I can sympathize with your plight. As recently as this morning I could not locate my research on a skirmish that took place on the Alabama - Mississippi line. My posts about it are on this message board, but I don't find the article in my folder on Alabama skirmishes and actions. If you locate your notes at some point in the future, just post them here.

To conclude our discussion of memory, I will agree (as I did in my last post) that we remember many names and faces over the years, but not everyone we ever met or spent time with. I had the honor to speak with a retired field officer on Memorial Day, and posed your question to him. Without hesitation he assured me that many officers and men he knew decades ago could no longer be recalled without assistance. Reading the entire company roll published for Co "G", 8th Alabama Regiment, Lieut Col Herbert clearly did not know what had happened to many of the early members of this company. When the roll for a particular soldier ended, he had nothing more to add. If he remembered all of them, there is nothing in his publication to suppport it.

You may wish to believe that your ancestor knew and remembered specific people, and vice versa. However, without positive evidence to support your wish, it's an assumption. To be fair and honest when making such an assertion, it's always best to assemble the facts first and make sure they support your assumptions. With regard to the purported Cleburne saddle, someone willing to pay a considerable sum to acquire it would want facts before producing his money.

For what it's worth, I don't fault your memory of what you read. That's why I provided the page number for your ancestor within Hillary Herbert's History of the 8th Alabama Regiment. Here it is, punctuation and spelling exactly as printed in 1977:

Spikes, J S, 8-23-62 - Dale Co., Ala: Conscript. Wounded and captured at battle of Gettysburg, 7-3-63. Sent to Fort McHenry Prison, Md. Transferred to Fort Delaware, n.d. Given wounded parole and sent to hospital at Lynchburg, Va. Received wounded furlough home to Newton, Ala. Paroled at Appomattox C. H., 4-9-65.

The 8th Alabama Regt service file for J S Spikes includes the following cards and papers:

1) James Spikes appears on a Register of the Medical Director's Office, Richmond, Va.

Hospital Windsor Div 5; Admitted Nov 8, 1862; Returned to duty Dec 2, 1862.

2) J S Spikes appears on a Company Muster Roll for Sept & Oct 1863

Enlisted When Aug 23, 1862; Where Dale Co Ala; By whom J Tomlins, Period for the war; Last paid By whom Capt Robbins; To What Time Apr 30, 1863; Present or absent absent; Remarks Exchanged prisoner on wounded furlough to Newton Ala from Oct 17 to Nov 17 -63.

3) J S Spikes appears on a Company Muster Roll for Jan & Feb 1864

Enlisted When Aug 23, 1862; Where Dale Cty Ala; By whom Tomlin, Period war; Last paid By whom ---; To What Time Aug 31, 1863; Present or absent present; Remarks Due commutation for 12 months clothing from Nov 1 -62 to Nov 1 -63. $134.13

4) J S Spikes appears on a Company Muster Roll for Mar & Apr 1864

Enlisted When Aug 23, 1862; Where Dale Co Ala; By whom Tomlin, Period ; Last paid By whom ; To What Time ; Present or absent present

5) J S Spikes appears on a Company Muster Roll for Sept & Oct 1864

Enlisted When Aug 23, 1862; Where Dale Co Ala; By whom Tomlin, Period war; Last paid By whom Maj Ambler; To What Time Oct 31, 1863; Present or absent absent; Remarks Wounded May 7 -64. Sent to Hosp Lynchburg, Va.

6) J S Spikes (his X mark) appears as a signature to a Roll of Prisoners of War paroled at Fort McHenry Md., and sent to Fort Delaware, Del., July -- 1863

Where captured Gettysburg; When captured July 2, 1863.

7) J S Spikes appears on a Muster Roll of a detachment of paroled and exchanged prisoners at Camp Lee near Richmond, Va. to Aug 31, 1863; dated Sept 29, 1863

Enlisted When Aug 23, 1862; Where Dale County Ala; By whom Enrolling officer, Period war; Last paid By whom Capt Coler; To What Time Apr 30, 1863; Present or absent present

8) J S Spikes appears on a Register of sick and wounded Confederates in the hospitals in and about Gettysburg, Pa., after the battle of July 1, 2 and 3, 1863

Complaint f w l side of face

9) J S Spikes appears on a Roll of Prisoners of War at the hospitals in and about Gettysburg, Pa., captured July 1, 2 and 3, 1863

Where captured Gettysburg; When captured . Remarks Transferred to Pro Mar

10) J S Spikes (his X mark) appears as a signature to a Roll of Prisoners of War paroled until exchanged at U S Army General Hospital, Chester, Pa.

