All you need is the soldier's military service file, or a pension application accepted by the pension board of his state of residence. Tennessee will not have a file containing "honorable discharges" for Confederate soldiers, for reasons I will explain later.

Confederate soldiers taking the oath of allegiance to the United States as a condition of release from prison did nothing dishonorable, nor would that invalidate your application. I've not seen your ancestor's service file, but suspect he was released under a Geneal Order after the war ended. Of course no Confederate government existed at that time, so no discharges could have been issued to soldiers. An oath of allegiance taken as a condition of release from prison after the war ended wouldn't have invalidated his pension application, nor your application, for that matter.

I've always been suspicious of "honorable discharges" for Confederate service. Of course they could have been issued as late as April 1865 while some vestage of Confederate military authority existed. But most folks are talking about discharges issued when the war ended, which puts up a red flag for me. Allow me to explain why.

Some years back a lady asked me for help with her application to join a local chapter of the U.D.C. Her family had preserved an ancestor's discharge papers, issued in August 1865. This she believed would serve as sufficient proof of honorable service.

At my request, she produced the "honorable discharge." It was indeed dated as she had said. However, the discharge bore an American eagle imprint across the top and released the soldier from service with the United States military. Her ancestor turned out to be a Confederate deserter who had gone over the the other side. She may have joined the U.D.C. using the military service of another ancestor, but not that one.

Most Confederate military leaders encouraged soldiers to take the oath of allegiance, understanding that it endowed each soldier with certain rights. It allowed former Confederate officers and men to be treated honorably like soldiers rather than outlaws and criminals.

From the Federal perspective, it gave authorities some point of reference as to who was a former soldier and who might be a guerilla. The Official Records contain a number of interesting accounts concerning guerilla bands and their leaders, who were sometimes hunted down and killed -- no imprisonment or trial.

Unless there is something else that I don't know about, your application should be fine with the soldier's service file.