My curiosity was peeked after our posts and I went to the TN State Library to do some research and looked at the pension applications along with all the witness letters. Here are some notes I made. Joseph states he served in the 3rd Inf (which was originally the 19th TN Inf.). TN pension examiners note searching for his records in the 19th and all the 5th cavalry's. Also, he states the commander was David Cummings who was the commander of the 19th Inf. This would be the first regiment he served in after the Scott County Rangers were organized. He then states due to rheumatism he was transferred to the cavalry in the spring of 1862 in upper East TN. Based on the other notes from the witnesses', it would appear that 2nd Ashby's is the most logical cavalry, however it was not organized until May 1862 in East TN. With the 19th moving to Corinth, MS and Shoopman not being able to travel it appears he was transferred first to Vaughn's 3rd Inf (later called Lillard's) which was in Knoxville and then to Ashby's. Jacob Low and another witness (Rich) state that Shoopman served under Vaughn and Captain Mason (both of Vaughn's 3rd Inf. McClellan's 5th Cavalry was merged into Ashby's 2nd and that could be where the 5th reference comes from. In addition the Smith witness letter states Shoopman served in the 8th TN Regiment and Low states Shoopman served under McKinney and Capt. Mason. McKinney was the commanding officer of the 8th which was at Murfreesboro with Ashby's and McKenzie's 5th Cavalry. Records of Mckenzie's specifically note being at the battle of Farminton (Shelbyville) on 10/7/63 where Shoopman was captured. Low also states Shoopman was at Loudon, Chickamauga and Charleston where McKenzie's 5th traveled. Lastly, a report filed by the 8th TN Inf states that all regimental and company books, rolls papers of every kind were destroyed by the enemy on November 25, 1863 explaining why there was no record of Shoopman serving with the 8th.

We may never know for sure, but based on the witnesses statements and the timeline of where the various units were stationed my best "guesstimate" of Shoopman's service is the following:

Scott County Rangers - March 1861
19th TN Infantry - June 1861
Vaughn's 3rd Infantry - February 1862
5th McClellan's (2nd Ashby's) - May 1862
8th Regiment TN Infantry - December 1862
5th McKenzie's - Between July and September 1863
Captured October 7, 1863
Release February 19, 1865
Unknown - April 1865 (States he was guarding ?Ambrose? Court House in VA)

I would also guess that Jacob Low served in McKenzie's 5th which was in Scott County in December 1862 and stayed in East Tennessee through June. Jacob states he joined over two years after Shoopman which would be in this time frame. Lastly, Jacob Low states he surrender in Haywood County while serving under Col. Thomas. This would be Thomas' Legion which was comprised of men from East TN, Western NC, and about 400 Cherokees and surrendered in Waynesville, NC (Haywood County) where he remained (1910 census in Haywood County list Jacob and his wife and states he served in the Confederate Army.

Sorry for such a long post and if anyone notes an error in this post please let me know as there is a lot of information and I am only trying to get to the facts by putting together the puzzle.