The Revolution's Last Men: The Soldiers Behind the Photographs

by Don N. Hagist

The Stories of the Final Six Surviving Soldiers Who Fought in the American Revolution
During the Civil War that threatened to tear the United States apart came the realization that only a handful of veterans of the American Revolution still survived—men who had fought the war that created the nation. Six of these men were photographed and interviewed for a book by Reverend E. B. Hillard that appeared late in 1864. Their images have captivated generations since then; but—through a combination of faded memories and the interviewer’s patriotic agenda—the biographies accompanying these amazing photographs were garbled and distorted, containing information that ranged from inaccurate to implausible. Now for the first time the military careers of these men have been researched in detail using a wide range of primary sources. The result is a new perspective on the actual service of these soldiers, from enlistment to discharge, along with new details of their relatively quiet postwar lives. The Revolution’s Last Men presents the original biographical interviews published in 1864, pension depositions and other first-hand accounts given by each man later in life, and an up-to-date biography examining each soldier’s service and discussing the inaccuracies and uncertainties of the previously published accounts. To complement the photographs taken in 1864, original drawings depict the men as they may have appeared when they were soldiers, using current research on military artifacts and material culture. Also included are additional photographs of some of the men that were not part of the 1864 collection but taken when their status as the last known survivors of the American Revolution made them celebrities. While the photographs of these aged veterans continue to inspire, this book puts their service into perspective and allows these men to be appreciated for who they really were and for their great and unique service to their country.

Genres: History, American Revolution, Nonfiction, Biography, American History

216 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2015

Reviews

[Bennjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this much more than the original by Hillard. It was fascinating to read and lear about the Moore brothers who were responsible for the photographing of most of the surviving men of the Revolution. Also, I found the conclusion and epilogue the most interesting where Don Hagist branched out and actually started looking at other theories and claims of longevity. What is interesting is that most of the last men of the Revolution expired during the last years of the Civil War, and those surviving soldiers from states that had seceded were erased/removed from the pensioner rolls. It is interesting that though Lemuel Cook gets "credit" for being the last of the Revolution's men, and that all those featured in the book were from New England, PA, and Ohio, that there were in fact possible survivors of the Revolution living for 4-5 years after his death. I am intrigued by the story of John Gray, and the German descent, Daniel Frederick Bakeman of NY who lived until age 109 and was probably the last surviving veteran. Another question/note that Hagist brings up and is worth the thought is thinking about the oldest lived veteran. Many men that lived into their 100s, but were older at the time of the Revolution and hence, died before the start of the Civil War. He raises a good claim about William Prigen of North Carolina who lived to at least 112 as of 1842. He also acknowledges that his main mission was to look into the stories highlighted by Hillard and did not look into the oldest Spanish, French, English survivors of the war. It is interesting that such a spotlight was put on the men that simply lived the longest, when most of those in the original stories, and this book were simply popular because of their longevity and not length or importance of career.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In March 1864, the United States was still paying pensions to twelve (!) Revolutionary War soldiers. Later in March 1864, two men from New England traveled to six of the men and photographed them. The 7th man resided in Missouri, a Confederate state. The other men had died. The New England photographers traveled to each of the six men and took photos of them. Shortly after, the Rev. Hillard interviewed them. A book with the photos and interviews was published late in 1864.
Dan Hagist, the author of the current book, tells the story of these pensioners and updates their respective lives. Each chapter is set up in three sections. The first part tells the story of that veteran, along with the CORRECT pension information, which told the real story of the individual's Rev War involvement, as researched by Hagist. In this section, is at least one of the 1864 photos along with pictures of the veteran's home and copies of the pension deposition(s). The second section is a sketch of what the individual might have worn, based on their wartime service. The third section is a copy of the Rev. Hillard version of the veteran's interview.
This is a fantastic non-fiction, not to be missed!!

[Tim Deforest · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1864, six surviving veterans (all about 100 years old) were photographed. These photos, along with accounts of their war service, were published in a book.

This newer book points out that the accounts in the 1864 volume were faulty, relying on 90-year-old memories without any fact-checking or examination of any surviving records. Also, there seemed to be times when a veteran would mention, for instance, the battle of Saratoga. The original author would then take this to mean that veteran was AT that battle, even though he might not have enlisted until well after that battle took place.

The author of this book is fair-minded in pointing out that the purpose of the original book was to inspire patriotism during the Civil War and that it probably wasn't practical to travel around checking old documents during the war. But all the same, facts are important and the new book does check old records to get a more reasonable picture of the veterans' service.

So "The Revolution's Last Men" is a correction of a flawed historical record. But it does also point out that even if the experiences of these veterans were not as wide-ranging as originally written, they still served their nascent country honorably when they were needed.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1863/64, Rev. Hillard set out to interview the last men who had fought in the US Revolution. It was the height of the Civil War and Hillard was motivated by patriotism and not history. Hagist has taken Hillard's work further and used intensive historical research to fill in the gaps and inconstancies in the stories the men told about their service. The book includes photos of the veterans, lithographs of the homes and drawings of what they would have looked like during the Revolution. This book was a great look into the history of both the US Revolution and to some extent, attitudes about the Civil War.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read! The individual stories of these men who fought in the American Revolution are interesting and insightful on their own but here you get to see an actual photograph of each one, not the usual painting. The photos were taken during the Civil War, so these men are not young but to see the actual photos makes the book worthwhile. This is a fairly quick read so sit back and enjoy!

[Mary Kovarik · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to see the story of six revolutionary war veterans living into the Civil War period so that pictures of them and of their houses could be taken for posterity. I heard their views on the Civil War which threatened the ability of their country to survive. One of these saw General Washington. This was a good read.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, Don is able to provide a strong story line based upon excellent research.