The Citadel - Sphinx Yearbook (Charleston, SC)

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the nine streamers which were authorized by the Adjutant General of the State of South Carolina as recognition of the meritorious service rendered by the Corps of Cadets in the War Between the States. The participation of the Citadel cadets and Citadel gradu- ates in the war was outstanding, and it is impressive to note that Citadel cadets fired the first shot of the war from Cummings Point on Morris Island at the Star of the West, and that Citadel cadets were actively engaged in the last organized resistance of Confederate troops east of the Mississippi River, when a detachment of cadets engaged a unit of Federal cavalry at Williamston, South Carolina, on May 1, 1865. In all, forty-three graduates and seven cadets gave their lives for the Confederacy, and so closed the glorious Chapter III — indeed a noble story. Chapter IV Chapter IV is the revelation of the tragic era in the history of the Citadel Academy, and covers the period from 1865 to 1882. These years were the darkest in the institution ' s history, and had it not been for the small, but loyal. Alumni Association, the War Between the States would have caused the school to close permanently. Several months before the cadets had fought at Williamston, the victorious Union Army under General Sherman burned the Arsenal Academy at Columbia, and on February 18, 1865, Federal troops under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Bennett entered Charleston, unopposed, and ran the Stars and Stripes up over the Citadel. For the next seventeen years the Academy ' s buildings housed a Federal garrison. In the interim, the fate of the Citadel ' s life was often in peril. But the fact that the buildings and grounds were occupied by Federal troops did not end the legal existence of the college, nor cause the alumni and friends of the Citadel to give up the hope that some day the gates again would be opened to receive cadets. These loyal friends of the institution never gave up in the battle for the preservation of the school, but the fact that the state was under military rule, and as the negroes and carpetbaggers consti- tuted the ruling element in the South Carolina legis- lature, the efforts of the alumni seemingly were vain. It was the contention of the alumni that the Citadel Academy was not a captured military post; but the Federal authorities would not grant permission to effect the reopening of the school. On October 30, 1869, the west wing of the Academy was destroyed by fire, and when this happened, many people thought that the institution could never be reopened. And, so, the Citadel lay dormant until August 20, 1877, when a committee of Alumni addressed to Governor Hamp- ton several documents, which he in turn was to present to the War Department and to President Hayes. These documents furnished conclusive proof that the Citadel was not a captured military post; but the Secretary of War was unfavorable to the idea of the committee of Alumni and the request was disap- proved. There was nothing that the Alumni could do other than to try again, and this they did the next year. The Alumni Association finally reorgan- ized on December 13, 1877, and on April 18, 1878. Governor Hampton appointed a new Board of Visi- tors, the chairman of which was General Johnson Hagood. This gave new life to the movement, and on June 4, 1878, a bill was introduced in the United States Senate which directed the Secretary of War to restore the Citadel buildings to the State of South Carolina. The movement gained further support when, on February 22, 1879, the Washington Light Infantry pledged support. In the light of these events, Cadet H. B. D ' Oyley, class of 1S57. [11]

