New York Military Academy - Shrapnel Yearbook (Cornwall on Hudson, NY)

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QW W' rr- f .P . I Y , . . -4 ' THE ACADEMY WHEN FOUNDED IN 1889 Maroon and white were adopted as the Academy's of- ficial colors and fa shock to those who think sports writers have coined a new phrase in the past few yearsj the official yell became Hobble-gobble, RAZZLE-DAZZLE, sis-boom- bahg N-Y-M-A, rah, rah, rahl Social events were of an informal nature, but fraternity activity, which was to become the backbone of the Acad- emy's social program, began early in the year. The Delta Chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma was the first fraternity or- ganization to be formed, followed by the Eta Chapter of Pi Phi. The latter was to have the distinction later of becoming the first preparatory school chapter in the United States to have its own house. A third fraternity was founded in the same year and first housed itself in a small cottage on Newburgh Roadg known as Chi Sigma Chi, they later abandoned the cot- tage in favor of a room in the main building authorized by the school authorities. The inaugural commencement exercises were held june 17, 1890, eleven cadets receiving the first diplomas ever issued by the New York Military Academy. They were joseph A. Green, Jerome S. Spiegelberg, Charles Spiegel- berg, Robert A. McDowell, Fleetwood H. Ward, Alden Goldsmith, Warland E. Conklin, William West, Marcus Goldfinger, John M. Bridges and Wygant D. Fowler. Of those original graduates only Green is still active in his profession fifty years later. After completing his course at N.Y.M.A. he studied law and has been a prac- ticing attorney at Ossining, N. Y., ever since. Conklin at- tended Rensselaer Polytechnic lnstitute, was graduated in electrical engineering and was associated with the New York Telephone Company until he retired. He is now liv- ing in Larchmont, N. Y. Green received the gold medal designating him as Head Boy. This was the first major award established at the Academy, and it is still considered one of the highest honors a cadet may win. Thus Green's name is the first of the fifty that are engraved upon the large plaque which hangs in the main hall of the academic building at the Academy, listing the men who have attained the highest records in scholarship and conduct at N.Y.M.A. A gold medal accompanies the award each year. QThe HEAD BOYS are honored in a special page in this book.j There was a twelfth boy who had marched in with the Page Niue

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M360 lxll 'fig Once a popular summer resort for wealthy New York- ers, a steadily increasing influx of summer residents had awakened this hamlet from its rustic dreams and made it a scene of gaiety. Several large hotels, among them the Glen Ridge House, were erected to accommodate the visi- tors from the metropolis down the river. By 1885, however, improved transportation facilities had carried the bulk of summer vacationists further from New York, and Corn- wall had sunk back into the quiet of any small country town. One by one the hotels closed as the How of guests dwindled to a small stream and then dried up entirely. And it was upon the Glen Ridge House that Colonel Wright fastened his eye when he finally decided to open his own military school. Situated on an eminence just west of the town proper, the four-story building contained seventy rooms and was comparatively modern, having been erected about fifteen years before. It was surrounded by about thirty acres of parks and gardens, with the Hudson River to the east and Storm King Mountain to the south. The late spring and summer of 1889 were spent in renovating the building and conditioning the grounds. A corps of workmen, driven by Colonel Wright's unflagging energy, knocked down and erected partitions, cut new doors and plastered up others, installed blackboards and desks and laid out a parade ground. Meanwhile Colonel Wright was recruiting a faculty, and when New York Military Academy came into being in September, 1889, he had as direct assistants Major Belden F. Hyatt, Commandantg Frank H. Greene, Head- master, and Lieutenant Charles Braden, Instructor in Mil- itary Science. Seventy-live cadets, many of whom had followed Colonel Wright from Peekskill, were on hand for the opening of the new school. Their uniforms, reminiscent of the Union Army dress in the Civil War, consisted of dark blue blouse with turn-down collar and five brass buttons down the front, lighter blue trousers with a broad white stripe, forage cap for fatigue, and a dress uniform, prac- tically unchanged, except for the shako, to this day. Classes were organized and military drill begun at once. Colonel Wright had secured an issue of military equipment from the government with the result that the first corps had the use of 150 of the old Springfield army rifles and a pair of 3.2-inch muzzle-loading field pieces. In a letter written many years later, one of the very first cadets, H. A. C. deRubio, has left a personal record of the opening year: At 6 P.M. on September fifteenth 1889, occurred the first roll-call that ushered the N.Y.M.A. into being. Wardwell, Cadet Adjutant to be, clad in the first dress uniform ever made for the school, read the roll and the order appointing the first Cadet Officers. On the rostrum sat the founder and Superintendent, Col. Jefferson Wright, U.S.V., Maj. B. F. Hyatt, the Commandant, and Lieut. Charles Braden, U.S.A. retired, the tGovernment detail,' as he was then called. Lieutenant Braden had been saved from taking part in the annihilation of General Custer and the 7th Cav- alry by a wound received a few weeks before in the battle of the Little Big Horn. As a result he had been retired for physical disability, and was known as prob- ably the most successful coach of candidates for West Point in the country. His 'cramming' establishment occupied the present Bard Hall and his original nine candidates grew to some forty before' the end of the year. At First these students wore uniforms and were part of the cadet corps, but later, as their numbers grew and constantly changed, they became, in effect, a separate school. The first year was not entirely satisfactory: Major Hyatt left the school at Christmas and Colonel Wright could only visit it for a couple of days each week. The school's first band was the town band of Canter- bury and its leader was George Bayard, the school barber for many years. It wore a uniform fumished, I think, by the school, and it was always necessary to com- plete their wardrobe, especially in the matter of trousers, from that of the cadets when they accompanied us to New York for a Memorial Day parade or some such ceremonial. On the day of the parade the school rose at dawn and took train to town where it stood in the streets for two or three hours before the start, then not infrequently marching from Cortland Street to Forty-second and thence to the West Shore Ferry. Colonel Wright usually commanded the so-called Cadet Division at the tail of the parade, but it must be said that wherever he rode he was as distinguished and soldierly a figure as there was in it .... Sunday was a day of horror never to be forgotten. On the theory that if we had nothing to do we would get into mischief, the following schedule prevailed: Morning Prayers, Inspection of Quarters in full dress, marching to various churches in Cornwall and Canter- bury also in full dress. Second Mess, Bible Class, Sacred Singing fevery one doing his worstj, Evening Prayers. Third Mess, Inspection, letter home, study for Monday. As was the custom throughout the land, Friday after- noon was devoted to public speaking. Every honest man did his worst so as not to be caught for the commence- ment day exercises. This was easily accomplished by re- citing 'The Polish Boy,' 'Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight' or some similar tripe as rapidly as possible in an inaud- ible monotone and with appropriate gestures at the wrong place. The other five days were in general very happy ones. Drill was completely formal at Cornwall, as else- where in that remote decade. Much time was spent in learning Silent Manuals, for which bird shot was dropped in rifle barrels to make pieces ring when smartly handled. There was no rifle practice. Arms were kept in racks in the drill hall and were supposed to be cleaned by an armorer. Formal Guard Mount, Parades and Bat- talion drill occupied the drill hours, but such as they were these drills were well done. .1- There were extra-curricular activities, too, to occupy the immediate attention of the cadets. A football team was organized but did not engage in formal competition, and an intramural track meet was held in November with seven events contested. The first appearance of a New York Military Academy team in interscholastic competition was in the spring of 1890, when the baseball team encountered the Siglar School nine from Newburgh and emerged vic- tor, after a close game, by a score of 29 to 28. Page Eight

