THE POWERS THAT BE
In a spacious room in the southeast corner of the massive Post
Headquarters building dwells officially the man who orders all of the
comings and goings of the residents of West Point: cadets, officers,
and enlisted men and their families. He is detailed by the President to
the immediate government and military command of the Academy and Post
of West Point for a period of four years, and given the official title
of Superintendent of the Military Academy, which carries with it the
rank, pay, and allowances of a colonel.
The duties of the office are varied and complex. The Superintendent
is directly responsible for the actual state of the discipline,
instruction, police administration, fiscal affairs, and other concerns
of the Academy. The necessary work is organized and under the control
of various officers, his assistants, who constitute his staff. The
office of Superintendent is regarded as one of the most desirable
and most honored that the Government has to offer to an officer of
the Army, and justly so, for the position carries with it a great
responsibility, fascinating work, large powers, and enormous prestige.
The President is in no way limited in his selection for the office. He
may appoint an officer of any rank whatsoever, from second lieutenant
to general officer, but the policy always pursued has been to intrust
the important duties of the position to an officer of character,
ability, and experience. The selection of the Superintendents of the
Military Academy was confined to the Corps of Engineers from the
establishment of the institution, March 16, 1802, till the passage
of the law of July 13, 1866, which opened it to the entire Army. It
is not an easy task to find just the man with all of the necessary
requirements for this office. In addition to the officer’s military
ability, grasp of affairs, and experience, it is desirable that his
scholarly attainments be of a distinctly high order, for, since he is
_ex-officio_ the President of the Academic Board, he will find occasion
to use his scholarship for the permanent benefit of the curriculum.
In general, the military demands upon the average officer’s time
preclude the pursuit, on his part, of cultural and academic studies to
any great degree, so that, while an officer may be of the highest moral
character, have great experience, and on the whole make an admirable
administrative chief, yet he might lack scholarship, which deficiency
would lessen his value to the Academy as Superintendent.
Besides, the Superintendent should be a good judge of human nature,
and in particular of young men. To be able to throw oneself back in
memory to the age of twenty, re-grasp the fresh and immature viewpoint
of youth, and then make the proper allowances for youth’s inability
to see life as a whole, is a gift not given to many men. Some of us
could do it if we would exert our minds, but many are incapable. Where
sympathy and understanding of young men are lacking on the part of the
commanding officer there is too often a tendency to judge a cadet by
the standard held by his superiors which they have gained only through
years of experience. Moreover, a broad man in command dissipates with
a word all of the trivialities of military life that seem big for the
moment, and relieves his subordinates of the haunting fear of an excess
of participation in their affairs.
During the one hundred and fifteen years of its existence West Point
has had but twenty-six Superintendents, each of whom has left a
permanent influence for good at the Academy. The present incumbent,
appointed in June, 1916, is Colonel John Biddle, Corps of Engineers, a
graduate of West Point, Class of 1881.
The military staff of the Superintendent consists of the Adjutant, the
Quartermaster, the Treasurer, and the Surgeon, all officers of the Army
detailed to perform the duties of their respective offices.
The Adjutant is the Superintendent’s right-hand man. He is in fact
his chief spokesman and representative in all official and social
matters. He is, moreover, charged with all of the records and papers
of the Academy except those relating to disbursements. Ordinarily,
this officer is the personal choice of the Superintendent, for it is
essential that perfect trust and harmony exist between these officers.
It may be of interest to the layman to know that an Army Post is very
much like a large family, or perhaps a patriarchal tribe would better
describe the relations of the residents. The Superintendent is the
head, and the Adjutant his executive officer.
In the olden days when troops were stationed on isolated frontier
posts, the officers’ families were entirely thrown upon one another
for society. Although the necessity for these posts has long since
disappeared, Congress has never authorized their abandonment, because
their presence near some city or small town means a financial benefit
to the towns people. The influence of the Representative of that
district is sufficient to retain it, and consequently, as of yore,
officers’ families must live together as one tribe.
This condition does not exist to the same extent at West Point as at
other posts. The Adjutant is the peacemaker, diplomat, aide, buffer for
the Superintendent in his administration of military and social duties.
