Some of the first midshipmen to enter the Naval Academy for its opening exercises a hundred years ago rode to Annapolis behind iron engines of midget design that alternately snorted and coasted over the gently rolling countryside. Although the blithe young travelers of 1845 did not seem to suspect anything at the moment—there was a very close relationship between themselves, the little "balloon stacked" steam engines, and the newly founded "United States Naval School at Fort Severn, Annapolis."
Small as the little 20-mile an hour "iron horses" were, they were destined to break the great wilderness of America and revolutionize the fields of education, culture, war, athletics, and innumerable other human activities. It was not just a coincidence that the Naval Academy came into being just as steam was beginning to dominate the lives of men on land and sea.
On that auspicate Friday, October 10, 1845, at eleven o'clock when Commander Franklin Buchanan, in his capacity as the first Superintendent, formally opened the Naval School, the City of Annapolis (1649) was already very close to being two hundred years old. To people back in the rough-hewn hinterland Annapolis was thought of rather reverently as the "Ancient City"—and ancient it was in every respect! To the young midshipmen who had just arrived there was a lingering Puritanism that contrasted strangely with a row of old saloons, gambling houses, and smoky taverns. And, since the thought of athletic recreation had never existed either inside the newly founded Academy or the Ancient City, the taverns were to serve as the first centers of "exuberant outlet" for tyro students of steam and gunpowder.
Except for a brief reference to fencing by gun crews there is no record of organized physical training or athletic recreation from the founding of the Naval Academy to 1865, when the school returned from a wartime transfer to Newport, Rhode Island. Both Captain Mahan and Admiral Dewey, who attended the Naval Academy in its first phase prior to the Civil War, deplore the complete absence of athletics in their time and the occasional resulting outbursts of irascibility in the classrooms by day and in the smoke-filled taverns after dark.
The first flame of athletics was brought to the Naval Academy by Admiral Porter at the close of the Civil War in 1865. Almost overnight upon the appearance of the Admiral an astonishing transformation took place within the walls of the Naval Academy. Throughout the war Admiral Porter had seen men unhappy from boredom and had noted their aimless efforts to find recreation in games in which there was no one of experience to lead them. This the vigorous old seadog resolved to correct once and for all in so far as the Navy was concerned.
A most excellent account is given firsthand by Rear Admiral E. H. C. Leutze, in a quaint letter written shortly before his death. This letter, quoted herein, will preserve for future generations of midshipmen the inside story of the beginning of athletics and likewise records the names of those who played the leading role. The Admiral begins:
When I entered the Naval Academy on March 4,1863, it was at Newport, R. I. The lower classes were quartered on board the U.S.S. Constitution and Santee, and the upper classes in the old Atlantic House opposite Truro Park in the city. There was little communication between the classes. There was no athletics or sports.
In the autumn of 1865 when the Academy returned to Annapolis, there was no place for athletics and no paraphernalia, but a few who had been in school in Europe and Military Schools in this country having some instruction in Gymnastics got together and practiced some out of doors. These were Midshipmen A. B. Speyers, E. W. Very, Kossuth Niles, and myself. This was in the winter of 1866.
During the summer the Superintendent, Admiral D. D. Porter, reputed to be physically one of the most powerful officers of his time, filled in the deck of old Fort Severn as a Gymnasium. We and a few others who took an interest in Gymnastics practiced and ended by giving performances on Saturday evenings which were very popular and were attended by officers, midshipmen and civilians. This was in the winter of 1867.
We did ground and lofty tumbling, exercises on parallel and horizontal bars (including the Giant Swing), and exercises on trapezes. There were also drills with dumb-bells and Indian clubs. With some others we made pyramids and the performance was ended by a pyramid of which I was the base, Speyers and Niles mounted on my shoulders, with Very on top of them—the latter flipping off with a back somersault and the other two jumping off.
Admiral Porter also had us lift heavy weights, such as a barrel of flour from the floor to our shoulders, a very difficult feat.
In the spring of 1867, we had the first boat race, between the First and Second Classes, which the latter won. We pulled our four-oared so-called gigs, the shell boats not having arrived in time for enough practice to pull a race since they had sliding seats and spoon oars.
We used to practice on race boat crews in the early morning, going down to the Santee where we lowered our boat and then hoisted it again after practicing.
The crews pulling this race were:
1st Class 2d Class
H. G. O. Colby F. G. Drake
E. H. C. Leutze James Carlin
Alfred Craven Webster Doty
Sidney Simons (One forgotten)
E. W. Very, Cox. Chas. Cornwell, Cox.
There was also interclass baseball and old-fashioned (Rugby) football.
