Elisha S. Kellogg was born in Glastonbury. He moved to Derby about five years before the Civil War broke out. Previously a sailor and even an adventurer in the California gold rush, he settled down to work in industry in Derby. He was active with the state militia and a member of the Derby Blues. In November 1861 he entered service as the captain of company B, 4th Connecticut volunteers. In March, 1862, he was promoted to major in this regiment, by then renamed the 1st CT Heavy Artillery.

One month later, it went with the army of the Potomac on the “Peninsular Campaign.” At the siege of Yorktown, he commanded battery No. I, consisting of five one hundred and two two-hundred-pound Parrott guns, the only battery which opened on the rebel works. It was the first time guns of this caliber had been used. He was honorably mentioned in the report of the Chief of Artillery. He served at the battles of Gaines Mills and Malvern Hill. Kellogg returned to CT to help train and organize the 19th CT Infantry in which he would serve as Lieutenant Colonel. They mustered in on July 25, 1962, and were assigned to garrison duty in Washington, D.C. When the regimental Colonel fell ill in the fall of 1863 and was completely incapacitated Kellogg ascended to full Colonel. Soon after the regiment was reorganized by the War Department as the 2nd CT Heavy Artillery on November 23, 1863.

In the spring of 1864 when General Ulysses S. Grant needed new manpower to replace the previous year’s casualties and men who had gone home following the expiration of their terms of service, the unit was transferred to Virginia. They were placed in the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division of the 6th Corps. Their welcome by the battle-hardened veterans was less than cordial. They were derided and called “paper-collar” or “band-box soldiers.” On June 1, 1864, Kellogg and his men would have their chance to prove they were no “band-box regiment,” as they would be called on to the lead the charge on the army’s right flank against the Confederate breastworks at Cold Harbor. This was a suicidal attack and, in an era before dog tags, soldiers were writing their names on pieces of paper and pinning them to the inside of their uniforms so that they could be identified if they were killed in action. Kellogg stepped in front of his men and said, “Now men, go in steady, keep cool and until I order you to charge, then go in arms apart with a yell. Not a man of you fires until we are within the enemy’s breastworks. I shall be with you.”

At 5 p.m. Colonel Kellogg, led his men from their cover toward the rebel earthworks. The first volley from the rebels was high. Knowing that his men would not be so fortunate the second time, Kellogg ordered his men to lie down just as the enemy prepared to fire and the bullets passed over their heads. Kellogg and his men scattered the Rebels in the first line of entrenchments and made it to within 20 feet of the second line when the Confederates stood up and fired into the ranks of the Kellogg’s men. He continued to urge his men forward but with fire coming in on them from both front and flank he issued the order, “about-face.” These would be his last words, as he spoke them he fell dead with two bullet wounds to the head. In an episode of the History Channel series Civil War Combat called The Tragedy at Cold Harbor, Kellogg and the 2nd CT Heavy Artillery are prominently featured.

When the war ended, soldiers organized veteran’s groups known as the Grand Army of The Republic. Derby’s Post #26 was formed on April 11, 1867, and named after Elisha Kellogg. Colonel Kellogg’s name is on the monument to the Civil War dead on the green in Derby, CT shown below.

A monument to the 2nd CT Heavy Artillery sits on the Cold Harbor Battlefield and is shown below. Of the approximately 1800 men of Kellogg’s regiment 75 were killed, 221 wounded and 19 were missing.

After the battle his body was returned to Winsted, Connecticut and he is buried in a corner of Forest View Cemetery at 171 Rowley Street (41.91720, -73.06110).

Sources

Perfect Tiger: Connecticut’s Col. Elisha Strong Kellogg

Disaster at Cold Harbor: Connecticut’s Second Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment

The Military and Civil History of Connecticut. The War of 1861-65 by W.A. Croffut and John M. Morris.

The History of the Old Town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880 with Biographies and Genealogies. By Samuel Orcutt and Ambrose Beardsley, M.D.