But it is further urged, that this institution is necessary for the education of the officers of the army; and that, were it abolished, the candidates for commissions would not be properly qualified for the discharge of their duties as officers. Before your memorialist proceeds to examine the truth of this position, he would inquire, at what institution, and at whose expense, Generals Washington, Greene, Knox, Putnam, Lincoln, Sullivan, Morgan, Wayne, Sumter, Pickens, Marion, and all the other officers of the revolutionary army, by whose valor, skill, and patriotic exertions, these United States now constitute a free and independent nation, received their education? The answer is ready: at the ordinary institutions of the country, and at their own expense; just as every American citizen should be educated. And have the proteges of the West Point Academy, on whose education so many millions of dollars of the peoples’ money have been expended within the last twenty years, exhibited more skill, more valor, or more patriotism, than did the officers of the revolutionary army? Let the events of the Florida war, as compared with those of the Revolution, answer the question. The truth is, (and it can not be much longer concealed from the view of the people, by the reports of boards of visitors,) that the whole system of education at West Point is well calculated to form military pedants and military dandies, but will never form efficient soldiers. Much more important to them is their attention to the cut of the coat, the placing of a button, and the snowy whiteness of gloves and pantaloons, than to those physical and moral qualities which are absolutely necessary to the correct and efficient discharge of the active duties of the field.
But your memorialist denies the truth of the position, that the West Point Academy is necessary for the education of young men for the army. There are other institutions where military science and instruction constitute a branch of education for the pupils. Of these institutions, however, your memorialist will particularize but one—and that is the Norwich University, at Norwich, Vermont, over which he has the honor to preside. This institution was incorporated by the Legislature of Vermont, in November, 1834, with full power to confer diplomas, &c. By the act of incorporation, military science is made a part of the education of all the pupils. They are consequently correctly and thoroughly instructed in the theoretical part of military science, and also in the practical duties of the soldier, and every one who graduates at this institution is well qualified to discharge the duties of a company officer (and even, if necessary, to command a battalion) in any corps of the army. In order further to prepare them to discharge the more hardy and active duties of the soldier, they occasionally perform military marches. In the month of July, 1840, they performed a march, under the personal command of your memorialist, to the celebrated military post of Ticonderoga, carrying their arms, accoutrements, knapsacks, &c.; the whole length of which was one hundred and sixty-five miles. Of this distance, one hundred and forty miles was on foot, and twenty-five miles by steamboat. The march on foot was performed in a little more than five days, crossing the Green Mountain range twice, and the ground, with the heavens for covering, constituted their only resting-place at night. The weather, during the whole march, was hot; and they were enveloped in a cloud of dust, occasioned by the severe drought, nearly the whole distance. They all returned in excellent health and spirits. The youngest member of the corps was thirteen years of age. The other branches of literature and science are attended to as extensively, and the latter much more practically, than at any other institution in the United States; and the students are consequently equally well qualified to discharge their duties in the cabinet and in the field. But notwithstanding the members of this institution are, to say the least, as well qualified for commissions of any grade, and in any corps of the army, as those of any other institution in the country, and have also obtained the necessary qualifications at their own expense, they are virtually excluded therefrom by the arbitrary and monopolizing regulations (established without the least sanction of law,) of the Military Academy at West Point. In the month of September, 1840, a member of the Norwich University, the son of a highly respectable gentleman in the city of New York, well recommended, applied to the Secretary of War for a commission in the army, but was informed that there were no vacancies, and that the cadets from West Point were more than sufficient to fill all the vacancies. On the 21st of December, 1840, your memorialist wrote to the Secretary of War, recommending three young gentlemen, members of the Norwich University, for commissions in the army of the United States; and received an answer, dated War Department, December 29, 1840, from which the following is an extract: “I acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st instant, recommending Messrs. Morris, Stevens, and Dorne, for appointments in the army; and I have here to inform you, in reply, that there being no vacancies at present, the application will be filed for consideration, when any occur, to which they can be appointed.” Now your memorialist feels confident that the records of the War Department will show that a large number of cadets at West Point are commissioned every year; and he presumes that such will continue to be the case, unless a radical change is effected. But when young gentlemen of equal respectability and attainments, who have not been of the favored few whom Executive favor has admitted into this nursery of aristocracy, to be educated at the expense of the honest working men of the country, become applicants, their claims are entirely set aside. Against this unconstitutional, unequal, and monopolizing practice, your memorialist deems it his duty respectfully, but most decidedly, to protest; and to ask of your honorable body the establishment of some rule whereby the members of the Norwich University, at least, (to whom, in many respects, he stands in the relation of guardian,) may be restored to their constitutional rights; that when they become applicants for stations of honor, trust, or emolument, in the military service of their country, they shall stand on terms of equality with the cadets at West Point.
Your memorialist deems it proper here to remark, that in October, 1840, he addressed a communication to the President of the United States, on this subject, requesting to be informed whether, in the opinion of the President, he possessed the power to remedy the grievance of which your memorialist complains; and, if so, whether such power would be exercised for that purpose. To this communication no answer has been received. Your memorialist, availing himself of the privileges granted to every American citizen, by the first amendment of the constitution of the United States, would beg leave to call the attention of your honorable body to some subjects, which he considers grievances of a high order, and respectfully but earnestly solicits that they may be redressed, viz:
1st. Your memorialist considers the Military Academy at West Point a grievance. Under its present organization, it is unconstitutional, calculated to foster a military aristocracy in the country; calculated to depress the militia, (our only constitutional defense,) by engrossing all the patronage of government; and is entirely unnecessary, as military science can be attained at other institutions, from which the necessary officers for the army can be supplied without any tax on the people. Your memorialist, therefore, asks that this institution may be abolished, and that the money that is annually appropriated for its support may be applied to aid in disciplining the militia, and disseminating military information amongst the people, who are its constitutional and safe depositories.
2nd. Your memorialist considers the Board of Visitors that annually assemble at West Point a grievance. This board never had any existence whatever in law, but was established by Executive usurpation; yet, to pay the expense of this illegal board, your memorialist believes that more than fifty thousand dollars has been drawn from the public treasury. Your memorialist earnestly solicits that this appropriation, the making of which is a direct sanction to Executive usurpation, should be discontinued.
3rd. Your memorialist considers the removal of the head-quarters of the corps of engineers from West Point to Washington a grievance, because it is a direct violation of the law of the 16th of March, 1802, establishing that corps. That law requires the commandant of engineers to reside at West Point, unless ordered, by the President of the United States, on duty at some other place in the line of his profession; and, when, at West Point, the law makes him superintendent of the Military Academy; and when he is absent, the next in rank (who is then present,) is made the legal superintendent. The appointment, therefore, of any particular officer as permanent superintendent, is evidently illegal, as the law has clearly specified who the superintendent shall be.
All of which is respectfully submitted,
A. Partridge,
President of Norwich University.
January, 13, 1841.