I am a collateral descendant of Jasper Newman, My great great grandmother was his first cousin and I do not understand what you mean about some men valued actaul comabt over prior commitments." Are you suggesting that he was atttending a miltary insutitute before the civil war ? Or was offered to attend one ? If you have any records of this on this man or anything else I would appreciate it if you could inform me of there where abouts.As I am doing some research on this family member in my family tree and would like aby correct realiable information on him or his father my great great great uncle Benjamin Newman.

Sincerely,

Matthew J.P. Dudley

Mitch --
"In 1861 some men valued an opportunity to see actual combat over prior commitments. That appears to be the case with Jasper Newman, but of course, alcohol could have been a contributing factor. We don't know. "