Given the logistics and costs involved, I really believe this must have been an unusual practice for the average family. Coffins could not be easily sealed as they are today, which would make conditions aboard a passenger train intolerable. Officers and famous individuals might be brought home, but these were special occasions.

In Deep South states we find many memorials in the cemeteries which state something like, "He sleeps on the battlefield". I've never seen any marker here which indicates that the soldier died elsewhere and was returned home for burial.

If this was a common practice, the Richmond papers should've been filled with ads posted by those offering to help.