September 17, 1862: Lt. John Oden lay wounded in a cornfield outside Sharpsburg, Md., bleeding from his chest and thigh. He could think of only way to save himself. Gripping a small stick, he struggled to write on a slip of paper, using his blood as ink. Slowly, he drew a crude circle, and inside it, a few esoteric symbols. then he called to a nearby pickett.
The dying Confederate begged the picket to take the bloody drawing to a Freemason, so the Federal soldier carried the paper to his commander, a Col. Cross of the 5th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. Cross was a master Mason, but could not read the symbols, whic were from a hihger Masonic degree. He called for a Captain Perry, who recognized the marks and declared that a fellow Mason was in danger.
Four Masons crept into the cornfield, hoping to avoid Confeerate pickets. When they found the fallen Southerner, they placed him on a blanket, dragged him out of the range of Confederate rifles, and carried him to the 5th's field hospital. There, Dr. G.H. Davis, an army surgeon, treated Oden.
When the Federals moved on , a doctor in Hagerstown, Md., took Oden into his home. Oden recuperated and returned to his regiment in Virginia; but he never forgot the loyalty of his fellow Masons, who saved him from death at the Sep. 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, Maryland. (Oden is seen here with his brother, Lt. Dempsey Oden in an image probably made in 1861 in Richmond, Va.) L:R John Oden, D. Oden
HESPERIAN NEWS (Floydada, Floyd County, Texas), May 25, 1895: "W.P. Oden yesterday received the sad news that his father Capt. John Oden had died suddenly at his home in Talledega, Ala. Capt. Oden commanded Co. K, 10th Ala. Inf. During the war. He was severely wounded at the battle of Antietam and his son thinks this was the cause of his death."
Bio by Ray Isbell
The dying Confederate begged the picket to take the bloody drawing to a Freemason, so the Federal soldier carried the paper to his commander, a Col. Cross of the 5th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. Cross was a master Mason, but could not read the symbols, whic were from a hihger Masonic degree. He called for a Captain Perry, who recognized the marks and declared that a fellow Mason was in danger.
Four Masons crept into the cornfield, hoping to avoid Confeerate pickets. When they found the fallen Southerner, they placed him on a blanket, dragged him out of the range of Confederate rifles, and carried him to the 5th's field hospital. There, Dr. G.H. Davis, an army surgeon, treated Oden.
When the Federals moved on , a doctor in Hagerstown, Md., took Oden into his home. Oden recuperated and returned to his regiment in Virginia; but he never forgot the loyalty of his fellow Masons, who saved him from death at the Sep. 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, Maryland. (Oden is seen here with his brother, Lt. Dempsey Oden in an image probably made in 1861 in Richmond, Va.) L:R John Oden, D. Oden
HESPERIAN NEWS (Floydada, Floyd County, Texas), May 25, 1895: "W.P. Oden yesterday received the sad news that his father Capt. John Oden had died suddenly at his home in Talledega, Ala. Capt. Oden commanded Co. K, 10th Ala. Inf. During the war. He was severely wounded at the battle of Antietam and his son thinks this was the cause of his death."
Bio by Ray Isbell
September 17, 1862: Lt. John Oden lay wounded in a cornfield outside Sharpsburg, Md., bleeding from his chest and thigh. He could think of only way to save himself. Gripping a small stick, he struggled to write on a slip of paper, using his blood as ink. Slowly, he drew a crude circle, and inside it, a few esoteric symbols. then he called to a nearby pickett.
The dying Confederate begged the picket to take the bloody drawing to a Freemason, so the Federal soldier carried the paper to his commander, a Col. Cross of the 5th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. Cross was a master Mason, but could not read the symbols, whic were from a hihger Masonic degree. He called for a Captain Perry, who recognized the marks and declared that a fellow Mason was in danger.
Four Masons crept into the cornfield, hoping to avoid Confeerate pickets. When they found the fallen Southerner, they placed him on a blanket, dragged him out of the range of Confederate rifles, and carried him to the 5th's field hospital. There, Dr. G.H. Davis, an army surgeon, treated Oden.
When the Federals moved on , a doctor in Hagerstown, Md., took Oden into his home. Oden recuperated and returned to his regiment in Virginia; but he never forgot the loyalty of his fellow Masons, who saved him from death at the Sep. 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, Maryland. (Oden is seen here with his brother, Lt. Dempsey Oden in an image probably made in 1861 in Richmond, Va.) L:R John Oden, D. Oden
HESPERIAN NEWS (Floydada, Floyd County, Texas), May 25, 1895: "W.P. Oden yesterday received the sad news that his father Capt. John Oden had died suddenly at his home in Talledega, Ala. Capt. Oden commanded Co. K, 10th Ala. Inf. During the war. He was severely wounded at the battle of Antietam and his son thinks this was the cause of his death."
Bio by Ray Isbell
The dying Confederate begged the picket to take the bloody drawing to a Freemason, so the Federal soldier carried the paper to his commander, a Col. Cross of the 5th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. Cross was a master Mason, but could not read the symbols, whic were from a hihger Masonic degree. He called for a Captain Perry, who recognized the marks and declared that a fellow Mason was in danger.
Four Masons crept into the cornfield, hoping to avoid Confeerate pickets. When they found the fallen Southerner, they placed him on a blanket, dragged him out of the range of Confederate rifles, and carried him to the 5th's field hospital. There, Dr. G.H. Davis, an army surgeon, treated Oden.
When the Federals moved on , a doctor in Hagerstown, Md., took Oden into his home. Oden recuperated and returned to his regiment in Virginia; but he never forgot the loyalty of his fellow Masons, who saved him from death at the Sep. 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, Maryland. (Oden is seen here with his brother, Lt. Dempsey Oden in an image probably made in 1861 in Richmond, Va.) L:R John Oden, D. Oden
HESPERIAN NEWS (Floydada, Floyd County, Texas), May 25, 1895: "W.P. Oden yesterday received the sad news that his father Capt. John Oden had died suddenly at his home in Talledega, Ala. Capt. Oden commanded Co. K, 10th Ala. Inf. During the war. He was severely wounded at the battle of Antietam and his son thinks this was the cause of his death."
Bio by Ray Isbell
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Capt. Co. K 10th. Al. CSA
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