My great, great grandfather James Jarrell (who, along with his brother Joe, was in the 37th as you know) wrote to his wife on June 8, 1862 from Columbus and said "brother Jo has had a spell of fever since he arrived here and was pretty sick for several days but is now on the mend." But Carlisle's diary says June 8 was the day the 37th first arrived in Columbus. Leroy Tebow said in a July 17 letter to James' wife, after James died the previous day, that James went home sick from Auburn and when he came into camp at Bluett's bridge he (Tebow) "decided he [James] never should have come here." So, since James and Joe apparently arrived in Columbus before June 8, this suggests Tebow also did, since Tebow was there when James arrived. Pretty puzzlin, eh? Do we have any corroboration for June 8 as the Columbus arrival date for the 37th? Did elements of the 37th go there weeks sooner?

The second thing: Carlisle's diary says Joe and another member of the 37th arrived on June 22 from Auburn with the news that Sanders Talbot (cousin to Joe and James and another member of the 37th as you know) had died. But, we know from James' letter that Joe arrived much before that. It's extremely unlikely Joe travelled back to Auburn from Columbus, because (a) there would not be any reason to and (b) he was sick in camp on June 8 so that would leave only 14 days for him to get well and go to Auburn and back. Any theories?