ALEXANDER ROSE -- 96th INFANTRY and 4th U. S. ARTILLERYIN THE MILITARY FOR 9 YEARS AND 2 MONTHS - On November 2, 1861, thecaptain of Company F of the 96th Infantry, James Sweeney, recruitedAlexander Larose in Chazy as one of his 67 privates. He was recorded asAlexander L. Rose on the company books. The regiment drilled inPlattsburgh until March of 1862 when they left for Washington.Within a couple of weeks, the 96th was put on a ship to sail for theVirginia Peninsula to besiege Yorktown. After the month-long siege, theyfought their way up the peninsula from May until July when they werenear Richmond and fought in the Seven Days' Battles. They were orderedback to the mouth of the James River where they camped just north ofFort Monroe.While they were in camp, Alexander was discharged from the 96th onOctober 21, 1862, so he could enlist in Battery D of the 4th U. S.Artillery at Suffolk, VA. In 1863, the Battery stayed near the Jamesestuary and then, in 1864, were sent up river to engage in the battlesnear Petersburg and Richmond.In March 1865, the Battery followed General Lee to Appomattox CourtHouse and was there on April 9th when he surrendered. In May the 4thU. S. Artillery was ordered to Texas with Alexander still in its ranks.He re-enlisted twice until he was finally discharged at Fort McHenry,MD, in 1870.Alexander moved to Michigan after the war, married, and was widowed.Near the end of his life, he was living in Kent County near GrandRapids. He was admitted to the Soldiers Home there suffering frommorphinism, an addiction to morphine, and died in 1916. He was buried inthe Grand Rapids Veterans Home Cemetery in the grounds near the Home.
