. . . Tom was a favorite with the whole regiment and all concur in saying that he was the best soldier in the regiment. There can be said more for him than can be said for one in ten thousand. He has never missed a roll call, a drill, a tour of duty, never been absent a day without leave, never reported to a surgeon nor has he ever slept out of camp unless on duty. The loss of such men can not be supplied. Tom was strictly moral. I never saw him out of humor in my life. . .

Bell Wiley's The Life of Johnny Reb (p.150)