As may be imagined, he must be a man of great tact, good judgment, and
possessed of Machiavelian diplomacy. He is always being called upon
to make decisions, and since every decision affects somebody adversely,
he has great need of a feeling for humanity. His official decision is
tantamount to that of the Superintendent in whose name he is always
supposed to act.
[Illustration: The Superintendent’s Quarters
Built in 1820]
All official letters to the Superintendent, or between officers, must
pass over the Adjutant’s desk, so that in a sense he is the central
operator, making connections of the invisible ties for the time being,
between the various departments and persons on the Post. He also acts
as a shield to the Superintendent, saving him from the annoyance of the
minor routine details.
In addition, he is regarded as the hub of the Post’s social wheel. He
initiates the public entertainments and authorizes the general social
events of the officers and cadets. Naturally, he has nothing to do
with functions of a private character, but for hops, dances, or other
forms of distraction where one of the public buildings is used, he
gives the authorization of the Superintendent. He makes it his duty to
mingle freely with the officers of the command; at the dances he sees
that visitors are introduced; when _very_ distinguished guests arrive
at the Post, he puts on his full-dress uniform and goes to the station
to meet them. If the guests are merely distinguished, he details some
officer to act in his stead, and if they are plain sightseers with
letters of introduction, a young subaltern gets the job. He is Adjutant
of the Military Academy and of the Post of West Point. The duties
of the former office pertain solely to cadets, their discipline and
instruction, whereas the duties of the latter concern the officers,
enlisted men, and other residents of the Post.
A sort of Damon and Pythias are the Adjutant and Quartermaster: a
mention of one suggests the other. The Quartermaster is in charge of
the public lands and buildings; of the material for the erection of
buildings, and for the repairs and improvements, and for all other
public property for which no other person is especially responsible.
Under the direction of the Superintendent, he enters into contracts and
makes purchases for the Academy and prepares all accounts, returns,
and rolls relative to the public property under his charge. He is also
in control of the workmen employed in the erection or repairs of the
public buildings, or in the improvement of the grounds.
A Quartermaster is in reality a supply officer. Everything necessary
for the up-keep of the Post and the command, come from his storehouses.
Clothes, trucks, wagons, frying-pans, rakes, road-rollers, twine,
furniture, garden hose are a few of the diverse articles that he must
keep on hand. In his work at West Point he is assisted by several
officers, among whom he distributes the various duties pertaining to
the care of the property, purchase of supplies, pay of officers and
enlisted men. The supply of the cadets, however, is not under his
jurisdiction.
[Illustration: Colonel John Biddle, Corps of Engineers
Superintendent]
The Quartermaster’s office is not entirely free from the official
cumbersome machinery and red tape that clogs all Government branches.
So efficiently does it check up upon all of its property, even to the
most minute screw, that it has inspired great respect for its routine
into those who borrow from its storehouse. Some years ago, one of the
officers’ wives discovered the chimney of her house on fire. As she
lived near the Hospital her first thought was to borrow one of the fire
extinguishers. She rushed to the telephone:
“Hello! Hello! send over right away a fire extinguisher to Lieut. K’s
quarters!”
“I’m sorry, madam,” replied the attendant, “I have no authority to let
the fire extinguisher leave the Hospital.”
“But my house is on fire!” shrieked the angered lady! “What shall I do?”
“You had better telephone the Quartermaster, madam, and get his
permission, for the Hospital holds the fire extinguisher on memorandum
receipt.”
All matters that relate to the clothing, equipment, and subsistence
of the cadets, including the purveying and supervision of the Cadet
Mess, are under an officer of the Army detailed as Quartermaster and
Commissary for the Corps of Cadets and Treasurer of the United States
Military Academy.
The Government allows each cadet $600 per year and one ration per day,
or commutation thereof, 40 cents per day, making a total of $746.00,
but the cadet never receives in cash nor manages, his pay. The amount
due him is turned over to the Treasurer, who keeps an account with each
cadet in which he credits him with his monthly pay and charges him
with the cost of his maintenance on a pro-rata basis plus what he has
spent for clothing and supplies. The Treasurer furnishes each cadet
an itemized statement of his account at the close of each settlement
period so that he knows just how much money he has saved, or owes. The
pay provided is ample. Cadets who are economical and take good care
of their clothes, who lose no government property for which they are
responsible, are able to accumulate a nice balance that is paid to them
upon graduation.
