Bill --
Thanks for your interest in your ancestor. You should have seen the other posts about his gravesite, which gives his name as Merriman Pound, Aug. 30, 1819 - Jan. 21, 1891. When surveyed thirty years ago, the cemetery was described as abandoned in the woods, located along the county line just northeast of Andrews Chapel church.
At least two other men by this name served in the Confederate military, one in an Alabama regiment, and another in a commmand recruited in Putnam County, Ga. Evidently you have confused your ancestor with at least one of these two men. There could be family connections which I cannot verify here.
Merriman Pound was elected captain of the "Mooreville Darts", which became Company "B", 1st Mississippi Regiment. The regiment had not been under fire previous to the Fort Donelson Campaign, so Capt. Pound was absent for other reasons when the garrison surrendered. Members of the regiment who were not sent off to Northern prisons were allowed to join other commands.
Capt. Pound soon raised a new company called the "Itawamba Tigers". Jim Huffman can best outline the military career of Merriman Pound as captain of Company "H", 43rd Mississippi Regiment. In brief, Capt. Pound escaped Vicksburg with part of the regiment and served in the Battle of Chickamauga in command of Pound's Sharpshooters. Capt. Pound tendered his resignation on Feb. 9, 1865, but the War Department may not have ever released him from service. He submitted a register of company activities during the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, perhaps others as well.
Merriman Pound was a state representative for Lee County during the sessions of 1876-77 and 1884.
It sounds as if much of what you know about Merriman Pound comes from family stories and traditions. Let me suggest that you start with the link at the top of this page and go about getting copies of his two military files. Copies should include numerous documents bearing Merriman Pound's signature as well as other papers and records. Documentary evidence from the service files and the Official Records will provide the facts about his Confederate military service.
Here are some other links which should help connect the dots for you:
http://www.researchonline.net/mscw/unit230.htm
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mslee/histlowry1891.html
http://www.rootsweb.com/~msichs/herald.html
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~genea/Dzpounds.html
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/t/o/Mark-Stoeckle/GENE2-0008.html#ENDNOTEREF59
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ga/putnam/biographies/poundmer.txt
Of course ordering service files through the message board also provides much-needed support for this valuable website!