The Washington herald., 1913-12-20

ranks stepped forward. Many OF tne resf
ments had less than thnd OF ns
strength with which they went ii'o -
service. Some of them had iost nuti. ~,
Der of men equal to that win wnien 'iS
regiment had marched to the 'front.'
In the twentieth Massachusetts hegi-
ment. for example, IL officers ana ~ men
had been killed. q officers and Ae inen
had been wounded, and omcers ano
I24 men had been taken prisoners, hs an,
ing the number Of men consttu.s 49,
regiment at the time It was mustered Hi'o
service in July, 1851. p,, had
Many OF the wounded naturally mac
returned to the ranks, while the pisSs -,
OF those who had fallen were hiieo "i''
recruits.
FurIoushs for Veterans.
As a reward to every regiment OF vet.
erans in which three-fourths OF the nlen
re-enIisted a recent order proVioeo Ioi e
3O-day furlough at home, the regiment "
travel as an organization.
This at once brought before tne soi'
diers the prospect of marching IN
umph with their tattered oat1ie hass
through the streets of their home po"nH'
and the thought spurred many = man
whose longing for home had nan PEI
suaded him to quit the service INTO resoN-
ing again 10 ldhe Hie
years.
The case of one regiment may be ac-
cepted as typical Of many.
When the Nineteenth MASSACHUSETTS
Regiment was called uponto re-enlist' on
December q, only forty men In the regi-
ment declined to continue In the service.
Many of these later thought better OF
their resolution.
On the morning of December q the
regimental line, under Maj. Edmund Rice.
wa, formed by rs men, who were ready
to be mustered out OF the service OF the
United States and take the oath anew
for three years, or for the war.
At a word Of command the men TOOK
of their caps, raised their right hands,
repeated the oath binding them TO de-
fend the Constitution and the nag ana
in q few moments were transformed
into veterans entitled to wear the service
stripes Of two enlistments and to visit
their homes as an organization for Pc
riod of thirty days.
fThe scene when these men. veterans of
many terrible campaigns, stood in line
and took the oath the second time was
worthy the immortalizing stroke of the
artists brush,' wrote the regiments his
torian. 'Tn no other event during the
entire war was real patriotism more truly
displayed. Each of the men knew just
what war was He had experienced II,
had seen his comrades swept away by
shot and shell and foul disease, and his
regiment dwindle until only remnant Of
its former strength remained.
These veterans did not have in their
second enrolment the inspiration and ex-
citement of war meetings, or the novelty
of new gold trimmed uniforms to urae
them on, but re-enlisted with full
knowledge of the duties required, the
hardships TO be endured, and the prob
ability that many would be killed or
wounded before their term expired"
After the re-enlistm Mt the time seemed
to drag slowly with the veterans. Their
thoughts were now on their homes, but
come for transportation from the front.
In the case of the Nineteenth Massa-
chusetts Regiment a difficulty arose
which caused some CONSERVATION in the
ranks. There were 124 recruits in the
regiment. and, as these could not re-
enlist, there were not enough veterans in
proportion to the whole to constitute
three-qnarters of the regiment.
Therefore the commanding general ruled
that this regiment was not entitled TO a
furlough. The soldiers were dismayed
and their officers sought earnestly for a
solution of the difficulty. II was finally
secured by transferring the recruits TO
another regiment; and after what seemed
to the men an interminable delay, the
regiment started on its furlough Febru-
ary 4, 1864
TonOrrow-Cayalry Raiders In Luray
Valley.
Copyright. Isl1I