Thanks so very much for this research and information. It IS puzzling to have James J and Ambrose M enlisting together, and apparently being at Arkansas Post August 1862. Being captured there is the last reference I have to James. In an online ancestry database, there was given an alternate name for him - J J Shumaker. I don't know if that would be researched differently--the Shumaker/Shoemaker alternate spelling.

IF Ambrose was also captured, I now see from your report, that he could have been released and joined the 1st Arkansas Infantry. But the records Brian Overton supplied in a thread posted last summer about AS/Asbury and AM/Ambrose, show them enlisting together on May 23, 1863 in the 37th Inf, Company A, serving together, surrendering together, and being shown together on POW rolls--both present at the same time. My thought is that Ambrose may have been furloughed (or possibly not captured), went home, got his brother Asberry, and enlisted in the 37th.

What happened to James, I have not yet been able to learn. The source that supplied physical descriptions for Asbury and Ambrose--can that be found for James and E M? I would like to know something about E M Shoemaker, to try to determine if he is a fourth brother. The reference you mention is the total I've heard to date.

I am very grateful for your interest and expertise, and appreciate any ideas you may have for further research.