Around the date of January 5th, 1864, some 450 officers and men of the 55th Ohio re-enlisted under the terms of the "Veteran Volunteer Act". The regiment was officially "reorganized" as the "55th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry". Approximately 118 men either chose not to re-enlist or could not due to their limited term of their previous service. Under the terms of the Act, re-enlisting veterans were to receive a thirty day furlough, a pay-off of any bounties owed to them as well as an additional $400 bounty. If a majority of a regiment re-enlisted, it would remain in existence and be re-nominated as "Veteran Volunteer". Most veterans later wrote that it was the furlough that was most attractive. Also, most felt that the new men coming into the army were of poor caliber (i.e. draftees and substitutes) and many had the need to see the whole thing through. To paraphrase one veteran: "three more years of Hell for thirty days of Heaven".On January 11th, the re-enlisted portion of the 55th Ohio left Chattanooga, Tennessee, on their journey to Norwalk, Ohio, to commence their furlough. The remainder of the regiment remained in camp in Lookout Valley temporarily attached to the 136th New York. All the back bounties had been paid to the men at the start of their journey and that increased the joviality of the trip. Also, the actual furlough didn't officially start until the regiment arrived at Norwalk (luckily, the 30 day furlough did not include travel time). While passing through one town in Indiana, the regiment apparently went on a drinking binge, buying out the whole town. This must have made an interesting trip for the officers and NCO's of the regiment (if they weren't blasted themselves).
Sources:
Trials and Triumphs: A Record of the Fifty-Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Hartwell Osborne, 1904, A.C. Clurg & Co., Chicago.