I cautioned against taking the service of Risien too lightly, on several occasions, previously. Today the following message was posted at the Texas Civil War Message Board:

I have been doing research on Samuel Risien for some time now. The Gibbs Memorial Library has a listing for all of the members of the Joe Johnstone Camp (now referred to as the Confederate Reunion Grounds). It does list Samuel Risien as being a member. It also shows that he was confirmed to have been in the confederate navy, but he has no documentation.
I live in the Mexia area and have looked up as much of his personal records as are available in the Limestone County Courthouse in Groesbeck, Texas. If I can help you further let me know.

Mitsy

In case you did not know, the United Confederate Veterans did not accept members without proper verification of their service, and this verification was usually provided by fellow soldiers or sailors. Risien was born in England, and service on the CSS ALABAMA has certainly not been disproven. It would be improper research to discard his service just because one thinks one knows all the crew members of the cruiser.