The citizen soldier ideal was the driving force behind Alden Partridge's educational experiment. He wanted officers who would be "identified in views, in feelings and in interest, with the great body of the community," and a college that would reconcile the efficiency and discipline demanded by a regular army with the republican values and popular sentiments inherent in the militia system. Norwich University provided the union army a vehicle by which volunteer officers could be trained to lead and fight. This book examines the contribution of Norwich University and its graduates to the union army during the civil war to determine the extent to which Partridge's system of education may have contributed to their success.