Another ball was given by General Brown, in honour of the marriage of Captain Gardner, of the fourth regiment of artillery. The gentlemen I found there were mostly officers of the army. There is scarcely an army in Europe in which the corps of officers is better composed than in the small American army; since in the United States no one can on any account be an officer, if he is not well educated. The officers are exclusively taken from the military academy in West Point; no subaltern officer is promoted. The greater part of the inferior officers who were advanced during the last war, had been dismissed. Such a measure is in this country unavoidably necessary, where none but people of the lowest class enlist as soldiers in the army; without such an interval between the officers and the rank and file, discipline could not be maintained. Therefore, if a young man is seen in the uniform of an American officer, it may with confidence be inferred that he is in every respect fit to maintain his place in the best society.
At the third ball, given by Mr. Huygens, we once more met with a very pleasant company. I conversed a long time with Lieutenant Wolf Tone, of the first regiment of artillery. He is an Irishman by birth, educated in a French military school. He had been formerly in the French service, and is patronised by General Bernard.
At a visit I made to General Macomb and Major Vandeventer, at the war-office, the general showed me many drawings and plans of fortresses and entrenchments, together with two remarkable lists sent in every month from West Point by Lieutenant-Colonel Thayer. One of them contains the names of the best and worst cadets in every class, and the other the names of those who deserve to be rewarded, as well of others who have been punished, with indication of their faults; finally, of those who have been expelled, and the reason of their expulsion. Both lists are put in frames, under glass, and hung up in the general’s office; one is changed every fortnight, and the other every month. I was told by the general, that they saved him frequently from wasting conversation with the parents of the cadets.
The general conducted me also to the topographical office, being under the direction of Colonel Roberdeau. I found there several repeating circles, theodolites and telescopes, made by Troughton and Ramsden; also two transit instruments, destined for the observatory which is still to be built; an instrument by Troughton, which serves for measuring the ten-thousandth part of an English inch, and a model measure of the English yard, French mètre and litre. This gentleman regretted that the old English measures and weights are retained in the United States, instead of adopting, as it has been done in the Netherlands, the new French standard, which is much better.
There were also several good plans of battles and sieges of the revolutionary war, namely, those of the old fortresses Ticonderoga and Crownpoint, on Lake Champlain. I missed the most recent drawings. On the other hand, General Macomb showed me what they call the Indian department, where all business with the Indian tribes is attended to. There we found portraits of a great many Indian chiefs, and several of their wives, who have been at different periods in Washington, in order to compliment the president. They then receive medals according to their rank, which they wear by a riband round the neck. There were also several weapons and different ornaments of tribes I had already seen. Finally, I visited the ordnance department, which is under the direction of a colonel. I saw here a gun invented by Mr. Hall, at Harper’s Ferry, which is loaded from the breech, and with which five sure shots can be made in a minute. With this gun, three thousand discharges had been made, and it has proved very exact; several have been ordered, and one or two companies are to be armed with them in case of war.
At a dinner given by the president, and at which I had the honour along with about forty persons, to be present, were the diplomatic body, the state secretaries, several generals, and other persons of distinction. Among them, I made the acquaintance of Mr. Gaillard,[I.31] of North Carolina, president pro tem. of the senate. No ladies were present, because Mrs. Adams was not well. The table furniture was very rich. I was particularly pleased with a service of silver gilt. The eating-room is very spacious, besides which there were two richly furnished rooms open. I remarked several handsome Sèvres, porcelain vessels, and a marble bust of the great Washington, by the Italian sculptor Ceracchi, who was afterwards shot in Paris, on account of a conspiracy against Napoleon’s life. A great chandelier was remarkably fine; it was made for the Emperor Napoleon, and purchased in the year 1815, by the American minister in Paris. The imperial eagles now pass for American.
General Brown,[I.32] during a visit, showed me a large gold medal which was presented to him by congress, on account of his services in the late war. On one side of it is a bust of the general, and on the other a trophy of English arms surrounding a fasces. Four shields bear the names, Sackett’s Harbour, Niagara, Chippewa, and Erie, with the dates on which these places witnessed the general’s deeds. At the foot of the trophy an American eagle is represented, holding in his talons an English banner. This medal is not intended to be worn: the general preserves it in a box. The American citizens are not allowed to wear any foreign decorations; even General Bernard was obliged to lay aside those he had so truly merited. General Brown showed me also a gold box, presented to him by the city of New York, together with the freedom of the city.
On the 14th of November I began to make farewell visits, for the dwellings in Washington are so far distant, that such visits require a great deal of time. On this occasion, I had a long conversation with the secretary of war, Mr. Barbour, and general Macomb, on military subjects. I differed in opinion from the secretary about the efficiency of militia men, of whom he, as their former general,[I.33] seemed to entertain too high an opinion. At Mr. de Wallenstein’s I saw some good instruments; a barometer for measuring heights, and a telescope which he had adopted as a transit-instrument. I found there also Krusenstern’s large Atlas of the South Sea, a fine work on bad paper. Mr. de Wallenstein had translated an astronomical work from the Spanish into English; he had also an English copy of the illustrations of Göthe’s Faust laid open. With General Bernard I conversed for a long while on the science of military engineering. He told me he had served at the defence of two fortresses, and obtained the experience, that there can be no strong defence, without having covered works on the front of attack. Respecting coast batteries, he was of opinion that the best were those which had at least an elevation of thirty feet above the surface of the water, in order that the rebounding shots coming from ships should not attain the breastwork. He considered the establishments for military instruction in this country susceptible of great improvements. He had proposed to establish a military exercise school, to which should be alternately sent battalions of infantry, and companies of artillery; this proposition has not been adopted. The general said also a great deal about the importance of Anvers, and gave me many interesting explanations of Napoleon’s designs in fortifying that place. Finally, the conversation turned on the battle of Waterloo, at which the General had been present as aid to the Emperor. Tears came into the eyes of this gallant man, while speaking of his former master.
On the last day of my stay in Washington, I took a ride with Messrs. Huygens, and Mr. de Bresson; we went to the marine barracks, where, by order of the secretary of war, experiments with Hall’s muskets were to be made. Mr. Hall, who is inspector of the gun manufactory at Harper’s Ferry, was present himself.
Experiments were made on the celerity of firing; Mr. Hall fired with his gun, and the sergeant major of the marines with an ordinary infantry musket. The last could make but four shots in a minute; whilst Mr. Hall made six. He has also applied his invention to ordinary infantry muskets and rifles, and caused them to be constructed at Harper’s Ferry. They cost the government eighteen dollars a piece. An essential improvement would be to introduce percussion fire-locks. Moreover these arms can only be given into the hands of very well exercised men. The government intends to arm the left wing companies with them. For the riflemen or light infantry, this gun seems to be very well suited. I expressed a desire that Mr. Hall would make such a gun for me; but he replied, that being in the service of the government, he was not allowed to make any without particular permission of the secretary of war. The few marines in quarters were paraded under the command of a Lieutenant, and I was received with music and presented arms. The whole of the marine corps is composed of but seven hundred men, who were employed on board the squadrons in the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and in the South Sea, to serve on board the receiving ships, and in the navy yards of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Norfolk. Hopes were entertained, that the next congress would consent to augment this corps to the number of fifteen hundred men, and this augmentation would, no doubt, have a great influence on the improvement of the service.