George, You could be correct about his rank. Like you I saw him getting extra duty pay while at the hospital which gave me the impression he may not have been paid as a 5th sergeant. It was a hard call but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was hoping his widow made an application for his pension but she remarried and of course would not have been eligible.

On page 29 of his CMSR's it was noted that he had been a farmer prior to the war and the 1860 census confirmed his occupation so I don't think his CMSR's were in error when they listed him as a farmer prior to the war. The 1850 United States census also listed him as a farmer.