Linda, neither Earnest nor Miller had any connection with Dobbins' cavalry regiment. Jeremiah Earnest had previously served in the 4th Arkansas Infantry. As far as I can tell, Thomas J. Miller had no prior Confederate service.

I might add that, although Captain Earnest was characterized as the leader of a gang of bushwhackers, his company was in fact a properly organized local defense company. The company muster roll is endorsed as follows: "Muster Roll of Capt. J. Earnest's Co. for Local Defense under Act of Congr. of Oct. 13, 1862." (That date is the date of the Act of the Confederate Congress, not the date on which the company was actually organized.)