{"id":430,"date":"2010-11-11T00:50:59","date_gmt":"2010-11-11T05:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archives.nd.edu\/about\/news\/?p=430"},"modified":"2010-11-11T00:50:59","modified_gmt":"2010-11-11T05:50:59","slug":"the-military-at-notre-dame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/the-military-at-notre-dame\/","title":{"rendered":"The Military at Notre Dame"},"content":{"rendered":" <\/a>
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Notre Dame has had a long military tradition.\u00a0 The administration organized student military units early on as a means of encouraging physical activity, leadership, and discipline.\u00a0 In 1859, a company of students were organized under the name “Continental Cadets.”<\/p>\n

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Dome yearbook 1917, page 133: “Notre Dame at War” drawing featuring soldiers in World War I loading a cannon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the Civil War, many Holy Cross priests, brothers, and sisters served as chaplains and nurses.\u00a0 Most notable of these was Rev. William Corby, who gave absolution to the troops of the Irish Brigade before battle at Gettysburg.\u00a0 Rev. Edward Sorin worked hard to make sure the Holy Cross clerics weren’t conscripted into actual fighting and gained support from Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant.\u00a0 Not only did bearing arms conflict with the vocation of the religious, Notre Dame could ill afford to loose so many clerics and still remain functional as a university.\u00a0 While the Notre Dame company did not serve as a whole unit, many individual students and alumni took up arms in the Civil War — most for the Union, but some for the Confederacy.<\/p>\n

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Notre Dame Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Post 569 Veterans, c1894-1897.
Seated (left to right) Brother Leander (James McLain), Lieutenant Colonel W.A. Olmstead, Rev. William Corby, CSC, Rev. Peter Paul Cooney, CSC, Brother John Chrysostom, CSC (Mark A. Wells)
Standing (left to right): Brother Benedict, CSC (James Mantell?), Brother Ignatius, CSC (Ignace Meyer), Colonel William Hoynes, Brother Raphael, CSC, Brother Cosmos, CSC (Nicholas A. Bath), Brother Eustachius, CSC (John McInerny)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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After the Civil War, interest in student military organizations on campus ebbed and flowed.\u00a0 In the 1880s, the a company in the senior department organized under the name “Hoynes Light Guards,” while the junior department were called “Sorin Cadets.”<\/p>\n

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Student Jose Gallart wearing a Sorin Cadet military uniform, c1900<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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In 1898, two-hundred and fifty students organized to be prepared to volunteer for the Spanish-American War.\u00a0 Often drilling with the military units, \u201cThe university band will also be prepared to go.\u201d [PNDP 30-Mi-02; Catholic News<\/em>, NY, NY, 04\/03\/1898]<\/p>\n

In 1910, the United States War Department sent retired Captain R.R. Stogsdall to Notre Dame to officially teach military tactics and instruction on campus.\u00a0 This appointment moved Notre Dame toward having more professionally organized military companies.\u00a0 Boys under the age of 17 were required to participate in such companies, while it was voluntary for collegiate-level students.<\/p>\n

The onset of World War I brought about much militarist patriotism among Notre Dame students, faculty, and clergy.\u00a0 Participation among students still remained voluntary, yet the companies swelled in number.\u00a0 Rev. Matthew Walsh and Rev. Charles O’Donnell, both later University Presidents, served as chaplains.\u00a0 O’Donnell’s helmet<\/a> hangs in the War Memorial entrance to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.<\/p>\n

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Student Military Company C at rifle practice in trenches on campus
with the Log Chapel and Old College in the background, 1915-1916.
This photo was published in the 1916 Dome yearbook, page 184.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Notre Dame’s relationship with the Navy began in 1927 and strengthened when University President Hugh O’Donnell “offered all of the facilities of this institution to the government.\u00a0 In April of 1943 the V-7 Indoctrination School was created and the first group of 900 men, all college graduates enlisted for one month as apprentice seamen.” [PNDP 30-Mi-02; \u201cNotre Dame\u2019s Naval ROTC Unit,\u201d Notre Dame<\/em>, Fall 1959].\u00a0 The relationship with the Navy helped to sustain Notre Dame at a time that was economically dire for the entire country.<\/p>\n

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Naval training units in ranks on South Quad during World War II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After World War II, such intense military training ended at Notre Dame.\u00a0 In the 1950s, the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) was established at Notre Dame.\u00a0 However, student sentiment towards the military heated up with the rest of the country during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s.<\/p>\n

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Anti-Vietnam war protesters at the annual ROTC military review, May 1968<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Notre Dame’s relationship with the military, its supporters and detractors, have historically reflected national sentiment and will probably continue to do so.\u00a0 Notre Dame is one of a few universities with a ROTC program currently represented by all branches of the military — Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force.\u00a0 Today we honor those veterans who have served our great country, particularly the sons and daughters of Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

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Army ROTC training with a helicopter on campus, August 2002<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Sources:
\nDome yearbook
\nPNDP 30-Mi-02<\/a>, including the following articles:
\n—St. Joseph County Forum<\/em>, June 18, 1859
\n–Letter to Abraham Lincoln from Fr. Sorin, September 28, 1863
\n—Catholic News<\/em>, NY, NY, 04\/03\/1898
\n–\u201cUS Army Man to Drill Notre Dame Students,\u201d South Bend Tribune<\/em>, July 9, 1910
\n–\u201cNotre Dame Classes Largest in History,\u201d South Bend Times<\/em>, September 20, 1910
\n–The Army Reserve Officer Training Program:\u00a0 A Century\u2019s Development at Notre Dame,\u201d Notre Dame<\/em>, Summer 1959
\n–\u201cNotre Dame\u2019s Naval ROTC Unit,\u201d Notre Dame<\/em>, Fall 1959
\n–\u201cNotre Dame and the Draft,\u201d by Virgil L. Levy, Lincoln Herald<\/em>, Summer 1977
\n“God? Country? Notre Dame?,”<\/a> by John Monczunski, Notre Dame Magazine<\/em>, Spring 2001
\nGFCL 49\/20<\/a>
\nGSBB 2\/07<\/a>
\nGMIL 1\/09<\/a>
\nGDIS 22\/49<\/a>
\nGNDL 8\/41<\/a>
\nGMDG 12\/34<\/a><\/p>\n

For more information about Notre Dame in the Civil War, see also Blue for the Union and Green for Ireland<\/a>: The Civil War Flags of the 63rd New York Volunteers, Irish Brigade, <\/em>by Peter J. Lysy, Archivist, University of Notre Dame; as well as the blog and new book by James M. Schmidt:\u00a0 http:\/\/notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com\/ <\/a><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <\/a>

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Notre Dame has had a long military tradition.\u00a0 The administration organized student military units early on as a means of encouraging physical activity, leadership, and discipline.\u00a0 In 1859, a company of students were organized under the name “Continental Cadets.” During the Civil War, many Holy Cross priests, brothers, and sisters served as chaplains and nurses.\u00a0 … Continue reading “The Military at Notre Dame”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"author":4370,"featured_media":436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[54,74],"class_list":["post-430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nd-history","tag-military","tag-student-life"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-07 05:45:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}