According to Myra Jean Ridley Hess, Albert enlisted in Comp. C 39th infantry Regulars, Illinois on 28 Aug 1861. He was a private, and he served in these battles: Shenandoah Valley with General Shields Port Royal Fort Wanger Harrison Landing, South Carolina Battle of Bermuda Hundred, where he was captured on 16 May 1864. He was in Petersburg for two weeks and sent to Andersonville Prison on 1 Jun - 19 Sep and then sent to Charleston for two weeks. Finally, he was sent to Florence Stockade, where he was paroled on 10 Dec 1864. Hess seems to have had access to Albert's military pension papers because she has this description of him: hazel eyes and brown hair. Also, according to Hess, Albert played the violin. He was also a gambler who played with Jesse James and Cole Younger. (Perhaps more of the story is told in her source: Ferne Fellows McMurty, "The Life of Albert Fellows," undated and published before 1994 by the author. The family seems to have moved from Illinois to Nebraska, either in 1871 or during the first nine months of 1872.