Alexander M. Ross

ROSS, ALEXANDER M. (1839 ~ 1913). Confederate veteran Alexander M. Ross was born in Mississippi in 1839. He enlisted in the Confederate Army in Grenada on August 24, 1861 in Holmes County, Mississippi.

Ross was mustered into Captain T. P. Nelson's Company of the 4th Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers, which became Company G of the 4th Mississippi Infantry. Ross enlisted for one year, serving as a private.

Following his enlistment, Ross and the 4th Infantry were sent to Tennessee, where they were captured at Fort Henry on February 6, 1862. After being exchanged, Ross ended up joining the 29th Mississippi Infantry, but returned to the 4th on October 1, 1862. During this time, he was listed as absent without leave on the 4th Infantry's muster roles.

After returning to his regiment, Ross participated in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Port Gibson, and Big Black River Bridge, and was captured again during the siege of Vicksburg, where the men were released in July of 1863. After the exchange, the regiment was assigned to the Army of Tennessee and fought in the battles from Cassville to Nashville, where Ross was capture on December 18, 1864.

Ross was transferred to the Military Prison at Louisville, Kentucky, where he was held until January 4, 1865, when he was transferred to Camp Chase, Ohio. Ross remained in Ohio until he signed an Oath of Allegiance to the United States on June 12, 1865, when he was released. On his Oath of Allegiance, Ross was listed as being 22 years old and living in Holmes County, Mississippi. His physical description listed him as being five feet eight inches tall, with a fair complexion and blue eyes.

Following the War, Ross returned to Mississippi, but eventually moved to Texas in 1870. He lived in Hill County, where he unsuccessfully applied for a Confederate Pension from the State of Texas. After moving to Benchly in Brazos County in 1904, Ross worked as a farmer and carpenter and successfully re-applied for a pension in 1906.

Suffering from old age, Ross moved to Austin to live in the Confederate Men's Home on August 2, 1913. He lived at the Home for a month until he died on September 4. He was later buried at the Texas State Cemetery.

Since Ross did not marry, the only correspondent he listed on his Confederate Home Roster was J. W. Barron, the Brazos County District Clerk.

Information taken from: Compiled Military Service Record; National Park Service website, http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss; Confederate Pension Application # 11355; and Confederate Home Roster.