WILLIAM S. CROSS -- 175th INFANTRYHIS FIRST AND LAST BATTLE WAS AT CEDAR CREEK - William S. Cross was bornin Essex, NY, to a family with deep New England roots. He was livingwith his parents, Andrew Jackson Cross and Susan Bromley, on their farmwhen he was put on the Draft Registration list in the spring of 1863. InAugust and September 1864, over a hundred men were recruited for the175th Infantry to be mustered in in Plattsburgh.The 175th had spent a year in Louisiana with the Army and Departmentof the South, but in the summer of 1864, they were transferred to theArmy of the Shenandoah, and this is where the new recruits joined them.Their first battle in Sheridan's Shenandoah Campaign was at Cedar Creekon October 19th, which also was the last battle of the campaign.The 175th remained in the Valley until January when they were orderedto Savannah with Grover\'s Division in the Department of the South. InMarch 1865, they were ordered to the Department of North Carolina to bein the advance on Wilmington. Afterwards, they were present at theBennett House at the surrender of Gen. Joseph Johnston. They returned toSavannah where William's Company D was mustered out on June 30, 1865.William returned home to his parents and continued to farm. His firstwife, Elizabeth Barber, died in 1875, and then he married Sophronia Woodwho also died before him. In 1920, the Census shows him living inJohnsburg, NY, as a widower with a Scottish servant, Margaret Clark.The Glens Falls Times of March 22, 1924, carried his funeral notice onthe front page -- "William Cross, aged 84 years, veteran of the CivilWar, died last night at his home in North Creek. He is survived by threebrothers, Edward and Judson Cross, of North Creek, and Charles Cross ofSaratoga Springs. 1864."He was buried in the Union Cemetery in North Creek with his two wivesand his parents.
