My great grandfather William E. Gilmer enlisted at the age of 14 as a drummer boy in the 14th Georgia Infantry and he later served as a rifleman through the Seige of Petersburg. I don't know wheather he deserted after the Seige of Petersburg but he probably did. He moved to Texas in 1871, got married in 1874 and died in 1914. My great grandmother and several family friends, including Capt. Frank Gholson, a former Texas Ranger, signed documents swearing that my great grandfather served in the 14th "Texas" Infantry in order that my great grandmother could receive a Confederate pension from the State of Texas.

Apparently the former Confederate states amended that requirement after 1914 and a widow of a Confederate veteran could get a pension from any state in which the veteran died.