Washington Lafayette Elliott was born on March 31, 1825, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to Jesse and Frances Elliott. His father was a commodore in the United States Navy. He attended Dickinson College, and he enrolled at the United States Military Academy in 1841. He left the academy three years later to study medicine. Nonetheless, in 1846, he received a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in the United States Army. He served in the Mexican American War, and he fell ill during the siege of Veracruz. He spent the remainder of the war on recruitment duty.

 

He was promoted to 1^st lieutenant in 1847 and then to captain in 1854. He spent most of the 1850s in Texas and the New Mexico Territory, and he participated in the antebellum Indian Wars. He married Valeria Blaney around 1858, and they had at least four children: Kate, born around 1858; Frances, born around 1862; George, born around 1864; and Mary, born around 1866.

 

By the early 1860s, he was serving in Missouri. In August 1861, he was promoted to major in the 3^rd United States Cavalry. He became colonel of the 2^nd Iowa Cavalry the following month, and he took part in the siege of Corinth. He was promoted to brigadier general in June 1862. He served as chief of cavalry in the Army of Virginia, and he was wounded in the Second Battle of Manassas. He commanded the Department of the Northwest from November 1862 until February 1863. He joined the Army of the Potomac in the summer of 1863, and army officials transferred him to the Army of the Cumberland later that year. He then fought in the Atlanta campaign and the Battle of Nashville.

 

He remained in the Regular Army after the war, serving as a major in the 1^st United States Cavalry. He was eventually promoted to lieutenant colonel and then to colonel. He retired in 1879. He settled in San Francisco, California, and he earned a living as a banker. He died there on June 29, 1888.

 

Image: Washington L. Elliott (courtesy Wikicommons)

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