Thank you so much for your information helping my wife to clarify her picture of her g-g-grandfather. She has extensively researched John Bittmann, and is seeking to get the fullest picture possible of him for her family genealogy project. She is in possession of his pension records from the NARA, and her parents visited Andersonville to see his grave. John Bittmann immigrated to America from Germany in the 1840's, and joined the Regular Army, where she found him in the 1850 Federal Census at the West Point Military Academy serving in the Dragoons. He joined 68th Ohio initially, got out on a disability discharge, and then joined the 1st Mich. Cav. His second wife had died, and he left 6 children at home with his sister-in-law. His only son joined the Regular Army in 1880, served in the Southwest where he received his "Indian Wars" campaign medal, served in the Spanish-American War, and ended his career stationed at West Point. He retired to the Soldier's Home in Washington D.C., which in years past had served as Lincoln's summer White House. They are remarkable men, and I wish we could have heard their stories.