Colonel Elisha Warfield was born 20 Mar 1838 in Mississippi, son of William P. (a personal friend of Jefferson Davis), and Maria Elizabeth (Griffith) Warfield. He appears in the 1860 Census for Mississippi TWP, Desha County, Arkansas. Elisha enlisted 20 May 1861 at Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas, entering service as captain, Old Company C, 2nd Arkansas Infantry. He received promotions to major 06 Jan 1862, to lieutenant colonel 30 Sep 1863, and to colonel 29 Dec 1863. Colonel Warfield received a gunshot wound to the left elbow joint July 22, 1864, near Atlanta, Georgia, admitted to hospital at Macon, Georgia, 24 Jul 1864, and furloughed for 60 days, 07 Aug 1864.

He married on 24 Aug 1864 (or '65) to Mary Anderson Carson, believed to be the daughter of James and Eliza Mary (McCormick) Carson. By 1870, they were living in Adams County, Mississippi, and by 1880, they were living in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, where Elisha was a plantation superintendent. The eventually moved back to Natchez, where Elisha died 26 Dec 1894, burial in the Catholic Hill Section, Natchez City Cemetery, Adams County, Mississippi.