details of dress was the carefulness with which the old-time sea
officers had constantly to look after the set and trim of the canvas.
Every variation of the wind, every change of course, every
considerable manoeuvre, involved corresponding changes in the
disposition of the sails, which must be effected not only correctly,
but with a minute exactness extending to half a hundred seemingly
trivial details, upon precision in which depended--and justly--an
officer's general reputation for officer-like character. Not only so,
but the mere weight of rigging and sails, and the stretching resultant
on such strain, caused recurring derangements, which, permitted,
became slovenliness. Yards accurately braced, sheets home alike,
weather leaches and braces taut, with all the other and sundry
indications which a well-trained eye instinctively sought and noted,
were less the dandyism than the self-respecting neatness of a
well-dressed ship, and were no bad substitute, as tests, for buttoned
frock-coats. The man without fault in the one might well be pardoned,
by others as well as himself, for neglects which had never occurred to
him to be such. His attention was centred elsewhere, as a man may
think more of his wife's dress than his own. After all, one cannot be
always stretched with four pins, as the French say; there must be some
give somewhere.
The frock was then the working coat of the navy. There was fuller
dress for exceptional occasions, in which, at one festive muster early
in the cruise, we all had to appear, to show that we had it; but
otherwise it was generally done up in camphor. The jacket, which was
prescribed to the midshipmen of the Academy, had informal recognition
in the service, and we took our surviving garments of that order with
us to sea, to wear them out. But, while here and there some officer
would sport one, they could scarcely be called popular. One of our
lieutenants, indeed, took a somewhat sentimental view of the jacket.
"There was Mr. S.," he said to me, speaking of a brother midshipman,
"on deck yesterday with a jacket. It looked so tidy and becoming. If
there had been anything aloft out of the way, I could say to him,
'Mr. S., just jump up there, will you, and see what is the matter?'"
War, which soon afterwards followed with its stern preoccupations and
incidental deprivations, induced inevitably deterioration in matters
of dress. With it the sack-coat, or pilot-jacket, burrowed its way in,
the cut and insignia of these showing many variations. The
undergraduates at the Academy in my day had for all uses a
double-breasted jacket; but it was worn buttoned, or not, at choice.
On the rolling collar a gold foul anchor--an anchor with a rope cable
twined round it--was prescribed; but, while a standard embroidered
pattern was supplied at the Academy store, those who wished procured
for themselves metal anchors, and these not only were of many shapes
and sizes, but for symmetrical pinning in place demanded an accuracy
of eye and hand which not every one had. The result was variegated and
fanciful to a degree; but I doubt if any of the officers thought aught
amiss. So the regulation vest buttoned up to the chin, but very many
had theirs made with rolling collar, to show the shirt. I had a
handsome, very dandy, creole classmate, whom an admiring family kept
always well supplied with fancy shirts; and I am sure, if precisians
of the present day could have seen him starting out on a Saturday
afternoon to pay his visits, with everything just so--except in a
regulation sense--and not a back hair out of place, they must have
accepted the results as a testimony to the value of the personal
factor in uniform. Respect for individual tastes was rather a mark of
that time in the navy. Seamen handy with their needle were permitted,
if not encouraged, to embroider elaborate patterns, in divers colors,
on the fronts of their shirts, and turned many honest pennies by doing
the like for less skillful shipmates. Pride in personal appearance,
dandyism, is quite consonant with military feeling, as history has
abundantly shown; and it may be that something has been lost as well
as gained in the suppression of individual action, now when an
inspecting officer may almost be said to carry with him a yard-stick
and micrometer to detect deviations.
