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While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Notwithstanding the secrecy of hazing, and
the great care which those who practiced it took to prevent
being "hived," they sometimes overreached themselves and
were severely punished. Cases have occurred where cadets
have been dismissed for hazing, while others have been less
severely punished.
Sometimes, also, the joke, if I may so call it, has been
turned upon the perpetrators to their utter discomfort. I
will cite an instance.
Quite often in camp two robust plebes are selected and
ordered to report at a specified tent just after the
battalion returns from supper. When they report each is
provided with a pillow. They take their places in the middle
of the company street, and at a given signal commence
pounding each other. A crowd assembles from all parts of
camp to witness the "pillow fight," as it is called.
Sometimes, also, after fighting awhile, the combatants are
permitted to rest, and another set continues the fight.
On one of these occasions, after fighting quite a while, a
pillow bursted, and one of the antagonists was literally
buried in feathers. At this a shout of laughter arose and
the fun was complete. But alas for such pleasures! An
officer in his tent, disturbed by the noise, came out to
find its cause. He saw it at a glance, aided no doubt by
vivid recollections of his own experience in his plebe camp.
He called an orderly and sent for the cadet captain of the
company. When he came he was ordered to send the plebes he
said new cadets to their tents, and order them to remain
there till permission was given to leave them. He then had
every man, not a plebe, who had been present at the pillow
fight turned out. When this was done he ordered them to pick
up every feather within half an hour, and the captain to
inspect at the end of that time and to see that the order
was obeyed. Thus, therefore, the plebes got the better part
of the joke.
It was rumored in camp one day that the superintendent and
commandant were both absent from the post, and that the
senior tactical officer was therefore acting superintendent.
A plebe sentinel on Post No. 1, seeing him approaching camp,
and not knowing under the circumstances how to act, or
rather, perhaps, I should say, not knowing whether the
report was true or not, called a corporal, and asked if he
should salute this officer with "present arms." To this
question that dignitary replied with righteous horror,
"Salute him with present arms! No, sir! You stand at
attention, and when he gets on your post shout, Hosannah to
the supe! This rather startled the plebe, who found himself
more confused than ever. When it was about time for the
sentinel to do something the corporal told him what to do,
and returned to the guard tents. The officer was at the time
the commanding officer of the camp.
While walking down Sixth Avenue, New York, with a young
lady, on a beautiful Sabbath afternoon in the summer of
1875, I was paid a high compliment by an old colored
soldier. He had lost one leg and had been otherwise maimed
for life in the great struggle of 1861-65 for the
preservation of the Union. As soon as he saw me approaching
he moved to the outside of the pavement and assumed as well
as possible the position of the soldier. When I was about
six paces from him he brought his crutch to the position of
"present arms," in a soldierly manner, in salute to me. I
raised my cap as I passed, endeavoring to be as polite as
possible, both in return for his salute and because of his
age. He took the position of "carry arms," saying as he did
so, "That s right! that s right! Makes me glad to see it."
We passed on, while he, too, resumed his course, ejaculating
something about "good breeding," etc., all of which we did
not hear.
Upon inquiry I learned, as stated, that he had served in the
Federal army. He had given his time and energy, even at the
risk of his life, to his country. He had lost one limb, and
been maimed otherwise for life. I considered the salute for
that reason a greater honor.
During the summer of 1873 a number of cadets, who were on
furlough, visited Mammoth Cave. While there they noticed on
the wall, written in pencil, the name of an officer who was
an instructor in Spanish at West Point. One of them took
occasion to add to the inscription the following bit of
information:
"Known at the U. S. Military Academy as the Spanish
Inquisition. "
A number of cadets accosted a plebe, who had just reported
in May, 1874, and the following conversation ensued:
"Well, mister, what s your name?"
"John Walden."
"Sir!" yelled rather than spoken.
"John Walden."
"Well, sir, I want to see you put a sir on it," with another
yell.
"Sir John Walden," was the unconcerned rejoinder.
Now it was not expected that the "sir" would be put before
the name after the manner of a title, but this impenetrable
plebe put it there, and in so solemn and "don t care" a
manner that the cadets turned away in a roar of laughter.
