I have done a little research on my great grandpa, James Watt Tinkler, who was in Sibley's Brigade (5th Tx Mounted Volunteers, Co. A) and captured just before the Glorietta Pass, New Mexico battle at a place called Apache Canyon. He apparently was paroled and exchanged and made his way back to Texas. I'm not sure if he got out of El Paso before those Californians showed up, he was in hospital at Fort Bliss until nearly the end of June 1862.

He shows up on a muster roll covering the period Nov. 1, 1862 to Jan 31, 1863 but I don't have any further record of his service - I've read his unit fought in Galveston during that time and later in 1864 in Louisiana with General Tom Green. Another record shows he was paroled once more on July 3, 1865 in Columbus, TX. And I've seen his name in some post-war reunion newspaper articles.

He applied for a pension later in life but was denied. How would I find out the reason that his pension request was rejected? Did he not serve long enough? Could he not prove his service?

I am wondering if he wasn't credited with service, because his name is not in some of the unit rosters that I have in books, but is present in the microfilms.

Does anyone have insight about how pension applications were handled in Texas, and how I might find details about his rejected application? And of course any other information about his unit's records and rosters would be appreciated,

Mark Henry
Round Rock, TX