A very curious manifestation of this disposition to bedeck the body
was the prevalence of tattooing. If not universal, it was very nearly
so among seamen of that day. Elaborate designs covering the chest, or
back, or arms, were seen everywhere, when the men were stripped on
deck for washing. There was no possible inducement to this except a
crude love of ornament, or a mere imitation of a prevailing fashion,
which is another manifestation of the same propensity. The
inconvenience of being branded for life should have been felt by men
prone to desertion; but the descriptive lists which accompany every
crew were crowded with such remarks as, "Goddess of Liberty, r. f.
a."--right forearm--the which, if a man ran away, helped the police of
the port to identify him. My memory does not retain the various
emblems thus perpetuated in men's skins; they were largely patriotic
and extremely conventional, each practised tattooer having doubtless
his own particular style. Many midshipmen of my time acquired these
embellishments. I wonder if they have not since been sorry.
IV
THE NAVAL ACADEMY IN ITS INTERIOR WORKINGS
PRACTICE CRUISES
1855-60
In the preceding pages my effort has been to reconstitute for the
reader the navy, in body and in spirit, as it was when I entered in
1856 and had been during the period immediately preceding. There was
no marked change up to 1861, when the War of Secession began. The
atmosphere and environment which I at first encountered upon my
entrance to the Naval Academy, in 1856, had nothing strange, or even
unfamiliar, to a boy who had devoured Cooper and Marryat--not as mere
tales of adventure, but with some real appreciation and understanding
of conditions as by them depicted. I had studied, as well as been
absorbed by them. Cooper is much more of an idealist and romancer than
is Marryat, who belongs essentially to the realistic school. Some of
the Englishman's presentations may be exaggerated, though not beyond
probability--elaborated would perhaps be a juster word--and in one
passage he expressly abjures all willingness to present a caricature
of the seaman he had known. Cooper, on the other hand, while his sea
scenes are well worked up, has given us personalities which, tested by
Marryat's, are made out of the whole cloth; creations, if you will,
but not resemblances. Marryat entered the navy earlier than his rival,
and followed the sea longer; his experience was in every way wider.
Even in my time could be seen justifications of his portrayal; but
who ever saw the like of Tom Coffin, Trysail, or Boltrope?
The interested curiosity concerning all things naval which possessed
me, and held me enthralled by the mere sight of an occasional
square-rigged vessel, such as at rare intervals passed our home on the
Hudson, fifty miles from the sea, led me also to pore over a copy of
the _Academy Regulations_ which the then superintendent, Captain Louis
Goldsborough, (afterwards Admiral), had sent my father. The two had
been acquaintances in Paris, in the twenties of the century and of
their own ages. I have always had a morbid fondness for registers and
time-tables, and over them have wasted precious hours; but on this
occasion the practice saved me a year. I discovered that, contrary to
the established rule at the Military Academy, an appointee to the
Naval might enter any class for which he could pass the examinations.
Further inquiry confirmed this, and I set about fitting myself. At
that date, even more than at present, the standard of admission to the
two academies had to take into account the very differing facilities
for education in different parts of the country, as well as the
strictly democratic method of appointment. This being in the gift of
the representative of the congressional district, the candidates came
from every section; and, being selected by the various considerations
which influence such patronage, the mass of lads who presented
themselves necessarily differed greatly in acquirements. Hence, to
enter either Annapolis or West Point only very rudimentary knowledge
was demanded. Having grown up myself so far amid abundant opportunity,
and been carefully looked after, I found that I was quite prepared to
enter the class above the lowest, except in one or two minor matters,
easily picked up. Thus forewarned, I came forearmed. There were
probably in every class a dozen who could have done the same, but they
accepted the prevailing custom without question. I believe I was the
only one fortunate enough to make this gain. In some instances before,
and in many after, the academic work was for certain classes
compressed within three years, but I was singular in entering a class
already of a twelvemonth's standing.
