Alonzo Jackman Alonzo Jackman ( March 20 , 1809 – February 24 , 1879 ) was a Vermont educator and military officer . He is prominent for developing and implementing a system for receiving and training troops for the Union Army during the American Civil War , and for commanding troops on the Vermont border with Canada following the St . Albans Raid . Early life and academic career . Alonzo Jackman was born in Thetford Center , Vermont on March 20 , 1809 . He left home as a teenager following his widowed mother ' s remarriage , and worked as a laborer before deciding to obtain a college education . Entering Norwich University in 1832 , he received his bachelor ' s degree in 1836 and his Master ' s Degree in 1840 . Jackman joined the Norwich University faculty as Professor of Mathematics , Natural Philosophy , Civil Engineering and Military Science . In addition , he served as the college ' s librarian . Jackman wrote several articles and treatises on mathematics and other topics . In the 1840s he prepared an article on constructing an underwater telegraph , including methods of insulating and laying cable . When the Transatlantic line was laid in the 1850s and 1860s Jackman received credit for originating the idea . In 1862 Jackman was awarded an honorary doctorate from Norwich University . Military service . From 1847 to 1848 he served as a Major and brigade drill master in the New Hampshire Militia . In 1859 he was commissioned as Colonel of the 2nd Vermont Militia Regiment , and in 1860 he was appointed a Brigadier General . Civil War service . At the start of the Civil War Governor Erastus Fairbanks offered him command of the 1st Vermont Infantry Regiment , but at the same time requested that Jackman decline it and stay in Vermont to train new recruits , and Jackman consented . Working in concert with Adjutant General Peter T . Washburn , Jackman devised a process for receiving recruits at a central location , equipping them and training them before sending them to the front lines . This method was adopted by other states as they raised volunteer regiments throughout the Civil War . Following the Confederate Raid on St . Albans , Vermont in October , 1864 , the northernmost action of the Civil War , General Jackman commanded troops along the Canadian border . Death and burial . Jackman died suddenly at his home in Northfield , Vermont on February 24 , 1879 . Earlier that day he reported feeling ill and sent word to the university president that he would be unable to teach as scheduled . He died while wearing his uniform and standing at his living room window , falling to the floor after an apparent heart attack . He is buried in Northfield ' s Elmwood Cemetery . Published works . " A treatise on the doctrine of numerical series , both ascending and descending " ( 1846 ) ; " Who Originated the Oceanic Telegraph ? " ( 1846 ) ; " Mathematical Considerations " ( 1873 ) ; " The Circle Squared " ( 1876 ) . Legacy . Jackman Hall , the first building erected when the university moved from the town of Norwich to the town of Northfield after an 1866 fire , is named for him . Family . Jackman was married to Charlotte Sawyer of Royalton , Vermont ( December 11 , 1828 — October 7 , 1874 ) . They had two children , Alonzo ( 1857 – 1859 ) and Helen ( 1867 – 1877 ) .