A return to duty or to the hospital in Richmond would have been difficult. If in fact he made it back to Texas, which is unlikely, the 9th was at Franklin and Nashville and was part of the rear guard into Mississippi at the end of December. He probably went to Texas and stayed there. The lack of a parole document that suggest he was not with the unit. Had he been east of the Mississippi, he would have had a parole document. The seriousness of hid illness may have prevented his return and the war ended.