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The first Civil War volunteer
Batavia passes muster
By Kevin Fryling
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Batavia’s Civil War hero Captain Charles F. Rand.
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A medal presented to Rand by New York State in recognition of his volunteerism.
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Philemon Tracy’s tombstone.
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Rand’s Congressional Medal of Honor.
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Charles F. Rand photo from a postcard available at the Holland Land Office Museum in Batavia; three other photos by Kevin Fryling.
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Few in Western New York have ever heard of Capt. Charles F. Rand. But on April 15, 1861, the twenty-two-year-old native of Batavia, ensured himself a permanent place in U.S. history by being the first to volunteer for the American Civil War. Mere days after Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln put out a call for 750,000 volunteers.
The word arrived that morning via telegraph at the Old Eagle Hotel, on Main Street in Batavia. A local major read the news aloud, turned to a group of young men gathered at the inn, and asked: “Who will volunteer?” “I will,” said Rand, and with that, he entered American military history. It wasn’t until years later that a congressional investigation brought the significance of those simple words to light. Among the musty archives of the Bureau of Statistics in Albany was found the original muster roll. At the top of the list: Charles Rand. Eventually achieving the rank of captain, Rand earned his first promotion—as well as the oldest chronological Congressional Medal of Honor—for refusing to retreat at the Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, Virginia, on July 18, 1861. He was shot through the shoulder and then languished several weeks in a Confederate prison camp. After the war, Rand served in a noncombat position in Washington, D.C. The commission came from President Lincoln himself, who met Rand after he traveled to Washington to contest the order that he no longer serve due to war wounds. Rand spent time in Texas during the period of Reconstruction as subassistant commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. While there, he was given a Confederate colonel’s uniform to protect against the dangers of the appointment. He returned to Batavia to practice medicine from 1879 to 1889, after earning a medical degree from Georgetown University. He also established a wheel factory on Harvester Avenue in Batavia.
Upon his death in 1908, Rand was interred in Section One of Arlington National Cemetery. A plaque in his honor stands outside the Holland Land Office Museum in Batavia. Inside, visitors can view his medals and other memorabilia. Surprisingly, Rand is not Batavia’s only contribution to Civil War history. Philemon Tracy, one of the only Confederate soldiers buried north of the Mason-Dixon Line, is laid to rest in the Old Batavia Cemetery, also located on Harvester Avenue.
Kevin Fryling is a freelance writer and a native of Batavia. He is a graduate of the University at Buffalo and Geneseo State College.
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