After a prisoner of war exchange, Cross returned to service under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.

After the war he attended Kentucky University in Lexington, but dropped out after a year due to being unable to afford tuition.

[1] In 1909, he refused to accept a petition for a state question to allow women to vote from Kate Himrod Biggers because she was not a registered voter.

[2] He died in office on August 3, 1910, after winning the 1910 Democratic primary for Oklahoma State Auditor.

After his death, his body lied in state at the Guthrie Masonic Temple draped in a Confederate flag.