Isaac O. Best, History of the 121st New York State Infantry

[29] man, twenty-two years of age, a graduate of West Point, who had won recognition for efficiency as an artillery officer in the Peninsular campaign. In discipline he was strict but just. In administration he was efficient. In action he was prompt. In danger he was cool. And under no circumstances did he show fear or lack of decision. To these admirable qualities of an officer, he was strictly temperate, and decidedly religious in his conduct. He was not ashamed to keep a well worn Bible on his desk, and his conversation was always clean and without profanity. It is therefore not to be wondered at that he won and held the regard and affection of the officers and men under him, and that time has only served to enlarge the esteem in which he is held by the survivors of the regiment.

The advantages of a capable and competent leadership were immediately manifest. The health of the regiment was conserved by the regular daily drills, they were well fed, and tents and overcoats were secured for them.

On October 3d the Corps was reviewed by President Lincoln.

Of the experiences in this camp Comrade Beckwith writes thus:

I think the regiment was stronger and better for the experience it had gone through — the weeding out of the unfit men, the retiring of incompetent officers, and the acquiring of a young, intrepid, and skilled officer for its commander, who, with heroic purpose, unlimited patience and matchless skill, made it one of the best regiments in the army of the Potomac, and one which in its long and bloody career, could always be depended upon to strike a deadly blow against the enemy, and whose every soldier, once told what to do, pursued that course to its conclusion.

At this time all sorts of stories were afloat, and