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Curtis Gerald "Cap" Redden (February 8, 1881 – January 16, 1919) was an
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...
player. He was the starting left end for the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
's football team from 1901 to 1904. He played for Michigan's "Point-a-Minute" teams and was unanimously selected as an All-Western player in 1903. Redden died of pneumonia while serving in the U.S. Army in Germany at the end of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.


Early years

Redden was born in
Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, ...
. His father, William B. Redden, was an Indiana native and a lawyer. His mother, Sarah E. Redden, was also an Indiana native. Redden had two younger brothers, Forest and James, and a younger sister, Jessie. At the time of the 1900 United States Census, Redden was living in Rossville, Illinois, with his parents and siblings.


University of Michigan

Redden enrolled at the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
where he became one of the stars of Fielding H. Yost's famous "Point-a-Minute" teams of 1901,
1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...
, and
1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...
. The 1901 team compiled a record of 11–0 and outscored its opponents 550–0. In Redden's sophomore, junior and senior years, Michigan was 33–0–1 and outscored opponents by a total of 1,764 to 18. At the end of his senior season, Redden was a unanimous first-team All-Western selection, including designations by the ''Chicago Record-Herald'', ''The Chicago Daily News'', and ''The Inter-Ocean''. He was one of only five players upon whom the "Western football critics have been able to unanimously agree." ''The Chicago Daily News'' also designated Redden as the captain of its 1903 All-Western team and explained its choice as follows
Redden's cool head in a game, his speed and strong playing mark him as the most legitimate selection for captain among all the other captains ... Redden's speed up the field on punts, his ability to stiff arm every interferer without slackening up that speed, and his open-field tackling mark him as the best end for the pure type of end work the west has seen in years. Offensively his skill lies in assisting his tackle in boxing an opponent and assisting the runner after he has passed the line.
Redden was also selected as a third-team All-American by
Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the syste ...
. After he graduated, one paper noted the impact his loss would have on the 1904 team: "The loss of Captain Redden will be felt keenly. For four years he was regarded as the greatest end the west ever produced." An all-around athlete, Redden was selected as the captain of Michigan's football and baseball teams in his senior year. One newspaper summed up Redden's athletic career at Michigan as follows
Redden was captain not only of this year's Michigan football team but also of the selected All-Star Western team. He is a natural football player and is one of the best ends the Middle West has ever produced. He is also captain of the school track team, being the only man who has had the distinction of holding both stations of honor at the same time.


Football coach and lawyer

With the success of Yost's "Point-a-Minute" teams, his former players were in great demand as coaches.
Dan McGugin Daniel Earle McGugin (July 29, 1879 – January 23, 1936) was an American football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from ...
went to Vanderbilt, Willie Heston to Drake,
Albert E. Herrnstein Albert Ernest Herrnstein (August 15, 1882 – August 14, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He played at the University of Michigan as a halfback and end from 1899 to 1902 and was the head football coach at the Haskell Indian Scho ...
to
Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
and
Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
,
Paul J. Jones Paul J. Jones (November 4, 1880 – August 4, 1965) was an American college football player and coach and United States federal judge. He played Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the University of Michigan's national championship footbal ...
to
Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...
,
Bruce Shorts Bruce Carman Shorts (January 15, 1878 – March 29, 1945) was an American football player and coach. He played as a tackle at the University of Michigan from 1900 to 1901. Shorts served as the head football coach at the Nevada State University—n ...
to Nevada and
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...
,
William Cole William or Bill Cole may refer to: Business * William Rossa Cole (1919–2000), American children's writer * William Washington Cole (1847–1915), part owner of the Barnum & Bailey Circus Fine arts and entertainment * William Cole (musician) ...
to Virginia, Frank Longman to Arkansas and Notre Dame, Joseph Maddock to Oregon and
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
and Fred Norcross to Oregon State. And in 1905, Redden was hired as the football coach at Kentucky University. In November 1905, a newspaper reported on Redden's progress at Kentucky: "What Redden is doing at Kentucky is best shown by the record his moonshiners made in this Northwestern game. Undoubtedly, the close, hard game given the purple bv Redden's pupils, helped pull Northwestern down to the weakened condition in which Stagg's men found McCormick's players." In 1906, Redden, who had also been a star in baseball at Michigan, signed to play baseball with the
Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which opene ...
in the American Association. By 1908, Redden had opened a law practice in his home town of
Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, ...
, where he also became involved in politics. In October 1908, Redden agreed to take time out from his law practice to join Coach Yost's staff to whip the Michigan football team into shape. Redden was given responsibility over the linemen. For a portion of the 1911 season, Yost left Redden in charge of the team while Yost traveled to the East to watch Penn play Jim Thorpe's Carlisle Indians. Redden remained on Yost's coaching staff through the 1912 season. For several years, Redden had continued his law practice in Illinois but had "been able to spare a few weeks to return to Ann Arbor and help out" as Yost's assistant. By 1912, Yost concluded he needed a year-round, full-time staff of assistants. Redden returned to Illinois, where he worked at Knox College in
Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County ...
, from 1915 to 1917 as an assistant physical education director, line coach for the Knox football team, and as head baseball coach.