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OLDEST LIVING ALUMNUS Mr. Joseph F. Taylor, oldest living graduate of N.Y.M.A., as he appeared at the 1939 Commencement. first graduating class but whose name was not called when the diplomas were awarded. Astounded by the fact that he had been left out, Cadet Captain joseph F. Taylor made a bee-line for Colonel Wright the minute commencement ceremonies were concluded, and asked why he had not re- ceived his diploma. Colonel Wright explained that it must have been a mis- take and later forwarded the diploma with a letter asking Taylor to take a postgraduate course and offering him the rank of Cadet Major. Accordingly, Taylor returned to the Academy for another year and took a commercial course, receiving a second diploma at the 1891 commencement. Still hale and hearty, and looking much younger than his actual years, Taylor chuckles now over the fact that he is the only man ever to attend N.Y.M.A. who received two diplomas from that institution. While New York Military Academy was thus born at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, the world moved on outside. Benjamin Harrison was president of the United States and the nationally disastrous Johnstown flood had taken its place in history. Not so widely heralded, but destined to train citizens for their part in that history, the Academy entered on its first decade. Eminently successful in winning the respect and love of the boys, as well as the confidence of the parents, Colo- nel Wright opened the Academy's second year with a to- tal enrollment of eighty-six boys, an increase of eleven over the initial registration. The capacity of the original building had been severely taxed during the first year and work upon a second build- ing was begun during the summer of 1890. The new struc- ture was completed during the winter and was occupied for the first time when the cadets returned from their Christmas holiday. It contained a chapel, gymnasium, and five classrooms, releasing a large amount of space in the main building for dormitory and executive purposes. The new building also incorporated an observation tower for astronomy students. Football once more held the attention of the cadets during the fall, and this time the team actually saw action against an outside opponent. In the only interscholastic encounter of the year at Cornwall, the New York Mili- tary Academy engaged the Westminster School of Dobbs Ferry and won by an 18-0 score. The baseball team of 1891, however, played a com- plete schedule of eight games, winning five and losing three. Peekskill Military Academy, arch-rival of all Ny- manians for years to come, was nlet twice on the diamond, each school winning one game. A high spot of that school year, too, was the first pro- duction of the N.Y.M.A. Dramatic Club. After weeks of rehearsal, the Club presented a minstrel show on March 15 before an enthusiastic audience of cadets, parents and townspeople. Individual stars were G. Mayo deReamer, Edward Carpenter, Easton R. Gibson and Edward Spring. Frank Zittell gained undying fame and convulsed the entire Academy in the spring of 1892 by introducing a new order into the list of commands given during the usual dress parade. Zittell, who had just been promoted to Sec- ond Lieutenant, was given charge of his company that afternoon when his best girl unexpectedly appeared upon the scene. The result was astounding. Panic struck the dignified Second Lieutenant, and he barely managed to avoid stumbling over his own feet. He had the company in columns of fours marching across the parade ground to form battalion line, and headed toward one of the Academy buildings. His mind did a complete blackout when he discovered the lady and he could find no words to stop the column or divert its course. Page Ten