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

"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 bedridd...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Serrano, Richard A.
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Washington DC : Smithsonian Books, 2013.
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008 130718s2013 dcu 000 0ceng
010 |a  2013028772 
035 |a (OCoLC)ocn853313653 
040 |a DLC  |b eng  |e rda  |c DLC  |d OCLCO  |d CLE  |d YDXCP 
020 |a 9781588343956 (hardback) 
020 |a 1588343952 (hardback) 
035 |a (OCoLC)853313653 
042 |a pcc 
043 |a n-us--- 
050 0 0 |a E467  |b .S43 2013 
084 |a HIS036050  |a HIS027110  |a HIS036040  |2 bisacsh 
049 |a QQRA 
100 1 |a Serrano, Richard A. 
245 1 0 |a Last of the blue and gray :  |b old men, stolen glory, and the mystery that outlived the Civil War  |c Richard A. Serrano 
264 1 |a Washington DC :  |b Smithsonian Books,  |c 2013. 
300 |a 222 pages :  |b illustrations ;  |c 24 cm 
336 |a text  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a unmediated  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a volume  |2 rdacarrier 
504 |a Includes bibliographic references (pages 195-214) and index. 
520 |a "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"--  |c Provided by publisher. 
520 |a "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"--  |c Provided by publisher. 
505 8 |a 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. 
541 0 |c Purchase;  |a Amazon;  |d 7/12/2013;  |h $19.32 
600 1 0 |a Woolson, Albert,  |d 1847-1956. 
600 1 0 |a Williams, Walter Washington,  |d -1959. 
651 0 |a United States  |x History  |y Civil War, 1861-1865  |x Veterans. 
650 0 |a Impostors and imposture  |z United States  |v Biography. 
650 0 |a Veterans  |z United States  |v Biography. 
651 0 |a United States  |x History  |y Civil War, 1861-1865  |x Centennial celebrations, etc. 
650 7 |a HISTORY / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877).  |2 bisacsh 
650 7 |a HISTORY / Military / United States.  |2 bisacsh 
650 7 |a HISTORY / United States / 19th Century.  |2 bisacsh 
852 |a Historical Society of Pennsylvania  |b Closed Stacks  |h E 467 .S43 2013  |t 1 
994 |a C0  |b QQR