Famous American Football Player (Princeton College) and Soldier in the 1st Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders). KIA and MIA during the 1915 Battle of Loos. Poe field at Princeton University named in his honor.
John P. "Johnny" Poe, Jr. (26 February 1874 – 25 September 1915) was an American college football player and coach, soldier, Marine, and soldier of fortune, whose exploits on the gridiron and the battlefield contributed to the lore and traditions of the Princeton Tigers football program.
Family John Prentiss Poe, Jr., known as "Johnny", was born 26 February 1874 in Baltimore, Maryland, to John P. Poe, Sr., and Anne Johnson Hough. He was the third of six sons in a family that also included three daughters. John Sr. was a prominent attorney, and relative[1] of the American writer and poet, Edgar Allan Poe. John Sr. was an 1856 graduate of Princeton University and would later serve as Attorney General of Maryland. Anne Hough was from a Maryland family who supported the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Her nephew, Bradley T. Johnson served as a Confederate general, and her brother, Gresham Hough, fought with Mosby's raiders.All six Poe brothers wound up playing football for Princeton. The oldest, S. Johnson Poe, played halfback and also played on Princeton's national champion lacrosse team. The second son, Edgar A. Poe, was captain of the football team, and later served as Attorney General of Maryland, like his father. The fourth son, Neilson Poe, also played halfback. Fifth son, Arthur Poe, was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969. Finally, the sixth son, Gresham Poe, played quarterback, and followed Johnny as head coach at Virginia.
College football career Poe enrolled at Princeton University in the fall of 1891, and was elected president of the freshman class. In spite of his small size, he made the varsity football team at halfback, and finished the season tied for third in touchdowns scored for the team. However, he struggled academically, and was asked to leave in the Spring. When he left for home, the entire freshman class escorted him to the train station.[4] He re-enrolled the following Fall, and started at quarterback, moving to halfback mid-way through the season. Poe played even better than in his freshman year, finishing second on the team for touchdowns scored. However, he was once again forced to leave the university for scholastic reasons. After leaving Princeton, Poe bounced around, coaching two seasons at Virginia, working for a steamboat operator, selling real estate, coaching the Navy, and serving as an assistant coach at Princeton. Poe would often return to Princeton as an assistant coach, including the National Championship season of 1903. It was while serving as an assistant coach that Poe is credited with saying "If you won't be beat, you can't be beat," which became the team motto for many seasons.
Soldier, adventurer Poe enlisted in the Fifth Maryland Infantry Regiment, and after over three years had risen to the rank of corporal, when the United States declared war on Spain on 25 April 1898. His regiment was mustered into Federal service on 14 May, and sent to Tampa, Florida on 3 June, in preparation for an invasion of Cuba. However, the regiment was unable to obtain transport to Cuba, and spent the war in Tampa, and later in Huntsville, Alabama, before being mustered out of service on 22 October,.[8] Poe worked as a cowpuncher in New Mexico, but longed for action and enlisted in the Regular Army's 23rd Infantry. He was sent to the island of Sulu in the Philippines, where he served in Company F and as an orderly on General Bates' staff, seeing none of the action he had been hoping for. Declining to apply for a commission, Poe instead asked his father to buy out his enlistment, and worked as a surveyor in Baltimore for a few months before returning to New Mexico. In 1903, Poe joined the Kentucky National Guard, his detachment of which was sent to Princeton, Kentucky to suppress uprisings which led to the "Black Patch Wars". Later that year, he wrote to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, volunteering his services in the looming Panamanian revolution. He was enlisted and sailed for Panama aboard the USS Dixie, but saw no action, and he returned to the United States. There, he engaged briefly in the ing business in Charleston, West Virginia before moving to Tonopah, Nevada to engage in silver mining there. Hearing that war was breaking out between Honduras and Nicaragua, Poe left Nevada in 1907, intending to join the Nicaraguan army. However, when his ship reached Honduras, anxious that the war was ending, he joined the army of Honduras. He was made a captain and put in charge of a gun in the siege of Amapala. The war ended with the defeat of Honduran forces, and Poe returned to Nevada and mining. The following year found him with General Rafael de Nogales Méndez on a filibustering expedition in Venezuela against the dictator, Cipriano Castro. Méndez eventually ran afoul of the new president, Juan Vicente Gómez, and went into exile. Poe returned once again to his mining interest, taking a two year break, however, to join an expedition to survey the boundary between Alaska and Canada.[
Death Within days of Britain's entry into World War I, Poe volunteered for the British Army and was assigned to the Royal Garrison Artillery, where he served in France for the remainder of 1914 and the first part of 1915. By then he had decided that artillery was too far behind the lines, and had himself transferred to the Black Watch, a famous Scottish infantry regiment, known to the Germans as the "Ladies from Hell" for the kilts they wore and their ferocity.[13] In the opening hours of the Battle of Loos, on the morning of 25 September 1915, Poe was with a detachment carrying bombs to another regiment and was part way across an open field, when he was struck in the stomach by a bullet and killed. He was later buried there, between the German and British lines. However, his friends and relatives were never able to locate his grave.