About my own examination I remember nothing except that it was
successful; but one incident occurred in my hearing which has stuck by
me for a half-century. One other youth underwent the same tests. He
had already once entered, two or three years before, and afterwards
had failed to pass one of the semi-annual tests. Such cases frequently
were dropped into the next lower class, but the rule then was that a
second similar lapse was final. This had befallen my present
associate; but he had "influence," which obtained for him another
appointment, conditional upon passing the requirements for the third
class, fourth being the lowest. Examinations then were oral, not
written; and, preoccupied though I was with my own difficulties, I
could not but catch at times sounds of his. He was being questioned in
grammar and in parsing, which I have heard--I do not know whether
truly--are now looked upon as archaic methods of teaching; and the
sentence propounded to him was, "Mahomet was driven from Mecca, but he
returned in triumph." His rendering of the first words I did not hear,
my attention not being arrested until "but," which proved to him a
truly disjunctive conjunction. "But!" he ejaculated--"but!" and
paused. Then came the "practical" leap into the unknown. "'But' is an
adverb, qualifying 'he,' showing what he is doing." Poor fellow, it
was no joke to him, nor probably his fault, but that of circumstances.
When released from the ordeal, we stood round together, awaiting
sentence. He was in despair, nor could I honestly encourage him. "Look
at you," he said, "as quiet as if nothing had happened"--I was by no
means confident that I had cause for elation. "If I were as sure that
I had passed as that you have, I should be skipping all over the
place." I never heard of him again; but suppose from his name, which I
remember, and his State, of which I am less sure, that he took, and in
any event would have taken, the Confederate side in the coming
troubles. His loss by this failure was therefore probably less than it
then seemed.
An intruder, in breach of well-settled precedent, might have expected
to be looked on askance by the class which I thus unusually entered.
Not the faintest indication of discontent was ever shown, nor I
believe felt, even by those over whom I subsequently passed by such
standing as I established, although the fact meant promotion over
them. The spirit of the officer and the gentleman, which disdained
hazing, disdained discourtesy equally, and thrust aside with the
generosity of youth the jealousy that mature years more readily
cherishes towards competitors. The habit in those days was to
distinguish classes, not by the year of graduation, but by that of
entry--colloquially, the so-and-so "Date"--a manner derived from an
earlier period, when there was no other chronological point of
departure for the career; and in those "days before the flood" nothing
would have tempted us to depart from a time-honored custom. "Dates"
frequently established among their contemporaries reputations
analogous to those of individuals. At that time the "'41 Date," then
in the prime of life, was obnoxious to those below it; not for its own
fault, but because of its numbers, which, with promotion strictly by
seniority, constituted a superincumbent mass that could not but be
regarded bitterly by those who followed. At present there would be the
consolation that retirement, though distant, would ultimately sweep
them all away nearly simultaneously; but there was then no retired
list. Whatever the motive, the Secretary of the Navy had been moved to
introduce, in 1841, over two hundred midshipmen,[4] which put an
almost total stop to appointments for several subsequent years, and
gave the "Date" the invidious distinction it enjoyed. The well-known
character in the service whose hoisting a demijohn for a flag I have
before mentioned, and who found this great overplus above him, was
credited with saying that those of them who did not drink themselves
to death would strut themselves to death--a comment which testified
rather to the warmth of his feelings than to the merits of the case.
Of course, the greater the total, the more numerous the unworthy; and
the unfortunate natural bias of mankind notices these more readily
than it does the capable.
The class to which I now found myself admitted was the "'55 Date," and
whatever their reputation in the service, then or thereafter, they
thought themselves uncommonly fine fellows, distinctly above the
average--not perhaps in attainments, which was a subsidiary matter,
but in tone and fellowship. One among them, a turn-back from the
previous Date, and for two years my room-mate, used to declare
enthusiastically that he was glad of his misfortune, finding himself
in so much better a crowd. I doubt if I could have gone as far as
this, but in the general estimate I agreed fully. We numbered then
twenty-eight, having started with forty-nine a twelvemonth before.
