We never know where friendships will lead us. A Methodist preacher’s son from Mississippi, George Carson Leavell, was to discover that friendship “gladdens the heart, and makes the face to shine.”
George came to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in early 1861 to attend Iowa Wesleyan University’s prep school. He reportedly had Iowa relatives.
Sometime after the firing upon Ft. Sumter, he returned south. George enlisted in late June 1863 – midway through the war – in the 60th North Carolina Infantry. He served as aide-de-camp to Col. James M. Ray at the fierce Battle of Chickamauga.
During the Atlanta campaign, less than a year later, Confederates captured a number of Union soldiers. George discovered among the POWs an old friend from Iowa Wesleyan. His friend, Hiram Thornton Bird, tells the story:
On our arrival at Atlanta, we, with other prisoners, were drawn up in line in the woods at East Point … After the [Confederate] officer had taken our names and regiment and what valuables we had in our pockets … a Confederate soldier stepped up and said, ‘I heard you say you are from Iowa. Do you know anybody in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa?’
I at once recognized the voice and features of my old college chum George Leavel. But he was so thin and wan … that it took a second look to recognize him. But here in War Country was my chum sure enough, though it seemed like a fairy story to find him.
When the Civil War broke out, George Leavell was a student at our Iowa Wesleyan University from Jackson, Mississippi. …
At the breaking out of the war, he had called his friends together and had told them he would have to return to the south and go with his people. We all shed tears and bade him good bye, hoping that ‘when the cruel was over,’ he would return to Iowa Wesleyan University.
My meeting with him was the only time he was ever heard from. The first question he asked me was concerning his sweetheart at Wesleyan. It was indeed hard for me to tell him that she had been married a short time before. He looked very sad …
Hiram Thornton Bird continued:
He put question upon question to me, all about his College life; the war was not mentioned — his heart yearned for his College friends at the old school.
Then he said, ‘Now Thornt, we are on the battle line, and they will become suspicious if we talk too long. What can I do for you? Would you like something to eat?’
He was in charge of some supplies for the sick and wounded, and he took my haversack and filled it full of good things, and as I had had nothing to eat for more than a day, it showed his good will as nothing else could have done at that time. And then we said good bye forever …
My friend looked very ill, almost like death, for he had been on the sick list for some time …
Through the years, since that day in Atlanta, I have held in sacred memory the meeting with George Leavell. I draw from it the lesson of the bigness of College Friendship, of the trueness of those ties formed in youth. We met as friends, not as enemies of war, the ties of friendship were first and dearest — all else was small, insignificant, and forgotten.
Soon after their meeting, George was discharged from the Confederate Army for “paralysis.”
After the war ended, George moved to Ocala, Florida, and became a Methodist minister. He died on Feb. 14, 1879.
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I am indebted to Iowa Wesleyan University archivist Lynn Ellsworth and librarian Joy Conwell, and descendant-genealogist Jane A. Leavell for their assistance. I drew upon Hiram Thornton Bird’s Memories of the Civil War, published in 1925.
Thank you for reading my blog! Please leave any comments below.
Kathleen Parsons
22 Nov 2016A very well thought out explanation of two men’s lives intertwining, and the constancy of true friendship that rose above all other matters.
David Connon
22 Nov 2016Hi, Kathy. Thank you for your gracious compliment. I appreciate your encouragement.
Orma Budd
22 Nov 2016I am a Bird by birth. So the the story really intrigued me. I’ve done some ancestry research, but can not find a family connection. Thank you for the story.
David Connon
22 Nov 2016Hi, Orma. Thank you for reading my blog!
Karen Groves
22 Nov 2016Interesting! Thanks.
David Connon
22 Nov 2016Hi, Karen. Thank you for your feedback!
christi armstrong
23 Nov 2016omg this is so very interesting!!! I am a UNITED METHODIST and so the METHODIST CONNECTION was what imost interested in reading!!! I am also from TEXAS and there is TEXAS WESLYN in FORT WORTH!!!
David Connon
23 Nov 2016Hi, Christi. Thank you for sharing this interesting and rather exciting connection! You remind me that I attended North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, a school loosely affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Thank you for reading my blog.
Cathy McCarthy-Levis
24 Nov 2016I enjoyed your blog even the sadness of it but delighted in the joyous reunion of the two friends and what one did for the other. I really only read your blog as it peaked my interest as it was from IOWA my husbands family lived in IOWA in the 1800’s not to mention it related to the civil.
You blog was very interesting and heartwarming.
Thank You for sharing
David Connon
24 Nov 2016Hi, Cathy. Thank you for your warm and generous comments. I appreciate it. I hope you’ll have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Anna Maria Pilotto
24 Nov 2016Dear David, I have received your invitation through linkedin and decided to have a look into this blog. Just because I don’t really know everything, can you shortly explain me the reason of the title: <>. I understand English but in spite I tried to read other articles I didn’t deeply understand the purpose. Sorry, I would only like to know. Thanks, Anna Maria
David Connon
24 Nov 2016Hi, Anna Maria. Thank you for your question. Here is the reason for the title: I wanted to tell people this was about two old friends who met at school, Iowa Wesleyan, and later both men became soldiers (on different sides of the Civil War). I added the words, “An old friend says ‘Thank you’ because today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Did that answer your question? Thank you for reading my blog.
jdrhawkins
24 Nov 2016Hi Mr. Connon,
I have been reading your blog for a while now, and find it very interesting. I especially liked this bittersweet story of two long lost friends from either side. Sadly, it was a common circumstance, and the journal entry brings to life how poignant such a situation must have been. I write a Civil War blog as well. If you’re interested, here is the link: http://jdrhawkins.com/blog. I also had a new novel published about the Civil War, which is titled A Rebel Among Us. I’m not sure if you would be interested in reviewing it, but it so, please drop me a line at jdrhawkins@gmail.com and I will have my publisher send you an e-book. Thank you so much.
Julie (J.D.R.) Hawkins
P.S. I am a native Iowan, born and raised in Sioux City.
David Connon
27 Nov 2016Hi, Julie. Thank you for your kind comment. Thanks, too, for telling me about your blog and your novel. I will send you an e-mail.
D Chase
27 Nov 2016Excellent post. Interesting story. I also wonder about those Confederate soldiers who came to Iowa after the Civil War to live. I haven’t read any stories about them but would guess that many did migrate here. An interesting angle on that story is that you never see a CSA notation on an Iowa grave. There has to be some members who fought for the cause who are buried in the Hawkeye state. I can understand why the survivors would not indicate that on their dearly departed gravestones.
David Connon
27 Nov 2016Hi, D. Chase. Thank you for reading my blog! Yes, a number of former Confederates moved to Iowa after the Civil War. I could imagine that much of Iowa looked pretty good to them, after having left a war-torn South. You’re right in guessing that numerous former Confederates are buried in Iowa. The Iowa chapters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans could best explain their efforts to place markers at those graves.