Hayes...

What you mentioned in your post reminded me of something about paroles. I have read accounts of Confederate soldiers at the end of the war- make that the end of the war for the Army of Northern Virginia- having paroles which allowed them safe passage home after Appomattox. It especially came to mind when I read the account of an ancestor's struggle to get back to Limestone Co. when Joseph Wheeler released the 9th Alabama Cavalry near Raleigh, NC, just after Lee's surrender (they had been attempting to move north to join Lee). Union cavalry dogged their every step all the way to Alabama, trying to capture them. My ancestor made it home, but many- including Wheeler- were captured. The accounts of Lee's men do not generally indicate such harassment after their surrender. Many of the Alabama soldiers from the Army of Northern Virginia were passing through the same area where the Union cavalry was operating against Wheeler. My impression is that the parole was necessary to guarantee safe travel home during the last year of the war, not withstanding the Oath of Allegiance.

John