Union College - Garnet Yearbook (Schenectady, NY)

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ABS -Xq THE first professor at Union College was Colonel John Taylor, a veteran of the Rev- olutionary Wfar who had served on Wasliington's staff. You may see his picture hanging in the dining hall of Hale House. He is our chief touch with the Amer- ican Revolution, though it was the victory at Saratoga which led the inhabitants of this frontier community to start their petitions for a college, that their sons might be prepared to take their place in the new nation which that victory seemed to assure. Preparation f o r war has played a small part in the life of Union. Professor Isaac W. Jackson had his cadets in the 1830's and thus was known as Captain jack. Professor Elias Peissner organized and trained the Union College Zou- aves at the beginning of the Civil War, Docfor C. N. Waldron land Heidil presenf Secrefary of fhe Graduafe Council and former Secrefary of fhe College. one of fhe mosf respecfed and od- mired figures in fhe hisfory of Union,

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L'b Y-memorial fo Elipha- 'ef NOW. fhe famous educafor mvenfor. Presidenf of and many of them served as officers in that great struggle. In the 1870's and 80's the War Department maintained a military unit here, of which Captain Thomas Ward and Major J. W. MacMurray were the resident officers. During World War I we organized an ROTC unit prior to the Student Army Training Corps, which succeeded it in most colleges. While the military spirit did not flourish in times of peace, Union men have responded promptly to the call to arms when the country was in danger. In the War of 1812, in spite of the youth of the College and its small numbers, 50 men enlisted. The Mexican War was unpopular in the North and only 31 of our alumni are found on its rolls, but in the war between the States, alumni of this college to the number of 577 served either in blue or gray. The Spanish War of 1898 was of so brief duration that only 49 Union men were enlisted. In the first World War there were 880, and the names of those who gave their lives are inscribed in the chancel of our Memorial Chapel. In this, the present struggle, we have record of 1756 sons of Union known to us to be in uniform. The list is still incomplete, for we are adding to it daily. Such is the war record of a civilian college. As mght be expected, few of these men have attained high military rank, though in the Civil War, which lasted so long and was fought so largely by amateurs, a number became brig- adier generals and major generals. One of these, Major General Daniel Butter- held of the class of 1849, is more famous for composing Taps than for his military achievements. Henry W. Halleck, class of 1837, and a graduate of West Point, was for two years commander--in-chief of all the northern armies. Our ranking oflicers today are Brigadier General Leroy P. Collins, class of 1905, who entered the regular army as a private in 1904, and Brigadier General john H. Gardner, class of 1915, who was commissioned during the First World Wir, and has remained in the army. With a few such exceptions, the war role of the alumnus of a civilian col- lege is clearly in his spirit and in the resourcefulness which he brings to the military life from his everyday experience. That was the spirit of Roger Allen, Class Of 1945, who lost his life last june in a bomber raid in the European war zone. He was given the opportunity to go to ofhcers' training schoolg but he was part of a bomber crew and he wanted to serve with this group which had been so welded togethei as rt fighting unit. I-le chose to go with them rather than take the offer of advancement, and his sacrifice is an example of the devotion which Union men have brought to the defense of their country in her wars. C. N. WALDRON '06 Union 1804-66.