I just think it is far fetched that someone would enlist in Kanawha when they were a young farm boy from Mercer only to switch a month later to sign up with French's group near his home, and then go right back to the group in Kanawha to Company I, become a 1rst sergeant almost immediately and be handed a task of acting as ordnance sergeant. I do think Lorena's letter clearly shows Joshua WAS in service and his name appears NO WHERE. I think he was in the militia when he moved there and he was known when he enlisted at his friend's house, John Riggs, so only went by the name the town knew him : JW. (My own son only uses TJ.) The commutation request for being on leave coincides with Loretta's letter reporting he was home on Furlough and her mother is sewing on the stars which I think were the insignia stars for ordnance sergeant. Lorena would not know the difference. Joshua must be accounted for somewhere and I think this was he. A descendant of the family in Mercer where Joseph was from--fairly confident this is the right Joseph--maintains four sons went off to war and three died at the beginning of illness: 2 from measles and one from typhoid. They were sent home and died there. One survived but we have pretty much established that was William Brown jr. as he is still there after the war farming this father's land. I don't think it far fetched to consider that Joseph William did indeed die early in the war and so records for him stop. JW, never having used his first name, or the roster he did use it lost or whoever recorded it putting JW down instead of Joshua. I think Joseph would have stayed and joined the unit his brothers joined were there an excess of troops. I do think it should be seriously considered that Joshua Brown is the JW Brown described as age 40. There is a big difference between age 24 and age 40. I do realize it is circumstantial evidence and I need to find cold clear documents that may no longer exist. (My husband was a JAG.) I guess I get frustrated that Lorena's letter is dismissed. I have checked the local militias and there is no JW or card within another file that could possibly be him. I also think it was only conjecture that Joseph William was JW Brown. But, whoever made that conclusion got there first so I have to prove them wrong instead of the other way round. Very frustrating indeed.
Researching a Confederate ancestor is a little hard for me as I am a Yankee by birth and breeding and putting my cards on the table regret that an ancestor will be remembered for supporting a way of life that included slavery. Had the only issue been slavery, I like to think he would have made a different choice.--I think he fought because he distrusted big government and never warmed to a central government. There are a million reasons he may have decided to align with the South and I must admit to being surprised to learn he was a Confederate. But he stayed the course for what he believed in, and for that I want to learn his story. His father also left a young family to fight, either in the Texas War for Independence or the Mexican War--and from what I have learned about Joshua as a person in my research on him, he felt the ties of the past. Hard to be objective, but I think if one really looks at the cards and at Lorena's letter, which IS a primary source, you have to consider that JW Brown, first Company I 1rst sgt and later Ord.sgt, might well be the JW Brown whose records were misfiled with Joseph William Brown. AFter all, they misfiled JM Brown's card with them. JM Browns cards appear in the file before Joseph's and are about the seventh card in the stack. Mistakes were made. Nobody can tackle a job that big and not make some errors. That has to be recognized, too.
Sue