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List of last surviving veterans of military insurgencies and wars

This a chronological list of the last surviving veterans of military insurgencies, conflicts and wars around the world. The listed wars span from the 13th century BC to the Korean War.

Classical antiquity

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Middle Ages

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Muslim–Quraysh Wars (622–630)

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Norman conquest of England (1066–1088)

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Early modern period

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These cases, particularly with respect to the ages claimed by the veterans, cannot be verified as it was common in pre-industrialised societies for elders to exaggerate their age.

17th century

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Indian Wars (1622–1924)

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English Civil War (1642–1651)

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First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654)

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18th century

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Great Northern War (1700–1721)

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War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714)

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Jacobite risings (1719–1745)

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War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738)

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Russo-Turkish wars (1735–1774)

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French and Indian War (1754–1763)

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Seven Years' War (1754–1763)

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American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)

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Inconfidência Mineira (1789)

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French Revolution (1789–1799)

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Irish Rebellion of 1798

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19th century

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Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815)

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  • Vincent Markiewicz (1795?–1903) – France. Claimed last Polish veteran. Known to have fought for Napoleon.[51] However in 1912 there were three Polish men who claimed to have fought at Borodino, but it is unlikely they were real veterans due to lack of documentation and improbable age ranges from 120 to 133.
  • Geert Adriaans Boomgaard (1788–1899) – France. Last Dutch veteran and verified veteran. Europe's oldest man at the time of his death. He fought for Napoleon in the 33ème Régiment Léger.[49]
  • Louis Victor Baillot (1793–1898) – France. Last surviving French veteran of the Battle of Waterloo.[1] Also saw action at siege of Hamburg.[52][53]
  • Henry James (1799–1898) – United Kingdom. Last Royal Navy veteran. Enlisted in 1812 and served on HMS Pompee. Saw action off Toulon.[54][55]
  • Lars Jespersen Kike (1796–1897) – Norway. Last Norwegian veteran of the Swedish-Norwegian War.[56][57]
  • Leonard Meesters (1796–1896) – France. Last Belgian veteran. Fought for Napoleon.[49]
  • Josephine Mazurkewicz (1794–1896) – France. Last female veteran. Assistant surgeon in Napoleon's army. Later partook in Crimean War.[49]
  • Ferdinand Scharnhorst (1797?–1893) – United Kingdom. Last British Army participant of Waterloo. Served in the King's German Legion.[58][59]
  • Gaspar Costela Vázquez (1787–1892) – Spain. Last veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar. Served in the navy aboard Spanish ship Santa Ana.[60][61][62]
  • Vasilij Nikolaevich Kochetkov (1785?–1892) – Russia. Enlisted 7 March 1811. Served in Grenadier Lifeguard Regiment at Borodino. Served 66+1⁄2 years until 12 October 1877 when wounded during service in the Russian-Ottoman War.[63]
  • Emmanuel Louis Cartigny (1791-1892) - France. Last French veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar.[64]
  • Joseph Sutherland (1789–1890) – United Kingdom. Served in the Royal Navy on HMS Beaulieu and was the last British survivor of Trafalgar.[65]
  • August Schmidt (1795–1899) – Prussia. Last surviving German and Prussian veteran of the conflict and also last surviving veteran of the battle of Waterloo of all nations participating.[2] He fought in the Battle of Bautzen, Battle of Großbeeren, Battle of Dennewitz, Battle of Leipzig, Battle of Laon, and in the Battle of Waterloo.[66][67]

War of 1812 (1812–1815)

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Seminole Wars (1816–1858)

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Greek War of Independence (1821–1832)

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July Revolution (1830)

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Belgian Revolution (1830–1831)

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Black Hawk War (1832)

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  • Henry L. Riggs (1812–1911) – United States.[86]

Texas War of Independence (1835–1836)

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Ragamuffin War (1835-1845)

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Rebellions of 1837–1838

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First Opium War (1839–1842)

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Mexican–American War (1846–1848)

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Hungarian Revolution of 1848

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Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–1849)

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First Schleswig War (1848–1851)

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Crimean War (1853–1856)

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Eureka Rebellion (1854)

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  • William Edward Atherdon (1838–1936) — Stockade rebels.[109][110]

Indian Rebellion (1857–1859)

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New Zealand Wars (1845–1872)

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Second Italian War of Independence (1859)

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Expedition of the Thousand (1860–1861)

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American Civil War (1861–1865)

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Union

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Confederacy

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NameClaimed birth dateBelieved birth dateDeath dateStatus
Pleasant Crump23 December 184731 December 1951Verified
Felix M. Witkoski5 January 1850October 18543 February 1952Dubious
Thomas Edwin Ross19 July 185027 March 1952Possible
Richard William Cumpston23 May 18415 September 1952Unknown
William Murphy Loudermilk[124]23 October 1847[125]April 1851[126]18 September 1952Possible
William Joshua Uncle Josh Bush[127]10 July 1845July 184611 November 1952Verified[128]
Arnold Murray[129]10 June 18461842/1855[130]26 November 1952Possible[131]
William Daniel Uncle Eli Townsend[127]12 April 184622 February 1953Verified[132]
William Albert Kinney10 February 1843/1846[133]10 February 1861[134]23 June 1953Probable[135]
Thomas Evans Riddle16 April 1846[136]1862[137]2 April 1954Possible[138]

Most cases are questionable, though it should be remembered that many Confederate records were destroyed or lost to history. Unlike the U.S. Armed Forces archives, the Confederate Armed Forces 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. Walter 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 John B. Salling and all the other claimants were dead, Williams was celebrated as the last Confederate veteran after his death on 20 December 1959.[139]

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.[140] 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 Army 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.

