Last surviving United States war veterans

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A photograph of Lemuel Cook (1759–1866) published in The Last Men of the Revolution, one of the last official veterans of the American Revolutionary War who enlisted in the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons, Continental Army.

This is an incomplete list of the last surviving veterans of American wars. The last surviving veteran of any particular war, upon their 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.

Pre-U.S. independence[edit]

Veteran Lifespan Notes
French and Indian War (1754–1763)
Jonathan Benjamin 1738–1841 Also fought in American Revolutionary War. Settled in Granville, Ohio in 1802.[1]
The book The Last Men of the Revolution was compiled by Rev. E. B. Hillard and published by N. A. & R. A. Moore in the year 1864, the book claimed to include photos and biographies of six of the last surviving Revolutionary War veterans. None of the men interviewed in the book would become the last surviving Revolutionary War veteran but the photos published in the book are some of the few surviving photos of American Revolutionary War veterans.[2]

Post-U.S. independence[edit]

Veteran Lifespan Notes
American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)
Ralph Farnham [Farnum] 1756–1860 Massachusetts. Biography: "Biographical Sketch of Ralph Farnham" by C.W. Clarence 1860
Barnabas Cochran 1758–1864 Pennsylvania Militia. Longest living verified veteran.[3]
Adam Link 1761–1864 Pennsylvania Militia. Photograph/biography listed in 1864 publication The Last Men of the Revolution
Rev. Daniel Waldo 1762–1864 Connecticut Militia. Served as Chaplain of the US House of Representatives. Photograph/biography listed in 1864 publication The Last Men of the Revolution
James Barham 1764–1865 Virginia State Militia. Was to have had a Photograph/biography listed in 1864 publication The Last Men of the Revolution; but was not located by author Hillard.[4]
Alexander Millener 1770?–1865 Enlisted under stepfather's surname as "Alexander Maroney." Claimed to have been born in 1760 and to have served in Washington's Life Guard (not verified) although he did serve in New York line. Photograph/biography listed in 1864 publication The Last Men of the Revolution
William Hutchings 1764–1866 Massachusetts Militia. Photograph/biography listed in 1864 publication The Last Men of the Revolution
Lemuel Cook 1759–1866 2nd Continental Light Dragoons. Photograph/biography listed in 1864 publication The Last Men of the Revolution
Samuel Downing 1761–1867 Served in New Hampshire Line. Photograph/biography listed in 1864 publication The Last Men of the Revolution
John Gray 1764–1868 Virginia Militia. Six month service period was too short to qualify for pension.[5] Granted a pension in 1867.
William Taylor 1757–1868 New Jersey Militia member[6]
Daniel Frederick Bakeman 1759–1869 Last veteran drawing a pension awarded by Congress; granted a pension in 1867 even though he could not prove his service.[7]
Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787)
David Whitney 1767–1867 Massachusetts State Militia.[8]
Whiskey Rebellion (1791–1794)
Michael Edwards 1767?–1876 Pennsylvania State Militia.
War of 1812 (1812–1815)
Hiram Cronk 1800–1905 U.S. Army.[9]
Black Hawk War (1832)
Henry L. Riggs 1812–1911 Illinois State Militia.[10]
Toledo War (1835–1836)
Riley Crooks Crawford 1817–1910 Michigan State Militia.[11][12]
Texas Revolution (1835–1836)
William P. Zuber 1820–1913 Texas Volunteers.[13][14]
Bear Flag Revolt (1846)
John Grider 1826–1924 Californian Rebel.[15][16]
Mexican–American War (1846–1848)
Owen Thomas Edgar 1831–1929 U.S. Navy.[17]
Bleeding Kansas (1854–1861)
Luke F. Parsons 1833–1926 Last survivor of the Battle of Osawatomie.[18][19]
George Roe 1834–1927 Last of John Brown's forces at the Battle of Black Jack[20]
John Brown 1844–1940 Last of Quantrill's Raiders at the Lawrence Massacre. Also served in the John S. Marmaduke Cavalry Division
American Civil War (1861–1865)
James Albert Hard 1841–1953 Last verified combat veteran. Fought for the Union.[21]
Albert Henry Woolson 1850–1956 Last Union veteran.[22]
