover with dust jacket, 232 pages, index, 73 photos illustrations and maps.  ISBN 1-889246-46-8.  Price $30.00.  

After 150 years this is the first book-length work regarding the 11^th New York Fire Zouaves.  No Federal regiment marched to war with such high expectations for military glory than the one led by the charismatic Colonel Elmer Ellsworth composed of members of New York City’s Fire Department—known for their physical prowess and reckless.  Ellsworth, had moved from Mechanicville, NY, to Illinois at age 17, where he joined the state militia and studied law in the office of Abraham Lincoln.   He transformed a Chicago militia company into the “United States Zouave Cadets.” Outfitted them in Zouave uniforms, and trained them in the complex maneuvers, and captured the National Drill Competition title in 1859.  The following summer, Ellsworth and his Zouave Cadets embarked on a tour of some twenty cities and dazzled the crowd of admirers.  The dashing Ellsworth became a national celebrity, and his company’s success spawned a “zouave craze” that swept the country on the eve of Civil War.  

            Ellsworth managed to quickly equip his troops an on April 29, 1861—sporting jaunty gray uniforms with red fire shirts and kepis—the Fire Zouaves departed for Washington. Arriving at the capital, the firemen’s antics and occasional depredations soon made it clear that Ellsworth faced a considerable challenge in training and discipline.  

            In the predawn darkness of May 24, 1861, the Fire Zouaves boarded transports and embarked for Alexandria.  In a move that displayed more zeal than wisdom, Ellsworth proceeded to the roof Marshall House hotel and removed a large Confederate flag, but was shot by the innkeeper on his way down the stairs. Zouave Corporal Francis Brownell quickly avenged Ellsworth’s death.  Those deadly seconds gave both North and South their first martyrs.  Colonel Noah Farnham took command and led the regiment into the Union debacle at Bull Run on July 21, 1861, where the Fire Zouaves played a controversial part in the bloody fight for Henry House Hill.

            One zouave who “saw the elephant” there was Private Arthur O’Niel Alcock.  His detailed prolific accounts appeared in The New York Atlas and New York Leader.  Alcock’s effusive columns reflected no small degree of wit and literary ability.  A comrade noted, Alcock “always displayed much ability with the pen, as well as all the characteristics of a ‘jolly good fellow.’”  Initially considered for the captaincy of Company A, Alcock chose to go to war as Colonel Ellsworth’s military secretary.  At Bull Run, he was detailed to the regimental surgeon, Dr. Charles Gray, as acting medical orderly and supervisor of the stretcher bearers (but entered the fight for a time).  In that capacity Alcock found himself en route to the great clash of arms that transpired on the plains of Manassas.  The journalist/soldier was taken prisoner, eventually transferred from Richmond to Castle Pinckney, Charleston harbor, SC, and following ten months of captivity in Southern prisons recorded his experiences in a series of articles published in the Atlas.

            In May 1862, Alcock was exchanged.  In the months following Bull Run the 11^th New York had returned to the front but continued to suffer from disciplinary lapses that at times brought the regiment to a condition bordering on anarchy.  By late May the entire unit was back in New York and in disbanded.

             Alcock resumed his position as Fire Editor of the Atlas.  In mid August of 1862, the paper began to serialize a  account of his experiences.  He reenlisted in the 10^th New York Infantry and was mortally wounded at Laurel Hill (Spotsylvania Court House) on May 8, 1864.  The publication of Alcock’s letters honor a sensitive and literate volunteer and after 150 years is the first book-length narrative of the 11^th New York Fire Zouaves.