John B. Salling

Who was John B. Salling?

John B. Salling claimed to be the second-oldest surviving Confederate Veteran of the American Civil War, though his claim of being born in 1846 has since been debunked. According to the 1860 census for Scott County, Virginia, John Salling is listed as being four years old, making him born in about 1856.

In 1991, William Marvel examined the claims of Salling and several other "last Civil War veterans" for a piece in the Civil War history magazine Blue & Gray. Marvel found multiple instances of census data that indicated Salling was born in 1856, not 1846.

At the time of his death, John Salling was officially considered the next-to-the last Confederate veteran. Walter Williams of Houston, Texas was frequently listed as the last Confederate veteran, but shortly before Williams died 20 December 1959, a New York Times report cast strong doubt on his claim.

The John Salling case gained currency after Guinness World Records listed him as the "oldest soldier" of all time, erroneously as 113 years and 1 day old. Thus, Salling's age was first dropped from 113 to 112, and then a census search suggested that he was really 'only' 100. In any case, no documentation to support his claim to being a veteran was ever produced. Many of the records of Southern troops during the Civil War are incomplete because many records were lost or destroyed. John Salling claimed in his application for a pension that he was a saltpeter digger in Scott County during the war and that he had been put on detail duty in that job after enlisting in the 25th Virginia Infantry. In 2006, Guinness pulled recognition of this case.