I think you may have another Joel Chivers. They were all over the south. "My" Joel was in the 34th Texas Cavalry aka Alexander's 2nd Texas Partisan Rangers. Our family papers show that he actually practiced medicine before going into the service. Every branch of our family that I have contacted that could connect to him within 2-3 generations had noted that he was a medical doctor. Is the regiment you are referring to from Texas or posssibly alabama or Georgia?
Nayda Wallace