Thanks, Mike. The records of Bird's battalion coincide with what you said. The individual companies began organizing in the summer of 1863, and continued through June of 1864, when they were formed into a battalion of "mounted cadets" operating out of Shreveport "under the direction of Department Headquarters," according to the muster-in rolls.

There are quite a few hospital notations mixed in with the battalion records -- mostly "intermittent fever" -- which hints that being continually in the saddle on courier duty affected the health of the boys. There is only one record of a courier being treated for a gunshot wound.

Two of the companies were organized primarily of boys from northeast Texas. I was going to post the roll of the Arkansas company when I finished keyboarding my old handwritten transcription. If you're interested, I'll post the rolls of the Texas companies, too.