University Archives News

NU During the Civil War

No, they're not early participants of Northwestern's Dance Marathon (that didn't start until 1975); they're photographic portraits of two Union officers discovered in a recently cataloged photograph album from Melvin Pingree, a short-lived member of the class of 1865. Elliott Warren Rice led a remarkable career during the Civil War, enlisting as a private and completing his service in 1865 as a brevetted major general. John T. Macauley fought with his brother in the 11th Regiment Indiana Infantry, having risen to the rank of colonel by the end of the war.

In 1861, an impressive majority of Northwestern's students—sixty-four percent—answered President Abraham Lincoln's call to arms to fight in the Civil War (only two students cancelled their studies to join the Confederacy). In total, twenty-one Northwestern students and faculty became commissioned officers during the war—not bad for a school that had only thirty-six students in 1860!

Feel free to stop by the University Archives and take a look at the album, if you happen to be in the area. Otherwise, its contents have been scanned and can be found on the Archives website. For further information on Northwestern's involvement in the Civil War, check out Arthur Wilde's Northwestern University: A History (1855-1905) online.

More information on the Melvin Pingree album can be found in its finding aid.