 However, by August 1862, because of his wounds and the dispersing of his battalion, he applied for a clerkship in the Confederate Treasury department under W.W. Crump, as well as requested permission to raise troops behind enemy lines after other West Virginians voted to secede from the Commonwealth of Virginia.He became Lt.Col.of Hansbrough's Roanoke Battalion, which consisted of conscripts and reserves, and was placed into service by October 6, 1864.