Three years later we were graduated, twenty. The dwindling numbers
testifies rather to the imperfection of educational processes
throughout the country than to the severity of the tests, which were
very far below those of to-day. I have often heard it said, and
believe it true, that the difficulty was less with the knowledge--that
is, the nominal acquirements--of the appointees than with the then
prevalent methods of study and instruction, which had debauched the
powers of application. My father, after a long experience, used to
think that upon the whole there was better promise in a youth who came
with nothing more than the three R's, which then constituted
substantially the demands of the Military Academy, than in one with a
more pretentious showing. The first had not to unlearn bad habits. An
illustration that the courses were not too severe, for an average man
beginning with the very smallest equipment, is afforded by a true
story of the time. A lad from one of the Southern States,--Tennessee,
I think,--having obtained an appointment, and being too poor to travel
otherwise, walked his way to West Point, and then failed of admission.
The affecting circumstances becoming known, a number of officers
dubbed together and supported him for a year at a neighboring
excellent school. He then entered, passed his course successfully, and
proved a very respectable officer. There was, I believe, nothing
brilliant in his record, except the earnestness and resolution shown;
the absence of these, under demands which, though not excessive, were
rigid, was the principal cause of failures.
The requirements were certainly moderate, and our healths needed not
to suffer from over-application. The marking system of that time gave
the numeral 4 as a maximum, with which standard 2.5 was a "passing
average." He who reached that figure, as the combined result of his
course of recitations and stated examinations, passed the test, and
went on, or was graduated. The recitation marks being posted weekly,
we had constant knowledge of our chances; and of the necessity of
greater effort, if in danger, whether of failure or of being
outstripped by a competitor. The latter motive was rarely evidenced,
although I have seen the anxious and worried looks of one struggling
for pre-eminence over a rival who amused himself by merely prodding
where he might have surpassed. It is only fair to add, as I also
witnessed, that no congratulations were more warmly received by the
victor than those of the man who had so constantly trod on his heels.
It is needless to say, to those who know the world in any sphere of
life, that a certain proportion were satisfied with merely scraping
through. The authorities leaned to mercy's side, where there was
reasonable promise of a man's making a good sea officer. In the later
period of written examinations an instructor of much experience said
to me, "If a man's paper comes near 2.5, I always read it over again
with a leaning towards a more favorable judgment on points;" and he
accompanied the words with a gesture which dramatically suggested a
leaning so pronounced that, it would certainly topple over the right
way. Not strictly judicial, I fear, but perhaps practical. There were
rare instances who played with 2.5, enticed perhaps by the mysterious
charms of danger. Such a case I heard of, a man of unquestioned
ability, who it was rumored boasted that he would get just above 2.5,
and as near as he could. He was read dispassionately, and in the event
came out 2.47. As an effort at approximation, this may be considered a
success; but for passing it was inadequate, and his general character
did not bias the final appeal in his favor. He was not dropped,
indeed, but had to undergo a second examination three weeks later: a
circumstance calculated to cloud his summer. A more amusing instance
came directly under my observation. He was a candidate for entrance,
and I then head of one of the departments of the Academy. Although I
had nothing to do with admissions, his father came in to see me
immediately after the results were known. He had a marked brogue, and
was slightly "elevated," by success and by liquor. Placing his hand
confidentially on my arm, he whispered: "He's got in; he's got in." I
expressed my sympathy. He drew himself up with a smile of exultation,
and said: "He only got a 2.7. I said to him, '----, why didn't you do
better than that?--sure you could.' 'Whisht, father,' he replied, 'why
should I do better, when all I need's a 2.5?' Just fancy his thinking
of that!" cried the proud parent. "The 'cuteness of him?" I forget
this lad's further career, if I ever knew it.
