The University of the South

In this episode, we have Author David Neil Drews joins us in the Pigpen to discuss his latest book Iron Tigers, and the history of the great 1899 Sewanee Tigers.

First off here is a link where you can ourchase a copy of Iron Tigers.

It is remarkable to look back at early football and see that small schools could compete on occasion with some of the much larger institutions. None may be a better example of this than the amazing 1899 road trip of the University of the South, Sewanee College, nestled in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee, where they knocked off some of the big boys of the South. David Neil Drews has done an amazing job of researching this team, the men involved with the squad, and the unprecedented six day schedule they completed with such success, in his latest book Iron Tigers.

Here is a video promo David has put together to get you fired up about the story...

The University of the South, as it is known, Sewanee is a small liberal arts college set on a mountain top in Tennessee. The school still thrives to this day as an institution of higher learning boasting:

"27 Rhodes Scholars, 53 Watson Fellows, 34 NCAA Postgraduate Scholars, and dozens of Fulbright Scholars." on their website, Sewanee.edu.

The school established in 1857 by Episcopal Church, Southern Dioceses, was to be a  create a Southern university free of Northern influences. As they put it: the new university will "materially aid the South to resist and repel a fanatical domination which seeks to rule over us." That is according to Steven Deyle (2013). Carry Me Back : The Domestic Slave Trade in American Life. Oxford University Press.

Surviving even attacks from Union Soldiers during the U.S. Civil War, the University held it together and eventually fielded a football team in 1891. It is amazing how quickly the program advanced into a powerhouse.

Ellwood Wilson is considered the "founder of Sewanee football. Wilson was a quarterback at the school who arrived at Sewanee from New Jersey, with Eastern gridiron knowledge and experience. Allegedly Ellwood at first used an oval block of wood famously, in place of a football, until the program could obtain one. Sewanee Archives on Ellwood Wilson

Sewanee was a charter member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1894. The Sewanee Tigers were pioneers in American intercollegiate athletics and possessed the Deep South's preeminent football program in the 1890s. 

Image of the 1899 Sewanee Tigers team, courtesy of Wikimmedia Commons.

Front row, left to right: Bunny Pearce, C. Q. Gray, Diddy Seibels (captain, holding ball), Warbler Wilson, B. U. Sims
Second row, left to right: Richard Bolling (with helmet), Rex Kilpatrick, William Poole, Henry Keyes, Deacon Jones, Ormond Simkins
Third row, left to right: Ralph Black (striped shirt), Wild Bill Claiborne (with helmet), athletic director Luke Lea, head coach Billy Suter, Joseph Lee Kirby-Smith, Daniel B. Hull.

The 1899 football campaign is legendary, and had quite possibly the greatest run in college football history, winning all 12 of their games, 11 by shutout, and outscoring their opponents 322–10. Five of those wins, all shutouts, came in a six-day period while on a 2,500-mile trip by train.

It is this very trip that David tells the tale of in this fact based fictional account.

Following up on a very successful 1898 undefeated campaign, the 1899 Sewanee team returned seven starters and went 12-0 and outscored their opponents 322-10 in 1899. The schedule was rigorous, with top Southern opponents. Incredibly there were only three of the twelve games played in Sewanee's home field of Hardee Field, as the school's remote location perhaps was an undesrable travel destination by opponents. Here is a look at the results of 1899:

Oct. 21, 1899: Sewanee 12, Georgia 0
Oct. 23, 1899: Sewanee 32, Georgia Tech 0
Oct. 28, 1899: Sewanee 46, Tennessee 0
Nov. 3, 1899: Sewanee 54, Southwestren Presbyterian 0
Nov. 9, 1899: Sewanee 12, Texas 0
Nov. 10, 1899: Sewanee 10, Texas A&M 0
Nov. 11, 1899: Sewanee 23, Tulane 0
Nov. 13, 1899: Sewanee 34, LSU 0
Nov. 14, 1899: Sewanee 12, Ole Miss 0
Nov. 20, 1899: Sewanee 71, Cumberland 0
Nov. 30, 1899: Sewanee 11, Auburn 10
Dec. 2, 1899: Sewanee 5, North Carolina 0

