Bryan
Your message rings true for me. When I started my research on my g-g-grandfather Lee, I started with the assumption that he was a member of the 1st Ar Inf and was killed at Pea Ridge. This was handed down to me by word of mouth. Thanks to you and others, I found out that he was a soldier in the 26th Ar Inf, which was not in service at the time of Pea Ridge.
I have another ancestor who I have yet to prove was a yankee or a confederate. Both men have the same name, same approximate age and both lived in the same state at the time the war started. I will have to do more research to find out which was my ancestor.
I thought I would mention all this for the benefit of other ametuar researchers such as myself. Don't assume something because your parents,grandparents,etc told you so. Also, as you mentioned many people share the same names, so don't assume that because a name in a certain regiment is the same as your ancestor, that this is your ancestor.
Just my thoughts.
Chuck