HARVARD HAS GREAT WAR RECORD

The fact that the University has already taken rather a signal part in the great war is in consonance with the stand its members and graduates have taken in the past conflicts of the nation. Records show that in all the American wars Harvard men were active.

When Washington issued the call to arms in 1775, many undergraduates left Cambridge to enlist in the Continental Army. No record is available as to the exact number of students who fought in the war, but there were only 26 in the graduating class of 1779, whereas twice that number had received degrees in 1775, before the outbreak of hostilities. During this period it was found necessary to transfer the College from Cambridge to Concord, where temporary quarters were established for 14 months.

In the Civil War, 1,311 Harvard men served in the Union Army and Navy, and of these 167 were killed or died of disease. On the Confederate side 257 graduates and undergraduates of the University took part, and 64 of this number lost their lives. The Class of '61 alone was represented in the war by 68 percent of its members.

These statistics show what a prominent part Harvard men took in the War of the Rebellion. For a time, indeed, the College authorities attempted to check the martial enthusiasm, but when it became apparent that the war would be a long and serious one, their opposition was withdrawn.

About 400 University men were active in the Spanish-American War. As had been the case in 1861, many undergraduates immediately left for the front, in fewer numbers, perhaps, because the need was less. John D. Long '57 was the Secretary of War during the entire period. Of all those who enlisted, 11 lost their lives, six of whom were undergraduates.