Alan Pittswhere to startThu Jan 25 15:33:41 2001 People who walk up to the research desk in Montgomery and expect immediate help finding a Confederate ancestor are usually disappointed. ADAH doesn't have service records on microfilm, and most muster rolls on NARA microfilm are NOT in Montgomery. There are some original rolls there that you won't see on microfilm, notably the ANV rolls that include every name every name ever carried on a company roll, but they are unusual.I'd suggest visiting Montgomery to confirm and enhance what's on the NARA microfilm. Look at pension applications and the 1907 census for additional details; there might be a wealth on information in an application. In addition to muster rolls and the historical file on each unit at the ADAH, ask for the correspondence file. Sometime veterans composed post-war rolls and you see names there that aren't on record elsewhere. Most of what's to be found will be in one of these sources.Don't discount family stories, but don't reject information that runs counter to them, either. Keep in mind that an ancestor's name could appear on the records of more than one unit. It's just my guess, but I'd suppose that as many 3 of every 10 soldiers have multiple identities for one reason or another: reorganization, reenlistment, transfer, desertion or filing errors.I'm interested in the unfiled papers and slips; don't know who has them. NARA says they're only for "the patient and the intrepid": http://www.nara.gov/publications/prologue/civwar2.html"> The trouble — Tim, Thu Jan 25 15:43 Unfiled Confederate Papers and Slips — Hayes Lowe, Thu Jan 25 15:42 Unfiled slips — Alan Pitts, Thu Jan 25 16:36 Wallace State — Wayne Dowdle, Thu Jan 25 18:06 Wallace State — Hayes Lowe, Thu Jan 25 20:16 Library resources — Tim, Thu Jan 25 18:52