Posted on Friday, May 13th, 2011 by Veronica Martzahl
Smithsonian.com recently put out a contest where you can vote for who had the best facial hair of the Civil War. This light-hearted look at male grooming habits of 150 years ago got me thinking of all the crazy hair pictures DCA has in the Tufts Digital Library. However, a search for period appropriate beards and sideburns quickly brought me to a more poignant image: Brigadier General Horatio Bisbee, Tufts' Class of 1863 and the first Tufts volunteer in the Union Army.
Bisbee was enrolled at Tufts College at the start of the war. He left school in 1861 to join the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment. Following his service, he returned to Tufts and graduated in 1863.
