Elmer Ames (died 17 September 1862) was a Union Army officer who commanded an artillery battery in the 1st Division, II Corps, Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. As a captain, he was given command of a newly-formed artillery battery after the First Battle of Bull Run, and he was promoted to Major after fighting at the bloody Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. He later fought at the decisive Second Battle of Bull Run on 29 August 1862, after which he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. Ames was killed when Munford's Confederate cavalry brigade charged his battery as it provided support to the Union attack on the Sunken Road at the Battle of Antietam; he was replaced by Jared Weisiger.