In order, however, to insure that all cadets shall leave the Academy
without debts, and with their initial equipment paid for, the Treasurer
deposits fourteen dollars per month from the pay of each cadet. This
fund is known as the Equipment Fund and totals $704 during the four
years. Before graduation each cadet is required to submit a certificate
to the effect, if such be the case, that all articles of an officer’s
uniform ordered and received by him have been paid for; that, in case
the complete outfit has not been received and paid for, he has in his
possession $475 or that amount less whatever has been paid out for this
purpose, which sum will be held and applied promptly to the payment
of such articles of his uniform and equipment as have not yet been
received and paid for; and that he has no unpaid debts contracted
during the time he has been a cadet.
This provision is a very wise and beneficial one to the cadet, for he
enters the Service free from the terrifying load of debt. Formerly the
Equipment Fund was turned over to the graduating cadet, without any
restrictions whatsoever. The consequence was that the largest part of
it was spent in New York a few days after graduation, and the young
officer was in debt for his uniform for many months thereafter. He
started his career with a millstone around his neck, to which weight
a few added that of a wife. As one experienced officer remarked, “The
ladies are all right, but do not marry until you are out of debt, else
every time you take a drink in the Club, you will feel as if you are
swallowing the baby’s socks.”
One of the most important and difficult duties of the Treasurer is
catering to eight hundred ravenous young appetites. To be a successful
Mess officer for this large number requires much study, especially in
this age of the high cost of supplies. The food provided is excellent
in quality and well prepared. In general it is plain and wholesome,
just what one would expect at a Military School, but the menu is
sufficiently varied so as to please even the fastidious. Southern
palates are not forced to long for fried chicken nor Eastern palates
for oysters. To make the New Englander feel quite at home periodic
boiled dinners gladden their gastronomic lives. Then, too, ice-cream,
since the installation of an electric freezer, has become as common as
the proteids.
The monthly cost of the mess per cadet is about twenty dollars. The
Treasurer charges against the cadet not only the cost of his board,
but also his laundry, his uniforms, his clothing, his room equipment,
mattress, pillows, sheets, towels, and all other necessary articles.
Moreover, the salaries of the policemen who clean the halls of the
barracks, the bootblacks, the cost of the cadet hops, athletics,
and text-books, in fact, the cadet’s entire maintenance is charged
against his pay. The Government, however, provides for the up-keep
of the buildings, the heating, lighting, and repairs, from separate
appropriations.
The fourth member of the military staff is the Surgeon, who with his
four assistants, medical officers of the Army, watch over the health of
the command. Under his charge is the hospital for cadets, and that for
enlisted men.
The Surgeon has authority to excuse an officer or cadet from any
duty whatsoever on account of illness. In the eyes of the cadets he
stands as the guardian of the Gates of Paradise. When the body is
fatigued, or one’s head is choked up and eyes running from a bad cold,
illnesses that in reality do not incapacitate one for duty, to have a
nice sympathetic Dr. St. Peter jingle his keys and take you into the
hospital for a brief rest is like the first whiff of a jasmine scented
spring. The cadets soon learn to estimate the sympathetic qualities
of a new Surgeon, and quickly pass around the word whether there has
commenced the reign of an adamantine or tender Æsculapius.
The officers and cadets are required to undergo an annual physical
examination, of which accurate records are kept. In case of illness,
the nature is noted on special cards and filed with his record in
Washington. The health, therefore, of officers, cadets, and enlisted
men is constantly under the Surgeon’s eyes, so that really serious
illnesses are rare. In case of persistent or long illness, the officer
or cadet may be granted a sick leave upon the Surgeon’s recommendation.
The conduct of the business methods and military departments of the
Military Academy, by the Superintendent and his staff, is annually
inspected by the Inspector-General of the Army, who comes on from
Washington for the purpose, or by officers recommended by him acting
under specific instructions from the War Department. In addition to the
above inspection, a Board of Visitors annually visits the institution.