In the summer of 1867 after I graduated Matthew Strohm became instructor of Gymnastics.1
It should be remembered that we were younger than the present Midshipmen, the entering ages being between 14 and 18, the average age being about 16. I was 15 years and 3 months.
This to the best of my recollection after over 60 years was the starting of athletics at the Academy.
E. H. C. LEUTZE
Rear Admiral, U.S.N. (Ret.)
Admiral Porter's dynamic will was not satisfied with just starting athletics for, having rendered the "old guard" within the walls almost speechless by what they considered a most undignified state of affairs, he resolved to present his young athletes to the President of the United States and the Academic Board of Visitors. News reporters from as far away (in those days) as New York, hearing of this, made a point of being on hand. The following "on the spot" dispatch was filed for the New York Herald by means of the telegraph that had first been heard at the Naval Academy on the day it brought word of the outbreak of war only a few years before.
By way of interesting amusement, as well as combining one of the branches of the examination, a series of exercises in gymnastics, fencing and sabre practice were set apart for this evening. The gymnasium of the Academy is established in the second story of old Fort Severn. This evening a number of seats were arranged around the room for the accommodation of spectators. The Academy band was present to furnish the music. The fort was brilliantly lighted.
By half-past eight about three hundred persons had already assembled to witness the performances. At nine o'clock the President arrived bringing Mrs. Admiral Porter and the Admiral with Mrs. Grant; Messrs. Stuart Hawley, Chittenten, Albert, and Humphreys, of the Board of Visitors, were also present. The exercises began immediately upon the arrival of the President. They would have competed favorably with the finest exhibitions of the kind given to the public by the "professionals." On the horizontal bar and rings a number of new and curious scenes were witnessed. The bayonet exercise was a model of expertness. The boxing was in imitation of a highly scientific prize fight and was greatly enjoyed by the President, who laughed heartily at the grotesque attitudes and amusing dodges resorted to in order to escape "punishment." The closing scene, the trapeze act, was a masterly piece of exercise performed by Midshipmen Niles and Birney. These gentlemen were conceded to be the best gymnasts at the institution. This branch was under Matthew Strohm, who led the different acts in gymnastics. By a little past ten the performances were over. The band struck up a waltz, which set a score of couples to whirling in the dance.
Perhaps unwittingly the early reporter captured for some future painter of naval murals a wonderful scene in the founding of athletics at the Naval Academy: stocky President Grant, one of History's first generals to command a million fighting men; Admiral Porter, ex-midshipman in the Mexican Navy, who later ran the Vickburg batteries to open communication with General Grant. These two great figures in the setting of old Fort Severn sponsoring teen-age boys in an athletic program, which despite later difficulties, was given the strength to prosper and become a part of the life of every midshipman from that day on.
Almost unnoticed at the time—but deeply inspired by Admiral Porter's development of athletics at the Naval Academy—was Midshipman Robert M. Thompson, class of '68. Although young Thompson resigned from the Navy soon after graduation, his love for the Navy remained one of the guiding forces of his life. As president of the Orford Copper Company he became wealthy and thereby was able to support athletics at the Academy with a lavish hand for nearly half a century. In the very beginning he accepted athletic inspiration directly from the stout hands of Admiral Porter, in 1865, after which he carried the banner unfailingly to the day of his death in 1930. Along with so many other things Colonel Thompson is credited with having attended fifty-five graduation exercises at the Naval Academy.
Following the days of Admiral Porter and up to the first game of American football in 1882, the athletic situation might be compared to the tide on an inland lake. In this period things remained pretty much as they were with a slight ebb and flow but never a vigorous surge to disturb the routine of life along the shoreline.
The class of 1870 which numbered 68 members has been given credit as the first truly athletic class. Their impulse, of course, came from and represented the era of Admiral Porter.
In 1877 Navy rowed a race against the University of Pennsylvania and lost. This was followed by an unprecedented gale and rise of the Severn River that destroyed the boathouse and fifteen shells. This ended crew for more than a decade.
Mr. Casper Whitney (the Grantland Rice of the nineteenth century) sums up passing of the athletic doldrums at Annapolis in this brief manner:
The year '78 was not a very brilliant athletic one at Annapolis. Baseball had lost its interest to a very great extent though still played, and the life had gone out of the boating men. But in '79 there came an awakening in the introduction of football, and the first match played at the Academy under association rules was against the Baltimore Athletic Club in the autumn of the same year.
