Chapter IX: Part IV: “darker Here.”

MINSTRELS, BY THE CADET BAND.

1.

Overture, “Les Dames de Seville,” Cadet Band

The Bell Goes Ringing for Sarah Solo and Chorus

Linda Polka Cadet Band

Little Maggie May Solo and Chorus

We Parted by the River Side Company

Selection Cadet Band

Clog Dance Cadet Bassett

2.

Selections Cadet Band

Fairy Moonlight Quartette

West Point Polka and Selection Cadet Band

My Christmas Leave Solo

Et Bonde Cryllup Cadet Band

Rootle Tum Tootle Tum Tay Solo and Chorus

Galop Militaire Cadet Band

* * * * *

NO HURDLES.

“GENERAL REGULATIONS.”

Those unable to secure seats will be permitted to visit the
Guard-house, where they will find amusement during the entire
entertainment in the perusal of the delinquences posted there.

In consideration of the almost perfect disguise which may be
effected through the magic agency of burnt cork, by which even
the dignified features of our Professors can be effectually
concealed, we would enjoin upon the audience a respect for
gravity during the minstrel performance; and the managers would
take this opportunity of thanking the “Heads of Departments”
for the very affable manner in which they have consented to
contribute, by their Terpsichorean and Ethiopian efforts to the
evening’s amusement.

Owing to the probability of the hall being inspected by the
“Officer in charge,” after the Battalion has returned to
Barracks, the managers earnestly solicit the destruction of all
vestiges of this “Feast of reason,” as it is not mentioned on
the “Cadets’ Bill of Fare” for this date. First classmen are
recommended to preserve the “Flow of soul” for use to-morrow,
in case the Superintendents may not be pleased to release them
from “pledge.”

The managers respectfully call attention to their endeavors
to produce that long desired “mean” equally removed from
“Corinthian lightness, and Egyptian massiveness.”

Should the performers attempt to “consume time,” or the
enthusiasm of the audience be kindled to such an extent as
to create apprehension for the safety of the building, the
services of the Fire Department, under the able management
of its efficient “Chief Engineer,” will be called into
requisition—(provided the nozzle can be found.)

MANAGERS:

S. W. FOUNTAIN,
R. A. WILLIAMS,
E. M. COBB,
A. H. RUSSELL,
A. E. WOOD.

The semi-annual examination commenced right after New Years and when the class standing[39] was announced, about thirty cadets were found deficient, and discharged. At least half the deficient ones were in my class, and the balance in the other three classes. Those near the foot of my class, who passed, but about whom doubts had been entertained as to their ability to get through, were now furnished with warm cloth overcoats of the regulation cadet gray. The sections were rearranged according to the standing determined by the examinations, text books for the next five months were drawn, lessons assigned and studies resumed. Shortly after our class standing had been published, the class was sent to the Library, where we again took the oath of allegiance, and in due time afterwards each fourth classman received his “cadet warrant.”

The plebes now began to make the best show they could both about their rooms and in their personal appearance. Those who could do so procured curtains[40] for the windows, alcoves and clothes presses, all turkey red, of course, as that was the regulation color. When they got new clothes, they were particular about the fit, especially of the dress coats, as their waists had grown more shapely, caused by wearing close fitting clothes and belts, which required the chest and not the abdomen to be used for breathing. They had their old dress coats made smaller in the waist, too.

