Last of the blue and gray : old men, stolen glory, and the mystery that outlived the Civil War Richard A. Serrano

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Serrano, Richard A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Woolson, Albert, 1847-1956.

Woolson, Albert.

Williams, Walter Washington, -1959.

Williams, Walter Washington.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Veterans.

United States.

Impostors and imposture--United States--Biography.

Impostors and imposture.

Veterans--United States--Biography.

Veterans.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Centennial celebrations, etc.

Physical Description:

222 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington DC : Smithsonian Books, 2013.

Summary:

"In the late 1950s, as America prepared for the Civil War centennial, two very old men lay dying. Albert Woolson, 109 years old, slipped in and out of a coma at a Duluth, Minnesota, hospital, his memories as a Yankee drummer boy slowly dimming. Walter Williams, at 117 blind and deaf and bedridden in his daughter's home in Houston, Texas, no longer could tell of his time as a Confederate forage master. The last of the Blue and the Gray were drifting away; an era was ending. Unknown to the public, centennial officials, and the White House too, one of these men was indeed a veteran of that horrible conflict and one according to the best evidence nothing but a fraud. One was a soldier. The other had been living a great, big lie"-- Provided by publisher.

"Richard Serrano, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Los Angeles Times, pens a story of two veterans in the late 1950s gearing up for the Civil War centennial--one claiming to be the last Confederate soldier and one claiming to be the last Union soldier--and one of them a fraud. Last of the Blue and Gray sets the stage for the centennial anniversary of our nation's most difficult period, with notions of ethics and honor and also dishonesty and disgrace. In the late 1950s, as America prepared for the Civil War centennial, two very old men lay dying. Albert Woolson, 109 years old, slipped in and out of a coma at a Duluth, Minnesota, hospital, his memories as a Yankee drummer boy slowly dimming. Walter Williams, at 117 blind and deaf and bedridden in his daughter's home in Houston, Texas, no longer could tell of his time as a Confederate forage master. The last of the Blue and the Gray were drifting away; an era was ending. Unknown to the public, centennial officials, and the White House too, one of these men was indeed a veteran of that horrible conflict and one according to the best evidence nothing but a fraud. One was a soldier. The other had been living a great, big lie"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1 Two Old Soldiers

2 Reunion

3 Old Age and Stolen Valor

4 Albert Woolson

5 Walter Williams

6 Old Men in Blue

7 Old Men in Gray

8 Centennial

9 Last in Blue

10 Debunked?

11 In His Memory-Clouded Mind

12 Last in Gray

13 Of the Dead, Speak No Evil

Postscript

Sources

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographic references (pages 195-214) and index.

ISBN:

9781588343956 (hardback)

1588343952 (hardback)

OCLC:

853313653