A great photo of John L Burns age 69 in 1863.

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I’m often surprised by how active-looking aged War of Secession veterans looked in photos 40 years after that war, testimony to the effects of limited food intake accompanied by a high level of physical activity.

Burns was born in 1793, fought up by Niagara Falls in the 1812 war. Wiki says he volunteered for the Mexican War, no mention of service though. No mention of family but in Wiki you can see he lived in a sizable two-story house.

A pity his life story wasn’t written down, he must have seen some remarkable things (heck, passenger pigeons!).

Sadly, he loses his mind as he ages and wanders widely, found eight years later essentially homeless in NYC on a cold winter day, dies shortly thereafter. See….

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Burns

It does speak well of the ANV in how well they treated him, even giving him medical attention at a time they must have been swamped with their own casualties.

"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744