America will celebrate its 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026. It’s all because the Declaration of Independence that represented the 13 American colonies was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
At that time, American colonists were fighting for their freedom from British rule during the Revolutionary War. Also known as the American Revolution, the War officially began on April 19, 1775, when the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.
What ensued was over eight years of battles, with over an estimated 230,000 Americans serving in the Continental Army for independence. On September 3, 1783, the signing of the Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War.
At that time, photography had not been invented yet. (The first permanent photograph was taken in 1826.) But in 1864, a pair of brothers would capture six Revolutionary War veterans to preserve an important part of American history.
Photographing Revolutionary War veterans
Nelson and Roswell Moore, two brothers living in Connecticut, decided to track down the alleged last six men who fought in the Revolutionary War. By that time, each man was about 100 years of age or older, according to the Library of Congress: William Hutchings, Daniel Waldo, Adam Link, Alexander Millener, Lemuel Cook, and Samuel Downing.
After the Revolutionary War, veterans received a pension starting in the 1800s. Year after year, the brothers noticed the number of veterans collecting it was dwindling.
The Moore brothers “captured their portraits as cartes de visite, small albumen prints mounted on cards intended for wide distribution.” They were taken in Hartford, Connecticut, at the district court’s clerk’s office.
Although the Moore brothers only took the photographs, a clergyman named Rev. Elias Brewster Hillard interviewed each one for his book titled The last men of the revolution. A photograph of each from life, together with views of their homes printed in colors. Accompanied by brief biographical sketches of the men.
In his book, Hillard wrote, “History lives only in the persons who created it. […] As we look upon their faces, as we learn the stories of their lives, it will live again before us, and we shall stand as witnesses of its great actions.”
Stories of the Revolutionary War veterans
The stories of the six veterans photographed by the Moore brothers made them celebrities when they were released. These are a few of their experiences:
Lemuel Cook (aged 105): Cook “reported he was present at the 1781 surrender of Lord Cornwallis to General George Washington, a pivotal moment in the Revolution,” according to the Library of Congress. He was just 16 years old when he enlisted.
Alexander Millener (aged 104): Millener, “recalled seeing Gen. Washington and his wife Martha while stationed at Valley Forge,” according to the Library of Congress.
Samuel Downing (aged 102): Downing interacted with George Washington as well. He told Hillard, “We were right opposite Washington’s headquarters. I saw him every day,” adding “but you never got a smile out of him. He was a nice man. We loved him. They’d sell their lives for him.”
Daniel Waldo (aged 102): Waldo was just 16 years old when he enlisted during the Revolution in 1778. He was subsequently taken prisoner by the British in 1779. He was released in a prisoner exchange and went back to farm labor.
William Hutchings (aged 100): Hutchings was 15 when he enlisted. Hillard wrote, “The only fighting that he saw was at the siege of Castine, where he was taken prisoner; but the British, declaring it a shame to hold as prisoner one so young, promptly released him.”
Adam Link (aged 102): Link enlisted at the age of 16. He died shortly after having his photograph taken on August 15, 1864.
