Who was the last surviving Confederate Veteran of the WBTS?
The last authenticated veteran of the Confederate army was Pleasant Crump of the 10th Alabama Volunteer Infantry, who died on 31 Dec 1951. Previous claims to be the last veteran of the Confederate army were made for Walter Washington Williams (died 19 Dec 1959) of Texas and for John Salling (died 19 Mar 1959) of Virginia. However, their claims must be rejected, since among other reasons, census records indicated that, in 1860, Williams was only 5 years old and Salling was just 2 years old. Sources and further reading: William Marvel in “Blue and Gray”, Feb 1991; The Civil War Notebook, by A.A. Nofi; New York Times article, Dec. 19, 1959; Civil War Dictionary, by M.M. Boatner.
