Lee,
Quite correct. By 1863-64 the shirkers and cowards were long gone. As to Danny's comments on the 64th VA, and 62nd, 64th, and 58th NC, by 1864 the 58th NC was reliable. As to the 64th Virginia they were older men mostly, who agreed to serve if they were allowed to remain in SW Va.to protect their homes. This was an agreement agreed to by the CS War Dept. The men felt betrayed when they were ordered into Kentucky and Tennessee with John Hunt Morgan. At that point the men of the 64th VA felt if the Gov't didn't live up to their part of the bargain, why should they. My Paternal G-G-Grandfather was mortally wounded at Laurel Gap, VA on Oct. 1, 1864 while riding with the 64th VA. He was a man in his 50's, a home guard, but was attached to the 64th to delay Burbridge's advance on the saltworks in Saltville, Va. One of his sons,A Member of the, 22ND VA CAV, was, at the time, a POW at Point Lookout, MD. One other point to make about the integrity of the 58th NC. After the surrender, by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston on April 26, 1865, the 58th/60th NC (Consolidated), along with the 54th/63rd VA (Consolidated), was paroled and taken by rail to Statesville, North Carolina where they proceeded to MARCH !.....Not Walk!...home. This was a distance of more than a hundred miles! Pretty amazing, juh?

Len