Page:The history and achievements of the Fort Sheridan officers' training camps.djvu/176

 SOME one has said that the great reunion of the Blue and the Gray on the battlefield of Gettysburg in the Summer of 1913 was a most fitting close to the great drama of the Civil War. While the camp may have been built to serve as the stage for the last scene of the great Civil War, it was later used for the opening act of another play, which has already had a far-reaching effect upon our country, as it was really the prologue of our preparation for the great World War.

As the camp began to take form. General Wood, who was then Chief of Staff in the Army, was inspired with the thought that, although it was being constructed for what would probably be the last great reunion of the men who had fought in the Civil War, it could well be used, when they were through with it, for the beginning of the training of men who were to fight in our future wars, and for whom so little had been done up to that time. He felt that in the next war, as in all our previous w^ars, the greater part of the fighting would be done by those who were just finishing or had just finished their preparation for their life's fight in civil life. He felt that just as their parents had made sacrifices to prepare them for their future civil life, their country should prepare them for the future military life which was almost bound to be thrust upon them.

He therefore decided that the commencement should be made w^ith college men, as they could best spare the time during their summer vacations. He communicated with the various colleges and universities in the country and finally succeeded in interesting enough to justify the holding of the first Students' Training Camp. As there were no Government funds available for the purpose, the young men attending necessarily had to pay their own expenses and, in order to reduce the expenses as much as possible for the young men living in the far western part of the country, it was decided to hold a second camp at Monterey, California. As in all new movements of this kind, it was difficult to get publicity and only some 220 men attended these two camps in 1913, but, with the exception of the small attendance, the camps were in every way a success, and the men who attended them, upon returning to their colleges, spread the news among their fellow students. The heads of nearly all the larger universities and colleges in the country also became interested — notably Doctor Brinker, of Lehigh, who visited the Gettysburg camp several times, and was indefatigable in spreading the news of the good work accomplished there. The men who attended these first two camps organized themselves into "The National Reserve Corps," which was supported by the "College Presidents' Advisory Committee," the member- ship of which included the presidents of all but one or two of the prominent colleges and universities of the country. Among the members of this com- mittee were President Lowell of Harvard, Hadley of Yale, and James of the University of Illinois.

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