Ever afterward he was known in the corps as "Sir John."
Another incident, even more laughable perhaps than the
preceding, occurred between a cadet and plebe, which
doubtless saved the plebe from further hazing. Approaching
him with a look of utter contempt on his face, the cadet
asked him:
"Well, thing, what s your name?"
"Wilreni, sir," meekly responded he.
"Wilreni, sir!" repeated the cadet slowly, and bowing his
head he seemed for a moment buried in profoundest thought.
Suddenly brightening up, he rejoined in the most unconcerned
manner possible: "Oh! yes, yes, I remember now. You are Will
Reni, the son of old man Bill Reni," put particular stress
on "Will" and "Bill."
I think, though, the most laughable incident that has come
under my notice was that of a certain plebe who made himself
famous for gourmandizing.
Each night throughout the summer encampment, the guard is
supplied from the mess hall with an abundance of sandwiches.
The old cadets rarely eat them, but to the plebes, as yet
unaccustomed to guard duty, they are quite a treat.
On one occasion when the sandwiches were unusually well
prepared, and therefore unusually inviting, it was desirable
to preserve them till late in the night, till after the
guard had been turned out and inspected by the officer of
the day. They were accordingly to conceal them from the
plebes transferred, with the vessel containing them, to one
of the chests of a caisson of the light battery, just in
front of camp in park. Here they were supposed to be safe.
But alas for such safety! At an hour not far advanced into
the night, two plebes, led by an unerring instinctiveness,
discovered the hiding place of the sandwiches and devoured
them all.
Now when the hour of feasting was come, a corporal was
dispatched for the dainty dish, when, lo, and behold! it had
vanished. The plebes for who else could thus have secretly
devoured them were brought to account and the guilty ones
discovered. They were severely censured in that contemptuous
manner in which only a cadet, an upper classman, can censure
a plebe, and threatened with hazing and all sorts of
unpleasantness.
Next morning they were called forth and marched ingloriously
to the presence of the commandant. Upon learning the object
of the visit he turned to the chief criminal the finder of
the sandwiches and asked him, "Why did you eat all the
sandwiches, Mr. S ?"
"I didn't eat them all up, sir. I ate only fifteen," was his
ready reply.
The gravity of the occasion, coupled with the enormity of
the feast, was too much, and the commandant turned away his
head to conceal the laughter he could not withhold. The
plebe himself was rather short and fleshy, and the picture
of mirth. Indeed to see him walking even along the company
street was enough to call forth laughter either at him as he
waddled along or at the humorous remarks the act called
forth from on looking cadets.
He was confined to one of the guard tents by order of the
commandant, and directed by him to submit a written
explanation for eating all the sandwiches of the guard. The
explanation was unsatisfactory, and the gentleman received
some other light punishment, the nature of which has at this
late day escaped my memory.
The other plebe, being only a particeps criminis, was not so
severely punished. A reprimand, I think, was the extent of
his punishment.
The two gentlemen have long since gone where the "woodbine
twineth" that is, been found deficient in studies and
dismissed.
There was a cadet in the corps who had a wonderful
propensity for using the word "mighty."
With him everything was "mighty." I honestly do not believe
I ever heard him conversing when he did not use "mighty."
Speaking of me one day, and unconscious of my presence, he
said, "I tell you he does mighty well."
During drill at the siege battery on the 25th of April,
1876, an accident occurred which came near proving fatal to
one of us. I had myself just fired an 8 inch howitzer, and
gone to the rear to observe the effect of the other shots.
One piece had been fired, and the command for the next to
fire had been given. I was watching intently the target when
I was startled by the cry of some one near me, "Look out!
look out!" I turned my eyes instinctively toward the piece
just fired, but saw only smoke. I then looked up and saw a
huge black body of some kind moving rapidly over our heads.
