Alan,

As I know you are aware but I will restate for the greater audience, the Army of the South, commanded by General Joseph E. Johnston, was reorganized and renamed the Army of Tennessee on Saturday, April 8, and Sunday, April 9, 1865. The 39th Georgia (Consolidated) was composed of men from the 34th, 39th, and pieces and parts of the 52nd and 56th Georgia regiments. Its total strength at the end was 365.

Henderson's Brigade in addition to the 39th was composed of the 1st Confederate (Georgia) Consolidated Battalion (composed of the 1st Confederate, 25th, 29th, 30th, and 66th Georgia, and 1st Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters), 42nd Georgia (Consolidated) (composed of the 36th and 42nd Georgia and pieces and parts of the 34th and 56th Georgia, and the 40th Georgia (Consolidated) Battalion (composed of the 40th, 41st, and 43rd Georgia). The brigade's ending strength was 1,402. Henderson's Brigade was surrendered at High Point.

I have closely examined the original final muster rolls of the 39th Georgia (Consolidated). The original records are in poor shape and the microfilm is very poor quality as a result. The last time I looked at the material was about eighteen months ago so I am going off of faulty memory recollection so you will want to confirm or deny my recollection. If I recall correctly, the 42nd Georgia (Consolidated) muster rolls were incomplete. I would double check this. I did not find James Pitts in the CMSR of the 39th Georgia as many of other members of other regiments that were part of the 39th Georgia (Consolidated). These soldiers would have a card in the 39th Georgia CMSRs that would say "see Private John Doe, 56th Georgia."

I did a brief look at the CMSRs of the 56th Georgia and I am no sure how complete their records are. In the "Introduction" portion of the microfilm they did not label records such as company muster rolls or regimental muster rolls so I am not comfortable with the completeness of the records. I don't have Lillian Henderson's books handy or my copy of the 56th Georgia portion of it but I believe if you go through there you may be able to confirm or deny if any other soldiers are listed as "surrendered at High Point, North Carolina."

The other possibility is that James Pitts did surrender in North Carolina but not with his unit. He could have been separated out at a hospital, a member of a supply train, etc. He was not an officer so that would eliminate those complications.

The 39th Georgia last surviving company muster roll was April - May 1864. From what I can tell, this is the last time period for most units to have surviving muster rolls. The Federals captured a portion of the AoT's records during the latter part of the Atlanta Campaign so we currently have a historical black hole on this period of time.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Respectfully,

Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
M.A. Military History - Civil War Concentration
Research – Preservation
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
http://39thgavolinfrgt.homestead.com/39thHomepage.html