Legacy Poe's name was entered into the Black Watch roll of honor at Edinburgh Castle. At Princeton, Poe field was named in his honor. Given annually and established by Poe's mother, the "John Prentiss Poe, Jr. Memorial Football Cup" (presently known as the Poe-Kazmaier Trophy) is the highest award given to a Princeton football player.

From Find A Grave:
American football legend and Black Watch soldier. Johnny Poe's life was one of continuous striving for glory. He spent his childhood in Baltimore, as a member of the city's prominent Poe family. His father served a term as Maryland's attorney general and Johnny was a second cousin to author Edgar Allan Poe. In 1891, he followed two older brothers to Princeton. His college years coincided with a time when football, especially in the Ivy Leagues, was just developing into a favorite American sport. Johnny's talent on the field was quickly noticed and he landed on the varsity team as a freshman. Unfortunately, his dedication to the team came at the cost of his studies. After failing out that spring, he re-enrolled in fall of 1892 and rejoined the team as quarterback. Princeton's team again had a phenomenal year due to Johnny's strength and agility on the field; yet again he was forced out of school for academic reasons. However, his fellow members of the Princeton class of 1895 always considered him to be one of their most admired classmates. After Princeton, he pursued various jobs such as selling real estate, prospecting for gold, and working on a steamboat. He also spent a year in New Mexico working on the ranch of Hugh Hodge, a fellow friend from the class of '95. Eventually, he made his way back to Princeton serving as assistant football coach with Garrett Cochran for two seasons, leading the team to a national championship. Johnny's passion for adventure and a brief stint with the Maryland National Guard during the Spanish-American War led to his decision to pursue the military life.He served in the Philippines during the Philippine -American War. After bouncing among different battles in Nicaragua and Honduras as a soldier of fortune, Johnny saw the outbreak of World War I in Europe as his one last opportunity to make his mark. He traveled to Canada, enlisted in the British Army, and eventually made his way into the ancient Scottish Regiment named the Black Watch, which perfectly matched his desire for romantic military glory. During the Battle of Loos, he was shot in the stomach while delivering shells. Johnny's death in battle, combined with his adventurous life, contributed to the his lasting legacy with the school from which he never graduated. Classmates and friends helped to create Poe Field on the Princeton campus and the John Prentiss Poe, Jr., Football Cup is awarded each year to Princeton's most valuable player. Johnny Poe's actual burial site is unknown. It is only identified in a letter from Captain Lumsden of the Black Watch as being near a site on the battlefield known as "Lone Tree." Johnny's name is inscribed on the Battle of Loos memorial. His name is also inscribed on the Black Watch Roll of Honor at Edinburgh Castle. ----- Service No: S/11634 Age: 41 Regiment/Service: Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), 1st Bn. Son of the late John Prentiss Poe and Anne Johnson Poe.