I don't know why I didn't respond to this posting earlier. In an examination of a number of the records of members of the 5th Georgia Infantry, there is a "hole". From the Spring of 1862 until the beginning of 1864, there are few and in many cases no records for many of the members of this unit. I would suggest that the records for this period either were lost or destroyed. As you know, I have an ancestor, Volney Willoughby, who does not appear in the records for the 5th Georgia Infantry and only has a one (1) card reference to his death at Chickamauga as a member of the 5th Georgia Infantry, Co. A.

Because of the length of the period of absent or missing records, approximately twenty (20) months, I'm sure there are a number of "Volneys" who will only be found in "Unfiled Papers and Slips..." or not at all.

Have you ever heard of the discovery of missing groups of Confederate muster rolls and other documents or are they generally lost forever?

Merry Christmas!

Jim