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

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in 'gnu e Q ,.-.. ,..T., at Our third class camp was marred by much friction with the tactical department, which grew to such an extent that all privileges were withdrawn and the entire Corps conhned to camp limitsg there were no hops, and no visiting under any cir- cumstances for any cadet who did not exculpate himself from certain alleged offenses. The strain was relieved by marching us over to the Chapel, where General Schoheld delivered to the Corps the address made historic by the bronze tablet on the west side of the Sallyport of the old barracks. This was followed by a review before the Secretary of War, in which the Corps conducted itself so well that there was pub- lished the same evening at parade an expression of the Secretary that we had taken our punishment manfully, and laid the lesson well to heart, and we were restored to favor, hops and all usual privileges. Our Hrst class camp was clouded by the assassination of President Garfield. Happening just before our Fourth of July hop, his long, lingering struggle between life and death lasted the entire summer. There was an atmosphere of oppression at the thought that such a dastardly attack should be possible in our enlightened coun- try, there was a deep spirit of sympathy for the victim. On Garhelds' death all social affairs were suspended for 30 days, and the Corps wore mourning bands for six months. The Chapel too was draped in mourning, thus explaining the presence of this emblem in all Corps, class and individual photographs of that year. Among the various items in my scrap book I find columns of matter Cnews and editorialj, on the conditions referred to in our Third Class Camp. The New York Times of July 25, '79, tersely sums up Had the occurrence for which these men were tried Cby court martial and dismissedj, been at a civilian school, no attention would have been paid to itg there was nothing extraordinary nor unusually bad-only when tried by the stazzdard of West Ponzi. In January, 1880, several columns appear from day to day on A VVest Point Frolic-How the Cadets Celebrated New Year's Eve-The Boys in Trouble-Rockets, Blue Lights and Artillery for a Midnight Surprise. In a pamphlet entitled A Happy New Year, '80 claimed to have achieved the most brilliant success on record. Perhaps they didg but '82 stayed back from furlough until July 1. l refrain from going into details, as we should not thus involve canal engineers and possible future presidents, superintendents, commandants. tactical officers, and instructors of a suc- ceeding generation. Eight instructors were detailed as extra tactical officers. Each lived in a room of one of the several divisions. Each made three inspections daily in addition to those we regularly enjoyed. The loving attention of these officers was not the least part of the brilliant success above referred to. For details see G. O. No. 1, January 2, 1880, Headquarters Department of VVest Point. Many extracts appear at about the same date of the VVhittaker case, and many were the unkind remarks of the papers on the maltreatment of that negro at Wfest Pointg until it developed before a Court of Inquiry that the injuries were self-inflicted, in order to create sympathy and to avoid the semi-annual exams which he feared would find him deficient. One of the incidents of our cadet life was the visit of the French delegation to the Yorktown Centennial celebration during our first class year. The delegation was 94, 'i -E Tina' i i Exim: ' r llillgs assllilll fm I, V, , 'f-. wwf . ,. ,-- .-fr -. . .-,,- 1 f i T 2 r ' .1 fig' 59 Y he V -Li ' ff-' if 2 : at 1 s. ,, M. 5 191. H V-55, 1653 JF ge f,,,,.,-,tea -f a f .ia f 2 2 k Lx H 'N -- ' ,N 4 ' . A V 1 , C- P S t , , . X t...L.... .,,, . ....... .. .-,-..-.Q ,..f V ','EeE I t . L4

