The Marshall House stood on the corner of King Street, and South Pitt Street Alexandria, Virginia.
James W. Jackson was killed by Union troops after he shot and killed Col. Elmer Ephraim Ellsworthof the 11th New York Fire Zouaves. Jackson's promise that the Confederate flag he raised over the hotel would be torn down "over his dead body" was fulfilled.[1][2] Ellsworth, a young Illinois lawyer and friend of the Lincolns, became the first Union officer to die in the Civil War.[3][4]
It was torn down in the 1950s. Today the site of the Marshall house is occupied by the Hotel Monaco. A plaque at the corner commemorates the death of James W. Jackson, killed "for defending his property," but makes no mention of his shotgun slaying of Col. Ellsworth. While the text has a decidedly southern bias, this fact must be placed within its historical context. No mention or monument to the fallen colonel of the famous New York "Fire Zouaves" is present. Artifacts collected during the construction process were preserved by local archeologists and may be seen in the Old Torpedo Factory's third floor exhibit (the Alexandria Archaeology Museum), three blocks away on King Street.[5]