Page 9 of 9
Though records are spotty, it appears that at least five Allegheny undergraduates fought for the Confederacy. Patrick Henry Beesley ’64 died wearing the gray uniform at Red Lick Church, Mississippi. James Crawford, like Beesley, refused to leave campus until May 1861. After enlistment, he rose to the rank of lieutenant and served on the staffs of both Lee and General Joseph E. Johnston; he was twice captured and exchanged. On one occasion Crawford and Lt. James M. Wells of the 111th Pennsylvania Volunteers, classmates and both members of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, encountered each other while leading skirmishing squads for the opposing sides. Each desisted from ordering fire and turned their troops from contact.42
For many years, a framed Confederate ten-dollar bill adorned the wall in the office of College President William H. Crawford. Shortly after the Confederate surrender, Allegheny Union soldiers noticed a ragged Confederate prisoner of war trudging toward Washington among other released Confederates. The P.O.W. recognized the Alleghenians as well. They had been classmates. They paused to visit, and the Union men, in the name of collegial friendship, gave their Confederate colleague cash for a train ticket home. Grateful, he in turn presented to his College friends all that he had--a worthless Confederate bill. The three saved it, and its last possessor forwarded it to the College before his death. President William H. Crawford framed it, elevating the value of the worthless currency to a symbol of collegiality and the brotherhood of pursuit of liberal knowledge. Sadly, the bill's whereabouts is now unknown.
A number of Allegheny alumni also fought for the Confederacy. College President William P. Tolley related the story of a Captain James Wilson Smith, an Allegheny Union soldier, captured by Confederate troops. The Southerners were commanded by an Alleghenian who had been one of Smith’s close friends in College. An exchange of prisoners was arranged by the Southern officer for Captain Smith’s release.
The rush to the colors in 1861 depleted Allegheny’s enrollment during the war. In the spring of 1862 another group of students rallied classmates to sign up. They persuaded a noted pastor to deliver a sermon on current affairs the next Sunday evening. They also announced a war meeting at the College chapel for the following Monday morning. At the evening gathering, however, sitting beside the speaker was Reverend Loomis. A supporter of Northern views, the President nevertheless did not wish to see all the institution's students disappear into the maw of Mars.
The preacher gave a strong sermon, but also exhorted: "It might be the highest patriotism for the students of Allegheny to prepare themselves for highest citizenship by devotion to their studies."43 When the service was over, the President informed the student who was organizing the morning rally that the College chapel could not be used.
The militantly minded students did not give up their efforts, instead marching to the court house to hear a fiery speech. But word was out, and students began receiving telegrams from home forbidding enlistment. Only ten remained committed to their goal; likening themselves to an ancient Persian king’s royal bodyguard, the boys christened themselves "the Immortals" and enlisted, as did another ten for a three-month period the following year when Lee invaded Pennsylvania. Included in this last group was R. N. Stubbs who had endeavored to rouse his classmates in 1862.
The impact of all these enlistments upon the College was substantial. In 1859 there were 100 undergraduates, 100 preparatory students, and 25 in the Biblical department. In the second year of the war, there were but 70 undergraduates, 84 preps, and 13 Bible students, reflecting a 25% loss in enrollment. Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania in 1863 forced postponement of commencement until August. When F. H. Pierpont, class of 1839 and governor of “restored” Virginia, spoke at the ceremonies, the audience consisted mostly of local citizens. Many students and some of their professors were away at war, and the College opened with only eight registrants that fall; the total for the 1863-64 year was 51 undergraduates, 91 preparatory students, and 13 Bible students. After the war, many of the veterans, such as McKinley, chose not to resume their former studies. The finances of the region were under strain, and it took a colossal effort by President Loomis simply to keep the College going. In 1867-68 only 83 students and 51 preps attended.
Enrollment had to be increased. President Loomis, formerly head of a women's seminary, had long believed that Allegheny's education program should be available to women. In 1867 the trustees remained divided on the matter. The Pittsburgh Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church which, along with the Erie Conference, had been patrons of the college since 1833, supported higher education for women. Its leaders persuaded the trustees to the cause so that by September 1870 three women were enrolled. Women initially did not apply in great numbers, and enrollment problems therefore persisted for several years. Nevertheless, it remains true that the arrival of women students on the hill was inextricably linked with gaps in enrollment caused by the departure of the College Volunteers in 1861.
Company I carried its large flag with honor, fighting well in most of its nineteen battles. The College Volunteers paid heavily for their idealism. Yet it was such idealism, coupled with the quickly acquired skills of hardening veterans, that preserved the Union and bequeathed to the College a noble standard by which to live and teach in following decades. In the present troubled times, the words written by Captain Ayer on the eve of the Volunteers’ first battle still resonate.
‘The College Volunteers’ are at their post and
endeavoring to know and do their duty. Not now would they exchange the camp
for the enjoyments and luxuries of home. But when tyranny and treason are
crushed…, when our Flag shall once more float triumphantly over that
land which has arrived at dignity and renown beneath its fostering folds,
then gladly, O so gladly, will we lay aside our arms for the peaceful vocation
of civil life. Until then, pray for us. Let us look forward with hope….44
About the Author:
Jonathan
E. Helmreich, College Historian and Professor Emeritus of History at Allegheny
College received his B.A. from Amherst College and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from
Princeton University. Following a Fulbright year in Brussels, he began teaching
European and Russian history at Allegheny in 1962. Helmreich chaired the program
in international studies, served as faculty secretary, and was academic dean
for fifteen years. In 1994 he was visiting professor at the Catholic University
of Leuven, Belgium. He has written three books dealing with the diplomacy of
Belgium as a small power and on uranium acquisition, including United States
Relations with Belgium and the Congo, 1940-1960. Helmreich currently explores
local history, editing and writing numerous short works on the history of Northwest
Pennsylvania, and serving on a voluntary basis during his retirement as Allegheny.s
first official historian.