Pleasant Riggs Crump 1847–1951 Last verified Confederate veteran. See Last surviving Confederate veterans.
Thomas Edwin Ross 1850–1952 Insufficient evidence. See Last surviving Confederate veterans.
Richard William Cumpston 1841?–1952 No evidence. See Last surviving Confederate veterans.
William Murphy Loudermilk[23] 1847?–1952 Insufficient evidence. See Last surviving Confederate veterans.
William Joshua Uncle Josh Bush[24] 1846?–1952 Insufficient evidence. See Last surviving Confederate veterans.
William Daniel Uncle Eli Townsend[24] 1846–1953 Insufficient evidence. See Last surviving Confederate veterans.
William Albert Kinney 1846?–1953 Insufficient evidence. See Last surviving Confederate veterans.
William Allen Uncle Bill Lundy[24] 1859–1957 Debunked.[25] See Last surviving Confederate veterans.
American Indian Wars (1622–1924)
Noah Johnson 1698–1798 New England colonists. Last survivor of Lovewell's War[26][27]
Samuel Murphy 1758–1851 Virginia colonists. Last participant of Lord Dunmore's War[28]
John Winchell Cullen 1838–1939 U.S. Army. Last survivor of the Yakima War.[29][30]
Dewey Beard 1857–1955 Native American from Lakota tribe. Last survivor of Battle of the Little Big Horn.[31] He also fought at Wounded Knee.[32]
John Daw 1870–1965 U.S. Army. Last surviving Indian Scout.[33][34]
Frederick Fraske 1872–1973 U.S. Army.[35]
Boxer Rebellion (1897–1901)
Nathan E. Cook 1885–1992 U.S. Navy.[36]
Spanish–American War (1898)
Jones Morgan 1882–1993 U.S. Army.
Philippine–American War (1899–1902)
Nathan E. Cook 1885–1992 U.S. Navy.[36]
Border War (1910–1919)
Samuel Goldberg 1900–2006 U.S. Army.[37]
World War I (1914–1918)
Frank Woodruff Buckles 1901–2011 U.S. Army.[38]
Pancho Villa Expedition (1916–1917)
Mark Matthews 1894–2005 U.S. Army.[39]
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918–1925)
American and other Allied forces were involved in the Polar Bear Expedition which began during World War I and continued into the Russian Civil War
Harold Gunnes 1899–2003 Served in a naval brigade attached to the 339th Infantry Regiment as part of American Expeditionary Force North Russia.[40]
Warren V. Hileman 1901–2005 Served in the 27th Infantry Regiment as part of the American Expeditionary Force Siberia.[41]
Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)
Delmer Berg 1915–2016[42] Volunteered in 1938. Served in anti-aircraft in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Lived in Columbia, California.[43]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Niles' national register, Volume 61. Cambridge: Harvard University. 1841. p. 192.
  2. ^ "THE LAST MEN OF THE REVOLUTION". AMERICANREVOLUTION.ORG.
  3. ^ "Cochran Cemetery, Engelwood, TN".
  4. ^ "James Barham (1764 - 1865) - Find A Grave Memorial".
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "William Taylor (1757 - 1868) - Find A Grave Memorial".
  7. ^ Francis Bernard Heitman (1982). Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution, April, 1775, to December, 1783. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 978-0-8063-0176-1.(quoting the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Pensions for 1874: "With the death of Daniel T. Bakeman, of Freedom, Cattaraugus County, N.Y., April 5, 1869, the last of the pensioned soldiers of the Revolution passed away.")
  8. ^ "Whitney, David (1767–1867)". Whitney Research Group. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  9. ^ Henley, Benjamin James (1911). The art of longevity ... Syracuse: New Warner Co. pp. 205–208.
  10. ^ "DEATH OF THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE BLACK HAWK WAR". 14. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 1922.
  11. ^ "REV. R. C. CRAWFORD WAS "FIGHTER" IN TOLEDO WAR". Detroit Free Press. May 19, 1907. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  12. ^ Michigan State Historical Society (1912). Michigan Historical Collections. 38. p. 687. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  13. ^ Robert Bruce Blake. "ZUBER, WILLIAM PHYSICK". Texas State Historical Society. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  14. ^ "William P. Zuber to Ben. E McCulloch Describing events at San Jacinto". Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  15. ^ Lanz Christian Bañes (2009). "Vallejo author uncovers the story of Bear Flag Revolt hero John Grider". Times-Hearld. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  16. ^ "Searching for John Grider, an African American Bear Flag Veteran". Blackpast.org. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  17. ^ Associated Press (September 1929). "Mexican War's Last Survivor, 98, is Dead". The Dallas Morning News.
