Excellent points, Alan. You find the same situation here in the Trans-Mississippi Department. Many people assume that soldiers in the TMD surrendered at Galveston, Texas, on June 2, 1865, then traveled to Shreveport, Monroe, Pine Bluff, etc., to receive their paroles. In fact, the only individuals involved at Galveston on June 2, 1865, were Generals Canby and Kirby Smith (and staff), who agreed on the terms of surrender for Kirby Smith's department. The soldiers themselves were scattered all over the TMD, nowhere near Galveston, and were ordered to report to various points in the Department to receive their paroles. Not even Kirby Smith was paroled at Galveston on that date; he was paroled some two weeks later.

One aspect of the surrender of the Trans-Mississippi that differs from other Confederate departments is that huge numbers of soldiers were never paroled at all. The majority of the infantry in the Department were camped around Marshall, Texas, and most of the regiments there simply disbanded and went home when word of the Canby-Smith accord reached them.

Things were a little more organized in Louisiana, where most of the troops rendezvoused at Shreveport, Alexandria, Monroe and Natchitoches to receive their paroles.

And, as an aside, most of the soldiers of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia were not paroled on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox. That was the date of the Grant-Lee surrender accord. The parole process began almost immediately thereafter, but it was a few days before all the troops were paroled. The 3rd Arkansas Regiment, for example, wasn't paroled until April 12.

Like you said, it's a minor point in the greater scheme of things, but if we're going to discuss the Civil War we might as go ahead and be as accurate as we can.

Also, Civil War trivia keeps guys like us off the street and out of mischief.