Doyle, I would also like to mention that in James letter dated Oct 10th 1863 James tells his father that he has not seen Alex in about two weeks saying that Alex's regiment has left his brigade and didn't know where he was. In the book, Serving With Honor that captains diary states that on October 3rd that Parsons,Fagan, and James C. Tappan with their commands left the area yesterday and he didn't know where they were going or for how long.

It could be that Alex departed with one of those officers. Jame's mothers maiden name was Bishop so Alex was either his cousin or uncle.

Marty