- Date:
- 1863
- Original Format:
- Photographic Print
- Item#:
- MES05805
Alfred Washington Ellet (1820-1895)
Alfred Washington Ellet was a civil engineer who served in the Union army as a Captain in the 50th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. When his elder brother, Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr., undertook the conversion of several river steamers to rams in the spring of 1862, Alfred Ellet became Lieutenant Colonel of Charles Ellet's U.S. Ram Fleet. After his brother died he became Colonel and took command of the fleet and later its successor, the amphibious army force called the Mississippi Marine Brigade. He was also promoted to Brigadier General.