Yes, yes, yes, and maybe.

It depends on the completeness of the soldier's Compiled Service Record. There will likely be a historical gap from April 1864 until the end of the war for the Army of Tennessee as far as company muster rolls.

If a Confederate soldier deserted it is possible that it generated a "card" of some type. It could have generated an annotation on a company muster roll noting he deserted if the Confederate command was sure he deserted. What I have seen numerous times is the soldier is listed as "Absent without Leave" and then you see another "card" where he shows up a period of time later to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Federal authorities.

Example: Soldier leaves his regiment at Dalton, Georgia in the winter of 1864 and shows up in Chattanooga, Tennessee and takes the Oath of Allegiance. Depending on the situation, sometimes it was as fast as their legs would carry them or sometimes it was a case of escape and evade until they got tired of hiding and then they would turn themselves into Federal authorities weeks of months later. It is not uncommon to find a soldier that would be "captured" at home months after the army had left the area. Said soldier could have been present on the last company muster roll in the record, March-April 1864 for instance, and deserted or went "absent without leave" soon after. We know the Army of Tennessee left the Dalton area in mid-May 1864. The soldier in question somehow is "captured" in Gilmer County, Georgia in August 1864 and then takes the Oath of Allegiance.

It is possible that if a soldier went "Absent without Leave" or deserted after April 1864 and was successful in escaping and evading capture by Federal and Confederate authorities it is possible that there may be no record.

That all being said, you have to take the entire context of the Compiled Service Record, pension records, and the circumstances of events to determine if a soldier deserted.

One thing I look for is if a soldier turns up away from his original organization and surrenders himself at Kingtson, Georgia in May 1865. I consider that a big red flag that he likely deserted his original organization and join some of these unauthorized groups that hid in the mountains of North Georgia, North Carolina and East Tennessee and caused a huge amount of trouble for both Confederate and Federal authorities.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Respectfully,

Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
M.A. Military History - Civil War Concentration
Research - Preservation
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment