I am in agreement with the post stating that enlist soldiers were often kept at Libby before transfer to other locations. My gggrandfather Walter James Mallett, pvt Co. A and an Andersonville survivor states in his recollections written after the war that he and a fellow captive John Corwin Co. K , both of the 7th IL Vol Inf captured near Corinth MS on Sept 3, 1863, were placed in Libby for a short period until they were transfered out to Bell Ise. Neither soldiers service record indicates that they were at Libby. Many persons state that they could not have been at Libby because Libby was for officers only, but numerous sources list that enlisted were also housed until other prison locations were determined. Records of the names of prisoners in the various locations are often inaccurate. I have been able to add one name to Andersonvilles prisoner list to the satisfaction of the National Park Service and have three other names I will submit to them to approve after a little more research and documentation. None of their names are listed in any prisone camp database, yet their services records show long periods as prisoners and contemporary newspaper accounts from witness decribe them as captives.

Ancesters accounts of their activities are not always just a story just because the proof is not easily found. Research and persistence with often tell the truth from a story from someone bragging. The true is often more interesting than a shallow passed down story.