Winchester Osgood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Winchester Dana Osgood | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sport | Football | |
| Born | April, 12 1870 | |
| Place of birth | Port Bananas, Florida | |
| Died | October 18, 1895 | |
| Career Highlights | ||
| School as a player | ||
| 1888-89 and 1891-92 1893-94 |
Cornell University University of Pennsylvania |
|
| Position | Halfback | |
| College Football Hall of Fame, 1970 | ||
Winchester Dana Osgood (April 12, 1870 – October 18, 1895) was a prominent American college athlete in the late 1800s at both Cornell University and University of Pennsylvania. Osgood volunteered for the Cuban forces during Cuba’s fight for Independence from Spain. He was commissioned a major in artillery in Cuban Army and was killed in combat.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Port Bananas, Florida, Osgood was one of five children of an American army officer Henry Brown Osgood Jr. and his wife Harriet Mary (Hubbard) Osgood. Henry who would eventfully rise to the rank of Brigadier General. [1]
[edit] College athlete
Winchester Osgood nicknamed “Win” was a talented athlete in many sports but is best know for his exploits on the football field. Pudge Heffelfinger, gave this description of Osgood: “It was downright uncanny to watch him run, opponents missed him by inches. His body undulated like a snake's. He was the Red Grange of the pioneer era.” [2]
[edit] Cornell
Osgood played halfback four years for Cornell, 1888-89 and 1891-92. He had a 28-8 record during his playing career. [3] Osgood was a considered one of the top players in the early years of Big Red football. In an article on January 29, 1927 the New York Sun named him to the 1st team of the all-time Cornell football team .[4] Osgood also rowed on the varsity in 1890. In 1892 he was the single scull championship of the Cornell. [2] He left Cornell in the fall of 1892 to attend the University of Pennsylvania.
[edit] Pennsylvania
At Pennsylvania Osgood was a three sport athlete, excelling at football, track and field and wrestling. He lettered two seasons at halfback for the Quakers under hall of fame coach George W. Woodruff. [5] In his first year he helped the 1893 Quakers to a 12 – 3 record. The team started strong by winning the first 11 game. In those 11 games the defense only gave up 18 points while the offence scored 305 points. In last four games when Penn lost three out of the last four games to Harvard, Yale and Princeton. [6]At the time Penn rarely beat these three schools. Osgood received great notoriety in the 14-6 loss to Yale. He scored Penn’s only touchdown in this game. [3] Yale had been un-scored on for 35 straight games stretching from 1890, successively scoring 1,355 unanswered points.[7] In 1894 Osgood helped Penn to its first undefeated season. The 1894 squad featured a very talented backfield that consisted of Carl Williams at quarterback, George Brooke at fullback and with Osgood and Author Knipe at halfback.[8] The entire backfield except Williams was named first team All-American that year.[9] The 1894 team was retroactively named National Championship by Parke Davis though Yale and Princeton was also retroactively named National Championship by other organizations. The highlight of the season was a 12-0 victory over Princeton (only the second in 30 meetings) and an 18-4 victory over Harvard.[10]
Osgood also excelled at Wrestling. He became the first collegiate athlete to win a national championship when he won the 1895 National AAU title in the "heavyweight" class (for competitors over 158 pounds). At the time the sport was dominated by club teams. [11]
[edit] Cuba’s fight for independence
When Cuba began its fight for independence from Spain, Osgood volunteered for the Cuban forces. He was commissioned a major in artillery under General Calixto Garcia. Early in October, 1896, the Cuban General Garcia and General Maximo Gomez joined forces and moved upon Guimaro, which was strongly fortified and defended by the Spaniards. After much hard fighting and a brilliant charge led by Colonel Mario García Menocal, the largest fortification was taken. [2] During the Battle Major Osgood was in charge of shelling a several blockhouses with a Hotchkiss rifle with 12-pound shells. Osgood artillery unit was under steady fire form small arms. When Osgood stooped over the gun to make on the sight a correction for wind, he made the remark, “think that will do.” At that moment a bullet hit him from a sharp-shooter stationed in the church tower eleven hundred yards away. Osgood was lifted from the sight by his comrades and hurried down the hill to aid station. With out re-sighting the artillery piece, Osgood’s second in command Major Frederick Funston gave the order to fire the gun and the shell hit one of the blockhouses. The bullet that hit Osgood had gone through his brain and he did not recover from his wounds. [12]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Fort MacArthur Museum
- ^ a b c Cornell Alumni News VOL. XIX., No. 23 March15,1917. Cornell University. Retrieved on February 7, 2007.
- ^ a b Hall of fame biography. Retrieved on February 7, 2007.
- ^ Cornell Alumni News VOL. XXIX, No. 18 FEBRUARY 3, 1927
- ^ 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 145, accessed 2-7-2007
- ^ 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 123,
- ^ Scott A. McQuilkin and Ronald A. Smith, “The Rise and Fall of the Flying Wedge: Football’s Most Controversial Play” Journal of Sport History, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring 1993), accessed 2-4-2007
- ^ Allison Danzig, "Oh, How They Played the Game," (The Macmillan Company, 1971), p. 114, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-163227
- ^ 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 135,
- ^ 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 137
- ^ Wrestling Hall of Fame History. Retrieved on February 7, 2007.
- ^ Cornell Alumni News Vol. XHL 'No. 6, November 2, 1910. Cornell University. Retrieved on February 7, 2007.
