- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Location
- Central Massachusetts
From June 29 to July 6, 1938, almost two thousand Civil War veterans gathered at Gettysburg, for a 7-day Encampment and reunion marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle. All but a very few of them were over 90 years of age, 94 years was the average. Although all were Civil War veterans, only 25 of them had been at the original Battle of Gettysburg. We’ve all seen pictures of the proud old men gathered to remember the days of their youth -- my avatar photo is an example. But, the Pennsylvania battlefield was not yet through with the men in Blue and Gray. On the last day of the Encampment, it claimed three final victims.
On July 5th, 91-year-old John W. Cooper, a Confederate veteran from Largo, Fla., was rushed to Carlisle Military Hospital, suffering from a heart attack. There he joined Union veteran Daniel T. Price (also 91), of Marion, Ind., who had earlier contracted bronchial pneumonia. Both men died the next morning. A few hours later, 95-year-old ex-Confederate David T. Weaver, of Muldrow, Ok., who had been at the hospital since his heart attack at the Gettysburg railroad station, at the time of his arrival on June 29th, also passed on.
Gettysburg had claimed its final victims, seventy-five years after the battle ended.
I have not been able to identify the units or states of service of the two ex-Confederates. They are not listed under the states where they resided in 1938, and both names are common, with too many possibilities to choose from without further information. Period newspapers only say they were "Confederates."
Daniel T. Price, however, served in Co. L, 11th Indiana Cavalry (Find a Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=81&GSvcid=204425&GRid=35601373&)
On July 5th, 91-year-old John W. Cooper, a Confederate veteran from Largo, Fla., was rushed to Carlisle Military Hospital, suffering from a heart attack. There he joined Union veteran Daniel T. Price (also 91), of Marion, Ind., who had earlier contracted bronchial pneumonia. Both men died the next morning. A few hours later, 95-year-old ex-Confederate David T. Weaver, of Muldrow, Ok., who had been at the hospital since his heart attack at the Gettysburg railroad station, at the time of his arrival on June 29th, also passed on.
Gettysburg had claimed its final victims, seventy-five years after the battle ended.
I have not been able to identify the units or states of service of the two ex-Confederates. They are not listed under the states where they resided in 1938, and both names are common, with too many possibilities to choose from without further information. Period newspapers only say they were "Confederates."
Daniel T. Price, however, served in Co. L, 11th Indiana Cavalry (Find a Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=81&GSvcid=204425&GRid=35601373&)
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