Now fairly entered upon the life and duties of a cadet, his intense and ardent nature found full occupation. His ambition was aroused. Hard study agreed with him. The days sped rapidly and pleasantly away. He fell into companionship with the most talented and high-spirited young men. Nor, time and attention all absorbed by severe application, did he sink into a mere bookworm. Every morning before breakfast, rain or shine, he walked around the post for exercise, a distance of two miles. He shared, too, in the escapades natural to a free and spirited youth, and did not always come off scot-free from these scrapes, for his name stands forty-third on the conduct roll for the first year.
“I have never been homesick for a single minute since I have been here,” he writes his sisters Hannah and Elizabeth, September 8, 1835; “I never passed three months more pleasantly in my life, and since I commenced my studies time never seemed more fleeting. We are obliged to stand guard once a week, drill every day, have a dress parade, with roll calls, etc. We study ten and a half hours a day, two and a half of which are spent in the recitation room. I have recited four lessons in algebra and three in French, and I think I can get my maximum unless sick, or otherwise disabled, that is, miss no questions in any of my studies the coming year. I can get both of my lessons in half an hour, and I shall have much leisure time. If I had some Greek books I think I could pass my time to better advantage.
“I like the military life very much. There is as fine a set of fellows here as ever breathed the air. We study hard, eat hearty, sleep sound, and play little. In camp every one was wide awake for a scrape, or for any kind of fun. But in barracks we are as sober and steady as Quakers. We go to the section room with long and solemn faces. I assure you we know that by study and severe application alone we can keep our places. I admire the spirit which pervades the whole class. The common remark is, ‘I intend to bone it with all my might.’ To bone it means to study hard. Every one seems determined to rise, or keep his present standing at any rate. We are divided in four sections in mathematics, and seven in French, arranged in alphabetical order. Consequently I stand in the last section in each. A transfer will be made in the course of the week, those who do best being put in the higher sections, and those who do worst into the lower sections. I hope to rise in both. That I may do so, I intend to get my lessons in the best possible manner. It shall be my aim not only to understand my lessons, but to convince my instructors that I understand them. To do this I must accustom myself to collect my ideas readily, to be free from embarrassment and trepidation, and always to be perfectly calm and self-possessed.”
TO HANNAH.
November 28.
I am doing pretty well. My health is strong and vigorous. I am not only contented with my situation, but like it very much indeed. We are kept tremendously strict, I assure you. I was visiting last Wednesday evening, and they arrested me for it, and did not release me until this evening, and in addition to that they obliged me to perform an extra tour of Sunday guard duty, which is very tough, I assure you, this cold weather.
Uncle William, it seems, was disappointed at his early standing in the class, and wrote him rather a reproachful letter of exhortation and advice, winding up with the wish that he should stand first in mathematics by the end of the year. In reply he explains that his first rating was low because his name came near the end of the alphabet.
West Point, December 5, 1835.
Dear Uncle,—Your letter was received yesterday, and read with much pleasure. I feel gratified that I still retain your confidence, and that you expect me to sustain an honorable stand. It is also rather flattering than otherwise to know that you feel disappointed because I have nothing more than a respectable standing in my class, for it shows that your estimate of my abilities is as high as, perhaps higher than, it should be. I assure you that your wish shall be gratified not only within the close of the first year, but within the first six months, if it is within my power. Should my stand be no higher than at present, you must not feel disappointed. For such a stand is not only “very respectable,” but very high in a class like ours. I beg of you, however, to think no more of the communication, because my stand even then was much higher than 19. The sections since then have been rearranged, and I have risen very much. You must also recollect that at first I was within seven of the foot both in M. and F. In two weeks I rose 25 men in M. and 80 in F. I then remained in the second section in mathematics till the middle of November, when I was transferred to the first section.
There are only two in our class who have got the maximum at every recitation both in M. and F. since the commencement of our studies; these are cadet Biddle from Penn. and a fellow from Mass., whose birthplace, I believe, is Andover. I am now at the head of my section in French. My present standing in M. is as high as the highest, and it is considered so by every member of my class. There are four of us in M. who have done equally well, that is, we have each of us got the maximum, done all the extras, and demonstrate equally as well. Their names are H.J. Biddle, of Penn., I. Butler, of Va., H. W. Halleck, of N.Y., and ——, of Mass. I have often thought of the advice you gave me, and I hope I have profited by it. I have spent two hours in studying other authors, and in learning to demonstrate eloquently and with perspicuity, to every hour devoted to the text-book. In French I have risen more than any other man in the class. My stand at first was 67th, now it is 22d. When I came, I had scarcely looked into a French book for five years, and could not pronounce a single syllable. And, believe me, it is not egotism which prompts me to say this, but it is in order to put to rest all your apprehensions on my account. I also wish to assure you that I associate with none whom I ought not to respect.