Cadets having a taste for music were permitted to have such musical instruments as banjos, guitars and flutes, and during “release from quarters” they could practice. Musical spirits were soon brought together, and after the players became proficient they attracted attention. Aside from those who played upon instruments, there were some who had very good voices. When pleasant spring evenings came, the musicians would often assemble on one of the front steps of the Barracks and their sweet music and songs attracted all other cadets. Often would the officers, their ladies and the few visitors at the Point at that season of the year, stroll near the cadet Barracks to hear music and songs, and even Old Bentz would look at his watch a dozen times and wait till the last second to sound “Call to Quarters.” One evening, Christine Nilsson, the famous “Swedish singer,” who was visiting the Point, was so attracted by the singing of the cadets that she consented to sing for the whole corps on condition that the cadet quartette would sing for her. Her proposition was accepted and the Mess Hall was used for the purpose. Of course we were charmed by her sweet voice and she complimented the quartette, too, and Cadet W⸺r in particular. Miss Nilsson told him that he ought to cultivate his voice and that if he would resign she herself would pay for his musical education in Europe. Cadet W⸺r thanked her for her generous offer, but declined to accept it. Miss Nilsson then said that the cadets must pay for her singing, and that she would make the collection at once. She was promptly informed that cadets were not allowed to have money, and that they did not even have pockets in their clothes. She replied every cadet had with him that which she wanted, namely a bell-button, and she was particular about the one too, and said, “I want the spooney button, the one from over the heart.” She produced a string and we filed past her and each cadet gladly paid her price. The officers present on this occasion neglected their duty for not reporting every cadet, for “a button off dress coat in Mess Hall.” About once a month on Saturday evenings during the winter the band gave orchestra concerts at which cadets could be present.

Know ye, _That the PRESIDENT has been pleased to appoint ________________ a CADET in the Military Service of the UNITED STATES, to rank as such from the __ day of ________ 18__. He is therefore to be received with all the consideration attached to such appointment._

Given _under my hand at the WAR DEPARTMENT, this __ day of ________, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ____, and of the INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES the ________._

____________
_Secretary of War_.]

One day, S⸺s, one of my classmates, took sick with typhoid fever, and was confined to bed in the hospital for weeks. We took turns sitting up at night with him. When he became dangerously ill, his parents were notified, and they came at once and were with him some days before he died. An order was published announcing his death, and the loss of a valuable member of the corps, and directed as a mark of respect to his memory, that all cadets should wear the usual badge of mourning; that is, a four-inch band of black crape around the left arm, above the elbow, for a period of thirty days, and that the flag should be at half-staff on the day of the funeral. The pallbearers were chosen from his class and the funeral services held in the little chapel. The coffin was carried from the chapel, arms were presented, the band played an appropriate air, and then the coffin was laid upon an artillery caisson draped with the stars and stripes. We marched to solemn music, with “arms reversed,” to the beautiful little cadet cemetery just outside of the north gate overlooking the Hudson at the foot of the highest peak of the Highlands. Upon reaching the grave, line was formed facing it, and the coffin placed over it; arms were again presented and the band played another solemn air; the body was then lowered to its last resting place. We stood with bowed heads at rest on arms, while the Chaplain conducted the services at the grave. We then fired three rounds of blank cartridges and returned to barracks. After leaving the cemetery, we came to “right shoulder” arms, and marched to a quick step. During my day the corps of cadets attended a great many funerals, and among them were those of three of our professors, two or more cadets, and a number of old graduates of the Academy.

We fourth classmen now began to talk of June first, the day on which we would become yearlings and be admitted to the corps on equality with the other classmen; of the dropping of the Mr., of the shedding of our “plebe-skins” and how that great event should be celebrated; of how we would treat the next class, of which of us would be made corporals, of the hops, of the ladies who come up in June, and of other topics of vital interest to fourth classmen. At a class meeting we selected six hop managers, six being our share for the summer hops, and we selected them by ballot. There were no nominations, it having been decided that the six receiving the greatest number of votes should be elected, and I was not one of the six. About the twenty-fifth of May D Company vacated its quarters and they were put in order for the candidates, who reported in my day between the first and tenth of June; then they reported later in June, after the cadets had gone into camp. Now new cadets report March 1st.

