William,
Thank you very much for looking into this. I will try to locate a copy of this book or request it via inter-library loan. You would think that the state would have required an applicant to list who their relative was that was in the war in order for them to claim any benefits. But then again, that was a long time ago and like you said, the devastating effects of the war were still being felt. My great grandfather (John Riely Gleason) was one of those unfortunate orphans along with 3 other siblings. Evidently, after their father (Rufus Gleason) died in the General Hospital in Marksville, LA in 1863, their mother remarried a man named Belden 2 months later, then sometime between 1864 and 1869 she married again and went by the last name Wyatt. She died in 1869, leaving the 4 destitute children who were auctioned off to the lowest bidder in Lamar County.