  18. ^ "John Brown Aid, Luke Parsons, Dies in Kansas". Chicago Tribune. April 24, 1926. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  19. ^ "Associate of John Brown Recalls Early Struggles". The Evening Independent. June 28, 1924. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  20. ^ "LAST SURVIVOR OF BLACK JACK FIGHT". The Lawrence Daily Journal. July 16, 1927. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  21. ^ "James A. Hard – Obituary". Binghamton Press, Associated Press. 1953. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  22. ^ The Banner (1956). "Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War: Albert Woolson". Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  23. ^ Polston, Mike. "WILLIAM LOUDERMILK, THE LAST CONFEDERATE". Couch Genealogy. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  24. ^ a b c "Last Surviving Confederate Veterans". Genealogy Trails. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  25. ^ Marvel, William (1991). The great imposters. VIII. Columbus: Blue and Gray. pp. 32–33.
  26. ^ Samuel Abbott Green (1893). Groton Historical Series: A Collection of Papers Relating to the History of the Town of Groton, Massachusetts. 3. S. A. Green. p. 367. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  27. ^ Jeremy Belknap, John Farmer (1831). The History of New Hampshire. 1. S. C. Stevens and Ela & Wadleigh. p. 209. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  28. ^ "Man For Whom Murphy's Bottom Name Last Survivor of Lord Dunmore's War". Simpson's Leader-Times. 1973. p. 22. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  29. ^ Oregon Historical Quarterly. 36 (3 ed.). Oregon Historical Society. 1935. p. 299. JSTOR 20610950.
  30. ^ Oregon Historical Quarterly. 40 (3 ed.). Oregon Historical Society. 1939. p. 297. JSTOR 20611203.
  31. ^ Hopkins, John Christian (March 11, 2006). "129 years after Little Big Horn". Gallup Independent. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  32. ^ Lawson, Michael L.; Rosier, Paul C. (2007). Little Bighorn: Winning the Battle, Losing the War. Infobase Publishing. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-7910-9347-4.
  33. ^ Chicago Corral of the Westerners (1965). Westerners brand book, Volumes 22–25. Siedlce. p. 24.
  34. ^ "John Daw". Genealogy Trails. 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  35. ^ "LAST VET OF INDIAN WARS DIES AT AGE 101". Chicago Tribune. June 17, 1973.
  36. ^ a b "Nathan E. Cook, 106; America's Oldest Known War Veteran". Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1992. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  37. ^ Will Everett (April 6, 2007). "World War I veteran". PRI's THE WORLD. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  38. ^ Courson, Paul (February 28, 2011). "Last living U.S. World War I veteran dies". CNN. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  39. ^ Melissa Corley (1998). "Veterans to honor Buffalo Soldier Man, 103, is last survivor of regiment of black troopers". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  40. ^ Kramer, Andrew (August 14, 2001). "Centarian Is Last Veteran of Only U.S.-Russia War". The St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  41. ^ Rush, Linda (February 3, 2005). "STATE'S 'LAST' WORLD WAR I VETERAN DIES: WARREN V. HILEMAN DIED SUNDAY IN ANNA AT 103". The Southern: Illinoisan. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  42. ^ "Death Notices for March 1, 2016". The Union Democrat. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.
  43. ^ "Del Berg Interviewed by Friends and Neighbors". The Volunteer.
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