Number of medical cards herein 0
Number of personal cards herein 0
First Card
J. Tarkington, Private, Company I, 25th Regiment Texas Cavalry, recorded on the January 1, 1865 Regimental Return as absent, "Sick in hospital at Hempstead"
Second Card
J. Tarkington, Private, Company I, 25th Regiment Texas Cavalry, recorded on the February, 1865 Regimental Return as "Asbsent, sick in Hosp. Hempstead"
I believe the card numbers enumerated are either filing numbers assigned to the cards in his file, or could refer to the source document from which the data was derived. These in the main being Muster Rolls.
If the former, I do not believe it to be worthwhile chasing any further.
If the latter, then there could be some intelligence which could be gained from reviewing them. This being location, date of document, unit and officer IDs, but nothing personal.
These numbers were assigned during the compiling of these records by the War Department ca 1900. You would need to query the National Archives Army Archivists in Washington, DC to find the true meaning.
Medical cards refer to material derived from hospital records
Personal cards refer to POW, Quartermaster forms, pay documents, etc. These being material not derived from muster rolls.
In J. Tarkington's case, there were no Company Muster Rolls which survived to be incorporated in the Compiled Service Records of his unit. The only
documents found which refer to him were the two Regimental Returns recorded above.
All Company and Regimental records were required to be delivered to Army HQ in Richmond. However, many of these records were destroyed during
the burning of Richmond. Fortunately, many of the Army Archives were saved by Sec. of War Breckenridge, et al. But sadly, many holes remain.
In the case of the 25th Texas Cavalry, there are no Company Muster Rolls for any of the 10 companies, A-K which survived.
M323: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Texas