As some of you know, I also administer the Arkansas In The Civil War Message Board at http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/boards/arcwmb/ . I thought about posting a similar discussion question on the Louisiana CWMB, but instead have decided to invite contributors to this board to come and engage in this discussion on the Arkansas site to avoid duplication and encourage broader input. I would especially like to invite Dr. Bergeron and others, who have done extensive research of large numbers of NARA and other personnel records.

Specifically, the discussion started with this posting:

A question!

Posted By: Jim Martin
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002, at 7:56 p.m.

In Response To: Re: John Cagle (Bryan Howerton)

Bryan, I'll probably ask Alan Pitts in Alabama and perhaps Dr. Bergeron in Louisiana this same question.

I've noted in my research of personnel files, which is much less than your own, that a number of infantry soldiers discharged for disability or illness appear later in cavalry units. It would make sense that people who had difficulty walking or limited stamina might be better suited to a mounted service.

So, have you noted in your research that many disabled foot soldiers appear later in cavalry units? And, once officially classified and discharged as disabled, were these men subject to conscription or did they have to volunteer for additional service?

Jim

End of Message

Bryan Howerton, Doyle Taylor and Hayes Lowe have already weighed-in on this discussion with excellent postings. I'm sure others from the Louisiana CWMB can contribute valuable information to this discussion.

As an added archive resource, I should be able to integrate this "Arkansas" thread into our Louisiana archives for future reference.

Thanks and I hope you'll participate.

Jim Martin