It was not until the smoke had nearly disappeared that I
knew what was the cause of the disturbance. A number of
cannoneers and our instructor were vociferously asking,
"Anybody hurt? Anybody hurt?" We all moved up to the piece,
and, finding no one was injured, examined it. The piece, a
41/2 inch rifle, mounted on a siege carriage, had broken
obliquely from the trunnions downward and to the rear. The
re-enforce thus severed from the chase broke into three
parts, the nob of the cascabel, and the other portion split
in the direction of the bore. The right half of the
re-enforce, together with the nob of the cascabel, were
projected into the air, describing a curve over our heads,
and falling at about twenty feet from the right of the
battery, having passed over a horizontal distance of about
sixty or seventy feet. The left half was thrown obliquely to
the ground, tearing away in its passage the left cheek of
the carriage, and breaking the left trunnion plate. A
cannoneer was standing on the platform of the next piece on
the left with the lanyard in his hand. His feet were on two
adjacent deck planks, his heels being on line with the edge
of the platform. These two planks were struck upon their
ends, and moved bodily, with the cadet upon them, three or
four inches from their proper place. The bolts that held
them and the adjacent planks together were broken, while not
the slightest injury was done the cadet.
It was hardly to be believed, and was not until two or three
of the other cannoneers had examined him and found him
really uninjured. It was simply miraculous. The instructor
sent the cannoneers to the rear, and fired the next gun
himself.
After securing the pieces and replacing equipments, we were
permitted to again examine the bursted gun, after which the
battery was dismissed.
There had been some difficulty in loading the piece,
especially in getting the projectile home. It was supposed
that this not being done properly caused the bursting.
I was one summer day enjoying a walk on "Flirtation." I was
alone, and, if I remember aright, "on Old Guard privileges."
Walking leisurely along I soon observed in front of me a
number of young ladies, a servant girl, and several small
children.
They were all busily occupied in gathering wild flowers, a
kind of moss and ferns which grow here in abundance. I was
first seen by one of the children, a little girl. She
instantly fixed her eyes upon me, and began vociferating in
a most joyous manner, "The colored cadet! the colored cadet!
I'm going to tell mamma I've seen the colored cadet."
The servant girl endeavored to quiet her, but she continued
as gayly as ever:
"It s the colored cadet! I'm going to tell mamma. I'm going
to tell mamma I've seen the colored cadet."
All the others stopped gathering flowers, and watched me
till I was out of sight.
A similar display of astonishment has occurred at every
annual examination since I became a cadet, and on these
occasions the ladies more than anybody else have been the
ones to show it.
Whenever I took my place on the floor to receive my
enunciation or to be questioned, I have observed
whisperings, often audible, and gestures of surprise among
the lady visitors. I have frequently heard such exclamations
as this: "Oh! there s the colored cadet! there s the colored
cadet!"
All of this naturally tended to confuse me, and it was only
by determined effort that I maintained any degree of
coolness. Of course they did not intend to confuse me.
Nothing was, I dare say, further from their thoughts. But
they were women; and it never occurs to a woman to think
before she speaks.
It was rather laughable to hear a cadet, who was expounding
the theory of twilight, say, pointing to his figure on the
blackboard: "If a spectator should cross this limit of the
crepuscular zone he would enter into final darkness."
Now "final darkness," as we usually understand it, refers to
something having no resemblance whatever to the
characteristics of the crepuscular zone.
The solemn manner in which he spoke it, together with their
true significations, made the circumstance quite laughable.
The most ludicrous case of hazing I know of is, I think, the
following:
For an unusual display of grossness a number of plebes were
ordered by the cadet lieutenant on duty over them to report
at his "house" at a specified hour. They duly reported their
presence, and were directed to assume the position of the
soldier, facing the wall until released. After silently
watching them for a considerable time, the lieutenant, who
had a remarkable penchant for joking, called two of them
into the middle of the room. He caused them to stand dos à
dos, at a distance of about one foot from each other, and
then bursting into a laugh, which he vainly endeavored to
suppress, he commanded, "Second, exercise!"
Now to execute this movement the hands are extended
vertically over the head and the hands joined. At the
command "Two!" given when this is done, the arms are brought
briskly forward and downward until the hands touch if
possible the ground or floor. The plebes having gone through
the first motion, the lieutenant thus cautioned them:
"When I say Two! I want to see you men come down with life,
and touch the floor. Two!"
