[G] "Much has been said of the advantages of a West Point education. If
it is supposed to include any extensive reading of military works, the
mistake is great. Four years, commencing commonly at sixteen, a large
part of which is devoted to mathematics and their kindred sciences,
gives little time for such reading. The possession of a thorough
knowledge of elementary mathematics is common also to many civilians.
The two real advantages are: first, habits acquired in early life, which
give an appreciation of discipline as to its essentials, the importance
of its minutiae, a faith in its effects, and an acquaintance with the
word MUST; second, the study of those parts of the science of arms which
constitute its ABC a like early period. This study resembles the ABC of
the primer. A revolting drudgery to many minds, it is best gone through
with before life is fairly entered upon. When begun later, it will
likely be more or less shirked, and the want of a thorough basis will
give a superficial character to after-practice. Were the cadets to enter
at twenty-five, their military education would lose one half its
value."--_Essay on "The Discipline and Care of Troops," from "Army and
Navy Journal," Oct. 22, 1864._
[H] "If a militia is indispensable, service should be required from a
sufficient number of citizens, and should not be accepted from
volunteers, with the exception only of corps of cavalry and light
artillery,--branches of the service entailing greater expense, and
involving greater sacrifice of time."--_Colonel Henry Lee, Jr._
"To make it [the militia] efficient, only two things are wanting; first,
there must be no exempts for any cause other than moral imbecility, as
lunacy and idiotism; for all physical defects should only excuse the
person from personal service by paying a fixed equivalent: second, those
who did not come under either of the above causes should personally do
duty."--_Adjutant-General Dearborn of Massachusetts._
"The full age of twenty-one years has been assumed by the Board as the
best period for the commencement of service in the ranks of the militia.
It will be perceived that the scheme of enrolment proposed rendered any
other limitation as to age, than that just stated, unnecessary; it being
probable that the minimum quota would be obtained in any State, without
going higher than the ages of thirty or twenty-nine, and in some of the
States not higher than twenty-six or twenty-five, even with the present
population."--_Major-General Winfield Scott, U. S. A., Report of Board
of Officers, 1826._
"In general, the military laws of the Cantons ... do not permit
substitutes."--_General Dufour, Commander-in-chief of the Swiss Army._
[I] "The militia, as it is now organized, is a mere school of titles,
where honors are conferred more from a sense of the qualification of the
individuals,"--_Governor Cole of Illinois._
"The first measure to be adopted by the State governments against
incompetency is the appointment of a board of officers of character and
experience, such as may be found in every State at the present time, to
examine rigidly every officer elect, and pronounce upon his fitness for
the position: their decision to be final."--_Colonel Henry Lee, Jr._
[J] "Without discipline firmly administered, and regulations founded on
a just appreciation of the difficulties and ends of a soldier's life, a
militia organization only tends to give a false idea of the duties of a
soldier, and is totally useless for the purposes of war or police....
During the periods of drill, the English militia man is placed on almost
the same footing as the regular soldier; and insubordination and
disorder, mutiny and desertion, are repressed and chastised by penalties
and punishments, not only of extreme severity, but involving the deepest
disgrace."--_Brigadier-General De Peyster, Report to the Governor of New
York on Municipal Military Systems of Europe, 1851._
[K] "The Board, in the plan of organization, proposes an
Adjutant-General, without rank, for the whole militia of the United
States. The importance of such an officer, attached to the War
Department, it is believed, could not be too highly
estimated."--_Major-General Winfield Scott._