In Steven Stubbs History of the 11th Mississippi, he has Charles A. Gaston enlisting as a privare on August 9, 1861 at Camp Jones, near Bristoe Station, Virginia, in Company C; age 20. His occupation listed as telegrapher. On April 21, 1862, he was appointed third corporal. On June 27, 1862, he was wounded at Gaines' Mill. From Novermber 1862 to August 1863, he was detailed as a telegraph operator at Mobile, Alabama. On August 25, 1863, he rejoined the regiment. On May 12, 1864, he was wounded at Spotsylvania Court House by a sharpshooter while scouting near Bethesda Church. On June 1, 1864, he was hospitalized at Howard's Church Hospital at Richmond, Virginia. In July 1864, he was detailed as a scout. Muster Roll, November-December 1864: "Absent on furlough in Mississippi."