This is an incomplete list of the last surviving veterans of American wars. The last surviving veteran of any particular war, upon his death, marks the end of a historic era. Exactly who is the last surviving veteran is often an issue of contention, especially with records from long-ago wars. The "last man standing" was often very young at the time of enlistment and in many cases had lied about his age to gain entry into the service, which confuses matters further.
[edit] Pre U.S. independence
- Jonathan Benjamin (1738–1841) — Also fought in American Revolutionary War. Settled in Granville, Ohio in 1802.[1]
[edit] Post U.S. independence
[edit] American Revolutionary War
- Daniel Bakeman (1759–1869) — Claimed to be veteran and was awarded pension by Congress, though could not prove service.[2]
- John Gray (1764–1868) — Last verifiable veteran although service period was too short for pension qualification.[3]
- Samuel Downing (1764–1867)[4]
- Lemuel Cook (1759–1866) — Last official veteran.[5]
- Henry L. Riggs (1812–1911)[7]
[edit] Confederate
| Name |
Claimed birth date |
Believed birth date |
Death date |
Status |
| Pleasant Crump |
23 December 1847 |
|
31 December 1951 |
Verified |
| Felix M. Witkoski |
5 January 1850 |
October 1854 |
3 February 1952 |
Debunked |
| Thomas Edwin Ross |
19 July 1850 |
|
27 March 1952 |
Unknown |
| Richard William Cumpston |
23 May 1841 |
|
5 September 1952 |
No evidence |
| William Loudermilk[10] |
23 October 1848 |
|
18 September 1952 |
No evidence |
| William Jordan Bush[11] |
10 July 1845 |
July 1846 |
11 November 1952 |
Probable |
| Arnold Murray[12] |
10 June 1846 |
1854/1855 |
26 November 1952 |
Debunked |
| William Townsend[11] |
12 April 1846 |
|
22 February 1953 |
Possible |
| William Albert Kinney |
10 February 1843 |
10 February 1861 |
23 June 1953 |
Debunked |
| Thomas Riddle |
16 April 1846 |
|
2 April 1954 |
No evidence |
| William Lundy |
18 January 1848 |
May 1860 |
1 September 1957 |
Debunked |
| John B. Salling[13] |
15 May 1846 |
15 May 1856 |
16 March 1959 |
Debunked |
| Walter Williams |
14 November 1842 |
14 November 1854 |
19 December 1959 |
Debunked |
Most cases are questionable, though it should be remembered that many Confederate records were destroyed or lost to history. Unlike the U.S. military archives, the Confederate records had no official archive system after the war. However, for most of the cases investigated, the ages of the claimants alone were enough to prove their claim was false. Williams was generally acknowledged as the "last Confederate veteran" in 1950s newspapers. However, in September 1959 an exposé by The New York Times revealed that he was in fact born in 1854 in Itawamba County, Mississippi, and not 1842 as claimed. Still, since Salling and all the other claimants were dead, Williams was celebrated as the last Confederate veteran after his death on 20 December 1959.[14]
Salling's own status is disputed. In 1991, William Marvel examined the claims of Salling and several other "last Civil War veterans" for a piece in the Civil War history magazine Blue & Gray. Marvel found census data that indicated Salling was born in 1858, not 1846. Although in 1900 Salling supplied a birthdate of March 1858, he appears to have been born around 1856, still too late to have served in the Confederate Army. The 1860 census lists him as 4 years old, and the 1870 census as 14.[13] William Lundy is listed as 1 year old on the 1860 census, and from 1870 until 1930 he gave census marshals ages that reflected birthdates as early as 1853 and as late as 1860. He did not push his birthdate back to the 1840s until he applied for a Confederate pension from the state of Florida. In the same piece, Marvel confirmed Woolson's claim to be the last surviving Union veteran and asserted that Woolson was the last genuine Civil War veteran on either side. However, Marvel did not present research establishing who, among the several other Confederate claims from the 1950s, some of which appear to be genuine, was the real last Confederate veteran.
- Harold Gunnes (1899–2003)[23]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Niles' national register, Volume 61. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. 1841. p. 192.
- ^ Zuerlein, Roger. "?". FortuneCity. http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/principal/627/bakeman.html. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
- ^ Dalzell, James McCormick; Gray, John (1868). Private Dalzell, his autobiography, poems, and comic war papers, sketch of John Gray, Washington's last soldier, etc. R. Clarke. p. 189.
- ^ Taylor, Maureen (2003). "The Last Men of the Revolution". American Spirit. pp. 30–31. http://www.maureentaylor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ghosts_of_the_revolution.pdf. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
- ^ Cook, Burr. "Lemuel Cook". The Burr. http://www.burrcook.com/history/lemuel.htm. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ Henley, Benjamin James (1911). The art of longevity .... Syracause: New Warner Co. pp. 205–208.
- ^ "DEATH OF THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE BLACK HAWK WAR.". 14. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 1922.
- ^ Associated Press (September 1929). "Mexican War's Last Survivor, 98, is Dead". The Dallas Morning News.
- ^ The Banner (1956). "Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War: Albert Woolson". Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. http://suvcw.org/pcinc/woolson.htm. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
- ^ Polston, Mike. "WILLIAM LOUDERMILK, THE LAST CONFEDERATE". Couch Genealogy. http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/cwvet.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
- ^ a b "Last Surviving Confederate Veterans". Genealogy Trails. http://genealogytrails.com/main/lastveterans.html. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
- ^ "ARNOLD MURRAY Confederate Veteran living in 1950". Sons of Confederate Veterans. 2005-08-05. http://genforum.genealogy.com/sc/orangeburg/messages/415.html. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
- ^ a b Marvel, William (1991). The great imposters. VIII. Columbus: Blue and Gray. pp. 32–33.
- ^ Associated Press (December 20, 1959). "Reputed Last Civil War Veteran Dies in Texas After Long Illness: Walter Williams Put His Age at 117 – Tributes Note the End of an Era". The New York Times. http://alt.nntp2http.com/obituaries/2006/12/11e4275470a2d5ff1e43f077fe39bbdd.html. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
- ^ "LAST VET OF INDIAN WARS DIES AT AGE 101". Chicago Tribune. June 17, 1973.
- ^ Chicago Corral of the Westerners (1965). Westerners brand book, Volumes 22-25. Siedlce. p. 24.
- ^ "John Daw". Genealogy Trails. 2006. http://genealogytrails.com/main/indianwarmemories.html#johndaw. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
- ^ Hopkins, John Christian (March 11, 2006). "129 years after Little Big Horn". Gallup Independent. http://www.gallupindependent.com/2006/mar/031106ltlhrn.html. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ Lawson, Michael L.; Rosier, Paul C. (2007). Little Bighorn: Winning the Battle, Losing the War. Infobase Publishing. p. 126. ISBN 9780791093474.
- ^ Seitz, George (January 24, 2007). "Jones Morgan". Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=9358669&PIpi=5112975.
- ^ "NATHAN EDWARD COOK". Ancestry.com. June 6, 2008. http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sunnyann/cooknathan.html. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
- ^ Courson, Paul (February 28, 2011). "Last living U.S. World War I veteran dies". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/27/wwi.veteran.death/. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ^ Kramer, Andrew/Associated Press (August 14, 2001). "Centarian Is Last Veteran Of Only U.S.-Russia War". The St. Petersburg Times. http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=100&story_id=5063. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
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