Alden Partridge was born on February 12, 1785 in Norwich, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. He was the son of Samuel, a farmer and soldier of the Revolution, and Elizabeth (Wright) Partridge. He was a descendant of George Partridge who came to America about 1636.
After early education in the district schools, Alden Partridge entered Dartmouth College in 1802, but did not graduate.
On December 14, 1805, Alden Partridge was appointed a cadet in the army and sent to West Point. The United States Military Academy had been established there in 1802, for the reception and training of cadets, but it had no definite course of instruction, no requirements for admission or graduation, and no fixed period of residence. Cadets were received whenever appointed, taught as seemed expedient to the faculty, and sent from the academy at any time. On October 30, 1806, Partridge was commissioned first lieutenant of engineers. He did not leave West Point, however, for he was immediately assigned to duty as an instructor, and there he was stationed throughout his service in the army. He was promoted to captain, July 23, 1810, appointed professor of mathematics, April 13, 1813, and of engineering, September 1, 1813. For more than two years he was acting superintendent of the academy. His administration was lax and unsatisfactory, and he was superseded by Maj. Sylvanus Thayer. Returning from leave, he assumed command over Thayer and attempted to regain his quarters. The struggle between the two was ended by an order from Washington for Partridge's arrest, and he was tried by court martial on numerous charges of neglect of duty and insubordination, and sentenced, November 27, 1817, to be cashiered. The punishment was remitted by the President, however, and Partridge's resignation from the army followed, April 15, 1818.
For a time Alden Partridge was engaged on the survey of the northeastern boundary of the United States, but in 1819 he established the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy" at Norwich, Vermont. It was removed in 1825 to Middletown, Connecticut, but in 1829 its buildings there were sold to Wesleyan University and it was moved back to Norwich. In 1834 it was chartered as Norwich University, under which name it still operates although now located at Northfield, Vermont. In 1827 Partridge opened a military preparatory school at Norwich, which existed until the return of the principal institution to that place, and in 1835 he established a "young ladies' seminary, " likewise at Norwich. He had always hoped to spread the military academy idea throughout the country, with the help of graduates of Norwich University, now becoming numerous, he established such schools, more or less short-lived, at Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1839, Bristol, Pennsylvania, in 1842, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1845, Wilmington, Delaware, in 1846, Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1850, Pembroke, New Hampshire, in 1850, and Brandywine Springs, Delaware, in 1853.
Meanwhile, Alden Partridge had severed his connection with Norwich University, though he retained ownership of its property, the university leasing it from him when he surrendered the presidency in 1843. He resumed possession in 1845, forcing the University to move to another site near by, and opened his own "American Literary, Scientific and Military University, " which, however, he discontinued the next year, selling the property to the Norwich University corporation. In the establishment of these schools Partridge's primary interest was in national defense. In the War of 1812 he had witnessed the appalling results of neglect of military training, and was convinced that for a nation relying upon citizen soldiers it is vitally important that some of these citizens should be imbued with discipline and trained for command. The military training given in his schools was rudimentary, it is true, but in his day the military art was comparatively simple, and the forces which the United States had put, or expected to put, in the field, were very small. Under the conditions of the time the training given in his schools was distinctly valuable. Partridge may fairly be regarded as the founder of the system of military academies of elementary and secondary grade which have since become so numerous.
The present Reserve Officers' Training Corps has a different ancestry, but even in this, Partridge's influence may be traced. In other respects his educational ideas were in advance of his age. Norwich University was an engineering school from the first, and so continued through a long period when engineering, in the United States, was treated rather as a trade to be picked up casually than as a profession to be studied in an institution of learning. This university, too, was among the first to offer collegiate instruction in agriculture. Aside from his educational work, Partridge's activities were varied. He served as surveyor general of Vermont in 1822-23, was elected to the legislature in 1833, 1834, 1837, and 1839, and was three times an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. He died in Norwich on January 17, 1854.
Alden Partridge was the founder of the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy in Norwich, Vermont (later, Norwich University, 1837). He was one of the first proponents of the modern college curriculum, arguing that practical topics such as the natural sciences and mathematics were more important than the typical classical curriculum, which included Latin and ancient Greek history. Partridge is regarded as one of the creators of the Reserve Officer Training Corps program.
His wife, whom Alden Partridge married in 1837, was Ann Elizabeth, daughter of John Swasey of Claremont, New Hampshire. She survived him half a century, dying in October 1902. They had two sons.
