Military service record for Pvt. Edward Bray (ca. 1844-1926)

New U. S. Colored Troop discovery in Calvary Cemetery. Meet Private Edward (Edmond) Bray. He was a member of Company B, 2nd Regiment, U. S. Colored Cavalry. Born enslaved in North Carolina, he escaped to Union lines and enlisted at Fort Monroe, Virginia, on December 22, 1863. As per his military record, he was involved in the battles of Suffolk, Drewry’s Bluff, and New Market Heights, Virginia, in 1864. He mustered out on February 12, 1866, at Brazos Santiago, Texas, with the surviving members of his regiment. Later in life, he married, and settled in the Tanners Creek District of Norfolk County, the same area where one of our forebears landed in 1763, which was annexed by the City of Norfolk in 1955. Pvt. Bray passed away on January 5, 1926. Soon after, his wife, Mary, passed on August 7th. She is also interred in Calvary Cemetery. ♣