Pam --

This happens frequently. A Confederate unit ID on a tombstone is interesting, but over the years I have learned that many such inscriptions are wrong. You ask how this could be. It's because with little or no examination people accept the easiest answer to any question. It happens all the time.

When it came time to order a marker, someone assumed the man must have been a Confederate veteran. That person went to the library and found a name match on the rolls of the 10th Alabama Regiment. Case closed. Without further thought they had the marker inscribed accordingly. The fact that another man by the same name who lived across the state actually served in the 10th Alabama never troubled their mind.

Here's a really frightening thought. People like this vote in elections and serve on juries.

Just because a man was of age during the war doesn't mean that he served in the Confederate military. Some kept out of the military by hiring a substitute or making use of a legal exemption. Others had physical or mental impairments which kept them out of service.

An ancestor named F M Pitts had an exemption from military service as an overseer. Evidently he was able-bodied. However, for most of the war he and many others remained at home due to occupation. Another man by the exact same name was killed in battle in Virginia. I'd really like to claim this man as my ancestor. Problem is, my ancestor lived in a different place and survived the war. Darn it all!

Anyone engaged in serious research should deal with all sources skeptically. Allow the facts to convince you that something is true or likely to be true.