Washington Lafayette Elliott Washington Lafayette Elliott ( March 31 , 1825 – June 29 , 1888 ) was a Brigadier General in the Union Army during the American Civil War . He led a division of IV Corps at the Battle of Nashville in 1864 . In 1866 , he was awarded the honorary grade of brevet major general , U . S . Army . Early life and career . Elliott was born on March 31 , 1825 , at Carlisle , Pennsylvania . He was a son of U . S . Navy Commodore 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 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 ( 1847 ) , serving as a quartermaster . Elliott was promoted to the rank of captain in 1854 . Civil War service . After the outbreak of the American Civil War , Elliott served in Missouri , fighting at the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek . He was promoted to major of the 3rd U . S . Cavalry on August 3 , 1861 . Commissioned colonel of the 2nd Iowa Cavalry on September 14 , 1861 , Elliott served under Maj . Gen . 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 ' 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 , 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 at the Battle of Nashville . Then Elliott commanded the District of Kansas in the Department of the Missouri before being mustered out of the volunteer service on March 1 , 1866 . On June 17 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Elliott for the award of the honorary grade of brevet major general , U . S . A . , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the award on July 23 , 1866 . Postbellum . 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 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 San Francisco Presidio .