Page 10


Foothills Sentry


Tuesday, March 10, 2015


Civil War history comes alive at American Legion Post 132


A collection of Civil War mem-


orabilia, featuring medical tools, weaponry, a Confederate cap, and personal items carried by sol- diers, has been donated to Ameri- can Legion Post 132 in Orange. The collection, now on display


Photos by Tony Richards


Leo Ouellette framed many of the Civil War mementos himself, mak- ing them more displayable. This shadowbox contains 58-caliber bul- lets, a silver spoon, flat nails, a tin photo, mouth harp and surgeon’s fleem.


at the post, belonged to Frank Cook, whose great-great-grand- father was a surgeon for the Con- federacy. Two more of his an- cestors were in the infantry, and another was in the cavalry. Their wartime possessions have stayed with his Virginia-based family for generations. Cook “rescued” a box of the


historic items several years ago, noting that his family had so many Civil War-era artifacts that they “didn’t know what to do with them.” He kept them in a storage locker, waiting for the right opportunity to display them.


Man on a mission Leo Ouellette, Post 132 chap-


lain and executive board member, has made it his purpose to obtain military collectibles to display at the Orange facility. “I have things from World War I to Af- ghanistan,” he says. “But I really wanted something from the Civil War.” He mentioned his hunt for memorabilia from the War Between the States to colleague Cook, a chaplain from the Mis- sion Viejo post. It was Cook’s ”ah-ha” moment


and Ouellette’s dream come true. All of the collectibles, save


for one, were used by Confeder- ate soldiers. “What can I say,” Cook laughs, “I’m from Virgin- ia.” Ouellette, whose Ohio an- cestors fought for the Union, is particularly happy with an aging rucksack, the only item in the col- lection used by “his” side of the conflict. Both veterans are delighted to


A rucksack is the only item in the collection that belonged to a Union soldier.


show off the items and tell their stories to visitors. A surgeon’s fleem has three blades in one, with different sizes used to clean different wounds. A sharp, heavy blade resembling a meat cleaver was used in amputations. “If you had a major injury to a limb,” Cook says, “the wartime doctors would cut it off.”


Glass vs. rubber When pain medication was


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A glass syringe, circa 1850, was used to administer opiates by doctors on both sides of the con- flict. The rubber syringes were used to flush wounds.


available, it was administered via a glass syringe with a brass fitting. “They’d have to heat the syringe over a candle to keep the drug from crystallizing,” Cook explains. The candleholders used for that purpose are also part of the post’s collection, as are two rubber syringes manufactured by Goodyear. “The company wasn’t making tires back then, it was


The soldiers hymnbook was distributed by the YMCA. At the beginning of the conflict it was a source of comfort. By the end, soldiers would tear out the pages to use as wadding or to roll ciga- rettes. This book, Frank Cook points out, has only one page missing.


making medical equipment,” he says. Rubber syringes were gen- erally used to clean wounds with solutions that didn’t have to be heated. While Orange County was not


a player in the Civil War, it did become home to many Confed- erates who left the south dur- ing Reconstruction. “There are 157 Civil War soldiers buried in Orange County,” Leo Ouellette reports. “Some of them, like the Glassell brothers, are names you’ve heard of.” American Legion Post 132


welcomes the public to come by and see the new Civil War collec- tion. Ouellette asks only that you let him know in advance. He can be reached at (714) 636-6275 or Imocon@sbcglobal.net. The Post is located at 143 S. Lemon and opens at noon.


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