Wilbur Gaught Ellis

In 1863 Wilburn joined the Confederate Infantry. The exact date of his enlistment is unknown, but he was a private in the 36th Georgia Infantry. He deserted and enlisted in Company L of the 10th Tennessee Cavalry for the United States.

    He later claimed that he was forced to join the Confederate Army and did so to avoid going to prison. His story is doubtful, as the Confederate Army was not drafting fifteen year olds that early in the war.

During his tour of duty as a Union soldier Wilburn suffered a wound below his left knee. In a general affidavit filed before a Notary Public in Idaho Falls, Bingham County, Idaho in about 1891, Wilburn stated that he was 45 years of age and was "...wounded six miles south of Murfreesborough about the sixteenth of December 1864 in a skirmish between Colonel Grass 61st Illinois and a detachment of Forest's troops, wound caused by the bursting of a shell below knee joint of left leg..."
The Compendium of the War of the Rebellion contains a series of Regimental Histories. The Regimental History of the Tenth Tennessee Cavalry gives the following, beginning with his enlistment 24 February 1864)
Wilburn completed his service mustering out with his company 1 August 1865. He was present on all muster rolls, including the roll for December 1864 when he was injured.