Faces of the 12th Virginia Infantry ("Petersburg Regiment"): Wyatt Mosely Elliott, Involved in Booth Conspiracy

Caption:  Wyatt Moseley Elliott

Credit:  Virginia Military Institute

John Wilkes Booth stood in the ranks of the Richmond Grays at John Brown's hanging in 1859 while the Grays belonged to the 1st Virginia Infantry.  Detached from the 1st Virginia and dispatched to Norfolk under Capt. Wyatt Moseley Elliott, a Virginia Military Institute graduate and the Richmond Whig’s publisher, the Grays became Company G of the 12th Virginia in April 1861.  Elliott declined to stand for reelection in May 1862 and subsequently led the Richmond Battalion, the 25th Battalion Infantry, a local defense unit, as its lieutenant colonel.  Commanding the 25th Battalion, Elliott played a minor role in the conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln that led to his assassination by Booth.  Elliott returned to civilian life as a Richmond newspaper editor.  He also served as a state legislator.