 Poe pictured inThe Official National Collegiate Athletic Association football guide, 1893 | |
| Born: | (1874-02-26)February 26, 1874 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died: | September 25, 1915(1915-09-25) (aged 41) nearLoos,France |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Halfback,Quarterback |
| College | Princeton |
| Career history | |
| As coach | |
| 1893–1894 | Virginia |
| 1896–1896 | Navy |
| 1897 | Princeton (assistant) |
| 1902–1903 | Princeton (assistant) |
| 1906 | Princeton (assistant) |
| 1908–1909 | Princeton (assistant) |
| As player | |
| 1891–1892 | Princeton |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States Honduras Great Britain |
| Service |  U.S. Army U.S. Marine Corps Honduran Army.svg) British Army |
| Years of service | 1898 1898–1899 1903 1907–1908 1914-1915 |
| Rank | Corporal (USA) Captain (Honduras) Private (Great Britain) |
| Unit |  5th Maryland Infantry 23rd U. S. Infantry Kentucky National GuardRoyal Garrison Artillery theBlack Watch |
| Battles / wars | Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Black Patch Wars Banana Wars World War I |
| Relations | Edgar Allan Poe (cousin) John P. Poe, Sr. (father) Edgar A. Poe (brother) Art Poe (brother) Gresham Poe (brother) Bradley T. Johnson (cousin) |
| Other work | cowboy,miner |
John Prentiss Poe Jr. (February 26, 1874 – September 25, 1915) was an Americancollege football player and coach, soldier,Marine, and soldier of fortune, whose exploits on the gridiron and the battlefield contributed to the lore and traditions of thePrinceton Tigers football program.
Prentiss, known as "Johnny", was born February 26, 1874, inBaltimore, Maryland, toJohn Prentiss Poe Sr., and Anne Johnson Hough. He was the third ofsix sons in a family that also included three daughters. John Sr. was a prominentattorney, and relative[1] of the Americanwriter andpoet,Edgar Allan Poe. John Sr. was an 1856 graduate ofPrinceton University and would later serve asAttorney General of Maryland. Anne Hough was from aMaryland family who supported theConfederacy during theAmerican Civil War. Her nephew,Bradley T. Johnson served as aConfederategeneral, and her brother, Gresham Hough, fought withMosby's raiders.[2]
All six Poe brothers attended The Carey School for Boys which later became the Boys' Latin School of Baltimore and all wound up playingfootball for Princeton. The oldest, S. Johnson Poe, playedhalfback and also played on Princeton's national championlacrosse team. The second son,Edgar A. Poe, wascaptain of the football team, and later served as Attorney General of Maryland, like his father. The fourth son, Neilson Poe, also played halfback. Fifth son,Arthur Poe, was voted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1969. Finally, the sixth son,Gresham Poe, playedquarterback, and followed Johnny ashead coach atVirginia.[3]
Poe enrolled atPrinceton University in the fall of 1891, and was electedpresident of thefreshman class. In spite of his small size, he made thevarsity football team athalfback, and finished the season tied for third intouchdowns scored for the team. However, he struggled academically, and was asked to leave in the Spring. When he left for home, the entire freshman class escorted him to the train station.[4]
He re-enrolled the following Fall, and started atquarterback, moving to halfback midway through the season. Poe played even better than in his freshman year, finishing second on the team for touchdowns scored. However, he was once again forced to leave the university for scholastic reasons.[5]
After leaving Princeton, Poe bounced around, coaching two seasons atVirginia, working for a steamboat operator, selling real estate, coaching theNavy football team, and serving as an assistant coach at Princeton. Poe would often return to Princeton as an assistant coach, including the National Championship season of 1903. It was while serving as an assistant coach that Poe is credited with saying "If you won't be beat, you can't be beat," which became the team motto for many seasons.[6][7]
Poe enlisted in theFifth Maryland Infantry Regiment, and after over three years had risen to the rank ofcorporal, when theUnited Statesdeclared war onSpain on April 25, 1898. Hisregiment was mustered into Federal service on May 14, and sent toTampa, Florida, on June 3, in preparation for aninvasion ofCuba. However, the regiment was unable to obtaintransport to Cuba, and spent the war in Tampa, and later inHuntsville, Alabama, before being mustered out of service on October 22.[8] Poe worked as acowpuncher inNew Mexico, but longed for action and enlisted in theRegular Army's23rd Infantry. He was sent to the island ofSulu in thePhilippines, where he served inCompany F and as anorderly onGeneral Bates'staff, seeing none of the action he had been hoping for. Declining to apply for acommission, Poe instead asked his father to buy out his enlistment, and worked as asurveyor in Baltimore for a few months before returning to New Mexico.[9][10][6]
In 1903, Poe joined theKentucky National Guard, hisdetachment of which was sent toPrinceton, Kentucky, to suppress uprisings which led to the "Black Patch Wars". Later that year, he wrote to theCommandant of the Marine Corps, volunteering his services in the loomingPanamanian revolution. He was enlisted and sailed forPanama aboard theUSS Dixie, but saw no action, and he returned to the United States. There, he engaged briefly in thecoal-mining business inCharleston, West Virginia, before moving toTonopah, Nevada, to engage insilver mining there.[6][10]
Hearing that war was breaking out betweenHonduras andNicaragua, Poe leftNevada in 1907, intending to join the Nicaraguan Army. However, when his ship reached Honduras, anxious that the war was ending, he joined theHonduran Army. He was made acaptain and put in charge of agun in the siege ofAmapala. The war ended with the defeat of Honduran forces, and Poe returned to Nevada and mining. The following year found him with GeneralRafael de Nogales Méndez on afilibustering expedition inVenezuela against thedictator,Cipriano Castro. Méndez eventually ran afoul of the newpresident,Juan Vicente Gómez, and went intoexile. Poe returned once again to his mining interest, taking a two-year break, however, to join an expedition to survey the boundary betweenAlaska andCanada.[11][12]
Within days ofBritain's entry intoWorld War I, Poe volunteered for theBritish Army and was assigned to theRoyal Garrison Artillery, where he served inFrance for the remainder of 1914 and the first part of 1915. By then he had decided thatartillery was too far behind the lines, and had himself transferred to theBlack Watch, a famousScottishinfantry regiment, known to theGermans as the "Ladies fromHell" for thekilts they wore and their ferocity.[11]
In the opening hours of theBattle of Loos, on the morning of September 25, 1915, Poe was with a detachment carrying bombs to another regiment and was part way across an open field, when he was struck in the stomach by a bullet and killed. He was later buried there, between the German and British lines. However, his friends and relatives were never able to locate his grave.[13][14]
Poe's name was entered into the Black Watch roll of honor atEdinburgh Castle. At Princeton, Poe field was named in his honor. Given annually and established by Poe's mother, the "John Prentiss Poe, Jr. Memorial Football Cup" (presently known as the Poe-Kazmaier Trophy) is the highest award given to a Princeton football player.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Orange and Blue(Independent)(1893–1894) | |||||||||
| 1893 | Virginia | 8–3 | |||||||
| 1894 | Virginia | 8–2 | |||||||
| Virginia: | 16–5 | ||||||||
| Navy Midshipmen(Independent)(1896) | |||||||||
| 1896 | Navy | 5–3 | |||||||
| Navy: | 5–3 | ||||||||
| Total: | 21–8 | ||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
