Dr. Dudley Sargent
I was a pretty good gymnast in my youth, but in those days, we had more serious matters to consider than sports and playtime. The oncoming Civil War sobered the most irresponsible of us. National energy turned toward military training. Even with this movement came the great discovery which bore down upon us again in 1918, that a huge percentage of our young men were physically unfit. In 1861, we could not select our army with such scrupulous care as we did in the World War, and fit and unfit were thrown into squads to go through a bit of rough training and to learn the manual of arms. Long before the first bewildering newness of training wore off, those lads were rushed to the front, often to die before they had learned to shoulder arms properly.
Those early days moved so swiftly in a blinding panorama of action, that they come back to me as a hazy confusion of stirring scenes, of mad, breathless preparation, days filled with hope and agony and fear. I remember the raw recruits drilling on the common, marching and going through the elementary formations; I remember the great rallies that stirred me to the depths of my being; I remember listening to the inspiring music of the bands; as it beat the departure of our young manhood of the North to fight that of the South; I remember following the few I knew to the enlisting offices, seeing them sign up, to become one of the raw recruits on the common; I remember seeing them depart, and later some of them coming back wounded, or worse, stricken with some awful diseases.
The Civil War was nearer to us than the World War. We realized it because a strong censorship did not keep the public from knowing and seeing. News traveled to us more quickly when it did not have to cross an ocean. Our anxiety was never at rest for a moment. We saw the immediate results of war. Yet, in spite of its reality, there was not one of us who would not have gone gladly had we been old enough to get into the service.
If you know anything about my pioneering work in physical education at Harvard, my little story above might shine some light on your own search for the meaning of physical culture and training.|
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