Albert Woolson died in Duluth Minnesota in 1956. He was the last surviving Civil War Veteran. Albert joined the Union Army at age 14 as a drummer boy in Company D, 1st Minnesota Heavy Artillery Regiment on October 10, 1864 shortly after his father was killed at the Battle Of Shiloh. His unit never saw action and he was released at the wars end in September of 1865 after serving less than a year. Albert went on to live another relatively uneventful 91 years in which he did nothing that deserves mention. But, he did serve in the Union Army and therefore he holds the title of “the last surviving Civil War Veteran”.

There is one other, humorously interesting, fact about Albert Woolson. After the war he joined the Grand Army of the Republic, a powerful political group made up of Civil War Veterans. After his death, at the age of 106, the organization dissolved because, he was the last surviving member.

This article is titled “The Last Civil War Soldier” so, who was the last man to “join his comrades”, that actually saw action in the Civil War? Well, those accolades go to Confederate soldier Pleasant Riggs Crump of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Pleasant was born somewhere in Crawford's Cove, St Clair County, Alabama. When he was old enough, usually 16, he and a friend ran away to Petersburg, Virginia and joined the army. In Pleasant's case, it was the 10 Alabama Infantry. Pleasant was assigned to company A and saw action at the Battle of Hatcher's Run, the Siege of Petersburg and the final battle of The Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House where Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Ulysses S. Grant.

Pleasant Riggs Crump was one of the few that actually witnessed the signing of the surrender documents in the parlor of the house owned by Wilmer McLean on the afternoon of April 9. Two days later, on April 12, a formal ceremony marked the disbandment of the Army of Northern Virginia and the parole of its officers and men, effectively ending the war in Virginia.

An interesting tidbit of history about Wilmer McLean is that he was an unlucky man when it came to Civil War battles. The first battle of the Civil War, 1st Bull Run, was fought on McLean's farm in Manassas,Virginia. When a cannon ball crashed through the roof and landed on the table where they were having dinner, McLean decided it was time to move. McLean sold the farm and moved away to escape the war. Four years later, the last battle of the Civil War, The Battle of Appomattox, was fought on his farm and the surrender was signed in his parlor. After the war, McLean once again sold the farm and moved back to Manassas, Virginia where he went to work for the Internal Revenue Service, which leads me to believe, he wasn't unlucky enough.

After the war Pleasant Riggs Crump returned to Alabama and settled in Lincoln. He outlived 3 wives and several children and died in Lincoln, Alabama in 1950 at age 104.