RE-ENLISTED.
Two years have passed; those gallant men
Have kept the oath that they made then.
On many a field their valor’s shone,
On many a field their bones are strewn;
They’ve bravely fought and still shall fight,
For Union, and the cause of right!
Till rebel hosts shall yield the way,
To Union arms, and Union sway.
_J. B. C._
The die is cast! Come life or death,
My Country! I will faithful be,
Until o’er all thy wide domain,
Shall wave the banner of the free.
_L. M. J._
It was at Liberty that most of the members of the 32nd Massachusetts
re-enlisted for three years more. I was not the first to re-enlist; I
knew now what a soldier’s life really was. I realized that my father
knew what he was talking about, when he told me that it was no holiday
picnic, and that the men of the South were as brave as those of the
North, and that it would take years instead of months to conquer them,
as so many thought when the war began. I had endured two years of
hardships and dangers, and longed for a peaceful life with those I
loved at home. I knew my dear old father would be grieved, were I to
again enlist.
I fought it all out alone on picket, that cold long night, went back
to camp, and with fingers almost too stiff with cold to hold the pen,
signed my name to the paper that bound me to the service of my country
for “Three years more, or until the close of the war.”
Yes, I had made up my mind, that come what would, I would see it out!
My country needed me; dire disaster had overtaken it, dark and gloomy
was the situation, and now more than ever, were needed strong and
willing hands to defend it; and so I would do my duty, and leave the
rest to God.
And now, looking back over the long years since that day, I can truly
say, I have never regretted my decision. The terrible year that
followed would have been included in my first term of enlistment of
three years, and so I did not serve quite a year longer than I would
have done, if I had not re-enlisted. Many a poor fellow who felt that
three years was enough, and that he could not endure such a life any
longer than that, and consequently did not re-enlist, lost his life in
the battle summer that followed. But none could foresee the future, and
the close of the war looked to us in the field, as a long way ahead.
So many of the regiment re-enlisted that we were given 30 days
furlough, and allowed to go home as a regiment. We had previously
had re-enforcements from time to time, so that there were 340 who
re-enlisted, and started for home, arriving in Fall River by the New
York boat, on January 17th, 1864.
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