Upon the mere mention of football an entirely new and expanding vista is presented. Football, the immortal Phoenix of athletics, came to the Naval Academy possessing the power to rise each fall with youthful freshness from its own burned-out ashes of the year before. Not even an Academic Board entrenched in granite could have withstood the strife and strangulation visited upon football down through the years. Somehow with every assault the pigskin game became tougher—régimes came and went—but football which had moved right into the hearts of the midshipmen became as much a part of the Naval Academy as the keystone that marks the founding of the institution.
At this juncture an opportunity is afforded to present a strange parallel in the athletic history (or absence thereof) at West Point and Annapolis. First there is Abner Doubleday who invented baseball in 1839 from the sand-lot game of "Four Old Cat." After inventing, naming, and playing in the first baseball game in world history, young Abner lost no time entering West Point as an everyday Plebe. Despite all this, the Army of that period didn't even flicker an eyelash—neither did Doubleday—nothing was changed—formality, stiff bracing and parades went on and on for years after. In actual fact, when a Naval Academy Practice Squadron visited West Point as late as the summer of 1868 and challenged the "Pointers" to a game of baseball, the cadets were very much embarrassed in having no equipment and in knowing absolutely nothing about the game.
Doubleday graduated in 1842—years later finding himself just before the historic dawn of April 12, 1861, firing the first shot in the defense of Fort Sumter and the Union. It might even be said that it was the news of this shot flashed to Annapolis as one of the first messages by telegraph that hurried the midshipmen aboard the U.S.S. Constitution and off to a wartime sojourn at Newport, Rhode Island.
In the case of football the Naval Academy in George S. Willits, class of 1875, offers somewhat of a parallel to Doubleday. In 1869 Willits, while prepping for the Naval Academy at Rutgers, played in the first collegiate football game in world history on November 6 of that year. The game was won by Rutgers, 6-4 goals for Princeton. Soon after this Willits entered the Naval Academy, graduating in 1875. But not for a moment of his entire time as a midshipman was anything done by Willits or others to establish the game within the walls of Annapolis. Willits served long and faithfully in the Navy, retiring in 1915 as a rear admiral. Thus, if it be summed up, Army received a player from the first baseball game on record and Navy did likewise in college football, yet neither the men concerned nor the service schools took advantage of the opportunity to score a first in either of these two leading sports.
A very brief summary of the development of football indicates that the game and the Naval Academy are about equal in age. In 1823 some Rugby boys were engaged in a game at Bigside, England. The school bell was near the stroke of five—an hour which marked the instant end of all games. The score was locked 0-0 when suddenly in a desperate effort to break the tie William Webb Ellis picked up a dribbled ball, tucked it under his arm and streaked off for the opponent's goal. This, of course, was loudly protested and a great discussion broke out. In the end the boys came to the decision that they liked the idea, whereupon "carrying the ball" came into existence. From this single change, however, no one would have recognized any closeness to the game of today.
In 1845, just as the Naval Academy was being founded, the boys of Eton hit upon the "Wall Game." This consisted in bouncing a football against the school wall and then "scrimmaging" for its possession. The size of the area after the ball came off the wall limited the game to eleven players—but of course that made only one team. Out of this grew the field game played by eleven men on each side, which they moved to an area 150 yards long and 100 yards wide with upright goals at each end connected with a crossbar. In this form there is not an alert boy alive, who if in passing by would not have put down his market basket on the slightest invitation and joined the ball in its adventurous course up and down the field.
The first regular steamship lines between Europe and America were almost contemporary with the Academy, but despite the invention of "scrimmage" in 1845 it was almost thirty years later (1873) before a team of Etonians visited America and played a field game against Yale—using mixed English and American rules of the day but bringing to these shores the necessary ideas for shaping up the grandfather of football as we know it today. Likewise, Goodyear discovered how to cure rubber in 1844 but a number of years elapsed before rubber was used for a bladder in a football.
