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On May 24, 1861, Col. Elmer Ellsworth became the first Union soldier killed in the Civil War. Due to the heat and distance, soldiers’ remains often went through advanced stages of decomposition by the time they reached home. After hearing of his death, Dr. Thomas Holmes — the father of modern embalming — offered his services to the Ellsworth family. They accepted and Colonel Ellsworth became the first Civil War soldier to be embalmed.
