324 HENRY HILL GOODELL 



the duty man owes to the State, tower above all else. Like 

 Andrew Fletcher, he could exclaim: "I would readily lose 

 my life to serve my country, but would not do a base thing 

 to save it." 



Entering the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 

 September, 1873, he pursued the regular course for nearly 

 three years, leaving in his junior year to accept an appoint- 

 ment to the Military Academy at West Point, offered him 

 by President Julius H. Seelye, who was then in Congress. 

 He entered on June 14, 1876. Of his life there and the 

 impression made, let his classmates bear witness. Of the 

 many letters received, I can only make use of a few, just 

 enough to give you an inside view of the man in this forma- 

 tive period of life. 



"I remember him as being a high-strung young fellow, 

 conscientious and energetic in the performance of his duty, 

 and just the kind of man whom you would expect to be at 

 his post of duty in an emergency." - "Generous, honest 

 and unselfish inflexible in his adherence to truth, he made 

 friends whenever he went." "Dickinson had a lovely 

 disposition which made him most congenial company. He 

 always did his very best wherever he was put, and as a 

 soldier always did his duty. He was beloved by his men 

 and respected by his fellow officers." "He learned eas- 

 ily, took good rank in his class, and was universally popu- 

 lar. Bright, genial, and a good soldier, he was a most wel- 

 come addition to any circle. Transferred from the cavalry 

 to the Seventeenth Infantry, and serving up to the time of 

 his glorious, but regretted death, at the front of his troops, 

 where he voluntarily placed himself, despite the fact that 

 his duties as a quartermaster appointed his place in the rear, 



