You're looking for something that doesn't exist. Confederate soldiers have military service records; militiamen do not. James Cutts was a wealthy planter, age 53 in 1860, who lived near Centreville in Bibb County. His name appears on a register of men eligible for service in the 1st Class Militia of Beat 2, Bibb County. It's dated November 1864. Few if any of the men on such rosters ever left home overnight for any kind of military duty.

The primary purpose of militia during the war was to enforce the law at home, to curb desertion, theft and destruction of property. This was prevalent in many parts of Alabama, including Bibb County. One of the main problems reported by militia officers was lack of arms and ammunition for men willing to search for lawbreakers or perform patrol duty as the antebellum milita had always done. The State of Alabama simply had no arms to issue, and no ammunition for the odd weaponry men might have at home.

To think of men like James Cutts as soldiers who actually wore uniforms, slept away from their families, had to forage for food or confront hostile forces would be a mistake. Having spent several years reading correspondence written by Alabama militia officers, I can tell you that the home guards depicted in "Cold Mountain" aren't too far off target. Put them in civilian clothing, take way the revolvers and some of the mean-spiritedness, and we have militiamen, circa 1864.

It's only fair to note that their job became increasingly frustrating and difficult to perform as the war drew towards a close.