It fits on age and name match with brother Ollie. My inclination is he spent a good portion of his war supporting his irregular warfare family, if not openly participating. He was the oldest male, married and had prewar resources he could bring to the table. Ermon's pension application was to Arkansas and may have fudged the truth a bit to cover tracks or reputation or she may not have really known the whole story in 1908. Remember she married Shepherd after the war so how much he told her is up for conjecture.

John R