George Elliott, born in Eutaw, Alabama, was appointed to the United States Military Academy in 1868 and was honorably discharged in June 1870 upon the completion of two-years of the four-year course of study there.

[1] In 1880, First Lieutenant Elliott was ordered to duty on board Alliance and served at the Marine Barracks, Boston, Massachusetts, from 1882 to 1884, when he returned to Norfolk.

He and his men made a forced march to Seoul, a distance of 31 miles (50 km), part of which was through submerged rice fields, in eleven hours.

[1] Later in 1898, upon his return to the United States, he became a Veteran Companion of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of Foreign Wars.

[1] In August 1899, Major Elliott was ordered to command the Second Battalion of Marines for duty in the Philippines and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in September of that year.

Secretary Long wrote:[2] The department has received with much gratification the reports of the engagement of the forces under your command with the Philippine Insurgents at Novaleta on October 8, 1899.

He departed on 27, December with the brigade on board USS Dixie, arriving at Colón on 3 January 1904, and went into camp at Haute Obispo, Panama.

One of the most difficult endeavors of General Elliott's career was his successful resistance to attempts to remove seagoing Marines from capital ships and to merge the Corps into the Army.

Also during his tenure, the home post of the Corps, the Marine Barracks at 8th and I Streets SE in Washington, D.C., underwent major changes.

[6] This article incorporates public domain material from Major General George Frank Elliott.