In reply to a letter from Thomas Webster, Esq., Chairman, etc., of the Recruiting Committee, General Casey sent the following letter:
"Washington, D. C., March 7, 1864.
"Dear Sir: Yours of the 4th instant is received, and I have directed the Secretary of the Board to attend to your request.
"It gives me great pleasure to learn that your School is prospering, and I am also pleased to inform you that the Board of which I am President has not as yet rejected one of your candidates. I am gratified to see that the necessity of procuring competent officers for the armies of the Republic is beginning to be better appreciated by the public.
"I trust I shall never have occasion to regret my agency in suggesting the formation of your School, and I am sure the country owes your Committee much for the energy and judgment with which it has carried it out. The liberality which opens its doors to the young men of all the States is noble, and does honor to those citizens of Philadelphia from whom its support is principally derived.
"Truly yours,
"Silas Casey,
"Major-General."To Thomas Webster, Esq., Chairman,
"1210 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia."
In reference to applicants the following letter was written by the Adjutant-General:
"General Orders,}
"No. 125." }"War Department,"
"Adjutant-Gen.'s Office,"Washington, March 29, 1864.
"Furloughs, not to exceed thirty days in each case, to the non-commissioned officers and privates of the army who may desire to enter the Free Military School at Philadelphia, may be granted by the Commanders of Armies and Departments, when the character, conduct, and capacity of the applicants are such as to warrant their immediate and superior commanders in recommending them for commissioned appointments in the regiments of colored troops.
"By order of the Secretary of War.
"E. D. Townsend,
"Assistant Adjutant-General."
The organization of the school was as follows:
Chief Preceptor.
JOHN H. TAGGART
(Late Colonel 12th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps),
Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations.
Assistant Professors.
MILITARY STAFF.
ALBERT L. MAGILTON
(Graduate of West Point Military Academy, and late Colonel 4th
Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps),
Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations.
LEVI FETTERS
(Late Captain 175th Pennsylvania Regiment),
Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations.
Student DANL. W. HERR
(Late 1st Lieutenant Co. E., 122d Pennsylvania Regiment),
Post Adjutant.
Student J. HALE SYPHER, of Pennsylvania,
Field Adjutant.
Student LOUIS M. TAFT. M.D.
(Graduate of University of Penn.),
Surgeon.
ACADEMIC STAFF.
JOHN P. BIRCH, A.M.,
A. E. ROGERSON, A.M.,
Professors of Mathematics, Geography, and History
Wm. L. WILSON,
Librarian and Phonographic Clerk.
Student CHARLES BENTRICK, Sr.,
Postmaster.
JAMES BUCHANAN (Colored),
Messenger.
Within less than six months 1,051 applicants had been examined; 560 passed, and 491 were rejected.
Four regular classes were formed, and in addition to daily recitations the students were required to drill twice every day. The school performed excellent work; and furnished for the service many brave and efficient officers.
By December, 1863, 100,000 Colored Troops were in the service. About 50,000 were armed by that time and in the field.
Everywhere they were winning golden laurels by their aptitude in drill, their patient performance of the duties of the camp, and by their matchless courage in the deadly field. The young white officers who so cheerfully bore the odium of commanding Colored Troops, and who so heroically faced the dangers of capture and cruel death, had no superiors in the army. They had the supreme satisfaction of commanding brave men to whom they soon found themselves deeply attached. It was a school in which the noblest and purest patriot might feel himself honored and inspired to the performance of deathless deeds of valor.