From Fiction to Fact?

In my family, my great-grandfather, James Pinkney Joyce (born 1835 Lawrence County, Tennessee – died 1881 Hardin County, Illinois) served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He left Tennessee with his family, traveled to New Madrid, Missouri, where he enlisted in the 2^nd Illinois Cavalry. 

Here is where there is a crimp in the data.  Every relative who knows of James P. Joyce, “knows” he traveled at night and when he stopped, he turned his wagon around, facing south as if indicating the family was going in that direction. He was facing conscription and should not, by military rules, have been going North toward the federal army. I first heard this account from my father, who seemed to be the “keeper of stories” in my                  Joyce family.  The same story was repeated to me by other family members through the years.

My question to you is do traditions ever truly go from just traditions to fact and, at what point does that happen?  Is it when the majority of people decide it must be fact or is it not until you find documentation indicating it truly happened?

Just to mix things up, how do you reconcile that it may be only partially true?  For example, I found an account of another family that states James P. Joyce’s family apparently traveled to New Madrid County with him, but from there they were under the protection of another family as they traveled on to Hardin County, Illinois.    Does this throw us back to square one?  Your ideas and/or suggestions are appreciated.    The goal is to find the truth.

Published 12 March 2020, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/