"William escaped from Alton in 11/63 and was recaptured in 11/64 at Concord IL. Where would he have access to these pistol caps?"
Kerry,
The above statement got me to thinking. He escaped from Alton. He was caught in Concord which is about 40 miles west of Springfield. We really don't know where he traveled to from Alton, but suppose he went to Springfield. There would have been many sources of pistol caps in Springfield. It had a reasonably large arsenal. It had Camp Butler. It had a powder factory on the western outskirts. Suppose he got the caps and was heading back into "friendly" territory. I would think that from Springfield one would either head toward St. Louis, but that would put him back in an area (Alton) where he might run across someone who would recognize him, or, he could head west out of Springfield (if that was where he was) toward Missouri, perhaps toward Jeff City or Columbia where he would find lots of COnfederate friends. Concord would allow him to avoid passing through Jacksonville where there were lots of soldiers. Concord is a small village now as it was then. .
FC