Annelle, You might want to look at Gregg Clemmer's "Valor in Gray: The Recipients of the Confederate Medal of Honor" in your local library, Inter-lib Loan, also in paperback. In a nut shell, the intended wartime medals were set aside because of the shortage of metal, and, instead, a system of honor rolls was established, under which units could nominate outstanding warriors. (Some refused to make such a distinction; others complied.) A couple of decades ago, the Sons of Confederate Veterans decided to fulfill the original intention, and authorized a medal of modern design (with neck ribbon) for awarding to descendants of those men named to the Roll of Honor/Honor Roll. Mr. Clemmer, SCV, undertook to compile the background and names in a book, as above. You might immediately find "your man," or at least gain a clearer understanding of the process. As Greg Biggs indicates, the paperwork path upward from noting courage under fire was a long one, seldom going directly to the SecWar himself. (Also, as Greg noted, the loss of Mike Musick to Archives was equivalent to the 1865 Richmond fire. In fairness to National Archives, resources and staffing have not kept pace with expanded workload. The bulk of my time in that treasure house was in the Sixties and Seventies -- those were the days!)