The Alabama in the Civil War Message Board

John C. Powers 57th AL D

I am still trying to identify which of the 24 John Powers listed on the Alabama Civil War Service Database is my g-g-g grandfather.
He, his wife Adeline Wilkerson Powers, their son Jimmy and daughter Mary "Mollie" Elizabeth lived in Troy, Pike Co.
Because the 57th AL D was organized at Troy, I am pursuing John C. Powers (though on a census my ancestor is listed John M. Powers).
Family oral tradition says that his wife stood on her front porch when Union troops marched past their house. She gave the Masonic sign, and the General told his troops not to bother them and to keep marching. She never heard from her husband again and assumed that he had been killed. She later remarried.

John C. Powers was on company roll for Sept and Oct 1863, when he was reported absent without leave. No later record of him has been found. He is listed as a deserter ["R/Deserted"....What does the R mean?] His widow, Annie, applied for a pension AL Pension No. 30708. I would like to get a copy of this pension to see if there might be additional family info on it.

Questions:
1. Could "Annie" be a nickname for Adeline?
2. Is there a place to get CSA records and pensions that is less expensive than the $50 plus at History-Sites.com?
3. Could he have been absent without leave because he was killed and his body could not be found?
4. If not, where did deserters go and what did they do? Sign up with the Union???
5. One of my distant cousins says that she has the Confederate sword of our John Powers, passed down from her grandmother to her mother and to her. Did Infantry carry swords? How did his sword get back to the family, but no word of what happened to him was ever reported.
6. The 57th AL D was organized in Pike Co. but Dale Co. is mentioned 2 times with John C. Powers' information. Why is that?
7. What other regiments could a man living in Pike Co. have signed up with, if this is not my ancestor?

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John C. Powers 57th AL D
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