Battles at Annapolis

On two chilled late fall Saturday afternoons, separated by forty-nine years, the spectacle of Army-Navy football unfolded at Annapolis, Maryland, on the grounds of the United States Naval Academy. This pair of rivalry games were played in 1893 and 1942, on the edge of brackish tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay and before crowds among the smallest ever to witness the game. While often treated as sidebars in the epic Army-Navy football narrative, these two games had an outsized impact on the series, on the institutions represented on the field, on the armed services their teams represented, and even on the sport of football. In a series that continues to be defined by toughness and resilience, these were also among the hardest-fought and roughest games ever played. The players in both games had been raised in the shadow of two great wars fought by their fathers. Both games were played by men who would soon go on to serve in wars of their own; some of the football players would not survive.

Battles at Annapolispresents the context of the two most recent Army-Navy football games played at Annapolis: how the games came to be scheduled and the impact of each contest on the broader community. Author David Gendell also showcases the unique personalities who represented the service academies on the field, on the sidelines, and in the stands. These men came to Annapolis and West Point from varied backgrounds; each arrived at the game venue via a distinct path and, in the months and years after the game, they moved out into the broader world-many eagerly representing the United States in combat; some sacrificing their lives in conducting that service. But before they went to war, they played football.