No. Names. Appointed Science and Art in which each Cadet
from particularly excels.
1 First Class. Mass. Civil and Military Engineering, Ethics,
G.L.A. Mineralogy and Geology, Infantry
Tactics, Artillery, Natural and
Experimental Philosophy, Chemistry,
Drawing, Mathematics, French and
English Studies.
2 J.St.C.M. Pa. Civil and Military Engineering, Ethics,
Mineralogy and Geology, Infantry
Tactics, Artillery, Natural and
Experimental Philosophy, Chemistry,
Drawing, Mathematics, and French.
"General Merit Roll," sent also to the War Office.
Names A B C
Mathematics 300.0 295.3 276.7
French 98.7 97.5 69.1
English Studies 100.0 89.5 98.9
Philosophy 300.0 295.6 278.2
Chemistry 150.0 147.5 145.1
Drawing 91.3 100.0 94.2
Engineering 300.0 285.3 290.2
Ethics 200.0 193.4 186.9
Mineralogy &
Geology 100.0 96.7 98.2
Infantry Tactics 150.0 147.5 137.8
Artillery 158.0 145.1 147.5
Conduct 297.3 293.8 294.5
General Merit 2237.3 2187.2 2117.3
"Official Register of the Cadets" at West Point, printed yearly.
Order of general merit 1 2 3
Names T.L.C. N.C.A. G.H.M.
State At large Tenn. Pa.
Date of Admission July 1, 1848 do. do.
Age at date of admission
Years / Months 17 / 1 18 / 7 16 / 8
Order of merit in their
respective Studies
Engineering 1 2 3
Ethics 3 4 2
Mineral. & Geol. 1 2 4
Infantry Tactics 1 2 5
Artillery 2 1 3
Demerit of the Year 39 18 73
A board with the marks of demerit is always publicly hung up, so that each cadet may know the exact length of his tether, for if the numbers amount to 200 he is dismissed. I have dwelt very lengthily upon the system adopted of recording and publishing the merit and demerit of the students, because I was informed of the admirable effect produced by it. As far as I can judge, it certainly appears not only an admirable means of enabling the War-office to estimate character, but the great publicity given to it must act as a powerful stimulus to exertion and good conduct.
A portion of the cadets are instructed every day in fencing and riding. When well advanced in the latter, they are taught spearing rings or stuffed heads at the gallop, and the same with the sword. The riding-school is perfectly abominable, being dark, full of pillars, and most completely out of harmony with all the rest of the establishment, which is excellent in every detail. On Sundays all the cadets attend church, unless excused on conscientious motives, and with the approval of their parents. The minister is selected by the President, and may be of any denomination. I was told that an Episcopalian had been most frequently chosen. The present minister is, I believe, a Presbyterian. During the months of July and August the cadets all turn out of their barracks, pitch their tents, and live regular camp life—only going to the barracks to eat their meals. During the time they are tented, the education is exclusively military practice; the same hours are kept as in the barracks; the tents are boarded, and two cadets sleep in each. They are all pitched with scrupulous accuracy, and they are obliged to keep their camp as clean as a new pin—performing among themselves every duty of a complete regiment—cleaning their own shoes, fetching their own water, &c. They were all in tents at the time of my visit, and I fear not particularly comfortable, for there had been two days and nights' hard rain, and the wet mattresses were courting the warm rays of the afternoon sun. Whatever jobbery is attempted in the selection of candidates for admission to the Academy, is soon corrected by the Academy itself; for, though the entrance examination is simple to a degree, the subsequent examinations are very severe, and those who cannot come up to the mark get notice to quit; and the unerring tell-tale column of demerit soon obliges the turbulent to "clear out."
The result of this system is, that when I saw them under arms, their soldierlike appearance struck me very much; and the effect produced upon them by discipline was very marked. You might almost guess the time they had been there by their gentlemanly bearing, a quality which they do not readily lose; for the officers of the American army who have been educated at West Point, enjoy a universal reputation for intelligence and gentlemanly bearing wherever they are to be met with.
The discipline here is no fiction; they do not play at soldiers; they all work their way up from the ranks, performing every duty of each rank, and the most rigid obedience is exacted. In the calculations for demerit, while idleness in the Academy obtains a mark of three, disobedience to a superior officer is marked eight. There is no bullying thought of here; the captain of his company would as soon think of bullying the cadet private as a captain of a regiment of the line would of bullying any private under his command. An officer who had been for many years connected with West Point, told me that among all the duels which unfortunately are so prevalent in the United States, he had never either known or heard of one between any two gentlemen who had received their education at this Academy—tricks, of course, are sometimes played, but nothing oppressive is ever thought of.
I did hear a story of a cadet, who, by way of a joke, came and tried to take away the musket of a wiry young Kentuckian, who was planted sentry for the first time; but he found a military ardour he had little anticipated; for the novice sentry gave him a crack on the side of the head that turned him round, and before he could recover himself, he felt a couple of inches of cold steel running into the bank situated at the juncture of the hips and the back-bone; and thus not only did he suffer total defeat and an ignominious wound, but he earned a large figure on the demerit roll. From the way the story was told to me, I imagine it is a solitary instance of such an outrage being attempted; for one of the first things they seek to inculcate is a military spirit, and the young Kentuckian at all events proved that he had caught the spirit; nor can it be denied that the method he took to impress it upon his assailant, as a fundamental principle of action, was equally sharp and striking.