Abraham Ball joined the Confederate Army 27 September 1862, serving Company F, 60th Tennessee Mounted Infantry. He was taken prisoner by the Union forces at the battle of Big Black River Bridge, near Vicksburg, Mississippi, 17 May 1863 and sent to Memphis. He was later transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Maryland and died of disease 28 November 1863 in Hammond General Hospital, Point Lookout, Maryland. The following year, the property of Abraham and Mary Jane was sold at auction.1028

Other captives included his nephew John Milburn Phillips.

At the death of Mary Jane Ingle Ball, Samuel Bolton was appointed by the court as guardian to Nancy and Jane.1028