The actual beginning of "football" at the Naval Academy is described by W. J. Maxwell '80 and its development is strikingly like the somewhat earlier progress in England. In his original account Captain Maxwell states:
In the autumn of 1878 J. H. Robinson, of the class of 1879, led us into an interest in the type of football practice as we knew it to be under the early "Association" or Soccer rules. To keep limbered up for baseball a game of "hands off" was organized which meant the use of the foot alone to keep the ball in play. There was no organization and no opposing team to play with any individual was free to join in the game. Usually the gang would carry by this method from the "Old Quarters" in front of "Stribling Row" to the then "New Quarters" until the call for Mess Formation sounded and later we would carry the ball back to the "Old Quarters" and keep the ball in play until Study Call sounded.2
Captain Maxwell continues:
"Hands-off" was kept on as an amusement until I returned to the Naval Academy after a short leave in the summer of '79. . . . I took a steamer to Baltimore and there met Tunstall Smith and Henry [I think] Woods, who had played football at Rugby and Eton. Both of them had played at Oxford and Cambridge and Smith had been captain of his team at Eton and Oxford. When we parted at Baltimore [after a bit of bragging, I suppose] we all agreed to try to get up teams to play against each other, representing the Naval Academy and All-College men.. . . [Later] I learned that T. Smith had made up a team whose average weight was about 10 pounds in excess of our team. All were experienced football men from college teams (all graduates) so it was necessary to offset the weight handicap before we came together. By authority our men went out to "Bellis" the tailor and he made us sleeveless jackets of canvas laced in front and drawn tight to fit the body. [Walter Camp said I invented it, but I did not know there was anything original in the idea. All I knew was that wet canvas from sweat or water was mighty slippery to hold on to. I had learned that from furling sail especially in cold weather.]
We had the approval and encouragement of officers and faculty, especially Lieut.-Commander M. R. Mackenzie ('67) popularly known as "Bull" and also Sumner Paine ('69).3
We practiced after drill hours and meals and from one-half to an hour before reveille in order to gain time. We were not excused so far as I can recall from any exercises, but were permitted to have a late supper and were excused from attendance at Supper Formation.
Apparently there seems to be a flame of inspiration in pioneering that does not continue after the initial impulse. As was the case with earlier crews and more recently in other sports, the midshipmen involved were up on their own before reveille and likewise gave generously from their very limited financial resources—both very difficult things to do throughout an entire season.
The Navy's first contest of "football" ended in a no score tie to which Captain Maxwell penned the following last words: "Those of the Battalion of Midshipmen who were generous enough to contribute to any expense required met all outlay called for and no debts were left unpaid when we disbanded."
Admiral Hugh Rodman who participated in this game recalls that it was played in the Superintendent's cow pasture. The game was one of tightly laced Navy jackets against jerseys worn by the visitors, a distinction that gave the Navy a decided advantage.
Captain Maxwell's first "football" game of 1879 has caused considerable controversy during the past half century. There are some who date Navy's first football from 1882 when "American" football rather than "Soccer" was played. But there is glory enough for all and without taking sides it is apparent from a long-range view that the '79-ers were the ones who revived the spirit of competition that was dying out during the middle seventies. In addition, they left their distinctive type of uniform, emphasized the need of financial and co-operative support from the Regiment and paved the way with the authorities for future games.
In 1882 somewhat in the form of the old athletic carnivals of the late sixties, the midshipmen arranged a football game with the Clifton Club of Baltimore. Actually the name "Clifton Club" was a playful alias for Johns Hopkins because "the sly university boys took the name of Clifton just for the fun of it." The game was scheduled for 10:30 A.M., November 28, 1882 (Thanksgiving morning). When the midshipmen awoke that cold morning they found that a snowstorm during the night had covered everything. Their agreement stated that the game was to be played only if fair weather prevailed. However, Navy's team had earned Regimental backing so all hands turned to clearing the field and piling up snow along the sidelines.
Navy's team captain J. A. Jackson '83 won the toss and promptly at 10.30 kicked-off to Thomas of Hopkins who returned the ball for a slight gain. This historic kick started football on an unbroken series of games extending to the present day.
The published but brief account of this game has only recently been found and because it is old, brittle, and difficult to obtain, a few details are included herein to be preserved for future generations of football players. Navy, averaging about 150 pounds, was approximately 10 pounds heavier than the visitors from Hopkins. After receiving the kickoff Hopkins was unable to gain with the result that most of their effort was expended keeping the Midshipmen away from their goal.
During the first half (45 minutes) the ball was accidentally kicked over the sea wall and had to be recovered by boat before the game could continue.
The first of a long line of historic touchdowns made by Navy came in the second half of the 1882 game. It was made by "Tommy" Street at the end of a long drive. Navy missed the conversion. The game ended with two touchdowns for Navy to none for the visitors. In those days a touchdown was worth four points—so the long lost score, never before authentically listed in the records, was Navy 8, Hopkins 0.
Stimulated by this first game of American football, the same midshipmen who had shoveled snow to clear the field immediately and on their own initiative formed an athletic association with dues at fifty cents.
