1894 Indianapolis Light Artillery football team

The 1894 Indianapolis Light Artillery football team was an American football team that represented the Indianapolis Light Artillery as an independent during the 1894 college football season. In its first year of competition, the team compiled a 4–2 record in games against the region's college and university teams, including a victory over Illinois and a loss to Purdue. The 1895 team went on to defeat Notre Dame, 18–0, in South Bend.[1]

1894 Indianapolis Light Artillery football
Drawing of "The Indianapolis Artillery Eleven"" from The Indianapolis News, October 5, 1894
ConferenceIndependent
1894 record4–2
Head coach
  • Rufus M. Barnes
Home stadiumEast Ohio Street Baseball Park

The team played its three 1894 home games at the baseball park on East Ohio Street in Indianapolis.[2]

During the fall of 1894, when the unit fielded its first football team, the Indianapolis Light Artillery was seeking to pay off its debt resulting from the construction of a $15,000 armory at Mississippi and Seventh Streets in Indianapolis.[3][4] The unit engaged in fund-raising efforts featuring infantry drill teams and zouaves looking "very natty in their bright uniforms."[3]

While all players on the 1894 team were reportedly members of the artillery unit, that practice changed, such that the 1896 team included only four or five artillerymen. In October 1896, the team was prohibited from continuing to use the Indianapolis Light Artillery name.[5]

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResultSource
September 28at Butler
W 10–0[6]
October 6at Purdue
L 4–6[7]
October 27DePauw
  • East Ohio Street Baseball Park
  • Indianapolis, IN
W 46–5[8][9][10]
November 17Wabash
  • East Ohio Street Baseball Park
  • Indianapolis, IN
W 38–12[11][12]
November 24Illinois
W 18–14[13]
November 29Butler
  • East Ohio Street Baseball Park
  • Indianapolis, IN
L 4–6[14]

Players and coaches

Rufus M. Barnes (1870–1943) was the team captain and played at the tackle position.[15][16] Barnes also coached the 1894 Light Artillery team. He had previously been captain of the University of Pennsylvania crew.[17]

Other players included:

  • Alfred H. Sommerville at right halfback (Sommerville died in May 1896 in an industrial fire.[18]);
  • Sam Patterson at left halfback;
  • John Nichol at fullback;
  • George Cullom at quarterback.
  • Frank Clemmens at center;
  • Edward B. Johnson at guard;
  • Stetson Parker at guard;
  • Harold M. Joss at tackle;
  • Harry Griffith at end; and
  • Harry Olin at end.

[15][19]

Swan was the manager.[15]

References
  1. "Notre Dame Blanked: Light Artillery Eleven Wins With a Score of 18 to 0". The Indianapolis Journal. November 22, 1895. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. The park was referred to variously in contemporaneous press accounts and may be the Indianapolis Park.
  3. "The Drill at Armstrong: Light Artillery Benefit Attended Hundreds of People". The Indianapolis Journal. September 4, 1894. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "The Light Artillery Debt". The Indianapolis Journal. September 23, 1894. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Against the Foot-Ball Team: It Must Not Use the Name of the Light Artillery". The Indianapolis News. October 6, 1896. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "The Artillery Eleven Won: Butler University's Football Team Defeated by the Soldiers". The Indianapolis Journal. September 29, 1894. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "untitled". Chicago Tribune. October 7, 1894. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "DePauw Went Down: Collegians Defeated by the Artillery in One-Sided Game". The Indianapolis Journal. October 28, 1894. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "De Pauw vs. Artillerists: Game of Football This Afternoon at Ohio-Street Grounds". The Indianapolis Journal. October 27, 1894. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "For the Foot-Ball Game: All In Readiness For the DePauw-Light Artillery Contest". The Indianapolis News. October 26, 1894. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "The Artillery Wins: Local Football Eleven Defeats Wabash by a 38 to 12 Score". The Indianapolis Journal. November 18, 1894. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "The Game Today: Light Artillery Will Play the Team from Wabash College". The Indianapolis Journal. November 17, 1894. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Artillery, 18; Illinois, 14: Indianapolis Boys a Trifle Too Much for Illinois University". The Indianapolis Journal. November 25, 1894. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Butler, 6; Battery, 4: Closest Football Contest of the Season at Ball Park". The Indianapolis Journal. November 30, 1894. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Light Artillery Football Team". The Indianapolis Journal. September 28, 1894. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Rufus M. Barnes". Find-a-Grave.com. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  17. "City News Notes". The Indianapolis Journal. December 15, 1894. p. 3.
  18. "Died From His Burns: Alfred H. Sommerville Was Trying To Avoid an Explosion". The Indianapolis Journal. May 24, 1896. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "This Season's Foot-Ball". The Indianapolis News. October 5, 1894. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
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