The academic year practically closed on the 31st of May, and on the next day the battalion was to again appear in its summer clothes; that is, in white pants and gray coats. White pants are the forerunners of the many changes to soon occur at the Point; a class to be graduated, another to go on furlough, and the other two, with a new class added to the corps, to go into camp; the members of the Board of Visitors[41] and hundreds of other people to arrive, some to witness the graduating exercises, old graduates to attend their alumni meeting, others to see relatives in the corps, and still others to attend the summer hops. But with all these and other pleasures in store for the cadets about a dozen of the plebes were not satisfied. They knew that on the morrow candidates would begin to report, and that then they themselves would shed their plebe-skins, drop the Mr. and be full-fledged “yearlings.” In order to mark this great event in the life of a cadet at West Point we had months before decided upon doing something that no other yearlings had done. Away back in April, while at light battery drill, we “hived” some powder, by taking a little from a dozen or more cartridges, and we also “hived” some friction-primers. The night of May 31st was cloudy and hazy, which just suited us, and the tactical officers favored us by inspecting every room before midnight. At about half-past eleven we tied the handle of the angle door to an upright of the porch and fastened a rope to the posts at the head of the angle porch stairs, and then went one at a time out to the “reveille gun” that stood near execution hollow away out on the plain. We loaded that gun and then put in it all of our old socks and rammed the charge well. Some of our trusty party got cannon balls at Trophy Point and joined the others at the gun. We then wheeled the gun near the gravel walk in front of the barracks, and one of our party went on the grass to the right and another to the left. These two then made noises that attracted the attention of the two engineer sentinels posted at night on the gravel walk, and signaled that our coast was clear. We then rushed across the walk through the Sally Port and fired that gun in the area. At the same time the cannon balls were rolled along the porches in rear of barracks, then we hastened to our rooms, undressed and went to bed to await developments. Oh, what a dandy report that gun made; it shook the barracks and other buildings, too, and shattered windows all around. The cannon balls were also a great success, for they made a horrible rumbling sound. We awoke everybody. Lieutenant M⸺l was “officer in charge,” and we soon heard him tugging away at the angle door and then stumble against the clothesline that we had so thoughtfully put up for his special benefit. He called the “drummer orderly,” who slept in the guard-house and had long roll sounded. He questioned the cadet officers, but, of course, they knew nothing; then, as he himself had been a cadet, he made the new-born yearlings fall in and told them that the outrage had been committed by some of them, and that the guilty ones should be punished. He then said that all who had not taken part in the disgraceful affair could fall out and go to their quarters; the guilty ones trembled in their shoes, but soon recovered, for not a man fell out. The night was raw and chilly, but there the Lieutenant made us stand, first at attention, then at parade rest and then at attention again. The innocent were once more told to fall out, but not a man moved. We were then put into the guard-house and several of us obtained permission to go to our rooms for overcoats. Line was re-formed and B⸺ly directed to call the roll. I was in my own room at this time and could see and hear what was going on in the area. I knew that B⸺ly had not called the class roll for months, so I staid in my room and listened to the roll-call, and when I discovered that I was not reported absent I went to bed. Lieutenant M⸺l then marched the yearlings out on the cavalry plain and drilled them at double time for several hours. He stood still some times and marched the class around him, and as he was not always near enough to distinguish one yearling from another in the dark there were many blunders purposely made in ranks, and this made him furious. After awhile Colonel B⸺k, the Commandant, put in his appearance, and then the class behaved all right, but it was kept at drill till near breakfast time. Before being dismissed Colonel B⸺k told the innocent ones to fall out, but not a man left the ranks. The class was then dismissed, and in a few minutes the battalion was formed for breakfast, and, of course, I fell in then. Before marching to the Mess Hall an order was published confining all members of the fourth class, except one who was in the hospital, to the area of the barracks until further orders. Some of the class had relatives and friends at the Point, and the confinement was hard on them, because cadets in confinement cannot see their friends for longer than half an hour, and then only in the visitors’ room in the guard-house.

A salute of seventeen guns was fired by a detail of cadets in honor of the arrival of the Board of Visitors. There was much of interest now at the Point for the Board and others to see. Beginning with guard-mount now after parade, then oral examinations from 9 to 4 followed infantry, artillery or cavalry drill, and the day closing with dress parade at sunset. The rear view of the cadets marching at double time, to or from dress parade, out on the grassy plain is a beautiful sight, especially when white pants are worn, for then the wavy motion of the handsome uniforms with the black shoes alternating against the white pants and the green grass once seen is a sight never forgotten. In the evening the cadets, except those in confinement, and their friends could be together for an hour or two at the hotel or at some of the officers’ quarters, provided, of course, that the cadets had “permits.” Not to speak of a handsome display of fireworks on one evening and the graduating hop on another. During all these festivities, which lasted about three weeks, the cadets and candidates were undergoing rigid examinations,[42] and at which many failed. Lists of the successful ones were announced, the graduates and furloughmen left and the others went into camp. Some of the “found” were turned back to join the next class, while the others were discharged.

