Scott, normally a soldier was carried on the roll as "absent sick" until he either returned to duty, or until word was received that he had died or was discharged or furloughed from the hospital. If nothing was heard for, say, a year, the company often dropped his name from the roll, with the notation, "Supposed to be dead." Once a soldier was sent to a hospital (unless it was a regimental or camp hospital) there was no effort made by the hospital to inform the regiment of his status. In many cases, a soldier's status was informally reported to his regiment by a comrade who had been in the same hospital.

It would have been unusual for a soldier to spend a year in one hospital. Sick and wounded soldiers were transferred to other hospitals quite often. This was usually due to the proximity of Federal troops, but was also due to overcrowding. The preferred method of transfer was by railroad, but this method became more difficult as the war continued and more and more of the railroad infrastucture in the South was destroyed. You often see references to "Wayside Hospitals" or "Way Hospitals". These were hospitals or hospital transfer points colocated with railroad way stations.

Medical services in the Civil War has become a specialized field of interest and study these days. There are a number of website devoted to this subject, and they make for some fascinating reading.