United States Naval Academy - Lucky Bag Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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-xv- TRYING TIMES faced the Academy in the remaining war years. Popular clamor demanded simpler courses for the students; the Old Navy looked askance at the high science which the midshipmen were learning; the progressive elements favored more thorough training. Secretary Welles ordered many new men to the Academy to provide a large source of junior officers. Bad effects soon resulted. Graduates became lieutenant commanders in three or four years and remained as such for the next two decades; promotions were at a standstill. - The internal organization of the Academy was in a makeshift condition because of the war requirements; new appointees taxed the school to the limit; discussion raged over the inclusion of steam engineering in the regular course; the need for an intelligent, far-seeing, strong guiding hand was press- ing. Admiral David Dixon Porter was that man. Since his eleventh year he had led a Navy life; he had been a midshipman in the Mexican Navy, entered the Civil War as a lieu- tenant and emerged a rear admiral two years later. When he moved the Academy back to MORE DIFFICULTIES PLAGUE ACADEMY II

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in Luce ' s book. In the midst of the maneuver, he, having lost one page unknowingly, glanced down to the next sheet that turned up and in literal conformity with the text he read, unhesitatingly gave the command, Let go the starboard anchor. Colored barbers and mess attendants at the Academy were in vogue in 1860 just as they are today. One barber, Moses Lake who had been to Europe as the servant of Commander Buchanan decorated the walls of his shop with pictures and inscriptions, such as these: Windsor Castle visited by Mr. Moses Lake, September, 1858. Mount Vesuvius, first seen by Mr. Moses Lake, October, 1858. WITH THE OPENING OF CIVIL WAR HOSTILITIES came the most trying years of the young institution. Southern midshipmen took up their state allegiances. Some had resigned as early as December, 1860. Midshipman William Sampson, top ranking man in his class, walked arm in arm with the other honor man as far as the gate, where the latter left to join his southern comrades. The major break, however, came in April, 1861. A peace pipe was smoked, and then all hands were ordered aboard the Constitution. The drums beat for formation; Northerners and Southerners fell in; the band played The Star Spangled Banner and Hail Columbia; Commandant Rodgers spoke quietly and pleadingly, and then ordered all those who desired to resign to fall out of ranks. It was a pitiful farewell, amid sincere handclasps and tearful good-byes. Even the officers went their respective ways. Lieutenant William Parker and his brother Foxhall both were officers in the Navy. William argued that they should remain loyal to the North because of education and Navy ties; Foxhall v diS equally determined that they should join the South on account of family and state connections. They separated after their talk, and each was so persuasive that he convinced the other — William resigned and Foxhall remained true to the Union. The Constitution flew her battle flag of old, stood down the Chesapeake, and laid her course due north. She sailed to Newport, Rhode Island, which was to be the new home of the Academy for several years. Again the need for junior officers was pressing; the First, Second, and Third Classes were sent to war; the Fourth Class remained aboard the Constitution. THE 1862 REORGANIZATION of the Navy provided that the rank of passed midshipman would be abolished and in its stead the Academy graduate would be commissioned an ensign. Annapolis men in the Civil War lived up to the expectations of its founders and advocates. Lieutenant Cushing displayed remarkable ingenuity and daring when he placed a torpedo directly under the side of the Confederate ram Albemarle and pulled the firing lanyard himself. He escaped only by diving into the water and swimming to safety. Cushing, Preston, and Midshipman Benjamin Porter led the Naval battalion into action at Fort Fisher. Robley D. Evans, the famous Fight- ing Bob, was wounded several times in the same engagement and was the only officer who reached the parapet of the fort. The two great admirals of the next war were trained in adversity, with Sampson losing his ship from under him, and Dewey being forced to abandon the venerable Mississippi while the crew set her afire. The War between the States was the first major test of the value of the Naval Academy and firmly convinced the country that the Academy was an absolutely necessary institution.

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-XVI- Annapolis, he found the grounds in a horrible condition; the buildings had been used as hospitals, ruts pitted the sod everywhere, horses had eaten the young willow seedlings, beer sheds had been erected on the grounds, and even the Superintendent ' s house was used as a billiard parlor. Porter cleaned the Academy grounds, obtained enthusiastic young officers of Civil War experience for instructors and made Lieutenant Commander Luce the Commandant. He established a department of steam engineering headed by Chief Engineer William W. W. Wood, better known to the Youngsters as W O D. A new building was erected complete with models and apparatus and special students called cadet engineers took a two-year course in the new steam engineering. PORTER INTRODUCED a new executive organization. The battalion was com- prised of four divisions, each containing six gun crews of twenty men each. The ranking cadet midshipman was the cadet lieutenant commander, followed in order by cadet lieutenant, ensign, first, and second gun captains. New markings were adopted to des- ignate the officers, starting with one chevron for the second gun captain and adding one more for each advance in rank, so that finally the cadet lieutenant commander had more gold braid than the admiral himself and to that Porter declared he would not submit. Consequently the system was changed. Four quarter-inch stripes crowned with two diamonds designated the cadet lieutenant commander, three stripes and two dia- monds signified cadet lieutenant, and so on down the line with the second gun captain wearing a single diamond. Midshipman S. Nicholson Kane, number one man in his class, became the first cadet lieutenant commander in 1866. ■ ■5 No Superintendent ever took greater personal interest in the welfare of his charges than did Admiral Porter. He organized a sports program including baseball, boxing, and rowing, and even put on the boxing gloves himself. Tradition has it that the Admiral was once knocked out by a midshipman and took it cheerfully. The barbette of Fort Severn was turned into a well equipped gymnasium and a fleet of sailing launches was obtained for weekend recreation and practice. Weekly dances were held in the Lyceum and a minstrel guilds — forerunners of the Adasqueraders — presented private theatricals. Parades became more showy and one afternoon even the band appeared in gaily colored marching attire. NOTHING WAS LEFT UNCHANGED under the Porter regime. The old quar- ters, nine individual buildings, were replaced by the New Quarters, a five-story build- ing which was used mainly as a midshipman ' s dormitory. On the first deck there was a large mess hall, several recitation rooms, and the recreation room. Near the present site of Tecumseh was built a new chapel which was to serve until the completion of the modern building just after the turn of the century. Expansion of the Academy meant that more land was needed. Porter bought the mansion and gardens of the Governor of Maryland. The lower floor of the mansion became a library; the upper floors were given over to the Superintendent ' s offices. Ten more acres along College Creek were purchased from St. John ' s Academy and finally Strawberry Hill, a 67 acre tract of land across the creek, completed the list of land additions made during Porter ' s reign. The Naval Academy Cemetery is part of the old Strawberry Hill and west of the Cemetery are the handsome grounds and buildings of the United States Naval Hospital.