First, I am not out to dishonor Grandpa. I'm trying to find answers to some of my own research questions.

Second, I know that soldiers left and returned, they left and joined other units, they left and couldn't get back when they were supposed to, they left and due to the situation at home or because of loss of hope they went home and never returned, and some wanted to fight on their own terms and became guerrillas. I am aware that Leslie went back to Searcy County to gather deserters and was in charge of a saltpeter mine and that many of these men later ended up in the Union Army and I know Leslie wasn't one of them. Late in the war he commanded a battalion and I'm trying to figure out what that unit was. That's all I care about and want to know.

Finally, I am a product of the Arkansas education system and of an Arkansas institution of higher learning. In spite of that, I do not believe that d-e-s-e-r-t-e-d spells disenfranchised. Attached is an image of his service record for your perusal showing the word deserted. Whatever happened in January 1863, a few months later he was gathering other deserters (muster roll for Company K, 32nd AR on February 29, 1864, shows only a 2nd Lieutenant and three privates present for duty, and the Lieutenant was not from Searcy County). Again, this point of argument is of no interest to me and I drop it. I'd like to know what battalion he had in late 1864.