Mexican War

University students and alumni were among the many Tennesseans who answered the call issued by Governor Aaron V. Brown for 2,800 men to volunteer to fight Santa Ana. More than 30,000 Tennesseans volunteered, and, from the overwhelming response, Tennessee’s nickname as the “Volunteer State” was born. Captain R. L. Kirkpatrick (class of 1845) led an Anderson County infantry company to Mexico, where he died of illness. William McAdoo, later university librarian, served in Kirkpatrick’s unit as a lieutenant. Several university students and alumni were members of the Knoxville Dragoons, and James L. Roberson was killed in action. He was memorialized by his fellow members of the Philomathesian Society for “grateful services rendered to our country in the hour of peril.” William Brown Walton (attended 1840–41) served as a captain of a company of the First Regiment of Tennessee Infantry, and Leonidas Trousdale, class of 1841, was a volunteer in the First Mississippi Regiment, serving in the storming of Monterrey and the Battle of Buena Vista.