could stand in the way of any Home Guard unit that wished to abuse its powers. In addition to this, due to the war demanding so much attention from the Confederate Congress, not to mention the other branches of the government and the military, little attention was paid to the Home Guard units. All were commanded locally, and rarely did they receive any specific direction. In essence, the Home Guard units could work as they pleased. More often than not they made their own decisions and priorities. Depending on the area, Home Guard units would be at times nothing more than a group of men identified as such, remote working as they pleased. At other times, most usually in states located in what was known as the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, Home Guard units had base camps and headquarters, went on patrol, and scouted for possible deserters or Union stragglers. Most of the time, Home Guard units were poorly equipped, due to shortages of goods, ammunition, and weapons to supply the Confederate Army. They rarely dressed in anything that could be called a uniform, but did make efforts to wear the same color clothing as the Confederate soldiers. By the middle of the war, many Home Guard units were composed of wounded soldiers that had returned to recover. Deserters that were encountered by Home Guard patrols were dealt with in many different fashions. At times, the deserting soldiers would be returned to the Army via Confederate units that were stationed near to whatever area the deserters were captured. Sometimes deserters faced summary execution by the Home Guard. By 1864, the Union Army occupied much of the formerly Confederate-controlled areas. With Union forces now patrolling home-front areas, many Home Guard units disbanded to avoid being considered or mistaken for guerrillas, and it became increasingly difficult for the Confederacy to enforce any action against deserters who returned home. Even in the Western theater states of Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, Union troops were regularly seen, and at times the troops had taken control of many towns or cities. Some Southern citizens who lived in those states and who did not support secession had now openly come out in support of the Union, often forming Union Army regiments or units to serve in that army. These newly formed Union units, made up of local citizens, personally knew the members of the