Civil War general's skull stolen at Mt. Hope
By Alan Morrell
Democrat and Chronicle
(June 23, 2000) -- The skull of a Civil War general who was known as an "evil
genius" has been stolen from his grave at Mt. Hope Cemetery.
A vandal or vandals dug up the remains of Gen. Elisha G. Marshall between 8
p.m. Tuesday and 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to Rochester Police. Bones
were found near the gravesite, but the skull remains missing.
"This is very unusual," said cemetery manager Nancy Hilliard. "We get
vandalism periodically, but it's substantially less than it used to be. This
is the first time I've had a grave dug up."
The cemetery has a section for Civil War veterans, but Marshall's grave is in
a different area -- beneath a cluster of evergreen and oak trees atop a hill
in the northern, or older, part of Mt. Hope. His first and second wives and
children are buried near him.
Police think the vandal or vandals specifically targeted Marshall's grave. No
other graves or tombstones were disturbed, Hilliard said.
Police said they found satanic symbols near Marshall's grave. The
grave-robbing occurred during the summer solstice -- the day with the longest
period of sunshine, when police said they typically find evidence of satanic
activities.
Rochester police normally station officers in Mt. Hope Cemetery on Halloween
night and during the solstice, but they weren't there this week.
"We try to do (details at the cemetery) two or three times a year, depending
on the satanic calendar," said Sgt. Dan Magill. "I've been there the last
five years during the summer solstice. Unfortunately, we were doing something
else that night."
He gave no specifics.
Marshall, who died in 1883, was buried 6 feet underground in a pine casket,
as was customary at that time, Hilliard said.
The casket was not secured in a concrete burial vault, a requirement that
Hilliard said most cemeteries adopted in the 1970s.
There was nothing valuable in the grave to be taken, she said. Marshall was
not buried in his dress uniform, which has been sold at auction, or with his
military medals.
Marshall was one of the more colorful of Rochester's Civil War heroes.
Born near Rochester in 1829, Marshall was an 1850 graduate of the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point who fought Indians in the West before the
Civil War.
Historical accounts portray him as a gruff, no-nonsense type. Within days
after federal forces surrendered at Fort Sumter, S.C., Marshall, who was the
Army's recruiting officer in Rochester, attended a war rally.
After a great deal of chest-thumping oratory from politicians, there were
calls for Marshall to speak. He declined, saying he was a fighting man and
not a talker.
Marshall was chosen to be the lieutenant colonel (second in command) of
Rochester's first regiment, the 13th, but the Army kept him in Rochester
until the following spring. He then was appointed the 13th's commander and
joined it during the spring of 1862.
His courage under fire was unquestioned. Marshall led troops into some of the
bloodiest battles of the war, serving as the head of the 13th New York
volunteer infantry regiment at both Second Bull Run and Fredericksburg. He
later commanded the lead brigade in the infamous assault on the Crater at
Petersburg.
He was twice wounded and earned brevet rank as brigadier general for bravery.
Marshall was a schemer who also had a knack for ruffling feathers. When he
was trying to organize the 14th New York Heavy Artillery regiment in
Rochester later in the war, he managed to divert recruits from another
regiment, leading a historian of the other regiment to describe him as an
"evil genius."
Includes reporting by staff writer Bob Marcotte.
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