The Soldier who fought for both Union and the Confederacy during American Civil War

The American Civil War was the culmination of a long-running conflict between supporters and opponents of slavery that began with the establishment of the United States. Prior to the war, the North and South had been bitterly divided over the topic of slavery for decades.

The Southern economy was mainly built on plantation agriculture, with African American slaves performing the majority of the labor on the estates. Northern economies, on the other hand, were more reliant on manufacturing.

The Southern states argued that the federal government did not have the authority to decide whether slavery should be permitted in a state. The civil war began when Abraham Lincoln, the nominee of the overtly antislavery Republican Party, won the presidential election in 1860 and intended to abolish slavery throughout the United States.

Image for representational purposes onlyPhoto byScott UmstattdonUnsplash

Mose Triplett, born in 1846 was one of the soldiers who fought in the American Civil War. On October 25, 1880, in Wilkes, North Carolina, he married Mary Watson. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 2 daughters. After the death of Mary Watson in 1923, he remarried with Elida Hall (almost 50 years younger than him) at the age of 83 in 1924.

Marriages with such an age gap were not uncommon at the time. Many marriages apparently happened during the Great Depression when a military pension provided financial stability and the woman could care for her elderly husband.

Mose joined the Confederate Army in 1862, first serving in the 53rd North Carolina Infantry Regiment and then the 26th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Mose had a fever while marching through the Shenandoah River Valley to Gettysburg and was hospitalized to the hospital. He fled the infirmary only days before 734 of his unit's 800 men were killed, injured, or captured in combat.

In 1864, Triplett enlisted in the Union Army. He served his time with the Union in order to receive a pension. Moses Triplett was released from the army in 1865. He enlisted with the Union Army's 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry, popularly known as "Kirk's Raiders" after its commander, Colonel George Washington Kirk.

Mose found it difficult to live in North Carolina after the war because people who still admired the Confederacy "despised" all former Kirk's Raiders. His daughter Irene Triplett got bullied and called "traitor" at school.

Irene Triplett managed to live a long life and became the last person receiving a pension from the U.S. Civil War. She died at the age of 90 in June, 2020.