Where captured Gettysburg; When captured July 3, 1863.

Roll endorsed: Received City Point, Va., Sept 23d, 1863, from Jno E Mulford, Major 3d Infty, N Y V, comdg, "Flag of Truce, Three Hundred and Seventy paroled Confederate prisoners of war (370)."

W H Hatch, Capt & A A G, P A C S

11) J Spikes appears on a List of Prisoners of War belonging to the Army of Northern Virginia, who have been this day surrendered by General Robert E Lee, C S A, commanding said army, to Lieut Genl U S Grant, commanding armies of the United States, Done at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, April 9, 1865

List dated Not dated

12) J S Spikes appears on a Register of C S A General Hospital, Danville, Virginia

Date June 16, 1864; Complaint Vul Sclopeticum Shldr; Transferred June 16, 1864

13) J H Spikes (his X mark) Admitted July 17 (?) To U S A General Hospital, Chester, Pa.

Remarks Sent to City Point, Sept 12 (?) '63

Based on what you recall, the substance of the facts you cited for Josiah Spikes appear to come from his pension application or from information you derived from the service file.
Here's your list:

(1) Josiah enlisted in the Eighth at Union Springs in August of 1862, at age 20 (your records show that he was a conscript, mine say that he volunteered), that
(2) he was captured on the 2nd or 3rd of July, 1863 (both dates were given in separate union field hospital reports) at Gettysburg, after having been wounded near the eye, that
(3) he was forwarded, with other prisoners, to Fort Monroe in Baltimore, and imprisoned there, that
(4) he was exchanged for a union prisoner in a mass prisoner exchange, and was returned to his regiment, that
(5) he was engaged in the Battle of the Wilderness, and wounded again, this time in the shoulder, that
(6) he was taken to a Confederate Hospital in Danville immediately after that fight, that
(7) he was the only Confederate soldier with the surname "Spikes" on the surrender rolls at Appommattox, and that
(8) he was given a pension.

(1) The name and age of Josiah Spikes can be confirmed from the census and other public records, not the service file. He enlisted at Camp Watts, located at Notasulga AL, not Union Springs. The enrolling officer probably took Josiah Spikes through Union Springs on the way to Notasulga. Notasulga wasn't much of town then or now; JS simply remembered the nearest town of any size. The 8th Alabama was in Virginia, so JS had to wait to join that regiment. Also 'Tomlin' is not the name of an officer of the 8th Alabama Regiment. With a little work, I could probably identify him as the enrolling officer for Dale County. If JS was a volunteer, he would have just turned eighteen or joined the Confederate army by May 16, 1862. The Conscript Act passed on Apr 16, 1862, made most men between the ages of 18 and 35 subject to conscription. To be considered a volunteer, a man in that age range had to enlist by May 16, 1862. Finally, conscripts were taken to Camp of Instruction. Camp Watts was one of two officially designated camps of instruction for the State of Alabama.
(2) The pension application may mention a wound near the eye. The service file mentions only flesh wound left side of face.
(3) Fort Monroe is located in Virginia. The service file mentions Chester, Pa.; Fort McHenry, Md.; Fort Delaware, Del. JS may have recalled Baltimore and listed that city in his pension application. It is not mentioned in the service file.
(4) The service file gives a date of exchange as Sept 23, 1863. JS eventually returned to his regiment, but the service file shows that he received a furlough home first. The roll for January - February 1864 shows him present for duty, so he returned prior to that roll, probably by the end of November 1863.
(5) The service file does not mention the Battle of the Wilderness; only that JS was wounded on May 7, 1864, and sent to Lynchburg Va. The pension application mentioned the Wilderness.
(6) JS may have remembered going to a Confederate Hospital in Danville immediately after that fight and mentioned that in his pension application. In fact he was wounded on May 7th and arrived at Danville on June 16th, over a month later. The record for Danville CSA hospital shows that he left the same day, probably en route to Lynchburg VA.
(7) You say that JS was the only Confederate soldier with the surname "Spikes" on the surrender rolls at Appomattox. While that may be true, it's not information found in the soldier's service file. That would be determined by your own research.
(8) JS was given a pension. This information, like much of the foregoing, did not come from the soldier's service file.

In summary, much of what you recall about your ancestor's record appears to come from his pension application. In contrast, Hilliary Herbert's record for JS is based on his service file. It does not list him as AWOL at any time. In addition, conscripts passed through Camp of Instruction before being assigned to a regiment. Josiah Spikes was enlisted by a county enrolling officer and taken to Camp Watts. He was assigned to Company "G", 8th Alabama Regt with my ancestor and about twenty others.

More on this if you wish.