A letter of resignation dated Feb. 17, 1862, notes that the regiment's twelve-month term of service would conclude during the following May. Akin remarked that he wished to reenter service in "some other capacity." None of the records in his service file with the 16th Mississippi date from the period afterwards. Nearly one hundred papers, notes and cards are in his Confederate staff file. Records cited below come from that file, not the regimental file.

Akin returned to the regiment as Surgeon, commissioned to rank from May 23, 1862. It's unclear how long he served with the 16th Mississippi Regt., but an order dated Dec. 30, 1863, reassigned him to Charlottesville VA. Another order dated May 7, 1864, assigned him to the 5th Congressional District of North Carolina to examine conscripts, commanding officer Capt. W. M. Swann. He was ordered to report to Lynchburg VA on Nov. 16, 1864. Captured when Richmond fell on Apr. 3, 1865, Akin received a parole on Apr. 20th, so we know that he survived the war.