"Newt Knight was a Confederate Sergeant who deserted the army and was associated with a band of deserters that looted and murdered people."

-I've never read anything different of gangs of deserters of the CW period. Whether it's in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi or elsewhere. They would swoop down on the unsuspecting and innocent. They were not a "noble band of Robin Hoods." But I bet that's how they'll be presented in the movie.