u/atmcphee

For any Civil War folks out there, I'm writing about someone who enlisted in an infantry regiment in Pittsburgh on Sept 1. 1862. He fought in several battles over the next two years in Maryland and Virginia, and then ordered to winter outside Petersburg, VA. He then went home to Pittsburgh to visit his family sometime after October 15, 1964. Would wintering soldiers at the time have been allowed a furlough to visit family? What other reasons might there have been for a private to be allowed to travel from his unit's wintering station to his home? Any ideas welcome!