CROSS, Edward Ephram, soldier, born in Lancaster, New Hampshire, 22 April 1832 ; died near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 2 July 1863. He was educated at Lancaster academy, and began life as a journeyman printer. He went to Cincinnati in 1852, and in 1854 became an editor of the "Cincinnati Times," also acting as correspondent for the "New York Herald" and other journals. In 1854 he canvassed the state of Ohio for the American party. He was afterward employed as agent of the St. Louis and Arizona mining company, in which he subsequently became a large stockholder. In 1858 he made a trip across the plains, taking the first steam engine and the first printing press that ever crossed the Rocky Mountains. In 1860 he held a lieutenant colonel's commission in the Mexican army, and when the news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached him he was in command of a large garrison at E1 Fuerte. He at once resigned, and hastened to Concord, New Hampshire, where he offered his services to the governor of the state, organized the 5th New Hampshire regiment, and was commissioned as its colonel. Under his command the regiment distinguished itself in many important engagements, and won an enviable reputation for bravery, becoming known as the "Fighting Fifth." He was mortally wounded at the battle of Gettysburg while leading the 1st brigade of the 1st division, 2d army corps. He had been several times wounded before, and General Hancock had strongly recommended his promotion to brigadier-general, but, though he had commanded a brigade for several months with conspicuous gallantry, it was delayed, as has been claimed, through political influence. Colonel Cross was the author of numerous poems and prose sketches, written under the pen name of Richard Everett.