mation, contract habits of bodily inactivity, lose their health, and destroy their usefulness."

The first year the faculty was composed of Captain Alden Partridge, A. M., superintendent and professor of mathematics, philosophy and military science; George P. Marsh, A. B. (who afterwards became famous as a statesman, diplomat and philologist), professor of languages; Rev. Rufus W. Bailey, A. M., chaplain and professor of ethics; E. B. Williston, professor of English; John M. Partridge,

the Greeks and Romans, with a description of the organization and discipline of the phalanx and legion; Fencing; Military Drawing; Topography; Civil Engineering, including the construction of roads, canals, locks and bridges and architecture. Three courses of public military lectures are annually given at this institution by the superintendent, and one course on Botany, Mineralogy and Chemistry, by the professor in that department. The cadets

are required to dress in uniform."

No specific time for completing the course was required, but each student was allowed to advance as rapidly as possible. It usually took from one to

professor of practical geometry, topography and acting sword master.

The course of study compared favorably with the colleges of that time, and also gave special attention to military subjects, as is shown by the following from the prospectus:

"The Law of Nations; Military Law; the Constitution of the United States, and of the States severally; Metaphysics; Agriculture; Permanent and Field Fortification; Field Engineering, generally; the Construction of Marine Batteries; Artillery duty; the Principles of Gunnery; a complete course of Military Tactics; the attack and defence of fortified places; the Ancient Tactics, particularly those

of

six years to be graduated, and receive the diploma of the academy. The first class entered September 4, 1820, and numbered one hundred students. The academy soon became very popular and its halls were filled with the scions of the most prominent families of the country. The attendance for 1821-22 was increased to one hundred and forty, and several members were added to the faculty. "The roster at this period shows enrolments from all parts of this country, many from the South, one hundred and fifty coming from South Carolina alone; and thus the sturdy sons of

MAJOR-GENERAL GRENVILLE M. DODGE.

New England touched elbows with the budding chivalry of the South."

The Vermont Gazetteer, published in 1824, said of this institution:

"This seminary is under the immediate superintendence and principal instruction of Captain Alden Partridge, a man distinguished for his military, scientific and literary requirements; and its success is without parallel in our country."

One of the characteristic features of Captain Partridge's system of instruction and discipline was the military marches and pedestrian excursions for scientific and recreative purposes, conducted under his personal command or in his company. "A Journal of an Excursion by the Corps of Cadets," by Joseph Dana Allen, '25, who afterwards became a famous civil engineer, tells of a march made from Norwich to Ticonderoga, Burlington, and return. In December, 1826, a detachment of cadets marched to Poughkeepsie, where they took a boat for West Point, and engaged in a competitive drill with the cadets of the National Academy. They then proceeded by the way of New York City,

Philadelphia and Baltimore to Washington, where they were reviewed by President John Quincy Adams.

"In 1824 the citizens of Middletown, Connecticut, made a liberal subscription to secure the location of a college, about to be established in that state under Episcopal auspices. Failing in this object by the location. of this institution at Hartford, where it still exists under the name of Trinity College, they invited Captain Partridge to remove his academy to that city, and offered to erect and place at his disposal suitable buildings for his accommodation. The offer was accepted, and on the first of April, 1825, the institution at Norwich was closed. On August 22 the new school (but under the old name) was opened at Middletown, with an attendance of two hundred and ninety-seven students, representing every state and territory in the Union, as well as the British Provinces, several of the South American states, and the West Indies."

This attendance shows conclusively that the military and scientific element, together with an optional or elective course of study and a term of residence limited by the ability of the student to complete the course, met a want not provided for in the exist

EDWARD B. WILLISTON.

In 1838 he called a convention of military officers and patriotic citizens interested in giving greater efficiency to the militia throughout the country. "This convention met at Norwich on July 4, and continued to meet annually for several years to discuss plans for the organization and discipline of the militia, for the dissemination of a knowledge of military science, for the defence of the coast, etc. Many reports of this body were drawn up by him, and the proceedings were printed, by order of the United States government." His reputation as a military man had become national at this time, and he was con

stantly receiving requests from influential citizens in all parts of the country to establish military schools, to act as camp instructor, or to lecture on military subjects.

In 1839, at the request of the Virginia Legislature, he organized a military school at Portsmouth, in that state, which was known for many years as the Virginia Literary, Scientific and Military Institute. The success of this institution and of one at Lexington, and the personal influence of many of his former pupils at Norwich and Middletown, led to the establishment of similar schools in other states, among them being one

at Brandywine Springs, in the state of Delaware, in 1853.

In May, 1842, Captain Partridge was camp instructor for a large body of officers and men of the Pennsylvania volunteer militia. He it was who conceived the idea of taking an advanced class of military and scientific students to Europe to study the strategy of the great battles of the world, and the armies, armories and resources of the great nations of Europe. Returning to Norwich at the close of the year 1853 to mature the plan for the

deeply mourned by troops of friends, who loved him as their teacher, and looked up to him as the great expounder of the true principles of military science, education and national defence.' Captain Partridge died rich in good works. He had done more in his day and generation to promote the true, patriotic military spirit and scientific education than any other man. His ideas and institutions, being founded upon truth, lived after him and will ever live, so long as popular government exists. Most notable among his achievements stands Norwich University, which, though having passed through many vicissitudes, has ever been true to the ideal of its founder in furnishing to our country the best type of citizenship, the citizen soldier, the citizen equipped for the emergencies of both war and peace.

In 1843, Captain Partridge had been succeeded in the presidency of the university by General Truman B. Ransom, who had graduated from the institution in 1825, and had, since its incorporation, been its vice-president and professor of natural philosophy and engineering. General Ransom had received his military title from the state of Vermont, where he had reorganized the militia, and was its major general from 1837 to 1844. He was a true soldier of the Partridge type, and under his guidance

the institution flourished. In May, 1846, General Ransom took the cadets on a march through New Hampshire and Massachusetts to Boston, where they camped on the Common, thus carrying forward founder's

the

idea of extended marches.

On the breaking out of the Mexican War, General Ransom

resigned the

presidency of the university to become lieutenant colonel of the New England regiment, of which Franklin Pierce, then an active trustee, became colonel; and into the line and staff of this regiment went many of the cadets of Norwich University to follow the flag to the wars. Promotion came to Colonel Pierce, and Ransom became colonel, and lost his life at the head of his regiment at the storming of Chapultepec.

General Ransom was a strict disciplinarian and a brave and gallant soldier, in every way worthy of emulation. He was universally regarded