1905 Video: The Funeral of Hiram Cronk, The Last Surviving Veteran of the War of 1812

200 years ago today, America stunned the world when it declared war on Britain, beginning what’s now called The War of 1812. The Revolutionary War had ended only 29 years earlier. But despite agreements made with the Treaty of Paris (1783), the British kept pressuring the United States, trying to stifle America’s trade with France and the young nation’s expansion into the Northwest Territory, among other things. So the two countries went to war again.

Now fast forward 93 years and watch as Hiram Cronk, the last surviving veteran of the war, gets laid to rest. Cronk, a shoemaker by trade, served with the New York Volunteers in the defense of Sackett’s Harbor, and lived to be 105 years old. Above, you’ll see crowds lining the streets of Brooklyn and watching the military procession pass by. Some 25,000 people paid their respects that day.

via matthiasrascher