“T.A. Watson, age 18” in an 1864 Erath County militia was "Taz. A. Watson" in the 1900 census, but he is listed in Ancestry.com as “Alexander Tazwell Watson.” ..Several of his Watson cousins were in Erath-Johnson-Tarrant county area militias. ..Below is his entry in my 200-page Name Index.
.
WATSON, Taz A., Alexander Tazwell Watson (1845 TN-1918) m-M. Whitaker; 1900 Freestone Co cen p110 (Erath Co, TST)
.
Many soldiers enlisted in more than one military unit. They were evidently encouraged to use different names or forms of their names. .. Some soldiers had forgotten, or did not know, how their name was recorded in the TST and CSA records. The following poor gent’s Texas CSA pension was denied because his CSA service was listed as “James Parks” when his name was “John Parks.”
PARKS, John/James Dudley Parks (1838 TN-1906) m-E. Simmons; 2d Mississippi Inf, Co A (Collin Co, TST)
Plus, during the last couple of years of the War, some of the records were scant at best. ..And yes, many of the rank-and-file soldiers' names and service were skipped. ..Bourland's Regt shows about 820 men in 2 microfilm reels found in the National Archives when evidence points to his having about 1,000 men. ..Todate, I have found documentation about 900 men serving in Bourland's Regt.
In Bourland’s Regt., if a soldier did not have a special skill such as a blacksmith, chances were good that his name was skipped in the records. The only reason that “J. Miller” is listed is because he was “sick.”
.
John Jehu Miller’s only CSA record: “Pvt. J. Miller, Company B, Oct. 1864, sick” even though he served twenty-three (23) months. This skimpy record illustrates the difficulty in studying the last two years of the War on the North and West Frontier. It is probable that the diligent service of many was never recorded because they were not detailed to perform a specific task or did not have a particular skill such as a
blacksmith. ..per J.J. Miller’s Jul 3, 1915 letter for D.L. Cabe’s Garvin Co OK CSA pensions #2388, #2389.
.
MILLER, John Jehu Miller (1845 NC-1920) m-M. (Hedgecoke) Shearer; 1860 Grsn cen p215; 1900 Mason Co cen p267 (Co A, B, Bourland's Regt)
CABE, David Lafayette Cabe (1826 NC-1893) m-Louisa Miller; 1860 Grsn cen p207 (Co B, G, Bourland's Regt)
.
Before giving up on finding anything about a soldier, look one more place. Go to a library that subscribes to Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com), and look in "Confederate Citizens' file" and "Officers" file. Below is a nearly impossible gent to find ... I have two men named Slewey in a Titus Co militia. ..BTW, this year Fold3 costs one-half as much as last year.
.
SLEWEY, Charles S. Slewey, b-1807; Sims' 9th Cav, Co I; CSA Citizens' file: repaired ambulance, furnished turpentine (Titus Co, TST)
These hints may speed your research.
Patti, prochette@Juno.com
.