>Walter Williams, the last Confederate veteran, born when Lincoln was still alive, and dying in 1959, as satellites blinked above Earth. Around him hang two flags: the stars and bars of the South and the stars and stripes of the Union. He wore grey but outlived all the blue and grey boys, watching the world twist and turn in ways none of them could have imagined...

He saw the end of slavery. He saw the cotton fields give way to factories, the railroads stretch like veins across a continent. He lived through two world wars, the Great Depression, the atomic bomb, and the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. He watched men take flight and saw a preacher named King begin to speak of dreams...

NUFF SAID!!!

He's my:



The census records show he was born in 1854, which would make him between 7 and 11 years old during the war. It's likely that he took credit for his older brother's service for the pension.

Keith

How old was he when he died?

105 years old according to multiple US Censuses.

Keith

Could have been a drummer boy. South was running low on soldiers at the end.

Drummer boy was my guess too. As MUCH of a veteran as someone shooting a gun. RIP Mr Williams
Lived through rock n roll made me laugh

cool piece of history

Soooo….whose frock coat with officer’s piping in background?

Not only the oldest veteran, also the youngest Colonel.

…. Maybe he was big and smart for a 10 year old

Huh???
I would hope so...

Sounds like a case of stolen valor.

105 in 1959. So 5 yrs old in 1859. 11 years old in 1865. How could he have been a civil war vet?

That makes him from Texas then…lol

I doubt many uniforms made it thru 100 years Thank You for pointing that out

they have recoded flag bearers and drummers as young as 9

they were supposed to be 16 but it was an often over looked rule , claiming musicians exception or just being paid directly be the officer.

they didn't drum from the back of the column