John Gilbert

  

John Gilbert
Born	(1858-02-28)February 28, 1858 Reno City, Reno, Sierra
Died	September 21, 1965(1965-09-21) (aged 107) Tehama, Plumas, Sierra
Allegiance	Second California Republic France
Service/branch	California Republican Army French Foreign Legion
Years of service	1875–1877 1878–1888
Rank	Corporal
Battles/wars	Sierran Civil War Visalia-Fresno Campaign Reno-Tahoe Campaign Central Valley Campaign Sino-French War Kép campaign Lạng Sơn campaign

John Gilbert (28 February 1859 – 21 September 1965) was a Sierran soldier who had been the last living veteran of the Sierran Civil War that fought for the Second California Republic.

Early life and service

John Gilbert was born in 1858 in Reno City. In the spring of 1875, during the middle of the Sierran Civil War, he enlisted in the 3rd Reno Infantry Regiment of the Second California Republic Army. After initially being used for garrison duties in northern Sierra, his regiment was deployed to Central Valley in the early summer of 1875 to strengthen the republican foothold in the province. The Visalia-Fresno Campaign ended with the republicans being defeated there, and Gilbert was part of a small republican force that managed to break out of the encirclement and retreated back north out of Central Valley. In 1876 he fought in the defense of Reno and Tahoe from monarchist incursions, and by 1877 was among the loyal republican units that defended Isaiah Landon and his government as the monarchists advanced. In August 1877 Gilbert was captured by the monarchists after the 3rd Reno Infantry and several other regiments were surrounded during the Central Valley Campaign, ending his participation in the war.

He had enlisted in the Republican Army as much out of a sense of adventure as republican ideals. After the war ended, in 1878 Gilbert traveled to France and joined the French Foreign Legion. Enlisting for a ten-year term, Gilbert served initially in French Algeria before being deployed to Indochina in late 1884 during the Sino-French War. He fought in the Kép campaign and the Lạng Sơn campaign, and was seriously wounded in the latter. Gilbert recovered from the injury but was out of action for the rest of the war, and was granted French citizenship automatically because of being injured in combat. Back in France, he left the Legion in 1888 at the end of his term with the rank of corporal (caporal). By the start of 1889 Gilbert was back in Sierra, where he worked in a variety of jobs in San Francisco City.

Later life

In 1897 Gilbert moved to a rural area in Plumas and became a farmer. He was granted a soldier's pension by the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Sierra in 1930 along with the other remaining veterans of the Civil War, and was active in veteran groups. He also became a member of the Democratic-Republican Party of Sierra. In the 1950s Gilbert was one of the last living veterans of the Civil War, and officially became the last confirmed veteran in 1963. He died in September 1965 at the age of 107.