B’hoy was an imitation of the Irish speech in New York City, and Ellsworth wanted to create a Zouave Brigade composed entirely of New York City firemen. By imitating their speech—at least on occasion—and by inspiring them to join the Union cause, Ellsworth performed a great service for the North. He made military service fashionable.

On arriving in New York City, Ellsworth declared his intention to enlist 1,000 men. He had that number within a single day. The New York firemen were volunteers, aggressive men, and natural brawlers. Some people criticized the Zouaves on first sight, and quite a few historians single them out for negative treatment: their poor fighting at the Battle of Bull Run earned them a lot of disparaging comments. But in the early days and weeks of the war, there was nothing more exciting than a Zouave, and of them, the New York Fire Zouaves were the best of all.