As I continue adding articles to the site, I have run across a number of ads posted by company commanders about deserters from their units. One of the really great things about newspapers is that they present a snapshot of the moment when they were published. It is also one of its weaknesses. It is important to understand that while these individuals were assumed to have deserted, there were often valid reasons for their absences. Sometimes after minor skirmishes or major troop movements they had gotten mixed in with other units and by the time they found their way back, their own regiment had moved out to a different position. Sometimes it could take weeks for them to return to the proper unit. Also, there is the issue of illness. As in the case of Ransom Clodfelter , as I am advised by a descendent of his, who was reported as a deserter, but turned up later in a hospital. While the search for deserters is reported in the paper, the cases of misunderstandings seldom if ever were.

Consider the cases where it was a valid complaint. Quite often, especially in the case of states close to the front (North Carolina was notorious for this) soldiers would take off for home to bring in a crop or just go visiting and come back later. As a matter of good military discipline, this is not good, but in most cases these soldiers returned and faced the music. Seldom were they actually shot for their transgressions (sorry to disappoint you but the scenario of rogue home guards reveling in shooting deserters at will was not commonplace like Cold Mountain would lead you to believe), in fact most were punished, came to understand that this was not one of their better decisions and went on to serve honorably the rest of the war.

So if you find one of your ancestors in one of these ads, try to not let this unsettle you too much. Rather, consider this just another piece of evidence to be weighed with the others. In fact it is an opportunity to remember that while we want to think of our ancestors as the bravest of the brave, they were also human just as we are. They had their own moments of doubt and fear, yet they overcame and faced up to challenges that would astound the boldest among us today.