WM. James Thompson (my GGGrandfather) is, as you've noted, listed as having been discharged on 21 Feb 1862. And Richard Pittman, in a letter to his wife dated 21 Feb does indeed mention that he has sent home a bible by way of William Thompson, so it sppears that WJT did at least go home at this point in time. However, his name appears upon a muster roll supplied to me by Shiloh NMP as having been present during the battle on 6-7 April 1862.

It would seem that either his discharge came at a later date and perhaps the 21 Feb 1862 card entry was confused with a furlough or else the Shiloh muster roll is inaccurate. The Shiloh document is a photocopy of a crudely typewritten page, beginning with Charles Slade and ending with Frank Youngblood. There is no indication of its provenance. I've assumed that it is a compilation of morning reports filed at the time by regimental staff, but one would have to contact Shiloh NMP to find out.

In addition, during my collection of my ancestors' CSR cards, I came across entries for a William James Thompson, listeed as having mustered into Co. A, 36th Mississippi Infantry at Meridian, MS on 6 March 1862. The first card indicates that Wm. James traveled 162 miles to get to the rendezvous point.

I discovered a handwritten muster roll for Co. A (The Mt. Zion Guards) which lists this Wm James as being from Copiah County. He began service as 4th Cpl, was promoted to 2nd Cpl., and according to one of his cards, he was reduced in rank to Pvt, on 1 Jun 1863, "by his own consent". No further info given as to why.

The 36th Miss. was assigned to the Vicksburg garrison and was surrendered there. Among the CSR cards for the 36th MS WJT is a copy of his parole, which he signed. The handwriting of the signature closely matches others from my Thompson forebears, including my grandfather.

So. Perhaps the discharge from the 7th MS was incorrectly dated and he was with the Marion Men at Shiloh. Or he went home sick and was discharged as noted, and determined to reenlist later with the Mt. Zion Guards and gave a false entry for his home for some reason.

Or maybe these are two separate men. I welcome any illumination.

Benjamin Thompson is listed as "ensign" on the initial 7th MS muster rolls. I've been led to believe this denotes that he was a flag bearer. In any case, he is latter carried on the roll as a Pvt. and was captured as a Pvt. at Missionary Ridge before beginning his all-expense paid vacation to beautiful Rock Island Barracks, IL.
One Federal report notes the capture of 15 sharpshooters of the 7th Miss. at Missionary Ridge.

The John Thompson of Co. D is, I believe, not my immediate relative. My GGUncle, John W., is carried through in the CSR until his being dropped as a deserter after failing to return from medical leave 4 Feb 1864.

On an official muster roll I discovered at MS. Archives and History, entered onto a printed form, John W. was initially entered as 3rd Cpl. but the rank entry was crossed out and reentered as 4th Cpl. Benjamin Thompson was entered on the next line as 4th Cpl. and then his entire name crossed out.

I also discovered a hand-written muster roll, entered on plain paper, headed simply "7-F", and apparently drawn up by Capt. Hamilton Mayson of Co, D, Jeff Davis Sharpshooters. It states the muster date was 10 August 1861.

This document lists the initial officers first, followed by a listing of pvts., not in alphabetical order, which leads me to believe the names were entered as the men stepped up to the table, 83 names total.

This roll lists John W. Thompson as 4th Cpl., Benjamin as ensign and Wm. James as fifer. The document is signed by Capt. Mayson.

Elias and Elisha Polk are probably the same man. He may have changed the spelling of his name by the time of his death, or more likely, there was an error somewhere in the process of filing documents necessary to obtain a VA tombstone or in the actual manufacturing process.

My living history group, Stanford's Miss. Battery, has marked CS graves at six cemeteries, and on every occasion, we've rec' d a small number of incorrectly inscribed stones.

All I have on Lewis J. Newsom, aside from the grave marker information, is that entered on the Calvin Phillips muster roll, showing him as enlisted 1 August 1861, possibly a typo, as the initial muster date for Co. F is 10 August, and having gone home sick on one occasion, then returning to service and is listed as present until his surrender in NC in 1865.