French invasion of Mexico (1861–1867)

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January Uprising (1863–1865)

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Second Schleswig War (1864)

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  • Ludwig Herman Klein (1846–1943) – Denmark. Last Naval veteran. Served on the Geiser.[144]
  • Ove Henning Jacobsen (1841–1941) – Denmark. Last Army veteran. Fought at Dybbøl.[145]

Paraguayan War (1864-1870)

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Fenian raids (1866–1871)

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  • Henry Bayles Hooke (1849–1954) – Canada. Fought in the raid of 1866 at Ridgeway.[150][151]
  • William Craig (1850–1951) – Canada. Fought in the raids of 1870–71.[152][153]

Expedition to Abyssinia (1867–1868)

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Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871)

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Paris Commune (1871)

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  • Adrien Lejeune (1847–1942) – Communards. Last Communard.[155][49]
  • Antonin Desfarges (1851–1941) – Communards. Last député.[49]
  • Eugène François Louis Liné (1850–1940) – France.[156]

Third Anglo-Ashanti War (1873–1874)

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Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)

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Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880)

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  • Alfred Hawker (1858–1962) – British Empire. Served in the British Army.[159]

Zulu War (1879)

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  • Harry Figg (1855–1953) – British Empire.
  • Charles Wallace Warden (c.1854–1953) – British Empire. Transferred to First Foot in 1874.[160]
  • Frank Bourne (1854–1945) – British Empire. Last survivor of Rorke's Drift.

War of the Pacific (1879–1884)

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First Boer War (1880–1881)

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Anglo-Egyptian War (1882)

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  • Albert Canning (1861–1960) – British Empire. Served in the 19th Hussars. Also served in the Mahdist War and World War I.[168]

Mahdist War (1882–1899)

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Nile Expedition (1884–1885)

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  • Edward Hyde Hamilton Gordon (1861–1955) – British Empire. Last officer.[171]

North-West Rebellion (1885)

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Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–1894)

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Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898)

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War of Canudos (1896–1897)

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Spanish–American War (1898)

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Second Boer War (1899–1902)

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Philippine–American War (1899–1902)

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Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901)

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  • Nathan E. Cook (1885–1992) – United States. Served in the Navy.
  • Walter Pleate (1876–1985) — United States. Served in the Army.[187]

20th century

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Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)

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Macedonian Struggle (1904–1908)

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Potemkin Mutiny (1905)

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Revolt of the Lash (1910)

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Mexican Revolution (1910–1920)

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Xinhai Revolution (1911–1912)

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Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912)

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  • Michele Traini (1892–1996) – Italy. Sent to Libya in 1912. Returned home following WWI.[200][201]

Balkan Wars (1912–1913)

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Contestado War (1912–1916)

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  • Firmino Rodrigues Martim (1894–c.2000) – Brazilian Army (vaqueanos).[207]
  • Altino Bueno da Silva (1903–2014) – Last rebellious child and witness of the slaughter.[208]

World War I (1914–1918)

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Main article: List of last surviving World War I veterans

Easter Rising (1916)

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October Revolution (1917)

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Russian Civil War (1917–1922)

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Russian participants:

Veterans of Allied Intervention:

Finnish Civil War (1918)

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Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919)

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German Revolution of 1918–1919

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Polish–Ukrainian War (1918–1919)

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Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920)

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Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920)

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Lithuanian Wars of Independence (1918–1920)

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Irish War of Independence (1919–1921)

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Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921)

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Silesian Uprisings (1919–1921)

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Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923)

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Rif War (1920–1926)

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Coto War (1921)

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18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt (1922)

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March on Rome (1922)

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Irish Civil War (1922–1923)

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Northern Expedition (1926–1928)

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Cristero War (1926–1929)

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Chittagong armoury raid (1930)

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Brazilian Revolution of 1930

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January 28 incident (1932)

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Constitutionalist Revolution (1932)

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  • Alfredo Pires Filho (1920–2021) – São Paulo. Last rebel Boy Scout messenger. Later trained the Brazilian pilots during the World War II.[270]
  • Olimpio Martins Pires (1910–2020) – Brazil. Served in the PMMG. Also participated in the Revolution of 1930.[266][267]
  • Maria de Lourdes Pinto Picarelli (1913–2019) – São Paulo. Last female rebel combattant.[271][272]
  • Arlindo Leonardo Ribeiro (1913–2019) – São Paulo. Last Barretos rebel combattant.[273]
  • Zuleika Sucupira Kenworthy (1912–2017) – São Paulo. Last Jundiaí rebel combattant.[271][274]
  • Natalino Antonio Augusto (1910–2014) – São Paulo. Last Campinas rebel combattant.[275]
  • José Mango (1913–2015) – São Paulo. Last rebel veteran of the Battle of Gravi.[276]
  • Osvaldo Rafael Santiago (1915–2013) – São Paulo. Last Itapetininga rebel combattant.[277]
  • José Luiz Silveira (1909–c. 2011) – Brazil. Served in the BMRS. Last Battle of Cerro Alegre combattant. Also participated in the Revolution of 1923 and in the Revolution of 1930.[278][279][280]

Long March (1934–1935)

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Brazilian communist uprising of 1935

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  • Antero de Almeida (1906–2014) – National Liberation Alliance.[283]

Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

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1936 Naval Revolt

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  • José Júnior Barata (1916–2014) – Portuguese Navy rebels.[289][290]

World War II (1939–1945)

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Korean War (1950–1953)

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See also

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References

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