I do apologize in advance if the following topic has been discussed. Since I don't read history books other than period history written by the soldiers themselves sometimes it presents a problem insofar as what I think may be new information and is not.

For some soldiers during the Gettysburg Campaign they would go into the campaign and never heard from again. Like some people the thought of some of them dying on the field in an unmarked grave or dying of disease near the campaign seemes like an alternative scenario.

However new information uncovered (in my mind) may help explain where some of them may have ended up. While doing research on galvanized Yankees I could not locate some names. Like some former Confederates they used alias names and units causing General Ainsworth and staff to create new Confederate CMSR's on soldiers who never existed. Some of the names were so unique that only one man could have had such a name prior to the War. It was because of the uniqueness of the names that led to interesting find.

The following will be two cases of such soldiers named as case #1 and case #2.

case #1 was a Union deserter. Again because of the unique name there could only be one such man living in the United States prior to WBTS. He was found living in New York State in the census of 1860. A trip to NARA in DC confirmed his status as a Union deserter. Unlike many he used his real name making it rather easy for me to follow him. What is not clear to me is how he changed into civilian clothes if he did. Federal authorities reported his capture during the Gettysburg Campaign and listed him as a Confederate deserter. Perhaps he thought it better to be a Confederate deserter than a Union deserter? He would end of at the Confederate prison at Fort Delaware. While at Fort Delaware he enlisted in the Union Army as a former Confederate deserter and used a Georgia Regiment as his unit. He even told Union authorities he had been born in New York. The following is speculation on my part. After his enlistment in the Union Army he had a good service record and was discharged after the War. I had the impression that he had felt embarrassment for his original desertion and in his mind wanted to make things right.

case #2 was also a Union deserter from New York State. Unlike #1 he seemed to have desertion in his blood. Had it not been for his pension records and his unique name he would have remained unchecked. He deserted at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863 and likewise when questioned by Federal authorities claimed he was a Confederate deserter. He too would be taken the Confederate prison at Fort Delaware. However at Fort Delaware he gave an alias and a very common surname. He would desert the Union Army again in 1864 only to re-enlist in another Union regiment and almost used his correct surname. On March 11th 1865 Lincoln issued his last proclamation allowing Union deserters to come back to their units within 60 days with no punishment. #2 then deserted his Union regiment making it three total desertions in the Union Army and went back to his former Union regiment he had enlisted in at Fort Delaware where he had used a common surname. After the War he moved to Canada and filed for a Federal pension using his alias common surname and his real name on the pension application. His widow received a Federal pension until her death in 1924. His pension files at NARA provided a vast amount of information.

These two former Union deserters passed themselves off as former Confederates and were not detected by Federal authorities either during the war or after. I have to wonder how many other Union deserters using common names managed to slip by Federal authorities. By the way, since I had two physical descriptions with these soldiers #1 and #2 their physical descriptions matched those claiming to be former Confederates. At least a few of the galvanized Yankees would turn out to be Yankee deserters.