By the winter of 1864 conditions had changed. In 1861 most volunteers enrolled for twelve months because that's all authorities believed to be necessary. Men could be discharged for dishonorable behavior, such as drunkeness, theft or insulting an officer. After the Federal government raised nearly a million men for U.S. armies, Southerners recognized that every men who could serve in the military would be needed.

This man was discharged after a short period of service in 1861. Since the 2nd Alabama Regiment wasn't involved in combat, he couldn't have been wounded and discharged. Leaving service after a few weeks would almost certainly be related to physical disability. If his body and health had been sound, almost certainly he would have reentered service with his brothers after Congress passed the Conscript Act of April 16, 1862. The long break in service for Giles between September 1861 and February 1864 leads me to believe that he had good reason not to be in service.

By 1864 recruiting officers began pressing any male who could stand upright into the army. Substitution had been abolished, and many exemptions retricted or eliminated. Giles must have had a reason allowed by law to have been out of service for such a lengthy period, but by the winter of 1863-64 recruiting officers were inclined to overlook deformities, broken llimbs that didn't heal, near blindness &c.