Crocker, Marcellus Monroe, 1830-1865

Marcellus Crocker studied law in Fairfield, Iowa and began his practice in Keokuk County in 1851. In 1861 he entered military service as a captain of Company D of the 2nd Iowa Infantry. Four months later he was made colonel of the 13th Iowa Infantry during which time he took part in battles at Shiloh and Corinth. After the engagement at Shiloh the Iowa Brigade was organized under the command of Colonel Crocker. In the winter of 1862/1863 Crocker was promoted to brigadier-general. In April 1863 he succeeded General Quimby as commander of the 7th Division, 17th Army Corps. In June 1863 General Crocker was forced to take sick leave and returned to his home in Des Moines. He was asked to serve as Iowa governor but declined and returned to the battlefield in July 1863 as Commandant of the District of Natchez. In May of 1864 he had tuberculosis and was assigned to a command in New Mexico in the hopes that the climate would be beneficial to his health. In the spring of 1865 Crocker died in Washington, D.C.