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a man for almost any station in life, and the gradu- ates were recognized as being capable men whose military training had disciplined well their thoughts and actions. In this manner had the Citadel become renowned for its high standards of discipline and academic instruction, and even at this early stage the worth of the school had been proven, but its true value to the state and nation was to be written in the next chapter — a chapter whose pages are splashed with the blood shed by sons of the Citadel in the fratricidal conflict that involved our nation in the years 1861- 1865. Chapter III Chapter III in the history of this institution tells of the salient part the Citadel took in the War Be- tween the States, and this particular period has its beginning in the days immediately following Decem- ber 20, 1860, when the State of South Carolina seceded from th e Union. This act of secession brought about the war. which, despite the tragic aftermath, gave to the Academy the greater portion of its price- less heritage, and a history shared by no other school in the nation. From the ninth day of January, 1861, when Cadet G. E. Haynsworth fired on the Union steamer, Star of the West, to the battle of Wil- liamston. May 1, 1865, the cadets of the Citadel and Arsenal Academies were involved inextricably Charleston Military Figures, I860. Citadel cadets show as numbers four and Hoc from the left end. in the war. The cadet participation in the war is one of the outstanding events in the entire history as the cadets conducted themselves in a most soldierly fashion, and rendered distinctive service to the South. On January 28, 1861, the State Legislature enacted a law whereby the cadets of the Citadel and the Arsenal Academies would be group ed together as the Battalion of State Cadets to be used as a military unit and to be called the South Carolina Military Academy. On August 8, 1861, Major Stevens resigned his post at the Citadel, and accepted an appointment as Colonel of the Holcombe Legion, and he was succeeded at the Citadel by Major J. B. White, who was the institution ' s war-time superintendent. Organized as a military unit with its own appointed officers, and with the authority of the Governor of South Carolina, the State Cadets took part in eight engagements in this epic struggle. But it was not only in this Battalion of State Cadets that Citadel men were displaying the results of their discipline and training, for on other battlefields the early graduates of the Citadel were actively engaged. Before the war ended, there were, serving the Confederacy, one Major General, E. M. Law, and three Brigadier Generals, Micah Jenkins, Johnson Hagood, and Ellison Capers, all of them graduates of the Citadel. Of these. General Micah Jenkins was killed in battle. Two other dis- tinguished graduates. Colonels Tew and Nance, were killed on the eve of their promotions to the rank of Brigadier General. Another group of cadets that fought with signal success was the famous Cadet Company of the 6th Regiment of South Carolina Cavalry. This regiment, the nucleus of which was the Cadet Company, fought at such battles as Louisa Court House, Trevillian Station, White House, Gravel Run, John ' s Island, and Riddle ' s Shop. When the war formally ended at Appomattox, the Citadel was not without a representative, for Major R. M. Sims, of the class of 1856, and a member of Longstreet ' s Staff, carried the flag of truce. At the Battle of Tulifinny, December 6-7, 1864, the Battalion of State Cadets conducted themselves in such a manner as to receive the praise of the veteran troops with whom they fought, and to merit the approval of the commanding general, as well as the colonel in command of the expedition. Today the regimental colors of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets bear [10]

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Astronomical observatory, The Citadel. 1916. the alumni had reason to believe that sooner or later the bill would be approved, and it was with inspired determination that the small group continued their efforts. On December 22. 1879, the General Assembly of South Carolina authorized the Board of Visitors to take steps necessary for the return of the Citadel to the state — but. still the authority was not forth- coming. Finally, on January 29, 1882. the Secretary of War directed General Hunt, commanding officer of the military district in which Charleston was in- cluded, to evacuate the Citadel, and on the last day of the same month the State Legislature passed an act whereby the Academy was to be reopened. With the reactivation of the institution, another chapter in the life of the Citadel was concluded, and at this stage there was no doubt that had it not been for the loyal alumni and their traditional friends. The Wash- ington Light Infantry, the Citadel never would have been reopened. The alumni association paved the way for The Greater Citadel as we know it today. been completely destroyed, and the property had been neglected to such an extent that it was in bad need of repair. Nevertheless, the Academy opened its doors to the first post-war class on October 2. 1882, and on November 13. 1882, the new Board of Visitors met in Ch arleston. Colonel John P. Thomas in his capacity as superintendent guided the school during the first years, and it was largely because of his untir- ing efforts that the school lost none of the discipline for which it had become famous. Colonel Thomas remained in this position until September 15, 1885, when he was succeeded by General George D. John- son. On February 7. 1883. improved Springfield rifles of the cadet pattern were issued to the cadets through the Adjutant and Inspector General. A short time later the Corps of Cadets drilled on the Green, under arms, for the first time since the end of the war. New courses of instruction and a new code of regulations had been prescribed for the institution prior to the entry of the first post-war class, and from these it was evident that seventeen years had not dulled the disciplinary qualities or the high academic standards of other years. The first commencement exercises since the reopening of the Academy took place on July 28, 1886. That the Citadel made sub- stantial progress during the years immediately fol- lowing the reopening is evidenced by the statement of Colonel H. W. Lawton, Inspector General of the United States Army, who inspected the school on May 16, 1892. He said, This is one of the oldest and best known military institutions in the South, and as to drill exercises, characterized them as all being of the first order. On October 1 , 1 890, Colonel Asbury Coward assumed the duties of superintendent, a post which he was to hold for eighteen years. By the turn of the century the Citadel was once again a well-established institution in the educational system of South Carolina — and so ended Chapter V — a chapter which was a dominant part of the Citadel ' s history. Chapter V Chapter V closely resembles Chapter I, in that to reopen the school after seventeen years of hostile occupation was almost as tremendous a task as had been the actual initial movement in 1842. Equip- ment at the Citadel was either badly damaged or had Chapter VI Chapter VI deals with the steady development of the school during the period including the years 1900 to 1931. This particular period is not as spectacular as others, but. nevertheless, it was a period of growth that was to be the preface to the magnificent expan- [12: