United States Military Academy West Point - Howitzer Yearbook (West Point, NY)

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Iltl t iff ill it Q - , P 2 ei ti 1' ' 'w if K-2 .A lai-A it r' ll' - Y , if -:3 -. ref :i .' f '- fifft ti, ': . if iffiaii-13319 53 f ,'1 ,..-. .A.L .,.Q- ,..,,,,. . ' - -,fl : Ir. s. , :El 24 , , , , Zllfltlest 1Bu1nt in the Jflftmes' By M.-xNNiNcs llfl. IQTMMIEI. 1 CBrigadier-General, C. S. Class of 'STJ ENTERED the Academy in June, -1853. Ourorders were to report at any time between the lst and W 15th of June, so we dropped in by twos and 'TQ' thrces at a time until the 15th. We were sent to . , 'A Co. D barracks, under charge of a cadet lieutenant, who ,assigned us our rooms, and ordered us to the old Commissary Store Csituated about where the Confec- tioners is- nowj. Ileie we got our thing outlhtj ,- - blanket, pillow, candle-box. and so on-arranged it in a bundle. tied it to a broom-handle, and with this over our shoulders marched back past the Officers' Quar- L ters: to the huge delight of the occupants, who watched i and commented on us with a singular lack of sympathy. lVe remained in these barracks till camp. They l were oft limits to older cadetsg but we were given , ' L authority by special orders to visit upper-classments 'Q quarters if we so desired. There is humor sometimes CADET I.IEU'I'liNAN'l' even in special ordersg I doubt if any of us ever made l857 use of the permission. Wfe spent our mornings and eve- nings at squad drill. During the day we attended recitations in the Academic Building, with cadets as instructors. They gave instruction 'in the three R's, and had all the fun they Wanted in the way'of mild hazing. It was very mild, though. The year before, 1852, there had been one of the periodical investigations, and live or six first classmen had been dismissed or suspendedg though my recollection is that they all got back and eventually graduated. CAmong them was Schofield, who afterwards became Commander-in-Chief, and was at one time Superintendentg a fine man and a model soldier.D Consequently ,what hazing we received was conhned to making us ridiculous, and taking away all our new-born pride at being cadets. It was mere child's play compared to what I have heard of since leaving the.Academy.- We went into camp on the 15th. Two days later we were marched to the Academic Building to stand our simple entrance examinations. They consistedof arithmetic-especially vulgar and decimal fractions-and a little reading and writing, and lasted only three hours. The physical examination occurred next day. Out of a hundred and ten men, about seventy passedg the others returned to their homes. It is said CI do not know how trulyj, that one of the men who failed was re-examined' on account of being a Harvard graduate, and passed. The man of whom it is told stood at the top of my class throughout the course, and graduated one. I had one rather funny experience during plebe camp. I1 and my roommate, Lawrence Kipp, and a third classman, were detailed one dayito police camp. The I3 A

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.,j'x,I ' Ll V i J: V El.. n I 11.11 11111111 . . ,. . ., .. ,, ..1.,,. gf X .1 ,. . ,1 . .., . . f 1: 'A Y ' ' . . 55513 iii! ' ' Y 'A ' 1' .Z 1 f f, wp: g. .1.i ' ae1iv' 1 1 ' - 1 . -1 if ' .17 12 '-' ei' 'fi' '- 'L fiJ. i'3 ': 'gf . 3,5 J .ff ra , 44 ' -- pilfi in.-, an ..,.. - .s- ....,. f .it X , l -' A 'l third classman of course did nothing but lie in his tent. Kipp and I got a wheel- barrow, shovel and broom, collected a quantity of cigar-butts, tobacco quids, and other trash, and asked the yearling what to do with it. I-Ie told use to take it to the quartermastefs tent, dump it there, and go -back to our tents, which we did, proudly conscious of duty well done. A few minutes later the ofhcer of the day U. E. B. Stuart, afterward the famous Confederate cavalry generalj, sent a corporal and patrol into camp to arrest Cadets Kimmel and Kipp for dumping trash in front of the quartermasteids tent, in violation of good order and military discipline. We were prisoners the rest of the day, and marched to supper with the guard, where we were objects of kindly attention. I vividly recall marching at lockstep behind an upper classman who crossed his feet while he walked, trampling mine horribly. The joke of the matter was that our yearling informant-a Sep who had never been through plebe camp-had given us the directions through ignorance, not malice, and at the subsequent investigation he was reported, and received a number of de- merits. ' We had no football nor baseball in my day. no athletics of any kind, nor even a gymnasium. But there were plenty of drills, which gave us a sufficiency of exer- cise-a good deal more than we wanted. Wfe had guard-mounting daily, immediately after breakfast. Parade Cweather permittingl occurred every day of the year, includ- ing Saturdays. There were also extra tours of guard duty tsimilar to your punish- ment tours.of to-dayl, walked in front of Barracks for two hours, on Saturday after- noons. Real vacations, except furlough, occurred only twice a year, on',Christmas and New Year's Days. There were no duties on these dates, and leaves were some- times given at Christmas. There was always uncertainty about this, however. I have seen a letter written home by a cadet of '59, on Christmas Eve, saying that he was uncertain about coming home, as the orders granting leaves were not yet out. ,Our food-except on the above-mentioned feast-days, when we had an oyster supper and a turkey dinner-was very simple. VVe could hardly' have afforded any luxuries, for our pay when I entered, was S2-1 a month. S2 of this went ,to equip- ment fund, and about S10 tothe mess. The 'Winter before I graduated, Congress increased the pay to S30 monthly, where it remained until 186-L. At no time during my stay did any of us leave the Point Cexcept on legitimate leavej for instruction or any other purpose. Such trips as the first class now makes to Fort Hancock, Springfield or W'atervliet, or the battlefield of Gettysburg, were quite unknown. I believe .that you are much the gainers thereby. Visits, especially, to the great battlefields of the Civil Wa1', in my opinion give an invaluable oppor- tunity for practical military instruction. , I do not recall any serious friction or misunderstandings with the Tactical Depart- ment. Such a thing as expressing disapprobation of an officer by a public demonstra- tion was simply unheard of. I am told, however, that there was such an occurrence in ,64, when an officer was hissed at drill. But in the Summer camp of the year after my graduation, I believe it was, there was a mutinous disturbance of some proportions. The hrst captain, a rather autocratic and unpopular man, had several times directed the first class privates in ranks to stop swinging their arms excessively. Apparently it had no effect. So one evening, marching to supper, he gave the battalion 'Ito the rear, and reversed it by two abouts, so that the first classmen were in the rear rank. When ranks broke after supper, three first classmen snatched swords from nearby file-closers, and attacked the hrst captain. He drew his own sword, and a lively ight ensued until the Commandant rushed up and quelled the disturbance. The three privates were afterward dismissed. This is said to be,the nearest approach to actualmutiny that the Point has ever seen. 15 '