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rllii' J' all -2 1 UEUE 'A ,ff E, QE 'lil 5 . atsllil l X-rr . v ,. I x . - :arf . -- -. '. - '- i ': .X V --is 1-,-fi--.-1.-,rs .- : 'fav -- f n. -i s 1. tr - IE 'i, 5 fif . 431ii'17.i'. ' , - . 3 1 s ' . ' f ' 7-re. 1' V? ' . : , ' Vg .ff-'ti '- gtg : .- I -Pj: . I E 1: I, ,Q 'jg 1-g g --5 : -5, . .5 ,A 3. 1 3, . ,rf r .fr A 3 Lg ,dz 7 f f -r ig E' -j 355, l I2 ef P3 ' I 'X fivziir if W., git 5 .. ..,, ',. z ',,-.-,,.,,,L .MM r - 5 - My XX I .,.. .. .... . .. ...- as ,,,, 141 ' l I ltr 3 ' e-it Lrl e , 14,1 ,. .,..: . , , . ., -TI: ,- , lJ.'r1:,-.'Q-Ju, 2 - .'u f- - f -'-Z' V r. . ' '? '-f- ,. . 'r +--4'-'A i f -, 1' r:tsL.15.rif7-f ' w. - i Q.. . -I ?i9..raf ' 36 t just starting on their maneuvers leading to the line of parade. What inspiring music! What perfect marching! VVhat an exemplihcation of the possibilities of Upton's tactics, as each Cadet Captain moved his company to the line with' every possible dis- play of the eccentricities of close order movements by fours and by platoonsl Reporting next day to General VVl1erry was a most pleasant experience, a moment's glance at my certihcate of appointment, a pleasant smile and a wave of farewell as he turned me over to Mr. Ward. Then came the turn to the old hospital, followed by a reception at Barracks, such as every plebe before us had probably experienced and every one following us-at least in part, All entrance examinations were then carried on at West Pointf Gut of the turmoil of squad drill before 8 A. M., in our only cits clothes, we went to the Academic Building or the Library for our Exams. Due to the fact that his troop was stationed at St. Louis, an instructor sent for me and gave me a bit of advice that I feel secured my success in the entrance examination. It was to the effect that one ought not to hurryg nor get flusteredg nor stop with questions one could not answerg but go on to those one could answer and then return, and above all, that every candidate was better off sitting in the examination room looking out of the window and listening to the birds sing than he could possibly be if he, returned to barracks. .And I marvelled ,at the tales that those birds told me. Fully half of each examination paper was written after my re- freshing conferences with them. Of our plebe camp I kept no record. what pirbr ever riirn Even at this late day one has a most confused feeling of admira- tion and resentment as one thinks of those little runts of yearling Corporalsg not half our size, but setting us afire as would a burning stick of dynamite, from which we cannot flee, and which We fear to extinguish because of the increased danger of violent explosion. But one impression remains ,ever vivid-that of the first classman turned out over plebes-efficient, severe, stern-visagedg just the sort of man you would expect to go to the front after having been inspected and condemned by a retiring board, and to fight himself back upon the active list. For this is what he did at Santiago. - We heard much of the trip to the Centennial at Philadelphiag especially when '80 came back from furlough. They never tired of telling us that they came to West Point a month ahead of time, and accompanied the Corps to and, from Philadelphiag a trip such as had never been made before in the history of the Corps. Q3 ' DRAWN BY BRIG.-GEN. 1. P. FARLEY CLASS OF 1861