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of the program from the 1899 Sewanee at Texas game

And do remember that Sewanee had only 326 reported students that attended the at the time, all male institution. An interesting fact is that the only 10 points scored on the 1899 Tigers, were done so by a John Heisman coached team at Auburn. Ten of their twelve victories were against Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association opponents, the predecessor of the SEC. Missing onthe schedule that season was arch-rival Vanderbilt. The two schools became embroiled in a dispute over the 1898 game that Luke lea decided not to play the Commodores, and to help fill the financil void, scheduled the agressive 5 games in six day road trip.

 The mastermind of the team was Head Coach Herman "Billy" Suter. On the field future College Football Hall of Famer and captain Henry "Ditty" Seibels captained the squad to success. The team also featured Ormond Simkins, and the team's manager was future US Senator and newspaper publisher Luke Lea. 

The roster consisted of Richard E. Bolling, William "Wild Bill" Claiborne,    
John William "Deacon," Henry S. Keyes, Hugh Miller Thompson "Bunny" Pearce, William H. Poole, Bartlet Et Ultimus "The Caboose" Sims, Charles Quintard, Ringland F. "Rex" Kilpatrick, Henry "Diddy" Seibels, Ormond Simkins, William "Warbler" Wilson, Ralph Peters Black, Preston S. Brooks, Harris G. Cope, Albert T. Davidson, Andrew C. Evins, Daniel B. Hull, Joseph Lee Kirby-Smith, Landon R. Mason, 
Floy H. Parker, and Herbert E. Smith.

Of course we cannot forget what many claim was the secret weapon of the team, African American "Rub Down Man" and Trainer, Cal Burrows.

Here is what David has listed on the back cover of Iron Tigers:

During an era of bone-crushing football, a small college team seeks gridiron immortality. It is November 1899 and the Sewanee Tigers depart from their remote mountaintop campus in Tennessee. Traveling by rail to Texas and back, the undersized Tigers battle five formidable foes in six days.

The teamʼs audacious manager, Alfie Melville, is devoted to his school and the South. He purposely created a quixotic schedule for the Tigers and fully expects his men to sweep their opponents. If they do, the Tigers will become instant collegiate football legends, shine glory on their beloved Sewanee, and announce the arrival of Southern football. Battered and exhausted, the young men from Tennessee fight prodigious teams on distant gridirons while embroiled in struggles with each other off the field.

Deceit, betrayal, and bitter conflicts over money, race, and sex threaten to derail their daring and bold endeavor. To return to Sewanee as heroic, victorious warriors, these teammates must trust and sacrifice for each other. Iron Tigers is inspired by the actual 1899 Sewanee Tigers football squad, which the NCAA News called a team “unequaled for endurance” and the New York Times declared “the greatest college team ever.”

Images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of:

Football program for the 1899 Texas-Sewanee football game

The Sewanee 1899 football team that won 5 games in 6 days against big name opponents.
Front row, left to right: Bunny Pearce, C. Q. Gray, Diddy Seibels (captain, holding ball), Warbler Wilson, B. U. Sims
Second row, left to right: Richard Bolling (with helmet), Rex Kilpatrick, William Poole, Henry Keyes, Deacon Jones, Ormond Simkins
Third row, left to right: Ralph Black (striped shirt), Wild Bill Claiborne (with helmet), athletic director Luke Lea, head coach Billy Suter, Joseph Lee Kirby-Smith, Daniel B. Hull.

The University of the South (Sewanee)

Here is some additional information on the Sewanee Team from so long ago. There are som many great resources out there but Iron Tigers may be perhaps the most researched of them.