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{{Short description|American general}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Washington Lafayette Elliott
|birth_date= {{birth date|1825|03|31}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1888|06|29|1825|03|31}}
|birth_place= [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania|Carlisle]], [[Pennsylvania]]
|death_place= [[San Francisco]], [[California]]
|placeofburial= The [[Presidio of San Francisco|Presidio]] in San Francisco
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|image= W L Elliott BGen ACW.jpg
|caption= Washington Lafayette Elliott
|nickname=
|allegiance= [[United States of America]] [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]
|branch= [[United States Army]] [[Union Army]]
|serviceyears=1846–1879
|rank= [[File:Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier general]] [[File:Union Army major general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|major general]]
|commands= [[2nd Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry|2nd Iowa Volunteer Cavalry]] [[3rd Cavalry Regiment (United States)|3rd Cavalry Regiment]]
|unit=
|battles= [[Mexican–American War]] [[American Civil War]]
|awards=
|laterwork=
}}

'''Washington Lafayette Elliott''' (March 31, 1825 – June 29, 1888) was a [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]]. He led a division of [[IV Corps (ACW)|IV Corps]] at the [[Battle of Nashville]] in 1864. In 1866, he was awarded the honorary grade of [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|major general]], U.S. Army.

==Early life and career==
Elliott was born on March 31, 1825, at [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania]], in the United States. He was a son of U.S. Navy [[Commodore (United States)|Commodore]] [[Jesse Duncan Elliott|Jesse Elliott]]. Washington accompanied his father on some voyages. After attending [[Dickinson College]], he entered the [[United States Military Academy]] on July 1, 1841. He left in 1844 to study medicine, but was commissioned a [[Second Lieutenant#United States|second lieutenant]] in 1846 for the [[Mexican–American War]]. He fell ill during the [[Siege of Veracruz]] and spent the rest of the war on recruiting duty. He remained in the army as a [[First Lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] (1847), serving as a [[quartermaster#Land armies|quartermaster]]. Elliott was promoted to the rank of [[Captain (United States)#U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps|captain]] in 1854.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://chronicles.dickinson.edu/encyclo/e/ed_elliotWL.htm |title=Washington Lafayette Elliot |access-date=2009-11-04 |encyclopedia=Dickenson Encyclopedia |publisher=Dickenson College |archive-date=2012-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418225712/http://chronicles.dickinson.edu/encyclo/e/ed_elliotWL.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1858, Elliott married Valeria Biddle Blaney (1828–1900), a collector of scientific natural history specimens who was a first cousin of [[Spencer Fullerton Baird]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. Baird and [[Charles Frédéric Girard|Girard]] named a species of snake after her, ''[[Virginia valeriae]],'' after she collected the type specimen of the species.<ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Valeria Biddle Blaney, p. 271).</ref>

==Civil War service==
After the outbreak of the American Civil War, Elliott served in [[Missouri in the American Civil War|Missouri]], fighting at the [[Battle of Wilson's Creek]]. He was promoted to [[Major (United States)|major]] of the [[3d Armored Cavalry Regiment (United States)|3rd U.S. Cavalry]] on August 3, 1861. Commissioned [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] of the 2nd Iowa Cavalry on September 14, 1861, Elliott served under Maj. Gen. [[John Pope (general)|John Pope]] in the [[Battle of Island Number Ten]]. He led a brigade in the [[Siege of Corinth]]. Elliott became a brigadier general on June 11, 1862, after leading a raid on the [[Mobile and Ohio Railroad]]. Elliott served on Maj. Gen. [[John Pope (general)|John Pope]]'s staff in the [[Army of the Mississippi]].

Elliott transferred east with Pope and served as chief of cavalry in the [[Army of Virginia]]. He was wounded at the [[Second Battle of Bull Run]] on August 30, 1862. He served for a time in the [[Department of the Northwest]], as commander of the District of Wisconsin and commander of the department, before returning east in 1863. During the first half of 1863, Elliott was a brigade commander in the [[Middle Department]], and led a brigade during the [[Second Battle of Winchester]] in mid-June. Then, Elliott took command of a new division that joined [[III Corps (ACW)|III Corps]], [[Army of the Potomac]], as its third division shortly after the [[Battle of Gettysburg]].

Elliott went west again and led the first division of the cavalry corps of the [[Army of the Cumberland]] during the relief of the [[Siege of Knoxville]]. He served as commander of that army's cavalry corps in the [[Atlanta Campaign]]. He was transferred to the infantry in late 1864, leading a division of [[IV Corps (ACW)|IV Corps]] at the [[Battle of Nashville]]. Elliott then commanded the District of Kansas in the [[Department of the Missouri]] before being mustered out of the volunteer service on March 1, 1866.<ref name="Eicher707">Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher]]. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}. p. 707</ref> On June 17, 1866, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Andrew Johnson]] nominated Elliott for the award of the honorary grade of [[brevet (military)|brevet]] [[major general (United States)|major general]], U.S.A., to rank from March 13, 1865, and the [[U. S. Senate]] confirmed the award on July 23, 1866.<ref name="Eicher707"/><ref>Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-8071-3149-0}}. pp. 141–142</ref>

==Postbellum==
[[File:W L Elliott LL.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Elliott in later life]]
After the war, Washington Elliott remained in the [[Regular Army (United States)]] as a major in the 1st Cavalry. He was promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]], and in 1878, became colonel of the 3rd Cavalry. Elliott retired in 1879 and became a banker in [[San Francisco, California]]. He died in that city in 1888, and was buried at the [[Presidio of San Francisco|San Francisco Presidio]].

==See also==
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
*[[List of American Civil War generals (Union)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher]]. ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}.
* Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-8071-3149-0}}.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Washington Lafayette}}
[[Category:1825 births]]
[[Category:1888 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Union army generals]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War]]

Washington Lafayette Elliott - Revision history

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