idea of “a short war” was at first fondly indulged in; and up to June, 1861, only eleven Northerners and twelve Southerners had enlisted in their respective armies. But the outgoing stream grew ever greater, and in 1863 was augmented by the draft, which severed the connections of fifty-seven students at a single stroke. The latest, and probably the final, summary, made up in 1911,[1] shows that out of the classes from 1861 to 1868 inclusive (counting in the Lawrence Scientific School), two hundred and forty-nine men served in the army or navy on the Union side, of whom seventy-three never received their degrees. Thirty-nine undergraduates gave their lives for their country.
But we have already crossed those debatable marches that separate the quaint and the traditional from the cold accuracies of modern historical statistics, and reached ground covered by the memories of graduates by no means the oldest living.[2] The student in arms, new style, rises before us, and eclipsed by his glorious record the teller of ancient tales must hold his peace.
- ↑ F. H. Brown, “Harvard University in the War of 1861-65,” Harv. Grad. Mag, xix, 749.
- ↑ An interesting page might be written concerning the well-remembered “Harvard Rifle Corps” of 1875–78—apparently the only instance where the undergraduates drilled spontaneously, uninfluenced by public opinion or public emergency.