Some day a plaque may be thought of for these pioneer players—perhaps in, 1982 on the hundredth anniversary of Navy football. For that reason the line-up with a note or two is included herein:
Clifton (Johns Hopkins)
B. F. O'Connor (Capt.)
H. Reid
L. Huggins
C. Frick
C. Howard
B. T. Roberts
W. B. Canfield
L. Stevens
J. Page
H. Thomas
J. Pleasants
Umpire: J. Hinckley
Navy
J. A. Jackson '84 (Capt.)
E. W. Tilden
F. Parker
J. W. Kittrell '85
T. S. O'Leary '83
T. V. Toney '83
F. K. Hill '84
G. W. Street '83
W. A. Malley '85
V. Carter '84
J. M. Dashiell
Umpire: A. McLane4 48
Despite many trials, football at the Academy progressed slowly through the eighties. On Christmas Day, 1889, the Navy played its first football game away from the home grounds. This game was at Capitol Park, Washington, against a picked group of former college players. An old news account states that,
blood began to flow within the first five minutes and throughout the game there was considerable trouble. Before the end of the game there was a regular scrapping match. The contest was the roughest yet seen here, though there were no serious casualties and was also the best played. The Washingtons were heavier than their opponents but the cadets were strong and in fine shape. When time was called the turnstile count showed 1,100 people within the grounds. There was quite a gathering of ladies in the grand stand while about a dozen carriages in the field held fair friends of the cadets. The weather was excellent, being just warm enough for comfort and the grounds were in good shape.
As Navy neared the Washington goal slugging began in earnest and rivulets of blood were running down Catlin's face. During half time out the cadets sought the shelter of their friends and blushed deeply at the encomiums of their lady friends.
The little matter of slugging in these games is a special point of interest. In part it may be summed up in the comment of an early reporter that " . . . the fair ones have become deeply interested in a manly game."
It must be remembered too that the public encouraged "slugging" by indirection. Whenever a game slowed down a player who hadn't been recognized to any extent for his football ability could always raise a cheer from the stands if he stood up and took a healthy swing at one of the opponents. In the be ginning, emphasis was on roughness rather than skill.
There is a brief item in the old news files of 1889 that would not be included in accounts of today. Since it preserves much of the early color of football part of it is quoted:
Navy vs. Virginia—The result of the game was a great surprise to the university men, who, trusting in the statements of the Lehigh team, brought about six hundred dollars for betting purposes. They succeeded remarkably well in getting a great part of this amount put up, and now belong to the great army of men who by similar investments have become both sadder and wiser. Final score: Navy 26, Univ. of Virginia, 6.
Another news story of 1889, brief, pointed, and probably masking considerable betting, runs this way:
First inning—St. John's made two touchdowns and a goal, ten points.
Second inning—Cadets (Navy) made four touchdowns and two goals, twenty points.
The St. Johns took their defeat hard.
In the first athletic period from 1865 to 1890 the idea of varsity competition took root and by 1889 the first game off home grounds had been played. Athletic insignia, however, such as the N were not awarded until the first Army-Navy game of 1890.
The first Army-Navy game provided something entirely new in the lives of everyone at West Point and Annapolis. Heralded at the time as "a test of athletic strength between the two Academies," the game furnished an endless number of items for intimate conversation in mess halls, clubs, and barracks. Furthermore, it generated an immense amount of "strategic" thinking on the Hudson and along the banks of the Severn. Many who had never seen a game before soon came forth with an array of field maneuvers that would have done credit to a Balkan war. One reason for this, perhaps, resulted from the fact that at one point in the game Navy faked a kick and then ran with the ball—a play so completely new to the Cadets playing their first year of football, that they considered protesting to the umpire.
In the first game Navy went to West Point with the colors Red and White. There has always been unusual interest in the reason why these particular colors were first used by the Navy. Perhaps one clue to the matter of colors might be derived from the earlier practice of distinguishing crews at Annapolis—those of even years wearing blue and the odds wearing red. Although the first Army-Navy game was played in 1890, an even year, the leading players were '91, an odd year—and therefore their colors would have been red on the white canvas uniforms.
Almost equally as much speculation has been centered on final adoption of Navy Blue and Gold. From the firsthand minutes of a meeting of a committee headed by Lieutenant R. R. Ingersoll, U. S. Navy, held on February 27, 1892, the following should provide substantial evidence for later generations:
Lieutenant Ingersoll reported favorable results of a conference with Cadets (Midshipmen) . . . and probability of adoption of Navy Blue and Old Gold as Academy Colors.
A question mark appears over "Old" and the word is scratched out showing that a discussion took place and final decision was reached by the members present in favor of "Navy Blue and Gold."
