Winchester Osgood

Infobox Gridiron football person
Name = Winchester Dana Osgood


Caption = Winchester Osgood - 1889
DateOfBirth = birth date|1870|4|12
Birthplace = Fort Barrancas, Florida
DateOfDeath = death date and age|1896|10|18|1870|4|12
Sport = Football
playing_years = 1888-89, 1891-92
1893-94
playing_teams = Cornell University
University of Pennsylvania
position1 = Halfback
CollegeHOF = 90006

"Winchester Dana Osgood" (April 12, 1870 – October 18, 1896) 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.

Early life

Born in Fort Barrancas, 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. [ [http://www.ftmac.org/Osgood-Farley.htm Fort MacArthur Museum] ]

College athlete

Winchester Osgood, nicknamed “Win”, was one of the greatest college athletes of the 19th century. He was talented in many sports but is best known for his exploits as an All-American football player. Osgood stood 5-9, weighed 173, and was an elusive runner. Pudge Heffelfinger, the legendary Yale All-American, 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.” He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970.

Cornell

At Cornell, Win Osgood received a medal as the school's best all-around athlete. He ran the 440 and put the shot for the track team, was an accomplished gymnast, boxer, wrestler, tennis player, and set a collegiate record of 5:28 for the 2-mile bicycle race.Osgood played half-back four years for the Cornell football team, 1888-89 and 1891-92. He had a 28-8 record during his playing career. cite web | url=http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=90006 | title=Hall of fame biography| accessdate=2007-02-07] 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 . [ [http://dspace.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/3544/23/029_18.pdf Cornell Alumni News VOL. XXIX, No. 18 FEBRUARY 3, 1927] ] Osgood also rowed on the varsity in 1890. In 1892 he was the single scull championship of the Cornell. cite web | url=http://dspace.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/3534/18/019_23.pdf | title= Cornell Alumni News VOL. XIX., No. 23 March 15,1917 | publisher=Cornell University | accessdate=2007-02-07 ] He left Cornell in the fall of 1892 to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania

At Pennsylvania, Win Osgood continued his exploits as 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. [ [http://www.pennathletics.net/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1700&KEY=&ATCLID=518504&SPID=537&SPSID=60663 2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide] , p. 145, accessed 2-7-2007 ] In his first year, he helped the 1893 Quakers to a 12 – 3 record. The team had a strong start, winning its first 11 games. During that stretch, the defense only gave up 18 points while the offense scored 305 points. But Penn lost three out of the last four games to perennial powers Harvard, Yale and Princeton. [2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 123, ] At the time Penn rarely beat the "Big Three", as they were known. Osgood received widespread press in the 14-6 loss to Yale, as he scored Penn’s only touchdown in the game. Yale had been unscored on for 35 straight games dating back to 1890, having scored 1,355 unanswered points. [Scott A. McQuilkin and Ronald A. Smith, [http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1993/JSH2001/jsh2001f.pdf “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] In 1894, Osgood helped Penn to its first undefeated season. The 1894 squad featured one of the greatest backfields of all time, consisting of Carl Williams at quarterback, George Brooke at fullback and with Osgood and Author Knipe at halfback. [Allison Danzig, "Oh, How They Played the Game," (The Macmillan Company, 1971), p. 114, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-163227] Osgood, Knipe and Brooke were all named to Walter Camp's All-American first team that year. [2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 135, ] The team was widely recognized as 1894's football national champion. The highlight of the season was a 12-0 victory over Princeton (only Penn's second win in 30 meetings) and an 18-4 victory over Harvard. [2006 University of Pennsylvania Football Media Guide, p. 137]

First College Wrestling National Champion

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. cite web | url=http://www.wrestlinghalloffame.org/history/wrestlinginusa.php | title= Wrestling Hall of Fame History| accessdate=2007-02-07 ]

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 the 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. During the battle, Major Osgood was in charge of shelling several blockhouses with a Hotchkiss rifle using 12-pound shells. Osgood's artillery unit was under steady fire from small arms. When Osgood stooped over the gun to adjust the sight to account for the wind, he made the remark, “think that will do.” At that moment, he was hit by a bullet fired by a sharp-shooter stationed in the church tower eleven hundred yards away. Osgood was carried from the location by his comrades and hurried down the hill to the 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. cite web | url=http://dspace.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/3528/35/013_06.pdf | title= Cornell Alumni News Vol. XHL 'No. 6, November 2, 1910 | publisher=Cornell University | accessdate=2007-02-07 ]

Notes

References

* [http://www.pennathletics.net/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1700&KEY=&ATCLID=518504&SPID=537&SPSID=60663 Penn 2006 media guide]