Formerly, the President appointed to this Board distinguished citizens
from all parts of the country, who arrived at West Point the first
of June and remained until graduation, about ten days later. They
were shown the workings of the school, and had explained to them the
necessities for changes and improvements, whereupon they made to the
President a written report containing comments and recommendations that
seemed desirable. The Board performed its duties well, but Congress
thought that all information, upon which appropriations are based,
should be more direct. A law was passed therefore decreeing that:
The Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy shall
consist of five members of the Committee on Military Affairs
of the Senate, and seven members of the Committee on Military
Affairs of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the
respective chairmen thereof, who shall annually visit the said
Military Academy, together or separately as the said committee may
elect, during the session of Congress; ... It shall be the duty
of the Board of Visitors to inquire into the actual state of the
discipline, instruction, police administration, fiscal affairs, and
other concerns of the Academy.
With the passing of the visits in June of the former Board, some of the
picturesqueness and flavor of the social life of June week has gone.
At this season of the year the beautiful natural scenery of West Point
formed a superb setting for the thrilling artillery drills, the cavalry
charges, the infantry manœuvres, the bridge building, the concerts, the
dances arranged in their honor. The cadets were at their best for they
had just completed their spring training and there were no recruits
in ranks to spoil the smoothness and precision of these manœuvres. It
therefore seemed the best time for an Inspection Board to view and
report upon the work.
Accompanying the Board of Visitors were always the wives and daughters
of the members, who added to the social charm of the Board’s visit. The
cadets privately referred to the young ladies attached to the Board as
“splinters.” I remember, upon entrance, hearing one cadet ask another
if he would “drag a splinter” for him. I later found out that this
expression meant that he would be pleased if his comrade would escort
one of the young ladies to a dance. The present Board usually pays its
visit in mid-winter when the cadets are busiest with their studies, so
that the equally charming Congressional “splinters” have little chance
to win young hearts.
In the work of the institution the Superintendent is aided by a large
number of subordinates. The number of officers and others in prominent
positions on duty at the Academy is shown in the following list:
Superintendent and staff 5
Professors, permanent 7
Professors, by detail from Army 4
Professors, Associate, detailed 2
Professors, Assistant, detailed 12
Commandant of Cadets and Tactical officers 15
Master of the Sword, Instructor of Military Gymnastics
and Physical Culture 1
Instructors and other officers 68
Medical Corps 4
Dental Surgeons 2
Medical Corps, Instructors in Military Hygiene (August 28 to
October 10) 4
Chaplain 1
Librarian 1
Civilian Instructors of Languages 3
Civilian Instructors of Fencing and Military Gymnastics 3
Teacher of Music 1
Organist and Choirmaster 1
Pay Clerk 1
----
Total 135
The majority of the officers are detailed from the Army-at-large for
varying periods of time, but seven of the professors are permanent. The
Superintendent, the heads of all Departments of Instruction, including
the detailed heads, compose the Academic Board, which controls the
program and methods of instruction. It is non-military in character,
its duties pertaining almost solely to the various branches of
learning. More especially, its duties are to examine cadets, decide
upon their merits and proficiency, grant diplomas, and recommend for
commission in the Army. It reports, through the Superintendent, to the
War Department, on the course of studies and methods of instruction.
It also recommends the text-books to be used by the cadets in each
department. Each member has one vote, including the Superintendent.
The work of the Board is largely done by committees, both General
Committees and Class Committees. The latter are composed of the heads
of those departments whose studies any one class are pursuing.
At the close of every examination the Academic Board reports to the
War Department the names of all cadets who are deficient in studies or
conduct and who are recommended by the Board for discharge or transfer
to a lower class.
The seven professors permanently attached to the Academy are: the
Professor of Civil and Military Engineering, Natural and Experimental
Philosophy, Chemistry and Electricity, Modern Languages, Mathematics,
Drawing, and English and History. These members are appointed by the
President and usually selected from officers of the Army, graduates of
the Academy, who have specialized along the lines of their department.
The President usually appoints an officer recommended by the other
members of the Board, but he is not restricted in his choice and
may select whom he pleases for the position. All of the permanent
Professors at present are graduates except the Professor of English and
History who is a graduate of Yale. When the Department of English was
created in 1910, it was felt that the head of it should be a man who
had specialized in English Literature.
Without reflecting on the graduates of the Academy, no one officer
appeared upon the horizon with the requisite qualifications, a fact
not to be wondered at, for few officers are ever in a position to
pursue English courses that would equip them for this position. Upon
the creation of the Department of English, History was transferred to
this Department from the Department of Law with which it had long been
associated.
