I know Bryan had a strong feeling about the word 'desertion' when dealing with "official records". I let him speak for himself if he wishes.
First of all I would wonder by what process that this number of 103,400 was arrived at? The fact of the matter is that there were many reasons for a man to be listed as AWOL (Absent without Official Leave) that I have found in Confederate records everything from being on assignment at some other duty that the 1st Sargeant wasn't fully notified of, to being a Prisoner of War, or even in the Hospital. Many demographers would list these AWOL's as being a "Deserter".
Then you have the case of those who took "french leave" who would leave their units for various reasons. Some when home to take care of their families and plant a crop so their families wouldn't starve to those who slipped off to the nearest town simply to get drunk, or other things to latter return to their units. Some were even sent home on a 60 days furlough to recover from wounds and died while there, were listed as AWOL, or deserted.
Now don't get me wrong. I certainly do not question the figure of 103,400. But if this figure is at all accurate the Confederate army had a much better desertion rate than did the Union army. For example in the winter and early spring of 1863 in Joe Hooker's Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg, Va., in some of the most accurate records kept on the subject, it was estimated that 1/4 (25,000) of Hookers army had deserted in just the 4 months prior to the Battle of Chancellorsville. The problem was so bad of men who were about to reach the end of their enlistment and bounty jumpers that Hooker had to have all the packages of mail sent to his soldiers inspected to make sure that they did not contain civilian clothes sent by their families to aid in their desertion. In some cases whole detailss assigned to Picket duty would vanish during the night. They simply walked of the line and went home. Lincoln had to issue a blanket pardon for any soldier who had deserted and returned to the ranks of his own account.
So in short sumation, I personally would say that this persons statement of any of these figures are figments of someone imagination. That an accurate number either higher or lower for either side has been the subject of much detailed examination and no one can say with any certainty what the actual numbers of desertions were.