The West Point Cadets Vacation
Ten Days of Centennial Sport for Prospective
Warriors The Miseries of three hundred Young
Gentlemen who are limited to Ten Pairs of
White Trousers each.
"Almost at the foot of George s Hill, and
not far to the westward of Machinery Hall,
is the camp of the West Point cadets. From
morning till night the domestic economy of
the three hundred young gentlemen who
compose the corps is closely watched, and
their guard mountings and dress parades
attract throngs of spectators. It would be
hard to find anywhere a body of young men so
manly in appearance, so perfect in
discipline, and so soldier like and
intelligent. The system of competitive
examination for admission, so largely
adopted within the past few years in many of
our large cities, has resulted in recruiting
the corps with lads of bright intellect and
more than ordinary attainments, while the
strict physical examination has rigorously
excluded all but those of good form and
perfect health. The competitive system has
also given to the Academy students who want
to learn, instead of lads who are content to
scramble through the prescribed course as
best they can, escaping the disgrace of
being "found" (a cadet term equivalent to
the old college word "plucked") by nearly a
hair s breadth.
"The camp. The camp is laid out in
regulation style, and has four company
streets. Near the western limit of the
Centennial grounds are the tents of the
commandant and the cadet captains and
lieutenants. Below, on a gentle incline, are
the wall tents, occupied by the cadets. Each
of these has a board floor, and it is so
arranged that when desired it may be thrown
open on all sides. From two to four narrow
iron cots, a bucket for water, an occasional
chair, and now and then a mirror, comprise
the furniture. But scanty as it is, every
article of this little outfit has a place,
and must be kept in it, or woe to the
unlucky weight upon whom the duty of
housekeeping devolves for the day. The
bucket must stand on the left hand side of
the tent, in front; the beds must be made at
a certain hour and in a certain style for
the coming heroes of America have to be
their own chambermaids; while valises and
other baggage must be stowed away in as
orderly a way as possible. Every morning the
tents are inspected, and any lack of
neatness or order insures for the
chambermaid of the day a misconduct mark. It
may be easily conceived that under a regime
so strict as this the cadets are
particularly careful as to their quarters,
inasmuch as one hundred of these marks mean
dismissal from the Academy.
"At daybreak the reveille sounds, and the
cadets turn out for roll call. Then come
breakfast, guard mounting, and camp and
general police duty, which consume the time
until 8.30 A.M., from which hour those who
are not on guard have the freedom of the
Centennial grounds. At 5 P.M. they must fall
in for dress parade; at 9 they answer to
tattoo roll call, and a few minutes later
taps or lights out consigns them to darkness
and quiet.
"West Point Aristocracy. Small as is this
corps, it is still patent that the
distinction of caste is very strong. A
first-classman cadet officers are selected
from this class looks down upon lower grade
men, while second-class cadets view their
juniors with something nearly allied to
contempt, and third-class men are amusingly
patronizing in their treatment of plebes or
new comers. For the first year of their
Academy life the plebes have rather a hard
time of it; but no sooner do they emerge
from their chrysalis state than they are as
hard upon their unfortunate successors as
the third-class men of the year before were
upon them.
"The cadets are delighted with their
reception and kind treatment in
Philadelphia, and look upon their ten days
visit to the Centennial as a most pleasant
break in the monotony of Academy life. That
they maintain the reputation of the Academy
for gallantry and devotion to the fair sex
is evidenced by the presence of numbers of
beautiful young ladies in their camp after
dress parade every evening. Given, a pretty
girl, the twilight of a summer evening, and
a youth in uniform, and the result is easily
guessed.
"The Cadet Corps is to return to West Point
tomorrow morning. There the cadets are to go
into camp until September. General Sherman
at one time purposed to have them march from
this city to the Academy, but it was finally
decided that the march would consume time
which might be more profitably devoted to
drill.
"One of the complaints of the cadets is that
in the arrangements for their visit, the
Quartermaster s Department was stricken with
a spasm of economy as regarded
transportation, and each of the future
heroes was limited to the miserably
insufficient allowance of ten pairs of white
trousers.
"The cadets speak in warmly eulogistic terms
of the Seventh New York, to whose kindly
attentions, they say, much of their pleasure
is due."
Of this article, which was taken from the
Philadelphia Times, I need only say, those
"two or four narrow iron cots" and that
"occasional chair" existed solely in the
imagination of the reporter, as they were
nowhere visible within the limits of our
encampment.
Henry Ossian Flipper, The Colored Cadet at West Point, 1878