In addition to the permanent members of the Board, the detailed ones
are the Surgeon, who as the head of the Department of Hygiene, is
entitled to a seat; the Professor of Practical Military Engineering,
the Professor of Law, the Professor of Ordnance and Gunnery, and the
Commandant of Cadets, all four of whom are detailed by the Secretary of
War from the officers of the Army for a period of four years.
In the Department of Mathematics and Modern Languages the Professor
has an associate professor and an assistant professor whose duty is to
assist in the administrative work as well as the instruction. The other
departments have only assistant professors, officers detailed from the
Army who might be said to act as an Adjutant for the Professor. In
common with the remaining officers, they perform administrative routine
duties, relieving the Professor of the necessity of attending to minor
questions. The Professor’s time is very much occupied in the solution
of problems that affect the Academy as a whole, in addition to the
development of their respective courses, so that it is essential that
his time be not employed with the unavoidable trivialities that arise
in the conduct of his Department.
The great mass of officers on duty at the Academy are, of course,
the instructors. These men are all officers of the Army, graduates of
the Academy, who are detailed for duty in the various departments.
Formerly, the tour of duty was for four years, but since the passage
of a law by Congress, the Detached Service Law, familiarly called the
“Manchu Law,” the time that an instructor can remain on duty at West
Point, is dependent upon the amount of duty that he has had with troops
during the preceding six years. No officer can remain on detached
service, such as that at West Point, for more than four years.
It is apparent, therefore, that the corps of instructors is constantly
changing, resulting in the introduction into the work of new blood
and fresh viewpoints. This changing of instructors maintains a high
standard of enthusiasm for teaching, so often lacking in institutions
of learning where a subordinate teacher goes over, year in and year
out, the same ground.
Moreover, the system of officer instructors is employed on account of
the disciplinary value of their presence over the cadets. West Point is
first and foremost a Military Academy, and it is of primary importance
that the cadets shall absorb by example the spirit of discipline, and
military deportment. Not the least of the advantages of having officers
teach cadets is the contact that their presence maintains between West
Point and the Army.
Officers are selected for duty at the Academy by the Heads of
Departments who make every effort to secure men especially qualified
for the work. For example, the instructors in the Department of
Engineering are all Engineer officers; in Ordnance and Gunnery,
mostly Ordnance officers; in Chemistry and Electricity, usually Coast
Artillery officers; in Mathematics, officers of the staff and line
who excelled in this study as cadets; in English and History, line
officers with recognized literary tendencies; in Languages, officers
whose advantages have enabled them to acquire a good speaking knowledge
of either French or Spanish. Until the outbreak of the European War,
officers on duty in the Department of Languages were ordered to spend
the summer in study in either France or Spain. They thereby were
able to perfect their knowledge to an extent that rendered them most
efficient instructors. Detailed to this Department are two native
Spaniards and two Frenchmen, whose services are employed to carry along
the instruction of the officer instructors as well as that of the
cadets, so that every opportunity is offered to the cadet to progress
as far as his ability will permit him in the time allotted these
studies.
The time of the officer is well employed while on duty at the Academy.
In those departments whose period of recitation is an hour and a half,
he has two sections daily, but if the period is one hour, he instructs
three sections. He averages, therefore, from fifteen to eighteen
hours of actual teaching per week. To this amount must be added the
conferences of the instructors, conducted either by the Professor or
one of his assistants. These conferences are held, usually daily, and
vary from one to two hours and cover the material in the lesson or in
advance work. By means of these conferences, the Professor is able
to standardize the teaching without restricting the personality or
individuality of his officers.
The routine work, that is, the keeping of records, weekly reports,
the correcting of exercises, problems, and compositions, all demand a
greater or less amount of time, and then what is most important, the
instructor must spend many hours in preparation. I have known many
instructors to work every night until midnight after the routine work
of the day.
In the demand upon an officer’s time, consideration is given the fact
that with him teaching is an incident in his career, and he must
therefore have at his disposal, whether he uses it or not, at least a
couple of hours per day for professional work and study. When absent
from troops an officer becomes more or less rusty upon the duties of
his arm, and he should, consequently, by reading, the solution of
problems, writing or what not, keep up with the progress made in his
branch of the Service.
