My wife would be very angry at me, if she knew about this post. So don't nobody tell her. Her father's ancestors were living in AR in those days. Her gg- grandfather, at 43, enlisted in the 4th Cavalry US in Nov. 1863. Three of his much younger brothers had been conscripted in the CS Army in 1862. One died from disease that summer. The other two deserted and enlisted in that US Cavalry unit with the older brother. In April 1864, these two brothers were home on leave working on the family farm. Some men (regular CS or partisans) found them in the field. The beat them, robbed them and murdered them along with two other young men. The family name is Morphew and you can find them easily on NARA. The oldest brother was John. They had an uncle, Silas Morphew, who was well known in Winston County AL for being one of the leaders of the Free State of Winston. if you want to see more, you can find it on the AL Message Board under "Free State of Winston".
I tried to explain to the Mrs. that AR in those days was a dangerous place for any man and often neighbors chose different sides. The most dangerous decision would have been to be neutral. They chose the Union, perhaps because they were Unionists or perhaps because they witnessed depredations against Unionist neighbors.