  We present and analyze the first high-resolution X-ray images ever obtained
of the Eagle Nebula star-forming region. On 2001 July 30 the Chandra X-ray
Observatory obtained a 78 ks image of the Eagle Nebula (M 16) that includes the
core of the young galactic cluster NGC 6611 and the dark columns of dust and
cold molecular gas in M 16 known as the Pillars of Creation. We find a total of
1101 X-ray sources in the 17'x17' ACIS-I field of view. Most of the X-ray
sources are low mass pre-main-sequence or high-mass main-sequence stars in this
young cluster. A handful of hard X-ray sources in the pillars are spatially
coincident with deeply embedded young stellar objects seen in high-resolution
near-infrared images recently obtained with the VLT (McCaughrean & Andersen
2002). In this paper, we focus on the 40 X-ray sources in and around Pillars
1-4 at the heart of the Eagle Nebula. None of the X-ray sources are associated
with the evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) first observed by Hester et al.
(1996) in HST WFPC2 images of M 16, implying that either the EGGs do not
contain protostars or that the protostars have not yet become X-ray active.
Eight X-ray counts are coincident with the Herbig-Haro object HH216, implying
log L_X~30.0.
