"The Old Confederate Veteran"

[CSA Today]

We know him as he stands;
He listens to the thunder
Of the far-off battle lands;
He hears the crash of musketry,
The sounds roars like the sea,
For he tramped the fields with Stonewall,
And climbed the heights with Lee.

The old Confederate veteran,
His life is in the past;
War clouds like a mantle
Round his rugged form are cast.
He hears the bugle calling
Far o'er the mystic lea,
For he tramped the fields with Stonewall
And climbed the heights with Lee.

Photo: Squire James Odell, 1939. Mr. Odell was a Confederate Veteran from Mt. Airy. He was 102 when the photo was taken. He served in Company G, 53rd North Carolina, and was wounded in the leg, 1st day, Gettysburg.

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

View attachment 70812

We know him as he stands;
He listens to the thunder
Of the far-off battle lands;
He hears the crash of musketry,The sounds roars like the sea,
For he tramped the fields with Stonewall,
And climbed the heights with Lee.

The old Confederate veteran,
His life is in the past;
War clouds like a mantle
Round his rugged form are cast.
He hears the bugle calling
Far o'er the mystic lea,
For he tramped the fields with Stonewall
And climbed the heights with Lee.

Photo: Squire James Odell, 1939. Mr. Odell was a Confederate Veteran from Mt. Airy. He was 102 when the photo was taken. He served in Company G, 53rd North Carolina, and was wounded in the leg, 1st day, Gettysburg.

Thanks ! I had relatives in Company K of the 53rd NC. at Gettysburg, Captain William J. Miller was killed. His brother, 2nd Lt. Thomas C. Miller was captured. Their uncle, 3rd Lt. Thomas C. Land was wounded but remained on the field, all during the first day.

 

[AndyHall]

From his file:

Wounded at Battle of Gettysburg July 2nd by Minnie [sic.] Ball exiting Left thigh lower third fracturing femur. ​

and this:

Missile minnie ball, entered internally 2 1/2 inches above knee joint, passing directly through fracturing the bone and making its exit externally.​

and this:

January 12, 1864. Patient's general health good, bone united. Wound supperating.​

It's remarkable Mr. Odell didn't lose his leg. That's one tough old Tarheel.

 

[Allie]

That's a great poem. So often you can pick out the vets from a turn of the century photo by a certain look they have.

 

[donna]

A wonderful photo and poem.

 

[donna]

Squire James O'Dell (1837-1940)

Memorial on Find A Grave

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14762316

 

[Tom Elmore]

His biography appeared in The Mount Airy News, October 14, 1937; reprinted in Surry County Soldiers in the Civil War. Some excerpts: "I was born on the edge of Stokes and Patrick Counties on Oct. 6, 1837, was living on a little farm, married and had one small child when the war broke out. ... Back then a few rich men owned all the land and had their slaves to work it and there was nothing for a poor white man to do but join the army; he was out of luck if he didn't, for there was nothing for us to do. You just as well be dead if you didn't join. ... Six or seven of us went to Danbury where we joined. Two hundred of us walked from there to High Point where we took the train to Raleigh. ... And the infernal bushwhackers and deserters back home were stealing all the rations from the women and children and letting them starve. ... There was a gun factory at High Point where we got some muzzle loading guns. ... It was at Gettysburg I was wounded. A minnie ball struck me here on the thigh and took out two inches of bone. Feel, you can feel where the bone is gone and my leg is two inches shorter. So I've limped ever since. ... The Gettysburg fight was my last one, and for two years after the war I could not walk. I learned how to make shoes. Everybody was barefooted and I could sell all the shoes I could make. I moved down to Siloam and grew tobacco for a long time and came to Mount Airy in 1900 from Siloam. Since then I have lived around Mount Airy. No, there's nothing more I can do here. I am just waiting to be called, but those Yankees never did whip us, no they didn't, we just starved to death."

 

[Delhi Rangers]

His biography appeared in The Mount Airy News, October 14, 1937; reprinted in Surry County Soldiers in the Civil War. Some excerpts: "I was born on the edge of Stokes and Patrick Counties on Oct. 6, 1837, was living on a little farm, married and had one small child when the war broke out. ... Back then a few rich men owned all the land and had their slaves to work it and there was nothing for a poor white man to do but join the army; he was out of luck if he didn't, for there was nothing for us to do. You just as well be dead if you didn't join. ... Six or seven of us went to Danbury where we joined. Two hundred of us walked from there to High Point where we took the train to Raleigh. ... And the infernal bushwhackers and deserters back home were stealing all the rations from the women and children and letting them starve. ... There was a gun factory at High Point where we got some muzzle loading guns. ... It was at Gettysburg I was wounded. A minnie ball struck me here on the thigh and took out two inches of bone. Feel, you can feel where the bone is gone and my leg is two inches shorter. So I've limped ever since. ... The Gettysburg fight was my last one, and for two years after the war I could not walk. I learned how to make shoes. Everybody was barefooted and I could sell all the shoes I could make. I moved down to Siloam and grew tobacco for a long time and came to Mount Airy in 1900 from Siloam. Since then I have lived around Mount Airy. No, there's nothing more I can do here. I am just waiting to be called, but those Yankees never did whip us, no they didn't, we just starved to death."

That is classic. He must have been one tough old bird. I would have loved to have been able to sit and talk to him about the war for hours. Thanks for posting.

 

[AndyHall]

Looking at the Medical/Surgical Records (Part 3, Vol 2), it appears that the Civil War came about just at the time that military surgeons started making a big push to try and conserve the limb after a gunshot fracture of the femur, rather than amputate out-of-hand. Not all surgeons followed this approach, by any means, but enough did that treatment regimens were beginning to be developed that would help heal the bones and save the leg. Odell was fortunate to find himself in the care of military surgeons who were progressive in that regard. There is a table (p. 355) that shows that of 118 Confederates who suffered a wound similar to Odell's (lower third of the femur) where an attempt was made to preserve the limb, 71 (60%) recovered. The recovery rate was similar for Union troops.

 

[Tom Elmore]

View attachment 70891

Looking at the Medical/Surgical Records (Part 3, Vol 2), it appears that the Civil War came about just at the time that military surgeons started making a big push to try and conserve the limb after a gunshot fracture of the femur, rather than amputate out-of-hand. Not all surgeons followed this approach, by any means, but enough did that treatment regimens were beginning to be developed that would help heal the bones and save the leg. Odell was fortunate to find himself in the care of military surgeons who were progressive in that regard. There is a table (p. 355) that shows that of 118 Confederates who suffered a wound similar to Odell's (lower third of the femur) where an attempt was made to preserve the limb, 71 (60%) recovered. The recovery rate was similar for Union troops.

By the way, Surgeon Lauriston H. Hill of the 53rd North Carolina was left with the wounded at Gettysburg and captured. But I don't know if he operated on Odell. Hill was born on January 30, 1838, graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia in 1861, and died May 13, 1921. After the war Dr. Hill practiced medicine, up until a few years before his death, in Germantown, Stokes County, NC and he became a member of the state's Medical Society in 1879. No doubt the medical profession made substantial strides as a result of the great tragedy of the war, from which all of us benefit in this modern age. We tend to forget that even war produces some good.