At sometime during January 1864, 6,000 Union soldiers were bottlenecked in Elmira, New York waiting for trains south. Some of the soldiers were probably new recruits; others veterans returning from furlough.
We read that out west General Grant was cancelling furloughs. In central New York state the stalwart Captain James E. Ashcroft was home on a recruiting mission.
From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in January 1864:
AT HOME. – Capt. Jas. E. Ashcroft, of Battery B, 3d Artillery, N.Y.S.V., is now at home recruiting for his command.
The January 23, 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly (at Son of the South) captured the joy of furloughed soldiers re-uniting with their family and friends at home:
getting home for awhile