On the morning after we had fired the gun in the area Colonel Black sent for me, showed me one of my own slippers and told me that it had been picked up that morning on the walk in front of the barracks, and as it had my name in it he wanted me to explain how the slipper got out of my room. I told him that I didn’t know, as the last time I had worn or seen it was on the previous evening before taps. He did not ask me if I had taken part in the “disgraceful” affair. All of his questioning could get nothing more out of me, because I told the truth. I afterwards learned how the slipper did get out on the walk. When D Company vacated its quarters for the new class C⸺y came over to room with L⸺t and me, and unbeknown to me he had worn my slippers, and as he was one of the two cadets chased by the engineer sentinels he lost it, and then for fear that he and I might both be caught he did not mention the fact to me until after my return from the Commandant’s office.

Three of my class were turned out over new cadets, and others of the class detailed to help drill them, and when the new list of corporals was published I had the pleasure of writing home that I was one of the few yearlings to wear chevrons.

After the publication of the new lists of class standing I called upon one of the unfortunates to express regret that he had not passed. He seemed to be very indifferent about having been found, and said that, after a long search on his “family tree,” he had on that day made the fortunate discovery that he was the nineteenth cousin of Queen Victoria!

While in confinement Casey wrote a song commemorating the firing of the gun in the area, and the song was very popular in my day. The following is my version of it:

WHO FIRED THAT GUN IN THE AREA?

In eighteen hundred and ⸺ ⸺ ⸺
Some plebes went out on the plain so free,
Played the mischief generally,
And fired the gun in the area.

They locked them up in the old guard-house,
And bade them be as still as a mouse;
They whooped and yelled and kicked about,
And fired the gun in the area.

They made them at the attention stand,
With rifles held all tight in the hand,
But no one “peached” on any man
Who fired the gun in the area.

Then Gussie M. said: “Oh, don’t you see
There’s no use of your fooling with me?
I’ll make you stand till ‘Reveille’
For firing gun in the area.

“And if you rascals don’t all be still,
Of punishment you shall have your fill—
I’ll take you on the plain to drill
For firing gun in the area.”

He marched them round at the double time—
Egad! that drill it was very fine;
From everything they took the shine,
And fired the gun in the area.

This man he got into such a state
That ev’ry plebe he wanted to ate,
And said they were insubord’nate,
And fired the gun in the area.

Then Harry B. just raves and hollers,
“Leave them alone, the bad young bothers;
Confine them till further orders,
For firing gun in the area.”

Yearlings the plebes all became that day,
And paid the price for being so gay
After midnight the last of May,
For firing gun in the area.

NOTE 1. Now only those cadets are examined whose average
marks fall below a certain figure, which may be different for
different subjects. For changes and improvements see Chapter
IX, the articles by Colonels Tillman and Larned.

NOTE 2. A change has been made since the text was written so
that the white collar is not buttoned to the shirt, but is
fastened to the inside of the collar of the coat by means of
three metal clasps.

NOTE 3. Such a thing as stealing is rare among the cadets.

NOTE 4. Sentinels are now posted from shortly after the return
of the battalion from supper until 9:30 p. m. only.

NOTE 5. The Dutch woman left the post in 1875, and the
confectionery or store is now in a brick building about 200
yards north of the brick cottage she occupied.

The Pleasure of your company is requested at the hops to be given by the Corps of Cadets every Monday Wednesday and Friday evening during the encampment.

_Managers._

FRED D. GRANT
ANDREW H. RUSSELL
WALTER S. WYATT
EDWARD W. CASEY
HENRY C. LA POINT
JAMES R. WASSON
THOS S. MUMFORD
REID T. STEWART
QUINCY O. GILLMORE
WILLIAM T. RUSSELL
J. BURKE HICKEY
T. M. WOODRUFF
CORBIN DAVENPORT
LOUIS A. CRAIG
WILLIAM H. COFFIN

West Point N. Y.

22d June, 1870.]