Additional facts indicate that the question of settling upon colors resulted from a desire to present silk banners to winning teams. It is known that a Princeton banner of 1889 was offered as an example. This was black with gold letters, football braid and tassels, costing $75—an important sum in those days. It is barely possible that substituting Navy Blue for the Princeton Black may have resulted in the final "Navy Blue and Gold."
Another speculative controversy to be ironed out on this Hundredth Anniversary and settled at once for future generations of midshipmen relates to the origin of the goat as a Navy mascot. The Navy team on its way by train to West Point in 1890 chanced to mention "Handsome Dan," the Yale mascot bulldog. Thinking in terms of "good luck," some of the players resolved to find some sort of comparable mascot for the impending game. As a result they came upon a tough old goat grazing near the quarters of a "non-corn" on the West Point reservation. This capricious ruminant was immediately pressed into service. However, later games were played in which other types of mascots were used—evidence that the goat family had not yet come into its own.
Quite a different reason for the "Navy-Goat" alliance might be worked out from the following evidence. In June, 1888, Rear Admiral S. B. Luce anchored his North Atlantic Squadron off the Naval Academy and for the first time opened his ships to visitors attending June Week exercises (Baltimore Sun, June 5, 1888). As a result a keen inter-fleet rivalry in goats developed, best understood by factual news quotations of the day. The fact that this information appears in the papers of the late F. Buchanan Sullivan '90, specially marked, adds some little additional emphasis to the version.
There was considerable merriment occasioned today on board the Richmond by the arrival of a goat, who is hereafter to be one of the flagship's crew. His admission is charged to Rear Admiral Luce, who, it was rumored about the ship's coppers, was envious of a similar animal on board the Galena. Commander Colby M. Chester, of the last named vessel, has a goat who goes with every landing party from his ship. "Billy" made a great display at Pensacola and Port Royal by his martial bearing and the grotesque character of his make-up of streamers. It is alleged that his strategy at the attack on Pensacola by the naval brigade gave the Galena the honor of first scaling Magnolia Bluffs by butting one of the crew so hard that he sent him to the summit like a whiff.
Four years after the above situation, Commander C. M. Chester, in his new capacity as President of the Naval Academy Auxiliary Athletic Association, and Commandant of Midshipmen, was in a position to sponsor the goat as an excellent type of mascot for the Navy. At any rate, in the absence of other information, it seems probable that "Bill Galena of Magnolia Bluffs" is the true patriarch of Navy mascots rather than the "non-com" goat borrowed from West Point.
Never since the first half of the nineties has there been such intensive athletic development and enthusiasm at the Naval Academy. During cold winter nights nearly the entire faculty, headed by the Commandant of Midshipmen, assembled before the fireplace in the old officers club to plan athletics—often well into the small hours of the morning. New strategy, inventions, photography, written records, plaques, and scores of other things reached an all-time peak. The very life and language of the Naval Academy became charged with competitive action. This in turn was carried into the Fleet, developing into the present-day form of combat in which admirals refer to "First and Second Teams. . . the One-two-punch . . . end runs . . . forward pass to a touchdown . . . score, one flat-top to zero!"
The hard athletic struggle at Annapolis from its beginning in 1865 to the early nineties, and the beginning of Army competitions in 1890, is given its true perspective by General Palmer in these words (A—N Football Program, 1943) "Our football songs and cheers sounded the death knell of the Old West Point with its narrow monastic life and brought the Military Academy into contact with the modern world."
The modern period of athletics at the Academy takes its date from the beginning of the twentieth century. In behalf of those who helped make the excellent athletic records for the Naval Academy in recent years, the different branches of sport from 1901 follow in separate but brief paragraphs in an effort to bring them up to the Hundredth Anniversary year of 1945.
Baseball.—The first Army-Navy meeting was at West Point in 1901. The highlights in this game came in the 3d inning when, with the bases full, Hobson (Army) hit a long fly scoring MacArthur from third—on the poor relay to home Phipps also scored. Herr followed with a single for Army's third. The game ended Army 4, Navy 3. The MacArthur mentioned was a left fielder. Of all those in the line-up he is probably the only one still on active duty today, 44 years later—General Douglas MacArthur, U. S. Army.
Navy's best period in baseball was immediately after World War I. In 1919 the midshipmen won their first service game in eleven years, 10-6. In 1920 the West Pointers made 11 errors—Navy matched this with 11 runs making that game 11-1. After many periods of vitality and decline baseball in 1945 appears to be on firm ground and increasingly popular with the midshipmen.