World War I

Redden enlisted in the U.S. Army during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. He served as a lieutenant colonel of the 149th Field Artillery with the Rainbow Division in France. His unit was among the first to leave for France. In April 1918, newspapers published a letter from Redden to a friend back home describing the Illinois artillery unit's "baptism of fire." He described the heavy shelling the unit withstood:
And so it went from day to day, but oftimes the nights were very bad. At night, when the infantry launched its raids, or the enemy his, or the infantry became nervous and called for help, the guns stamped like stallions and snorted their breaths of fire. The blackness of the night became a series of dots and dashes, until the world resembled a vast radio station, spelling hell, hell, and hell again. To this must be added the shriek of shells, the whistle of fragments, the automatic hammer effect of the machine gun, the rattle of the rifle fire, the rockets and star shells out over No Man's land—all combined to make the night weird, hideous, fascinating, sublime.
In November 1918, Redden was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and assumed command of the 149th Field Artillery Regiment. Redden survived the many battles in which his unit fought only to come down with
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
after the army of occupation began its march into Germany. Redden died of pneumonia in January 1919 at a hospital in
Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its na ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
. Redden had been in command of the artillery unit since October 1918. Redden was buried in Germany on a slope near the point where the
Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...
and Moselle Rivers meet. Newspapers described his funeral as follows
With an escort of more than 600 enlisted men besides the officers of the 149th and 67th artillery brigade, of which the regiment was a part, the cortege passed through Coblenz with Redden's horse, 'Sergeant,' taking the place of honor immediately behind the gun carriage bearing the flag-draped casket. In line with the custom of military funerals, the dead officer's boots were in the stirrups, with the toes pointing to the rear. At the grave three volleys were fired by an infantry squad and a bugler sounded the plantive notes of ' taps.'
Redden has since been reburied in Spring Hill Cemetery in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois, USA. In 1921, one of the columns in Memorial Stadium at the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...
was dedicated to Redden. The funds to purchase the column were donated by friends of Redden from his days at Michigan and by the men who served with him in the 149th Field Artillery. The column was dedicated at a ceremony prior the 1921 Michigan-Illinois game. The ''Michigan Alumnus'' magazine in November 1921 reported: "This column will stand for all time to perpetuate the memory of Colonel Redden and as a bond of union between the two great universities."


Head coaching record


See also

*
Michigan Wolverines Football All-Americans Michigan Wolverines football All-Americans are American football players who have been named as All-Americans while playing for the University of Michigan football team. Overview Since 1898, 134 Michigan Wolverines football players have earned ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Redden, Curtis 1881 births 1919 deaths American football ends 20th-century American lawyers Indianapolis Indians players Michigan Wolverines football players Michigan Wolverines football coaches Transylvania Pioneers football coaches United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army colonels People from Danville, Illinois Deaths from pneumonia in Germany People from Vermilion County, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Military personnel from Illinois