Nona
Like you I had a very difficult time establishing the service of Hiram E. Hatfield in the 48th Va. He does not have a compiled Service Record in the National Archives. I found only one reference to him in the National Archives' Unfiled Papers and Slips Belonging in Confederate Compiled Service Records. NA Publication Number: M347. That one card showed a H.E. Hatfield, a member of the Non-Commissioned staff, 48 Va., named on clothing receipt rolls for 29 and 31 March 1864. The rest of what I have learned about him comes from the letters he wrote that are in the Swem Library, William and Mary, and from the diary of Jacob Lemley. Lemley was a member of the Valley Brass Band, which was the regimental band of the 48th Va. Hiram was also a member of the band. In order to earn money Lemley and Hiram washed clothes for various members of the unit. Lemley noted in his diary each time that Hiram joined him in that work. Strangely, Hiram does not appear on any unit muster rolls for 1864 -- the only ones in existence that would have covered Hiram's service. Hiram's record ends with those March 1864 clothing roills. The Swem Library summary of the Hatfield letters indicates that Hiram was from Cass County, Ga. But I find him living in Rockingham Co., Va., on the 1850 and 1860 Censues.