I wanted to add that I have new, understanding filters regarding "Deserter" "Dersertion" during the Civil War, thanks to Michael championing these poor men. I had no idea. This gave me courage to fight for my Great Grandfather to get a military headstone. (Even if I have to purchase myself). My son who served in the Navy told me to investigate legalities first.

He wrote: "The word deserter has been so misused in that war.Many times, a Southern wife with starving children begged her husband to come home and help provide them with food. There were times when the spring plowing needed to be done, and after the Yankees had gone through and stolen all the farming implements, a Southern soldier might slip away from his unit and rush home to tend to his family. Remember, Southern soldiers, unlike well-paid and well-fed Yankees, were volunteers. They had little to eat and knew that their families back home were starving. Most of them tended to their families and then struck out to find their old unit again and continue the struggle for independence. If their units had moved on to another front, it was not unusual for them to join the nearest Confederate unit and take up the fight again. These men should not be called deserters, but at muster they were missing, so the officer simply wrote "deserted."

And George, too, gave me great insight. He wrote: As to desertion, I cannot pass judgement on those poorly paid men during that period, especially those with families left at home. Desertion was quite prevalent at the time, and many men returned after lengthy periods having attended to their family matters. "