My direct ancestors had it easier Sergeant Loyd. Five of my g-g-grandfathers had transferred from the 38th Arkansas Infantry to the 45th Arkansas Mounted Infantry prior to Price's Missouri Campaign. After returning to Arkansas, the regiment was, for the most part, dispersed and the men sent to their homes to await further orders. My ancestors all lived in the southwest corner of Lawrence County (what is now Sharp County), so when the order was received from General Thompson to rendezvous at Jacksonport to be paroled, it was just a short stroll there and back.

One of my ancestors was in the 7th Arkansas Regiment, which surrendered in North Carolina. He and his comrades were provided with transportation part of the way back to Arkansas, and, by presenting their parole documents were able to obtain rations from Federal garrisons along the way. He was home within two weeks after the surrender.

Another ancestor was paroled at Shreveport, Louisiana, but the transportation provided by the Feds would have involved a steamboat ride down the Red River to the Mississippi, then up the Mississippi to Memphis, then on foot to Lawrence County; so, he just took it on foot from Shreveport and walked north. He, too, was home within two weeks. He later told of ragged hordes of ex-Confederate soldiers all walking north, begging or stealing food along the way.