Walter Williams (soldier)

Walter Washington Williams (real date of birth 14 November 1854, claimed 1842 – December 19 1959), sometimes Walter G. Williams, claimed to be an American Confederate soldier and was reputedly the last surviving veteran of the American Civil War.

Born in Itawamba County, Mississippi, he claimed to have served under General John Bell Hood. Since John Salling and all the other "last claimants" were dead, Walter Williams was celebrated as the "last Confederate veteran." When he died in 1959 in Houston Texas, at the reported age of 117, the government observed official days of mourning.

However, in 1959, an exposé by Lowell K. Bridwell revealed that Bridwell could not find "one single scrap" of substantiating evidence to back up Williams' age or claims of military service. [United Press International (September 3, 1959). Texan's Civil War Role in Doubt As Records Indicate Age Is 104. "New York Times"]

According to his obituary that appeared in the "New York Times", a September 1959 newspaper article said a check of old census records had shown that Williams would have been eight years old at the time he said he had joined the Confederate Army, eleven months before the war ended in 1865. [Associated Press (December 20, 1959). Reputed Last Civil War Veteran Dies in Texas After Long Illness; Walter Williams Put His Age at 117 -- Tributes Note the End of an Era.] It also was reported that the National Archives listed no Walter G. Williams as having served in the Confederate Army from either his home state of Mississippi or from Texas, where his family later settled. Archives at Jackson Mississippi, however, were said to list a Walter W. Williams as a private. Mr. Williams said that he had used several different middle initials.

Other officials contended that the Archives of the Federal Government are incomplete on the Confederacy and that ages in census records sometimes are inaccurate. [Associated Press (September 5, 1959). Texas Leaders Rally In Backing Williams As Ex-Confederate. "New York Times"] A 1991 article by John Marvel gave further details suggesting Williams was born between October 1854 and April 1855. [Marvel, William (1991). The great impostors. Blue and Gray, Vol VIII, Issue 3.]

Irrespective of the controversy, his grave is marked at the Mount Pleasant Church Cemetery near New Baden, Robertson County, Texas. [www.rootsweb.ancestry.com.] An interpretive sign was provided by the Texas Civil War Centennial Commission in 1963. [www.franklintexas.com/waltwilliams.]

ee also

* Last surviving United States war veterans

References