A picture of Capt Jones, and the story, apppears in Time-Life's "Echoes of Glory" Confederate volume, along with vague documentation to either (probably) the Atlanta Historical Society or (perhaps) the Museum of the Confederacy. This version omits the term "friend" in favor of "servant", which is one of the soldiers' favored terms for them.

The "servants" - specifically those accompanying the 17th and other units of the Toombs-Benning brigade - had mixed background. Some were family property of the officer (or a member of the mess) they served; some were slaves of someone unrelated to the unit, and hired out by their owner (frequently a refugee in Richmond); some were free blacks who hired themselves out. There was a fair number accompanying the brigade at this time - most messes (6 to 12 enlisted men) had one or two "servants", and many officers had a personal "servant". It would help with the story to get the original source, something I regrettably cannot provide.

Andrew Johnson
benningsbrigade@comcast.net