General Orders of the Army prescribe also that at least one hour per
day must be employed in bodily exercise, riding, walking, tennis,
golf, swimming, polo, etc., and the officer is required to submit a
certificate stating that he has taken the prescribed amount.
I give in somewhat tedious detail the employment of the officer’s time,
because so frequently I hear, expressed by the layman, the opinion that
officers of the Army have practically nothing to do. It is ordinarily
difficult to disabuse their mind of this idea, chiefly because it is
already made up. A visitor arrives at West Point to spend the day and
seeing a few officers playing golf in the morning he assumes that
_all_ officers have nothing to do. He perhaps little realizes that the
same golfers, or tennis players, are trying to get their exercise at
a time that will not interfere with their academic duties that begin
for each department at varying hours. That same officer, who plays a
game of golf at 9:30 A.M., will in all probability spend a part of the
forenoon and afternoon with the cadets, and all evening in preparation.
Appearances are often very deceptive. This is particularly true in
the Army, which has been, until the war came upon us, subject to more
unjust criticism than any other professional body.
In order to facilitate the instruction, the cadets are arranged in
four distinct classes, corresponding with the four years of study. The
cadets in the first year’s course constitute the Fourth Class, those in
the second year’s course, the Third Class, those in the third year’s
course the Second Class, and those in the fourth year’s course the
First Class. The designation of senior, junior, sophomore, and freshman
is not used at West Point as in colleges and universities, but the
terms “Yearling” and “Plebe” are familiarly applied to cadets of the
third and fourth classes respectively. The advancement of the cadets
from one class to another is based upon proficiency in their studies,
the details of which will be found in the chapter on “The Discipline of
the Mind.”
In order to distinguish the classes one from another, the device of
putting bands of braid on the sleeve of the uniform has been adopted.
These lengths of mohair are called service stripes and are issued one
for each year of service, so that the “plebe” sleeve is bare, the
“yearling” has a single stripe, the second classmen, two stripes, the
first classmen, three stripes. This insignia is of black braid for all
gray uniforms except the full dress coat, on which gold braid is used.
The chevrons, although primarily a designation of rank, also serve to
distinguish some members of the classes. The cadet officers and the
sergeants are members of the First Class and the corporals are of the
Second Class. To many people, chevrons, or insignia or rank, means
nothing. Girls especially have so little idea of their significance
that they readily swallow anything a cadet tells them. It is the same
today as of yore. I was at a hop not long ago when I overheard a young
miss say to her cadet escort, who had just lost his chevrons, been
“busted” as the cadets say:
“Why don’t you wear some of those lovely gold stripes on your arm?”
“Well--er--you see,” replied the ‘buck,’ “why that’s a sort of private
matter with me now.”
_O Tempora! O Mores! Tempora Mutantur_, but not at West Point.
Until 1816, the cadets had no regular uniform, but were permitted to
wear pretty much what they desired. Poor chaps, I scarcely blame them,
because from the records it appears that for the large part of the
time they were in rags. In winter especially, they hardly had enough
clothes to keep them warm. In 1814, a uniform was prescribed, but
little attention was paid to the prescribed dress, everything being
worn according to fancy up to a major-general’s uniform. General R. G.
Ramsey (Cullum Register, Vol. III.) states that “during the winters
of 1814 and 1815 cadets were greatly exposed to cold; great coats had
not become the fashion for boys and such comfort was a specialty. My
wardrobe had been carefully prepared, but the inventory did not include
the great coat.” This is the first mention of the cadet overcoat.
In 1816, however, an order from the Adjutant-General changed the
uniform of 1814, and with few modifications made from time to time,
this uniform is worn today. The gray color is said to have been adopted
out of compliment to General Scott and his troops who, clothed in gray
(due to the inability of the government to furnish them with blue),
had, on July 4, 1814, won a victory over the British at Chippewa.
Today the cadets have a few more uniforms, but the general appearance
and the pattern have been only slightly changed since 1816. The present
list includes a full-dress coat, a single-breasted coat of blue gray
cloth, with three rows of gilt bell buttons in front, and button-holes
of black silk cord in herring-bone form with a festoon turned at back
end. The standing collar hooks in front and is ornamented with a blind
hole of cord formed like that of the breast with a button on each side.
