Mary Anne,
I think it doubtful that a soldier could not find the proper officer to give him furlough. It is far more likely that the military situation would not allow furloughs and that the man simply went AWOL. In my family, the story is that when my GGGrandfather, Hardeman Simmons, 5th Miss. Cav., heard that his wife was on her deathbed, he was not granted leave to go to her side; however, his sympathetic commanding officer knowingly turned his back so that he could leave. Sadly, by the time he reached home, she had died. After arranging for the care of their son, he returned to his unit.