The original certificiate itself was usually given to the soldier in question. As documentation proof in his hand of the valid authorized discharge, should a provost suspect he be a deserter.. and/or if a conscript officer somewhere else should try to draft him etc. Duplicates of the actual full certificate werent a common practice to be retained in surgeons files etc. The fact of it usually recorded in a designated log book. and/or a notation of the fact sent to his unit, commander, or Adj etc. Most of the NARA cards reflect data found recorded in muster rolls, payroll vouchers, clothing returns, POW lists, Hospital / surgeons registry log books, etc. Most likely the information was gleened from a discharged roster list. The original certificate signed by the surgeons might not still survive.

Frederick