The control of the temper he deemed one of the most important conditions of health

This is pretty wonderful.

A number of years ago I was reading some account and stumbled across the fact that some superannuated general on the French or German staff in World War 1 had also been an observer at the American Civil War. I do not recall which General it was but certainly someone recognizable. All the European members of the conflict tended to have ancient generals at the very beginning of the war. Still, it was arresting to make a human connection between those two wars 69 years apart.

For whatever reason, it crossed my mind today as to whether it was possible that any veteran of the American Revolution might also have served in the later American Civil War. The numbers are a stretch, say from 1783 to 1861, 78 years. Highly unlikely, but just on the border of possible.

Well, it does not appear that that happened but there were at least a handful of American Revolution veterans who survived into the Civil War. Just.

They were, Elias Hillard, Samuel Downing, Daniel Waldo, Lemuel Cook, and Alexander Milliner. There story is here, The Last Men of the Revolution.

An example:

Rev. Daniel Waldo

101 Years Old. Born in Windham, Connecticut on September 10, 1762. Died July 30, 1864. Drafted into the Continental Army in 1778. Taken prisoner by the Tories a year later in Horseneck, Connecticut.

His connection with the Revolution began when he was 16 years old. A year after he was drafted into the army he was taken prisoner by the Tories. He was brought to New York where he was confined in the Sugar house in New York together with 20 or more members of his company. Sugar House Prisons were sugar refineries, sturdy stone and brick buildings. They were used by the British as prisons where captured American soldiers and civilians were confined. Two months later he and his whole company were exchanged for British prisoners and released. Rev. Waldo said he never saw Washington or La Fayette. A minister in the Congregational Church, he served for a short time as chaplain at New London. In his later years, at the age of 96, he was chosen chaplain of the House of Representatives. "In his personal habits Mr. Waldo was very careful and regular. His standing advice was to 'eat little.' He drank tea and coffee. The control of the temper he deemed one of the most important conditions of health, declaring that a fit of passion does more to break down the constitution than a fever. His memory was excellent, differing from that of most aged people, in that he retained current events with the same clearness as the earlier incidents of his history."

Remarkable.