Boxing.—Admiral Porter started this activity about 1866 by personally donning the gloves in a good natured gesture and offering to step into the ring with any passing midshipman of the period.
In 1920 boxing became an intercollegiate sport at Annapolis. In April, 1941, the sport was discontinued on a varsity basis, but remained as a vigorous intramural activity. The reasons given for this change were that the sport was becoming so highly specialized in some colleges that the average midshipman interested in participating was hopelessly outclassed.
Basketball.—This sport continues to prosper in the Armory where it has been ever since the first game in 1907. Undoubtedly 1933 marked the brightest spot in this sport—for one thing Midshipman C. E. Loughlin '33 scored more points than the entire Army team in the game of that year in Navy's victory of 51-24.
Crew.—From the first 8-oared shell in 1893 down to the present time, Navy's final victory over England in 1920 for the World's Olympic Championship marks the crowning achievement.
Fencing.—In 1939 this sport opened by winning the individual Intercollegiate Championships held in New York during the Christmas holidays—then rounded out the season by winning the Pentagonals and the Intercollegiates, gaining 6 trophies, 19 gold medals, 22 silver medals, and several gold statues. There have been other outstanding seasons but 1939 is hard to match. Fencing is the oldest of all sports at the Naval Academy.
Football.—In 1910 the Navy fielded a team that has never received the full recognition it deserves for an unusual season—the only one of its kind in Navy annals—a nine game schedule without being scored upon. In return Navy rolled up 99 points for the season including a 3-0 victory over Army.
Among all the sports, the records of football contain the supreme moment of thrill in Navy athletics during all the years up to 1945. This moment centers in the 1926 Army-Navy football game in Chicago. The two service schools had been invited to play in the west to dedicate Soldier Field in honor of Americans who participated and fell in World War I. The entire Corps of Cadets from West Point and the Regiment of Midshipmen from Annapolis made the trip in special trains—in addition over 100,000 spectators were on hand in the stands of Soldier Field.
Near the end of the game, in the first gloom of evening on the snow-covered field, Army was leading 21-14. Navy, despite a hard season, was undefeated and therefore if the midshipmen could in some miraculous way retrieve the game and stave off defeat, the National Championship in football would be their award.
A huddle was held after which Tom Hamilton '27 and Alan Shapley '27 led Navy in a drive to a third touchdown making the score Army 21 Navy 20. Previously Army had made three perfect conversions and Navy two—making a total of 5 with none missed. The probability of making a sixth was stretching Lady Luck's indulgence to the breaking point—but upon the conversion rested Navy's last chance against defeat.
The vast throng in the stadium grew tense as Tom Hamilton, a tired figure in the early evening darkness, drove his toe into the ball to send it on its way to the goal posts—there was an awed moment—the most dramatic in Navy history—and then with a great roar the spell was broken—the ball had sailed between the goal posts for a safe conversion making the final score for the day 21-21, enabling Navy to close its greatest football season undefeated!
Gymnastics.—Started as an intramural sport by Admiral Porter, Navy had its best varsity run from the years 1920 to 1925, winning the Intercollegiate Championship every winter of that period.
Golf.—In the spring of 1934 this sport was revived and placed on a varsity basis. It is now on a dual meet schedule and one of the branches in Army—Navy competitions.
Lacrosse.—In 1908 the midshipmen started lacrosse with their tongues in their cheeks. The game had many "intricacies" and at first had to be developed almost entirely through the efforts of one or two players who had had some previous knowledge of the game. Lacking official backing at first, the new sport was introduced to provide an active outlet for midshipmen not in the football group engaged in spring training. After a year or two of persistent promotion, lacrosse caught on and has been gaining momentum ever since then. In the spring of 1945 Navy was awarded the Eastern Intercollegiate trophy jointly with Army.
Rifle (Small Bore & Pistol).—This family of weapons now competes as do the other sports—and team members receive athletic awards for their season's work. On May 28, 1904, rifle became a varsity sport in an opening meet against the Maryland National Guard. There have been many high marks in this sport—probably one of the most difficult to top being a gold medal and a Presidential letter of award to Midshipman Harold T. Smith, '09 for winning in 1907 the Military Championship of the United States—for which title a shot must make the highest total for the President's match and the National Individual Match combined.
Soccer.—One of the most international of all sports. Revived in 1921 from earlier efforts in the 1913-15 period, the Navy in 1945 was named as the outstanding collegiate soccer team of the Nation.
