Willard's Hotel Saved by the New York Fire Zouaves

Harper's Weekly

Vol. V, No. 230

Saturday May 25, 1861

On page 321 will be found a fine picture of the Fire at Willard’s Hotel which was happily extinguished by the Zouaves of Colonel Ellsworth's Regiment in time to save the hotel. The Correspondent of the Times, wrote:

“This morning (May 9) a fire broke out in the small hotel adjoining Willard’s, and threatened the destruction of Willard’s. Colonel Ellsworth ordered one hundred Zouaves to assist in extinguishing it. The order was followed by nearly the whole regiment jumping from the windows of the Capitol and scaling the fences. They could not enter the engine-houses and broke down the doors, taking out the machines, and reached the spot before the city firemen were awake. They worked like heroes, performing wonderful feats of agility and bravery. They formed pyramids on each other’s shoulders climbing into windows, sealing the lightning rods, and succeeded in two hours in saving the whole structure. Willard treated them handsomely, and says that without them every thing would have been lost. This has made the regiment very popular among the citizens. They destroyed nothing unnecessarily, and nothing is missing of a the great mass of property moved into the streets, which they guarded. For want of a ladder, two Zouaves held another down from the eaves, while he, with his head down, played water into the burning building.”

Head Down

Pyramid