At the command they both quickly, and "with life" brought
their bodies forward and their arms downward; nay, they but
attempted, for scarcely had they left the vertical ere their
bodies collided, and they were each hurled impetuously, by
the inevitable reaction in opposite directions, over a
distance of several feet.
Their bodies being in an inclined position when struck, and
the blow being of great force, they were necessarily forced
still further from the erect attitude, and were with much
difficulty able to keep themselves from falling outright on
the floor. Of course all present, save those concerned,
enjoyed it immensely. Indeed it was enjoyable. Even the
plebes themselves had a hearty laugh over it when they were
dismissed.
Again a cadet lieutenant, who was on duty at the time over
the "Seps," ordered a number of them to report at his
"house" at a given hour. They had been unusually gross, and
he intended to punish them by keeping them standing in his
quarters. They reported, and were put in position to serve
their punishment. For some reason the lieutenant left the
room, when one of the "Seps" faced to the others and thus
spoke to them:
"Say, boys, let s kick up the devil. P has gone out."
Now it so happened that P s chum was present, but in his
alcove, and this was not known to the Seps. When the Sep had
finished speaking, this chum came forth and "went for" him.
He made the Sep assume the soldier s position, and then
commanded, "Second, exercise!" which command the Sep
proceeded to obey.
Another cadet coming in found him vigorously at it, and
queried, "Well, mister, what s all that for?"
"Eccentricity of Mr. M , sir," he promptly replied.
The word eccentricity was not interpreted by the cadet, of
course, as the Sep meant it should be, but in the sense we
use it when we speak of the eccentricity of an orbit for
instance.
Hence it was that Mr. M asked, "Well, sir, what s the
expression for my eccentricity?"
There is another incident remotely connected with my first
tour of guard duty which may be mentioned here.
At about eleven o clock A.M., in obedience to a then recent
order, my junior reported at the observatory to make the
necessary observations for finding the error of the Tower
clock. After an elaborate explanation by an officer then
present upon the graduation of the vernier and the manner of
reading it, the cadet set the finders so as to read the
north polar distance of the sun for that day at West Point
apparent noon. When it was about time for the sun s limb to
begin its transit of the wires, the cadet took position to
observe it. The instructor was standing ready to record the
times of transit over each wire. Time was rapidly passing,
and not yet had the cadet called out "Ready." The anxious
instructor cautiously queried:
"Do you see any light, Mr. P ?,"
"No, sir."
"Can you see the wires?"
"No, sir, not yet."
"Any light yet, Mr. P ?"
"Yes, sir, it is getting brighter."
"Can you see the wires at all?"
"No, Sir; it keeps getting brighter, but I can t see the
wires yet."
Fearing he might be unable to make his observations that day
unless the difficulty was speedily removed, the instructor
himself took position at the transit, and made the
ridiculous discovery that the cap had not been removed from
the farther end of the telescope, and yet it kept getting
brighter.
One day in the early summer of 1875, a cadet was showing a
young lady the various sights and wonders at West Point,
when they came across an old French cannon bearing this
inscription, viz., "Charles de Bourbon, Compte d Eu, ultima
ratio regum."
She was the first to notice it, and astonished the cadet
with the following rendition of it:
"I suppose that means Charles Bourbon made the gun, and the
Spanish (?) that the artilleryman must have his rations."
What innocence! Or shall I say, what ignorance?
"The authorities of West Point have entered an interdict
against the cadets loaning their sashes and other military
adornments to young ladies, and great is the force of
feminine indignation." Summer of 1873.
A young lieutenant at the Academy and his fiancée were seen
by an old maid at the hotel to kiss each other. At the first
opportunity she reproved the fair damsel for, to her, such
unmaidenly conduct. With righteous indignation she repelled
the reproof as follows:
"Not let S kiss me! Why, I should die!" Then lovingly,
"Come kiss me, love, list not what they say,
Their passions are cold, wasted away.
They know not how two hearts like ours are
Long to mingle i the sweetness o the kiss,
That like the soft light of a heavenly star,
As it wanders from its world to this,
Diffuses itself through ev'ry vein
And meets on the lips to melt again."
Henry Ossian Flipper, The Colored Cadet
at West Point, 1878