One of the distinguishing features of the two academies then, and I
believe now, was the division of the classes into small sections,
under several instructors. This gave the advantage of very frequent
recitations for each student. None was safe in counting upon being
overlooked on any day, and the teacher was kept familiar with the
progress and promise of every one under his charge. It admitted also
of a more extensive course for those who could stick in the higher
sections--a kind of elective, in which the election depended on the
teacher, not the taught. Thoroughness of acquisition was favored by
this steady pressure, the virtue of which lay less in its weight than
in its constancy; but it is practicable only where large resources
permit many tutors to be employed. The Naval Academy has had frequent
difficulty, not chiefly of a money kind, but because the needed naval
officers cannot always be spared from general service. A sound policy
has continuously favored the employment of sea officers, where
possible; not because they can often be equal in acquirement to chosen
men from the special fields in question, but because through them the
spirit and authority of the profession pervades the class-room as well
as the drill-ground, and so forwards the highly specialized product in
view. Besides, as I have heard observed with admiration by a very able
civilian, head of one of the departments, who had several officers
under him, the habit of turning the hand to many different
occupations, and of doing in each just what was ordered, following
directions explicitly, gives naval officers as a class an adaptability
and a facility which become professional characteristics. It may be
interesting to note that the same was commonly remarked of the
old-time seaman. His specialty was everything--versatility; and he was
handy under the least expected circumstances, on shore as well as
afloat. Burgoyne used chaffingly to attribute his misfortunes at
Saratoga to the aptitude with which a British midshipman and seamen
threw a bridge over the upper Hudson. "If it had not been for you," he
said to the culprit, "we should never have got as far as this."
In my day the proportion of officers was less than afterwards, when
the graduates themselves took up the task of instruction. There were
two who taught us mathematics, one of whom remains in my memory as the
very best teacher, to the extent of his knowledge, that I ever knew.
The professional branches, seamanship and gunnery, fell naturally to
the sea officers who conducted the drills. These studies, as pursued,
reflected the transition condition of the period which I have before
depicted; the grasp on the old still was more tenacious than that on
the new. The preparation of text-books for young seamen far antedated
the establishment of naval schools. There was one, _The Sheet Anchor_,
by Darcy Lever, a British seaman, published before 1820, which had
great vogue among us. Among other virtues, it was illustrated with
very taking pictures of ships performing manoeuvres in the midst of
highly conventional waves. As far as memory serves me, I think we were
justified in regarding it as more instructive than the American work
assigned to us by the course, _The Kedge Anchor_, by a master in our
navy named Brady. A kedge, the unprofessional must know, is a light
anchor, dropped for a momentary stop, or to haul a ship ahead, the
title being in so far very consonant to the object of instruction;
whereas the sheet-anchor is the great and last stand-by of a vessel,
let go as a final resource after the two big "bowers," which
constitute the usual reliance. The rareness with which the sheet
anchor touched ground (the bottom) gave rise to the proverb, "To go
ashore with the sheet anchor," as the ultimate expression of attention
to duty; and the story ran of a British captain, a devoted
ship-keeper, who, to a lieutenant remonstrating on the little
privilege of leave enjoyed by the junior officers, replied: "Sir, when
I and the sheet anchor go ashore, you may go with us." By the
prescription of our seniors we had to tie to _The Kedge Anchor_, let
us hope in the cause of progress, to haul us ahead; but in a tight
place _The Sheet Anchor_ was our recourse, and by it think I may say
we--swore. I always mistrusted _The Kedge Anchor_ after my researches
into a mysterious sentence--"A celebrated master, now a commander, in
the navy never served the bowsprit rigging all over." In the old-time
frigates, of the days of Nelson and Hull, the master was at the head
of the marling-spike division of the ship's economy, being, in fact,
the descendant of the master (captain) of more than a century earlier,
who managed the ship while soldiers commanded and fought her. But the
masters were not in the line of promotion; in the British navy they
rarely rose, in our own much more rarely. Who, then, was this
celebrated master, now a commander? Eventually I found the sentence in
a British book, and my faith in the pure product of American home
industry was suddenly shaken. It is only fair to say that books on
seamanship, being essentially an accumulation of facts, must be more
or less compilations. Methods were too well established to allow much
originality, even of treatment.