From the May 9, 2011 Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle "For those called to serve in Civil War, a heartfelt sendoff" by Bob Marcotte.
The May 3, 1861, the Rochester Daily Democrat and American reported the big sendoff of 600 "gallant fellows" from Monroe County's first volunteer regiment,mustered in at the 13th New York Infantry. This even though they did not yet look like soldiers as they hadn't yet been issued uniforms.
One company of mostly volunteer firemen wore red shirts and had their hair close shaven.
They took the train from the station to the recruit depot at Elmira.
The regiment's commander was Col. Isaac Quinby, a University of Rochester math professor, West Point graduate and Mexican War veteran. He was later described as a "heavily built man with a General Grant beard and a logarithmic mind" and an "inveterate chewer of tobacco" who could sit tilted back against the classroom wall and launch an occasional spit "that was a marvel of precision" as it landed in the cuspidor.
More to Come. --Old Secesh
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