Elias was born in the hamlet of Apperley but christened in Deerhurst Parish Church, Saint Mary DeLode.

He is a son of Ann Sparks and Thomas Eagles. His older sister, Hannah Marie Eagles Harris, had left England in 1841 aboard the Echo with her family, but it was believed Elias stayed behind at that time.

An Elias Eagles immigrated from Liverpool on the 31st of January 1845 aboard the Walpole, entering the harbor of New Orleans in April. A "Mrs. Eagle", the same age (23) was also aboard.

A marriage record has now been found for him in Apperley, Gloucestershire, England when he had wed Mary Catherine Crook 23 February 1844, prior to their voyage!

Elias Eagles, born in England, 1822 is found in Burlington, Ward 3 Des Moines, Iowa on the 1850 Census. He has a wife, Mary, same age, born in England and two children: Mary Eagles, born about 1845 in Illinois and Elizabeth Eagles, born in Iowa in 1847.

A Roseanna Graham, described as "age 54", "born in Illinois", "race, Black" is residing with the family - perhaps as a nanny for the girls.

Two more children were born to them while they lived at Burlington, Des Moines County: Joseph, born and died 1 June 1849 and Josephine, born 24 November 1850, died 1 September 1851.

These losses had to be very difficult for both of them.

Elias was later found in the household of Thomas and Charlotta Arthur of Center Township, Henry, Iowa in 1860. The Arthur family had also immigrated from England and by 1847 had a son born in Iowa. Another younger son was with the family in 1860, along with Elias Eagles as a boarder.

The distance was about 20 miles from Burlington; perhaps he was seeking work there.

Within a year he had joined the Iowa Infantry, 14th Regiment, fighting for the Union under Col. William T. Shaw. Elias held the rank of Private.

They entered the fray at Pittsburg Landing, Hardin County, Tennessee, known as the "Battle of Shiloh". The campaign was designed to be a Federal penetration via the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.

Their principal commander was Major General Ulysses S. Grant. As a result of the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, the commander in the area, was forced to fall back, giving up Kentucky and much of West and Middle Tennessee.

He chose Corinth, Mississippi, a major transportation center, as the staging area for an offensive against Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee; before the Army of the Ohio, under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, could join Grant.

The Confederate retrenchment was a surprise, although a pleasant one, to the Union forces. Adjacent the Tennessee River, Grant and approximately 40,000 men needed time to mount a southern offensive toward Pittsburg Landing. Grant received orders to await Buell's Army of the Ohio at Pittsburg Landing. Grant, consequently, did not fortify his position; since many of his men were raw recruits, "Grant had his men drilling."

Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4th, but delays postponed it until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised and routed many of them. Some Federal units, however, made a determined stand and by afternoon they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the "Hornets Nest."

Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded and captured, killed, or wounded most of the Federals. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, assumed command.

The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburg Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell's men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals finally held their position.

Elias' commander, Col. Shaw was taken captive and Elias, along with more than 23,000 soldiers - 13,00 Union and over 10,000 Confederate were killed on that dreadful day.

Mary Catherine and her surviving daughters had traveled on to the Salt lake Valley, ten years earlier, in 1852 with an unknown pioneer company. In 1855, she married Robert Knell of Kaysville, Davis, Utah.

They had five children together and Knell raised the daughters of Elias, Mary Ann and Elizabeth. Robert Knell was also from England and had immigrated with LDS Church members.

In a biography he wrote later in life, Robert stated that they never knew what had happened to Mary Catherine's first husband, Elias; as he did not follow her to Utah.

This seems a proof that a separation had occurred after the deaths of their last two children, whether he sent her on to Utah and stayed behind to work, or something more permanent.

In any case, she was left a Civil War Widow without ever knowing of Elias' fate.