JOHN F. CROSS -- 83rd INFANTRY10 MONTHS WITH THE 83rd INFANTRY - John F. Cross (Jean FrancoisLaCroix) enlisted in Plattsburg on July 18, 1863. He had been draftedand was a substitute for Leon Trudeau when he was mustered into the83rd Infantry as a private.The 83rd had suffered over three hundred casualties in 1862 in suchbattles as Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. In addition,while at Gettysburg, the following July, where they played an importantpart in the capture of General Alfred Iverson's 23rd North CarolinaBrigade, they had eighty-two moreJohn and the men with whom he enlisted in Plattsburgh were clearlyreplacement troops and joined the regiment while they were on their waysouth to fight in the Mine Run Campaign at the end of November. Theystayed at Brandy Station, just outside Culpeper, VA, for winterquarters, and at the end of April 1864, started their march southeast toengage in their first battle of the year at The Wilderness somethirty-five miles away.John became one of the one hundred and fifteen casualties during thethree-day battle. He was injured on May 6, 1864 and died on May 8th atLaurel Hill just north of Spotsylvania Court House, the site of the83rd's next engagement. He was probably buried at the field hospitaland his gravesite is unknown.
