site logo
E.G. Marshall

E.G. Marshall

Federal (USV)

Colonel

Elisha Gaylord Marshall

(1829 - 1883)

Home State: New York

Education: US Military Academy, West Point, NY, Class of 1850;Class Rank: 25

Command Billet: Commanding Regiment

Branch of Service: Infantry

Unit: 13th New York Infantry

Before Antietam

After graduating from West Point in 1850, he served as 2nd Lieutenant (May 1851) 4th US Infantry, then 1st Lieutenant (March 55) in the 6th US Infantry. He was at various posts in the West and Southwest, on the Utah Expedition (1857-58), and saw action (under Captain Lewis A. Armistead) against Mojave fighters in May 1859. In the year before the War he was on recruiting duty, and in April 1861 he returned to New York, was promoted to Captain (May 61), and was a mustering and disbursing officer. On 20 April 1862 he accepted a Volunteer commission as Colonel of the 13th New York Infantry. He led his Regiment on the Peninsular Campaign and at 2nd Bull Run.

On the Campaign

He commanded the Regiment on the Maryland Campaign, though they saw little action, being in Morell's Division in the Reserve of the Army of the Potomac on the 17th.

The rest of the War

He continued in service with the Regiment through Fredericksburg in December, where he was severely wounded. He was on leave and local duty in NY until honorably mustered out of the Regiment in May 1863. In January 1864 he was back in field service as Colonel of the new 14th New York (Heavy) Artillery, which he had raised. He saw action as Brigade Commander in the Wilderness, and was at Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg where, in June, he was again wounded. After a month of recovery, he led a Brigade in Potter's Division at the Crater on 30 July 1864, where he was captured. He was not released til the end of the War.

After the War

He was honorably mustered out of Volunteer service with the Regiment in August 1865, and returned to Regular Army service as Major, 5th US Infantry, ranking from June. He was in command at Fort Union, New Mexico, but retired in 1867 as Colonel, USA as a result of continuing disability from his War wounds.

He was cited several times during and after the war by Brevet—honorary rank—for "gallantry and meritorious service" in action at Gaines Mill (Major, USA), Fredericksburg (Lt. Colonel, USA and Brigadier General, Vols.), the Crater (Colonel, USA), and for War Service (Brig. General, USA, and Major General, Vols.).

References & notes

Service history from Heitmann1, with additional details from the New York Times 2 and Byrne.3 The photograph above is from Uriguen 4 and is in the USAMHI Collection. 5

Birth

1/26/1829; Seneca Falls, NY

Death

8/3/1883; Canandaigua Lake, NY; burial in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY

Notes

1   Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, 2 volumes, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1903, pg. 690  [AotW citation 348]

2   [staff writer], Obituary: Elisha G. Marshall, New York Times, 1883-08-04  [AotW citation 349]

3   Byrne, Charles (Adjutant, 6th Inf.), and Theo F Rodenbough and William L. Haskin, eds., Sixth Regiment Of Infantry, from Historical Sketches Of Staff And Line, New York City: Maynard, Merrill, & Co., 1896, pg. 491  [AotW citation 350]

4   Uriguen, Mikel, Photo Gallery (Generals and Brevet Generals), Generals of the Civil War, Published c. 1998, first accessed 01 January 1998, <http://www.generalsandbrevets.com/>, Source page: /bm/bm2.htm  [AotW citation 351]

5   US Army, Military History Institute (USAMHI), American Civil War (ACW) photographs, Military History Institute Photograph Database, Published c. 1998, first accessed 01 January 2005, <http://cdm16635.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p16635coll20/>, Source page: Image ID #RG98S-CWP28.26  [AotW citation 352]