Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/39

Rh mineralogy and lithology since 1883. In 1875 he was appointed assistant in the Boston museum of natural history. Prof. Crosby is a member of numerous scientific societies, and has lectured in the Lowell course. He has travelled extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and the West Indies, and has published memoirs on the geology of the localities visited in various scientific journals. " Native Bitumens and the Pitch Ijako of Trinidad " (1879) is one of his most important papers. He is the author of " Common Minerals and Rocks " (Boston, 1881 ; enlarged ed., 1886).

CROSMAN, George Hampton, soldier, b. in Taunton, Mass., in Nov., 1798; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 28 May, 1883. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1823, assigned to the 6th in- fantry, and served on frontier and garrison duty. He was promoted to first lieutenant on 30 Aug., 1828, and made assistant quartermaster on 15 Oct., 1830. He performed the duties of this office in the Indian country during the Black Hawk war of 1832, and in the Florida war of 1836-7, and was promoted to captain, 30 Api-il, 1837. He was chief quartermaster in the military occupation of Texas in 1845-'6, and distinguished himself at the storm- ing of Palo Alto, 8 May, 1846, receiving the brevet of major for his gallantry on that occasion. He became major on the staff and quartermaster, 3 March, 1847, deputy quartermaster-general with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1856, and assist- ant quartermaster-general with rank of colonel in 1863, serving during this time in charge of various clothing depots and arsenals. From 1864 till 1866 he was occupied in preparing for publication a " Manual for the Quartermaster's Department." He was brevetted brigadier-general and major- general, U. S. army, for his services during the civil war, on 13 March, 1865, and was retired from active service in 1866, but was on duty again in Philadelphia as chief quartermaster of the Depart- ment of the East till 1868. — His son, Alexander Foster, naval officer, b. in St. Louis, Mo., 11 June, 1838 ; d. in Greytown, Nicaragua, 12 April, 1872, was appointed to the U. S. naval academy from Penn- sylvania, and graduated in 1855. He was attached to the frigate " Congress," of the Mediterranean squadron, in 1856-'8, made master, 4 Nov., 1858, served on the Paraguay expedition of 1858-'9, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1861. He com- manded the " Somerset," of the East Gulf squad- ron, in 1862, was made lieutenant-commander on 16 July of that year, and served in the South Atlantic blockading squadron during the rest of the war, most of the time in the " Wabash." He was with the naval brigade of that squadron on Gen. Hatch's expedition to sever the railroad from Charleston to Savannah, and co-operated several times with the army on Stono river, engaging Fort Lamar once. He was honorably mentioned in Commander George H. Preble's official report of 10 Jan., 1865. After the war he served on the " Ossi- pee," the " Onward," and at Portsmouth navy-yard. He was commissioned commander in 1870, ordered to the command of the isthmus surveying expedi- tion m January, 1872, and was drowned in the harbor of Greytown. At the time of his death he was preparing a book on seamanship.

CROSS, Charles E., soldier, b. in Massachusetts in 1837 ; d. near Fredericksburg, Va., 5 May, 1863. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in May, 1861, standing second in a class of forty- five, and was assigned to the engineer corps. He was engaged in drilling volunteers at Washington, D. C, and as assistant engineer in constructing the defences of that city till March, 1862, participating in the battle of Bull Run on 21 July, 1861, and being promoted to first lieutenant on 6 Aug. In the Virginia peninsular campaign he was engaged in the siege of Yorktown. and in the construction of roads, field-works, and bridges for the passage of the army and its immense trains over White Oak swamp and Chickahominy river. He com- manded an engineer battalion at Antietam, and received the brevet of lieutenant-colonel for gal- lantry there, having previously been given that of major for services on the peninsula. He was en- gaged in building the pontoon bridges for the advance and retreat of the army at Fredericksburg, and was employed in throwing up field-works, making surveys, and guarding bridges, in the early part of 1863, being promoted to captain of en- gineers on 3 March. He was at the l^attle of Chancellorsville, 3-5 May, 1863, and was killed while assisting to thi'ow a bridge across the Rap- pahannock, in the face of the enemy. For his gallantry on this occasion he was given, after his death, the brevet of colonel.

CROSS, Charles Robert, physicist. b. in Troy, N. Y., 29 March, 1848. He was graduated at the Massachusetts institute of technology in 1870, and has since been connected with the physical department of that institution as student assistant in 1869-'70, instructor in 1870-'1, assistant professor in 1871-'5, and as professor in 1875-'87. In addition to holding the chair of physics, he is director of the Rogers laboratory, and is also at the head of the department of electrical engineering. The developing and superintending of this latter course, one of the first to be introduced in a college in this country, has occupied his attention for several years, and its success under his administration is his just reward. Prof. Cross is a member of the Appalachian mountain club, and was its president in 1880. He was a delegate to the International congress of Alpine clubs held in Geneva in 1879, and was elected one of its vice-presidents. Besides numerous papers contributed to "Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences and Arts." "American journal of Otology," he has published "Course in Elementary Physics" (Boston, 1873) and "Lecture Notes on Mechanics and Optics" (1884).

CROSS, David Wallace, b. in Richland (now Pulaski), Oswego co., N. Y., 17 Nov., 1814; d. in Cleveland, Ohio, 9 April, 1891. He was educated at Hamilton, N. Y., and removed in 1836 to Cleve- land, Ohio, where he began the study of law. He was appointed deputv collector of the port in 1837, and held the office till 1855. He began the practice of his profession in 1844, was chosen township clerk in 1848, and a member of the city council in 1849. In 1855 he entered extensively into coal-mining, and continued in it till 1867. Since then he was connected with other important enterprises and did much for the industries of Cleveland. Mr. Cross was an ardent sportsman, and was one of the first to plant successfully the California trout in Ohio waters. He published "Fifty Years with the Gun and Rod" (Cleveland, 1880), and was for years a contributor to " Forest and Stream." the " American Field," and the " American Angler."

CROSS, Edward Ephram, soldier, b. in Lancaster, N. H., 22 April, 1832 ; d. near Gettysburg, Pa., 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