BUTLER COLLEGE
IN THE
WORLD WAR
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"For though the dust that's part of us to dust again be gone,
Yet here shall
beat the heart of us,—the School we handed on."
BUTLER COLLEGE
IN THE
WORLD WAR
A RECORD OF THE MEN AND
THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS TOGETHER
WITH A BRIEFER RECORD OF THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE CIVIL WAR AND IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN
ByKATHARINE MERRILL GRAYDON
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
BUTLER COLLEGE
INDIANAPOLIS
BUTLER COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
1922
Press of
Wm. Mitchell Printing Co.
Greenfield, Ind.
THIS RECORD IS HERE MADE FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMEMORATING IN PERPETUITY THE HONORED NAMES OF BUTLER COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO BORE PART IN THREE WARS
page: [VIII][View Page [VIII]] page: IX[View Page IX]- Then hail to all who gave us
- Their might of arm and soul,
- Hot and athirst to save us,
- To heal, and keep us whole.
—WILLIAM WATSON
- We saw not clearly nor understood,
- But yielding ourselves to the master-hand,
- Each in his part as best he could,
- We played it through as the author planned.
—ALAN SEEGER
When we return to our country we shall do so empty-handed; we shall take nothing back but the ashes of our dead.
—AN AMERICAN OFFICER
page: [X][View Page [X]] page: XI[View Page XI]FOREWORD
On the minutes of the annual meeting of the Butler College Alumni Association of June, 1918, occurs the statement, "Miss Graydon was appointed to compile the record of Butler College students in the present war."
That was a sacred task committed to the secretary of the association. At once her efforts began and without cessation they have continued to date. The labor has met compensation in offering opportunity to know more largely than otherwise possible the deeds of Butler soldiers, their attitude of mind and their force of character. It has been lessened by the delightful cooperation of many of the boys. But in the effort to make correct and complete the list of graduates and former students of the college who had participated in the war, it has been difficult. There are, doubtless, unmentioned names which would have appeared in the record could they have been located. From the known Butler service men, it has been impossible to secure at all times replies to letters of inquiry; and frequently the innate modesty of the young men themselves has caused reticence. So, with unsparing effort, this volume is only as complete as the editor, in face of opposing obstacles, could fashion it. It is hoped in the years to come some secretary of the Alumni Association may bring the undertaking to perfection.
The story of the part Butler College played in the World War is not different from nor above that of other colleges. But we are proud of our Alma Mater page: XII[View Page XII] and wish to help perpetuate her spirit in time of sore need, to show what she offered and what her sons gained in the serving. They were men of that goodly company impelled by a high idealism to give their utmost for peace and love, yet sought they neither recompense nor praise. Near eight hundred offered all they had to their country and their God. Six fell on the field of honor; eight died in home camps; two from effect of overseas duty; while many will walk through life with health impaired.
The record of these young men is the richest bequest Butler College has received since the days of the 60's when other youths just as high-hearted, just as loving-of-life, just as promising-of-usefulness, left her halls to shoulder arms. If it serve, therefore, in any way to keep in remembrance their bright presences, it has fulfilled its purpose.
Some of the letters of Chapter II have appeared in the BUTLER ALUMNAL QUARTERLY of the years 1918 and 1919; also, the account contained in Chapter III. These letters were not intended for publication, and it is with hesitation that they are now presented. They are all personal, written, in the main, to a friend they left in the college. The only excuse for their appearance is the unconscious expression they hold of the spirit of the boys—a spirit too fine not to be shared with other members of our college family. It must be remembered that these letters were written often on scraps of paper by tired soldiers in the dim light of barracks, in dugouts, by the roadside, or in the hospital; in the weariness of waiting or in sound of death. Close censure prohibited much actual information; but heart and soul are in them. Time and space have limited the selection to those at hand.
Chapter V contains the enrollment of one hundred page: XIII[View Page XIII] eighty-four students whose record in the Civil War the college now possesses. Little is known of them other than the one sacrificial act—enough to immortalize. They helped to save their—and our—country, and in so doing they helped to make possible, sixty years after, the saving of civilization. A list is also made of those Butler men known to have volunteered in the Spanish-American War. They offered as much, their purpose was as high, as those of the other wars.
To the students and college friends who have kindly assisted with the preparation of this record by furnishing information, by lending pictures and by offering grateful suggestions, I acknowledge my indebtedness.
K. M. G.
Butler College
1922
CONTENTS
- BUTLER COLLEGE IN WARTIME 1
- GLIMPSES OF THE WAR IN LETTERS AND DIARIES OF BUTLER MEN 29
- SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' DAY 156
- OUR DEAD 212
- BUTLER COLLEGE IN EARLIER WARS 236
- THE WORLD WAR RECORD 244
