Pleasant Crump

Pleasant Riggs Crump (December 23, 1847 – December 31, 1951) is the last verifiable veteran who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Although he was survived by several other claimants in the 1950s, such as William Lundy, John B. Salling and Walter Williams, historical research has subsequently debunked these claims. Crump officially remains the last surviving veteran of the Confederate Army.

Biography

Born in Crawford's Cove, St. Clair County, Alabama, Crump and a friend left home and traveled to Petersburg, Virginia, where Crump enlisted as a private in the 10th Alabama Infantry in November 1864. Assigned to Company A, Crump saw action at the Battle of Hatcher's Run, participated in the siege of Petersburg before witnessing General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Returning to his home in rural Alabama following the Confederate surrender, Crump soon relocated to Lincoln in nearby Talladega County. There, at age 22, he married Mary Hall, a local. Five children resulted from this marriage, which lasted until she died on December 31, 1901. Crump took Ella Wallis of Childersburg as his wife in 1905. Following her death in July 1942, he shared a home with a grandson's family. The United Confederate Veterans awarded him the honorary title of colonel. In 1950, he met with 98-year-old Gen. James Moore, who was then recognized to be the only other remaining veteran of Alabama. Crump died having just turned 104 and is buried in Hall Cemetery, Lincoln.^[1]

See also

• Last surviving United States war veterans
• Albert Woolson

References

External links

• "Pleasant Crump". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
• Linedecker, Clifford L., ed. Civil War, A-Z: The Complete Handbook of America's Bloodiest Conflict, New York, Ballantine Books, 2002. ISBN 0-89141-878-4
• Hoar, Jay S., The South's Last Boys in Gray: An Epic Prose Elegy, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1976, pp. 463–466.