Here’s Professor Caroline Janney giving an outstanding presentation on what happened to confederate soldiers after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, using a single soldier as a model.
The video’s description reads, “Appomattox has long served to mark the end of the American Civil War. Yet closely examining the spring and summer of 1865 reveals a far more contentious, uncertain, ambiguous and lengthy ending to the American Civil War than previously understood. It underscores the complexity of decisions made by the US army, civilian authorities and soldiers from Lee’s army, as well as the unintended consequences of those decisions.”
Student of the American Civil War 