Swimming.—Became a varsity sport in 1911, as soon as a suitable pool was available. The finest performance in this sport came in 1924 when Navy won the National Collegiate Championship at Chicago.
Water Polo.—Established in 1920—discontinued after the 1937 season due to dropping of the sport in most colleges. In 1930 Navy developed the greatest college team ever to play water polo.
Wrestling.—Placed on a varsity basis in 1909. One of the best years among many others was 1943 during which Navy won 5 individual intercollegiate weights out of a possible 8.
Track (including Cross-Country).—Became a modern varsity activity in 1904. Unquestionably this sport reached its peak in 1945 when the Naval Academy won the National Collegiate Championship, the ICAAAA Outdoor Championship, and the Heptagonal Games, all in the same year. Likewise, the Cross-Country squad in the fall of 1944 earned both the individual ICAAAA Championship and the team championship as well.
Tennis.—Became a varsity sport in 1909. One of the most outstanding performances was the 8-1 victory over Army in 1943.
The Naval Academy has a clean, proud, and manly code of athletics to hold up to the world for the period beginning with Admiral Porter and through 1945. This code was first put into writing on December 9, 1891, and in it can be found the guiding hand of Colonel Robert M. Thompson '68, whose untiring efforts led to the founding of the Navy Athletic Association—and who also was largely responsible for financing all athletics until the Navy Athletic Association grew strong enough to take over the burden. The 1891 code which has lighted the way for Navy athletes ever since states:
The widespread and increasing interest in Athletics as shown by the existence of numerous prosperous clubs with large memberships in all the great cities of the Country together with the establishment of Departments of Physical Training at the great centers of learning, is a sure manifestation that whatever action may be taken in the Naval Service and at the Academy in the interest of Athletics is a step in the right direction.
Aside from the laudable desire to have our representatives successful in Athletic Contests there are many other reasons why we should use whatever influence we may possess to further the interest already existing in Athletic Sports and to do what we can to make such sports popular.
Among the manly qualities which are increased if not induced by Athletics may be mentioned sobriety, activity of mind and body, self-control, self-reliance, health, strength, common sense, and esprit de corps to a marked degree.
That all these qualities are desirable in the make-up of a Naval Officer your Committee sincerely believes, and with this conviction strongly impressed, has the honor to submit the following as the basis upon which this Association should be organized . . . Constitution, etc. . . .
R. R. INGERSOLL
JOHN M. HAWLEY
G. A. MERRIAM
In his several talks and correspondence leading up to the founding of the Navy Athletic Association (Auxiliary in its beginning) Colonel Thompson sounded the keynote that found its way into the hearts of the committee that wrote the Association's spirit in athletics. Later, by generous financial aid and a fatherly guidance Colonel Thompson set the course until his death on September 5, 1930, at Ticonderoga, New York.
In the fullness of Navy's present-day athletic program 2,346 athletic contests were held during the 1945 season. Of these 252 were varsity and plebe meets and 2,094 in the intramural (Sports Program) branch.
And finally, with the passing of a hundred years, what of those little, hard-puffing locomotives that brought transportation through the wilderness to the newly founded Naval Academy of 1845? Apparently they have grown to full stature because last year 4,616 athletes visited the Naval Academy for scheduled athletic competitions. This number in no way takes into account the many thousands of others who turned up as spectators on Saturdays to attend athletic competitions. In fact, the railroads handle more athletic spectators in one week-end than there have been officers graduated from the Naval Academy in its entire hundred years. Today, by means of streamlined giants of the rails, driven by electricity, steam, or Diesel engine power—the Nation's most powerful army is being moved across America. But such comparatively small power units mean little to the incoming midshipmen of 1945—they have "larger fish to fry"—for example, the power plants of 50,000-ton battleships, giant flying boats like the Super-Mars and in addition—winning better than half of nearly 5,000 athletic contests in a year!
Assistant Chief Instructor in Physical Training, Mr. Aamold has been compiling athletic history at the Naval Academy for over a quarter of a century. In some instances officers long retired have presented him with their original scrapbooks and papers for use and preservation in his files.
1 Matthew Strohm was the first instructor in Physical Training at the Naval Academy.
2 Like the old "five bells" of Rugby fame, the "timekeeping" was unwittingly done by the school authorities themselves.. . Mess Formation and Study Call being the signals at Annapolis.
3 Here again appears the influence of the first formative days of sport, for both of these officers had been midshipmen under Admiral Porter.
4 In the umpire services of A. McLane the Navy apparently had a former midshipman on the field who had been in attendance when the Naval Academy was founded in 1845.