Elisha Gaylord Marshall was born in Seneca Falls, New York on January 26, 1829. He was appointed to West Point on July 1, 1845 where he graduated 25^th of 44 in the Class of 1850 along with several future Civil War Generals including Federal Major General Gouverneur K. Warren and Confederate General Charles Sidney Winder.

Upon graduating West Point, Marshall was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry and was assigned to frontier duty at Fort Howard in Wisconsin, Fort Gibson in Oklahoma, and Fort Kearny in Nebraska with the 6th Regiment of Infantry. In 1858 he was promoted 1st Lieutenant and attached to the Utah Expedition to quell the Mormon uprising. During August 1858 Marshall and the 6th Infantry marched from Fort Bridger in Wyoming to California. Marshall and  Company I were assigned to the Benicia Depot. On August 5, 1859, 1st Lieut. Marshall (Co. I) and Captain Lewis A. Armistead (Co. F, later Brigadier General C.S.A, mortally wounded during Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg), with a command consisting 50 men, attacked and defeated the Mohave Indians in an engagement twelve miles below Fort Mohave. Reportedly more than two hundred Mohave Indians were engaged in the attack, 23 of which were found dead on the field. The only casualties for the 6th Infantry were three privates of Co. I who were slightly wounded.

Marshall was ordered to Rochester, NY in March 1861, where he performed mustering duty and acted as disbursing officer. He was promoted Captain of the 6th US Infantry in May. On April 20, 1862, upon soon-to-be Brigadier General John Martindale’s recommendations to Postmaster General Blair, Marshall was commissioned Colonel of the 13th New York Infantry, replacing Colonel Pickell, and was assigned to Martindale’s Brigade, Porter’s Division of the 3rd Corps, Army of the Potomac. He commanded the 13th New York Infantry during the Peninsular Campaign; the Siege of Yorktown; the reconnaissance and capture of Hanover Court-house; and the battles of Mechanicsville and Gaines's Mill, where he was brevetted Major for gallant and meritorious services. He next commanded the regiment at the battles of Malvern Hill, 2nd Bull Run, was held in reserve at Antietam, participated in the skirmish at Shepardstown, and marched to Falmouth, Va. Marshall was severely wounded in the neck at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, and soon after returned home to Rochester on a leave of absence until May 13, 1863 when he mustered out of the 13th New York. He received a brevet commission as Lieutenant Colonel upon the recommendation of Major General Porter for conspicuously gallant and meritorious conduct during the battle of Bull Run on August 30, 1862. Upon recovering his wounds, Marshall served as mustering and disbursing officer in Rochester, NY.

On May 29, 1863, Colonel Elisha G. Marshall received authority to recruit an artillery regiment in the Rochester area. Marshall was commissioned Colonel of the 14th New York Heavy Artillery on January 4, 1864. The Regiment served at Forts Hamilton and Richmond in New York Harbor from October 13, 1863 through April 23, 1864 when it was transferred south to the Provisional Brigade, 1st Division, 9th Corps. Colonel Marshall served as Brigade Commander of the Provisional Brigade during the Battle of the Wilderness, May 5 to 7, 1864, and led the brigade at Gayle’s House near Cold Harbor, VA on May 13, 1864, and the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 2 and 3, 1864. He commanded the 3rd Brigade from June 11 to 17, 1864, and was wounded for the second time on June 17, 1864 while in command of 3rd Brigade during an attack at Petersburg. Marshall convalesced for the following month. Upon his return from sick leave he assumed command of the 2nd Brigade from July 21 to 30, 1864.

Colonel Marshall was captured by the Confederates while leading the assault with 2nd Brigade at the Battle of the Crater near Petersburg on July 30, 1864, and was held at Columbia Military Prison in South Carolina. Upon his release from prison in April 1865 he assumed command of 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 9th Corps, and on June 15, 1865 assumed command of 1st Brigade defending Washington, D.C. Colonel Marshall mustered out of volunteer service on August 16, 1865 and resumed his career in the Federal Army, with the rank of Major. He served as commander of Fort Union in New Mexico from August 12, 1866 through February 20, 1867 until his war wounds forced him before the retiring board on September 11, 1867. Marshall retired from active service as Colonel. His final service was on the board of court-marshal in the Dept. of the South from June 3, 1868 to January 22, 1869. After leaving the service Marshall moved to Canandaigua, New York where he died on August 3, 1883.

Elisha Marshall was brevetted Colonel USA and Brigadier General USV to date December 13, 1862 for his actions at Fredericksburg, and Major General USV to date March 13, 1865 for bravery shown while leading the assault with 2nd Brigade at the Crater during the Siege of Petersburg on July 30, 1864, when taken prisoner by the Confederates. Major-General Meade recommended Colonel Marshall for Brevet Brigadier-General USV on June 16, 1865.

Brevet Major General Elisha Gaylord Marshall is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York. GAR Post #397 in Rochester was named in his honor on August 24, 1883.