On June 10th, 1910, James W. Russell filled out an application to be admitted to the Tennessee's Soldiers' Confederate Home.
The following interesting information regarding James was contained in the application:
He resided in Prospect in Giles County
He served in Company A of the 53rd Regiment
He was born in Williamson County, TN in 1827
He enlisted in 1861 under Col. Abernathy and Capt. Theo Westmoreland
He was never wounded
He was never discharged citing the following reason: "left on duty as wagooneer and was out foraging when army left and didn't get back to army"
He cited getting out of the army by "being left by the army while out foraging for the army"
He stated he did take an oath of allegiance to the United States Government
His wife was dead at the time of application
His children were all married at the time of application
He gets rents from a small farm which belongs to his son at his death, the amount of $40 per year, and cites that as his only support for living
He lived in Tennessee all his life
Stated that his mental condition is not very good from age and infirmity
D.E. Malone and W.M. Reed made witness to the following facts regarding James' service:
J.W. Russell with a lot of others was at one (time) captured and took the oath but afterwards went back and served as a soldier until the army left him near Atlanta, GA while out foraging and we did not see him any more until we came home.
The application was notarized on June 29th, 1910 by J. Leftwitch, Notary Public