Civil War Union Army Officer. A southern Unionist during the American Civil War, he became a "pilot," guiding some 4000 Unionists, Confederate deserters, prison escapees, slaves, and all manner of fugitives through the mountains of East Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky, to safety beyond the Union lines. While piloting, he recruited for several regiments, provided information on Confederate activities to Federal authorities, and maintained a mail service between mountain Unionists and their men in the Union army. With a reward on his head and constantly avoiding capture, he became known as "The Old Red Fox." Near the end of the war he formally joined the Union army as captain of Company A, 13th Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry. In 1867 Harper and Brothers published his war memoirs, "Thrilling Adventures of Daniel Ellis." He is buried in the family cemetery at 345 Garrison Hollow near Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Civil War Union Army Officer. A southern Unionist during the American Civil War, he became a "pilot," guiding some 4000 Unionists, Confederate deserters, prison escapees, slaves, and all manner of fugitives through the mountains of East Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky, to safety beyond the Union lines. While piloting, he recruited for several regiments, provided information on Confederate activities to Federal authorities, and maintained a mail service between mountain Unionists and their men in the Union army. With a reward on his head and constantly avoiding capture, he became known as "The Old Red Fox." Near the end of the war he formally joined the Union army as captain of Company A, 13th Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry. In 1867 Harper and Brothers published his war memoirs, "Thrilling Adventures of Daniel Ellis." He is buried in the family cemetery at 345 Garrison Hollow near Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Bio by: Allen Ellis
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