Colonel Edward Crossland
June 30, 1827-Sept.11, 1881
Colonel Edward Crossland, of the 7th Kentucky Infantry, was born in Hickman County, Kentucky on June 30, 1827. He was educated in the common schools, and in early manhood was occupied in farming. Taking a leading place in the community, he was chosen as the first Sheriff of Hickman county under the Constitution of 1850. Subsequently he took up the study of law, and being admitted to the bar, engaged with success in the practice of that profession. From 1857 to 1859 he represented Hickman and Fulton Counties in the Kentucky Legislature.
In April, 1861, he was among the first to organize companies for service in the Confederate States Army, and took his command to Nashville and then to Harpers Ferry, Virginia, where a force was organized under General J.E. Johnston. He was sworn into the service as a Captain in Virginia, and was on duty in that capacity under Colonel Blanton Duncan and Colonel Thomas H. Taylor, in the 1st Kentucky Infantry, until promoted to the rank of Major in that command and later to Lieutenant Colonel. After the regiment was disbanded at the end of it's year enlistment in late April, 1862, he became Colonel of the 7th Kentucky Infantry on May 25, 1862, after the death of Colonel Charles Wickliffe.
He commanded the 7th Kentucky at the battle's of Baton Rouge, Corinth, Champion Hill, and Jackson. Early in 1864, the 7th, 3rd and 8th Kentucky were mounted and placed under General Nathan Bedford Forrest's command. He served under Forrest until the end of the war, participating in the battle of Brice's Crossroads and other famous combats in Mississippi, the operation on the Tennessee River, the cavalry fighting of Hood's campaign in Tennessee, including the defense of the rear guard on the retreat, and the engagement with Wilson's Federal cavalry in the spring of 1865, when he was in command of the Kentucky Brigade. He received a serious wound at the battle of Paducah, Kentucky, and escaped murder by local guerillas the following night while recovering at a nearby farm. He also received a serious wound at the battle of Harrisburg, Mississippi.
After Colonel Crossland returned to his home he resumed the practice of law in the First Judicial District. He was elected Judge of the Common Pleas Court in 1866, but resigned from the bench in 1871 and took a seat in Congress as a representative of the First Kentucky District. After a service of two years in Washington, he returned to the practice of law, with his residence at Mayfield, Kentucky. In 1880 he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court, and office which he filled with great ability until his death on September 11, 1881. Edward Crossland is buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Mayfield, Kentucky.
