Henry Walter Torney (November 12, 1881 – October 22, 1942) 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 with ...

player and industrial engineer. He was an All-American at the halfback and fullback positions in 1904 and 1905 while attending the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. He later became an industrial engineer.

Biography

Torney was the son of

George H. Torney Brigadier General George Henry Torney (June 1, 1850 – December 27, 1913) was a physician in the United States Navy and Army who served as the 21st Surgeon General of the United States Army. Torney was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1850. He ...

, the

Surgeon General of the United States Army The Surgeon General of the United States Army is the senior-most officer of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD). By policy, the Surgeon General (TSG) serves as Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) as well as head of the ...

. He played college football and was a member of the

crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

from 1901 to 1902. He was admitted to the

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

, in June 1902. He played football for the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

football team, he was selected as a first-team All-American in 1904 (as a halfback) and 1905 (as a fullback). In 1904, Torney ran 105 yards against Yale. Torney's final game for Army was the 1905 Army-Navy game, played at

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, in front of President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, former President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, and future President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

. Torney scored Army's only touchdown in a 6-6 tie. Torney graduated from West Point in June 1906 and served in the artillery corps. He was stationed at

Fort Totten, New York Fort Totten is a former active United States Army installation in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located on the Willets Point peninsula on the north shore of Long Island. Fort Totten is at the head of Little Neck Bay, where the ...

, from 1906 to 1907 and at

Fort Hancock, New Jersey Fort Hancock is a former United States Army fort at Sandy Hook in Middletown Township New Jersey. The coastal artillery base defended the Atlantic coast and the entrance to New York Harbor, with its first gun batteries operational in 1896. The ...

, from 1908 to 1909. He was transferred to the recruiting service in New York City in December 1910. In January 1910, Torney, then a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, was arrested in New York City as part of a protest with the Shirtwaist Strikers. Torney was dating

Inez Milholland Inez Milholland Boissevain (August 6, 1886 – November 25, 1916) was a leading American suffragist, lawyer, and peace activist. From her college days at Vassar, she campaigned aggressively for women’s rights as the principal issue of a wide ...

, the noted suffragette who was then a law student at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, and had attended the protest with her. The charges against Torney and Milholland were later dropped, but the arrests of Milholland and Torney drew extensive press coverage that raised questions about the role of the police in labor disputes. New York Mayor

William Jay Gaynor William Jay Gaynor (February 2, 1849 – September 10, 1913) was an American politician from New York City, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as the 94th mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, and previously ...

subsequently rebuked the "police dictators" for their conduct in making the arrests and instructed the police that they were not to take sides in labor disputes. In 1912, Torney transferred from active duty to the

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was called back to active duty in the

Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

. Torney served from 1917 to 1919, attaining the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. Torney married Bertha Benedict, the daughter of Seelye Benedict, on December 27, 1913, the same day that his father died. Torney went on to become a successful industrial engineer with a "palatial summer residence" at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. In 1932, Torney, described in the press as a "millionaire industrial engineer," was the target of a blackmail plot by the former gardener at his Southampton estate. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

arrested the blackmailer, and the story was featured in a lengthy feature article promoting the investigative prowess of the FBI's " G-Men." Torney died at Doctors Hospital in New York on October 22, 1942. He was buried at the

West Point Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery in the eastern United States, on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Revolutionary War soldiers and early ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torney, Henry 1881 births 1942 deaths Cornell Big Red football players Army Black Knights football players All-American college football players United States Military Academy alumni United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War I American industrial engineers Burials at West Point Cemetery