The coat is cut off in front just below the waist line, but has in rear
a skirt, ornamented with three buttons and cord holes. The full-dress
coat is a garment of rare beauty and taste. I have never seen a more
military uniform, one that expresses so well the purpose for which
it is intended. It accentuates the good carriage of the cadets and
at the same time clothes him with an air of elegance. It seems to me
that anyone could look smart and well set-up in a cadet full-dress
coat. When seen in full dress without his accoutrements, the cadet,
with his slim waist, his well-developed shoulders, and chest proudly
displaying those shiny buttons, and the little tail hanging down
stiffly and conservatively, appears for all the world like proud young
cock-robin going a-courting Jenny Wren. The full-dress coat is worn for
ceremonies, church, official receptions, hops, and for social calls,
dining out, and entertainments.
For habitual wear, a dress coat, or a blouse (as it is more familiarly
called) is prescribed. The garment was first worn, June 15, 1889. It
is of the same style as the officers’ blouse, being of gray cloth and
bound around the edges, the cuffs, and up the seams in the back with
black mohair braid, having a collar of the same material, of height
suited to the wearer.
The trousers are of gray cloth with a black stripe up the side, one
and one-half inch wide. In summer, white is worn, either full white,
blouse, trousers, and cap, or a combination of the gray coat and the
white trousers. This mixed uniform is the most effective, especially
_en masse_, at a ceremony when the white belt and cross belts are worn.
For certain drills a gray flannel shirt is issued, and suitable
breeches are provided for riding. The various combinations of the
uniform are published in a table and designated by letter, so that the
cadet consults the table for, we will say, “Full Dress A,” where he
finds in detail all articles of uniform to be worn for a ceremony.
The uniform is admirable in color, appearance, and utility. It is
regrettable that the gray color is not used in the Regular Army instead
of the lifeless ugly olive drab. It is equally as invisible, more
attractive in appearance, no easier soiled, and easier to clean when
soiled.
The only article of cadet uniform that seems out of harmony with the
rest, is the cadet cap. This headgear has no distinction and should be
abolished. It replaced, some years ago, a forage cap patterned after
those worn in the Civil War, but I do not think that the change was any
improvement. The visor is too drooping, and the crown, too narrow and
rigid, is clumsily fashioned. The majority of the cadets look as if
they had put on by mistake, their small brother’s hat, giving them a
vaudeville appearance, in some cases as ludicrous as Weber and Fields.
The day’s work of the Powers that Be, however, includes so many more
important things than the appearance of a cadet cap that the style of
the cap passes by unnoticed. The great aim of the Academy is to mold
a man’s character and train him to think. The Superintendent must
constantly keep his finger on the Academy’s pulse to see that these
aims are being successfully carried out. To the cadets he is as far
removed from their life as were the gods of Olympus from the common
mortals. Not that the Superintendent wishes it so, but because of
circumstances. The big problems of the Academy occupy so much of his
time that he comes into comparatively little personal contact with the
cadets. Like Henry IV., by being seldom seen, he is, when he appears,
like a comet wondered at by them who tell each other:
“That is he, the ‘Supt.’”
To be summoned before his presence makes a cadet anticipate the feeling
when he will appear before the final bar of justice. He dons his
full-dress uniform, pulls on a pair of white lisle thread gloves,
puts a visiting card in his hat band to have it ready for Woods, the
Superintendent’s messenger, and sallies forth, his heart a-tremble at
the thought of appearing before Olympus.
He quickly reviews his past, wondering what he has done, for he thinks
of course that he has unwittingly committed some offense. It is only
when he finds himself standing before the Superintendent’s desk
saluting and saying:
“Sir, Cadet Ducrot reports as ordered,” that he realizes that he is in
the presence of a very human person like himself.
The wonderful prestige that the Superintendent has with the cadets is
due, not so much to his rank, but to the fact that he too was once
a cadet, and passed through experiences similar to their own. They
appreciate the success that he has made in their chosen profession, and
his example affords inspiration to many, for they argue that once upon
a time, long ago, he too was a new cadet in “Beast Barracks.”