Elias enlisted June 18, 1861 as a Private in Company A, 6th Ohio Infantry. On October 5, 1861, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant and transferred to Company F, 75th Ohio Infantry. He was then commissioned First Lieutenant of this company on May 15, 1862 and Captain of the same on January 12, 1863. He participated in 20 engagements, among which were the following: Phillipi, Laurel Hill, Carrick's Ford, Monterey, Shaw's Ridge, McDowell, Franklin, Strausburg, Cross Keys, Cedar Mountain, Freeman's Ford, Waterloo Bridge, Sulfur Springs, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. In the last battle, he was dangerously wounded, July 2, 1863, which made it necessary for him to submit to repeated surgical operations, the last occurring in June 1911.