William F. Fox, Lt. Col. U. S. V., Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865: A Treatise on the extent and nature of the mortuary losses in the Union regiments, with full and exhaustive statistics compiled from the official records on file in the state military bureaus and at Washington

And, yet, there were no better regiments in the war, taken as a whole, than these two-year regiments from New York. They were composed of young men who volunteered promptly at the first alarm of the war; whose incentive was a true patriotism, combined with military ardor and that love of adventure which helps so much to make the daring and gallant soldier. There were no conscripts or mercenaries in their number; the ranks of each regiment were recruited from that grandest type of manhood — the American Volunteers.

It should be remembered that, although these two-year regiments were organized early in 1861, the Army did not take the field until the spring of 1862 ; and that when the fighting did commence, they had only a year to serve, which accounts for their comparatively small loss in action. Some of them, however — the 12th, 13th, 18th, 11th (Fire Zouaves), and 38th--were engaged at First Bull Run.

Prominent among these two-year regiments was the 10th New York (National Zouaves), raised in New York City, which, by recruiting and reenlistments, preserved its organization through the war. In April, 1863, the two-years men in the regiment were mustered out, and the three-years men were formed into a battalion of four companies, under Major Hopper, which remained in the field. During the first half of its service the Tenth was