Norwich University founded by Alden Partridge

Background. Alden Partridge, born in Norwich, Vermont, graduated from West Point in 1806 and served as an assistant professor of mathematics. He spent his entire Army career at the academy and resigned his commission in 1818 after being acquitted of serious wrongdoing. The Norwich University account reports that he left West Point amid congressional disapproval of his educational system, then returned to Vermont to establish a school on his own model.

Founding of the Academy. In 1819, Partridge established the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy in Norwich, Vermont. The school was founded on his model of training citizen soldiers. It is recognized as the nation's oldest private military college and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC).

Early Operations. The academy's first four years saw attendance by 480 students from 21 states. The program combined classroom instruction with field exercises and drills, using borrowed cannon and muskets. This practical approach added realism to the military education, attracting attention from other locations like Middletown, Connecticut.