During the late 1880s the War Department was commissioned to create files for Confederate soldiers. Literally tons of papers had been captured during the war, so clerks at the War Department spent years sorting all of them to create the files we have today. Of course everything was done by hand, so this was a long, laborious project.

Lots of men shared the same or nearly the same name. Sometimes records of two or more soldiers were placed in one file; frequently the same man received more than one service file, as in this case. That's because 5th Alabama Regiment and Battalion has an identical prefix (5th Alabama), and many records are simply marked 5th Alabama.

Pension records are designed to include only a brief statement of service. If your primary interest is post-war residence and (possibily) family connections, the service file will not interest you.