The “Teacherships” of French and drawing were created, by the act of February, 1803, being a very important addition to the original scheme of the Academy. To the teachership of French, Francis De Masson was appointed, March, 1804, and resigned in March, 1812. To the teachership of drawing, Christian E. Zoeller was appointed, September, 1808, and resigned in April, 1810. Mr. Masson was a Frenchman by birth; Mr. Zoeller, a Swiss. Mr. Masson was highly spoken of by Colonel Williams, a good judge of what constitutes a scholar. Mr. Zoeller was an amiable man, of no high attainments, whose instruction in drawing was wholly confined to the military part, fortifications and bridges.

From this brief history, it appears, that there were but six teachers at West Point, between 1802 and 1812. Of these, no more than four were ever present at one time, and that only between 1808 and 1810. The teachers present, each year, were as follows:

1802-1803,Captain Barron, Mathematics.
Captain Mansfield, Philosophy.
1804-1806,Captain Barron,     “
Francis Masson, French.
1806-1807,Captain Barron, Mathematics.
Francis Masson, French.
Alden Partridge, Mathematics.
1808-1810,Ferdinand Hassler,     “
Alden Partridge,     “
Francis Masson, French.
Christian Zoeller, Drawing.
1810-1812,Alden Partridge, Mathematics.
Francis Masson, French.

This glance at the actual teachers of West Point enables us to see at a glance, what was done. No continuous study was pursued at all, except mathematics. For the eight years, between 1804 and 1812, French was taught by an able professor, Mr. Masson, and from 1808 to 1810, drawing. In 1812, this inchoate existence of the Academy was ended by the act of congress, reorganizing the institution, and placing it on a permanent and extensive foundation. The next period of five years, from 1812 to 1817, was the forming period of the Academy. In some respects, its elements were chaotic. In others, its personnel was inefficient and inharmonious. In others, again, its materials of instruction were inadequate. From this condition it finally emerged, and attained its present high character and usefulness. The history of this change is important, if not interesting to those who would understand what are the true foundations of a great school of education. In the meanwhile, let us return to what the Cadets of the Academy had done. If they were few, and with small means of instruction, they may nevertheless have shown that the Academy was not altogether fruitless. How many cadets were appointed between 1802 and 1812, we do not exactly know, but we have the number appointed from the Academy. The number of cadets promoted from the Academy during that period were for each year, thus:

In 1802,2.
In 1803,3.
In 1804,2.
In 1805,3.
In 1806,15.
In 1807,5.
In 1808,15.
In 1809,7.
In 1811,19.
In 1812,18.

This makes eighty-nine in ten years. Let us look at their career, as stated in the brief annals of the army; or, as they are retained in memory. Of this number, comprising ten cadets of more than half a century ago, this is the result:

Killed in battle,10.
Died in service,21.
In service,7.
Resigned,33.
Disbanded,10.
Dropped,3.
Dismissed,4.
Declined,1.

This is no bad roll. If we were to search our college rolls for those who had been really useful, those who died in battle, or served to the end, or entered other fields of usefulness, or now live in the performance of duty, we should find a less grateful exhibition than this. The number of those who had been “dropped,” or “dismissed,” for incompetence, or vice, would be far greater. Alas! if we could read the secret history of the college roll, how sad would be that account! We know, that in times past, many of the officers of the army were addicted to dissipation. Happily, we can say, many less now. But since we would estimate the value of the Military Academy, even in its most imperfect condition, let us see who some of these men were.

The first cadet appointed was General Joseph G. Swift,[4] who having risen to the rank of general of engineers and inspector of the Military Academy, resigned, became surveyor of the port of New York, and is now a venerable and respected citizen of Geneva. Of those who were killed in battle, Eleazer D. Wood, (whose monument stands at West Point,) was killed while loading a cannon, in the sortie from Fort Erie. Five others were killed on the Canada frontier, and four in battle with the Indians. Of those who died in service, two reached the rank of general, and eight that of field officers. Of those who are now in service, (7,) one is General Joseph G. Totten, chief of the corps of engineers, who served on the Canada frontier in the war of 1812, and at the siege of Vera Cruz. One is Col. Sylvanus Thayer, who served in the war of 1812-’15; who was superintendent of the Military Academy from 1817 to 1833, and to whom it is indebted for a large part of its usefulness. Of these gentlemen, we shall have more to say, when we refer to the forming period of the institution. Another is Colonel Rene De Russy, who was distinguished in the battle of Plattsburg, and became superintendent of the Academy on the retirement of Col. Thayer. Of those who resigned or were disbanded, many died young; one became a member of congress and politician; and another, Col. William McRee, was a remarkable man, distinguished for gallant conduct in the battle of Niagara and Fort Erie, a member of the board of engineers, and of cultivated mind; he resigned from the army and became surveyor general for Missouri and Arkansas, and finally died of cholera at St. Louis. Of the whole eighty-nine, who were commissioned prior to 1813, but twenty-one were alive in 1850, and several others have died since. The few who now remain have seen more than half a century’s service in useful employments. Perhaps it should be mentioned to the advantage of the Military Academy, as a school of physical education, that at the end of half a century, twenty of its pupils out of eighty-nine, should be yet alive. In twenty years of civil life, as appears from the United States census of 1830 and 1850, more than the same proportion of youth between ten and twenty years of age perished. The general strength and health of the pupils of West Point are beyond a doubt greater than that of the same number of young men brought up in the ordinary methods of education. This is not wholly due to physical exercises, but also to moral education, and to the care and comforts of their mode of life. Will any one deny that discipline is a part of moral education? Is not self-restraint, the regularity of habits, and the art of using the mind in intellectual pursuits, the most important elements of a moral education? It is to all these, and not merely the training and exercise of arms, that the eléves of the Academy owe so large a share of the health and strength of life.