Alan J. Pitts
Re: Davenport Battalion of AL Calvary,
Wed May 23 16:12:19 2001


Your reply sounds reasonable -- any number of Confederate soldiers were waylaid or bushwhacked, many on the way home or while at home. Of course the other danger was that a soldier might be away from the army on a legitimate furlough, and yet get 'strung up' by home guards who decided he was really a deserter. For many reasons supposedly safe areas away from the army could be quite dangerous.

Another thought: some men resented the duties of mounted units such the one your ancestor joined. Ocassions arose in which a man who had been 'pressed' into the army might take vengence on his oppressors. And people like that didn't often decide to forgive and forget after the war ended....