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ff if .- '1gf?P'?f-:NTIS M. jfgai : .,: , . '.-' f-. .f fgi!,i1,:,L,ai v , ' i '--LZ V , 45: Qxl. ,1,,. . ,.:- ,. - 5 in .5 j . , H , I cv 'V ,I V, , he . sf -, ' . ' - f UDB f' ' A ' , ' ' , ii if - gf? -5 ,i L :fl 4 ,.,-gi A l . ,L ' -11.435 G ' In E 3. f. .r J. f ?5e ,V 11.1 ' if ,Q . 4. Zi:-i ,g . 'sf' tea. ,' 5 -' , Stl iii ., .Li 2353. - . 7 Emi ,. ,... fa '. I 3' vxjnv-z 1 ,- ' . F. , iii jfjj- , gg.-'rv ,su L, ,.g M- .. ,,.., ,,,, , ..,.... M - . I 1 illfl i lil .ii giil ' , l ,. Fl. . ,. - .- ? 124 .1 .,.. .,. . ...,.... ..,..,...,,X,, , BQ ,. , ..i- .,,,r:f- ,... --,e f-Q5 .L '1i - 1 I , l . nil headed by General Boulanger, then in the zenith of his career. With him was Mme. B0U1F1T1ge1' Cthe Iirstj. This lady insisted on carrying on a lively conversation in French with each cadet officer as he was introduced to the delegation, which passed along the line of oflicers held for this purpose after parade. My anxiety was intense, and was only relieved as I heard the man on my right answer Madame's saluta-tion with f'Yo no know Frenc-h pas! I knew l ' tg V I w ie, ,f H - --:'-- ' 1 that I could not do worse. 1 ,z H s .. gms. Q, . . .- X A, gi f I cannot close this sketch without re- '- J ' ' -5 I K T w, 5 -i lating a most enjoyable incident which can :' ' Sf -.. . 'Aikl,', -I - - ., V-fix occurred during my later tour of duty- as ' X an instructor. It seems that Henry Irving, , Xml ,A f ff V, - through Professor Michie, extended an in- f lf - ,, ,, V,,.2gg5g' Y ...,,,. vitation for the Corps of Cadets to attend, ., ,-V' ,'yfQp1.' ', ,555-. 13 - -'uffzjy gU-'l'f1,:,- ,jul - 1 . '-ji-N I f. as his guests, a performance at the Star ,fir .1 . ' 1 5 ,m.,.,.,,g,.,,,fgyr.wV.-,J-.,., .ag-,f...-,:Ls,, heatre in bew York, where he was play- ifffii-f 4 iii ing with Ellen Terry. Permission having I LT R been refused by the Secretar of VV I D if Qld ,ia tial 5ff ,2f1 ,i , ,Q '. Y ar, rv- n g N ing then .asked to be permitted, to play at --. ?fj:jg,55f,1pirjg5 , Z iff gf wifi- ,g'gq,,ig West Point. This being granted, a stage fi 1 '7.TTfg.i was erected at the South end of the Mess 1, 'f Qjig5QlfQgQ,,i l-lall, and the Ofhcers' Club made over into - L AA 7,,5,,.n,l. ,,1 .a .. ..,s..x:U-f..E:aS:.e,,:Q,n.Q,'I-,EE . . - a , pukp ,k1.,,,3gx,g.,, dressing roomsg the stage hung with drap- OLD ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AND 1,iBRARY Cries for wings and drop curtain, and the .IN THE SEVENTIES most wonderful 'presentation of the Merchant of Venice produced among these surroundings to a delighted audience of cadets, soldiers and officers. Called upon for a speech at the close of the performance Irving concluded, I know that the joy bells are ringing in Old England to-night, for this is the hrst time that the Britisher ever captured Wfest Pointf' To the old graduate the changes that have been made in the physical aspect of VVest Point by its reconstruction are at iirst view disappointing. The long perspective to the hill sides across the I-Iudson has been cut off by the buildings on the East side of the Plain, and the Plain looks' diminutive. The North Barracks obtrudes itself upon the Plain, while the modest quarters it displaced seemed part of the foothill. The elevation of Fort Putnam is blotted out by the lowering height of the new chapel. The distances to the South drill grounds seem too greatg and ofhcersl and company quarters at the North and South ends of the post too difficult of access. ' In the Tactical Department, however, many improvements have been made since our day, along with such advances as have been made in the Army. Our rifle practice work consisted of one turn each with about ten rounds of ammunition fired at a distance of one hundred yards along the VVest Shore dump, which was then being pushed across Wasliington Valley along the present line of track .leading from the North end of the tunnel. The present rifle range then became an enclosed salt marsh and lake, open to the tidal effect in the river. VVe had no practice marches, nor tactical problems, except as worked out in skirmish drill on the plaing and an annual attack on Ft. Putnam. Such a thing as a pack mule did not exist on' the post. In fact most of our practical instruction was left to be acquired by experience in the service. Q5