CHAPTER X.

TREATMENT.

A brave and honorable and courteous man

Will not insult me; and none other can."--Cowper.

"How do they treat you?" "How do you get along?" and

multitudes of analogous questions have been asked me

over and over again. Many have asked them for mere

curiosity's sake, and to all such my answers have been

as short and abrupt as was consistent with common

politeness. I have observed that it is this class of

people who start rumors, sometimes harmless, but more

often the cause of needless trouble and ill-feeling.

I have considered such a class dangerous, and have

therefore avoided them as much as it was possible. I

will mention a single instance where such danger has

been made manifest.

A Democratic newspaper, published I know not where,

in summing up the faults of the Republican party,

took occasion to advert to West Point. It asserted in

bold characters that I had stolen a number of articles

from two cadets, had by them been detected in the very

act, had been seen by several other cadets who had been

summoned for the purpose that they might testify

against me, had been reported to the proper authorities,

the affair had been thoroughly investigated by them, my

guilt established beyond the possibility of doubt, and

yet my accusers had actually been dismissed while I was

retained.* This is cited as an example of Republican

rule; and the writer had the effrontery to ask, "How

long shall such things be?" I did not reply to it then,

nor do I intend to do so now. Such assertions from such

sources need no replies. I merely mention the incident

to show how wholly given to party prejudices some men

can be. They seem to have no thought of right and

justice, but favor whatever promotes the aims and

interests of their own party, a party not Democratic

but hellish. How different is the following article

from the Philadelphia North American, of July 7th,

1876:

*This article was cut from a newspaper, and, together

with the name of the paper, was posted in a conspicuous

place, where other cadets, as well as myself, saw and

read it.

"It is very little to the credit of the West Point

cadets, a body of young men in whose superior

discipline and thoroughly excellent deportment we

feel in common with nearly all others a gratified

pride, that they should be so ungenerous and unjust

as they confess themselves to be in their treatment

of the colored boy, who, like themselves, has been

made a ward of the nation. We know nothing of this

young man's personal character or habits, but we

have seen no unkind criticism of them. For that

reason we condemn as beneath contempt the spirit

which drives him to an isolation, in bearing which

the black shows himself the superior of the white.

We do not ask nor do we care to encourage any thing

more than decent courtesy. But the young gentlemen

who boast of holding only official intercourse with

their comrade should remember that no one of them

stands before the country in any different light

from him. West Point is an academy for the training

of young men, presumably representative of the people,

for a career sufficiently honorable to gratify any

ambition. The cadets come from all parts of the

country, from all ranks of the social scale. Amalgamated

by the uniform course of studies and the similarity of

discipline, the separating fragments at the end of the

student life carry similar qualities into the life

before them, and step with almost remarkable social

equality into the world where they must find their

level. It would be expecting too much to hope that the

companionship which surmounts or breaks down all the

barriers of caste, should tread with equal heel the

prejudices of color. But it would be more manly in

these boys, if they would remember how easy ordinary

courtesy would be to them, how much it would lighten

the life of a young man whose rights are equal to

their own. It is useless to ignore the inevitable.

This colored boy has his place; he should have fair,

encouragement to hold it. Heaping neglect upon him

does not overcome the principle involved in his

appointment, and while we by no means approve of

such appointments we do believe in common justice."

On the other hand, many have desired this information

for a practical use, and that, too, whether they were

prejudiced or not. That is, if friends, they were

anxious to know how I fared, whether or not I was to

be a success, and if a success to use that fact in

the interest of the people; and if enemies, they

wanted naturally to know the same things in order to

use the knowledge to the injury of the people if I

proved a failure.

I have not always been able to distinguish one class

from the other, and have therefore been quite reticent

about my life and treatment at West Point. I have, too,

avoided the newspapers as much as possible. I succeeded

in this so well that it was scarcely known that I was

at the Academy. Much surprise was manifested when I

appeared in Philadelphia at the Centennial. One gentleman

said to me in the Government building: "You are quite

an exhibition yourself. No one was expecting to see a

colored cadet."

But I wander from my theme. It is a remarkable fact

that the new cadets, in only a very few instances,

show any unwillingness to speak or fraternize. It is

not till they come in contact with the rougher elements

of the corps that they manifest any disposition to

avoid one. It was so in my own class, and has been so

in all succeeding classes.

When I was a plebe those of us who lived on the same

floor of barracks visited each other, borrowed books,

heard each other recite when preparing for examination,

and were really on most intimate terms. But alas! in

less than a month they learned to call me "nigger,"

and ceased altogether to visit me. We did the Point

together, shared with each other whatever we purchased

at the sulter's, and knew not what prejudice was. Alas!

we were soon to be informed! In camp, brought into

close contact with the old cadets, these once friends

discovered that they were prejudiced, and learned to

abhor even the presence or sight of a "d--d nigger."

Just two years after my entrance into the Academy, I

met in New York a young man who was a plebe at the

time I was, and who then associated with me. He

recognized me, hurried to me from across the street,

shook my hand heartily, and expressed great delight at

seeing me. He showed me the photograph of a classmate,

told me where I could find him, evidently ignorant of

my ostracism, and, wishing me all sorts of success,

took his leave. After he left me I involuntarily asked

myself, "Would it have been thus if he had not been

'found on his prelim?' " Possibly not, but it is very,

very doubtful.

There are some, indeed the majority of the corps are

such, who treat me on all occasions with proper

politeness. They are gentlemen themselves, and treat

others as it becomes gentlemen to do. They do not

associate, nor do they speak other than officially,

except in a few cases. They are perhaps as much

prejudiced as the others, but prejudice does not

prevent all from being gentlemen. On the other hand,

there are some from the very lowest classes of our

population. They are uncouth and rough in appearance,

have only a rudimentary education, have little or no

idea of courtesy, use the very worst language, and in

most cases are much inferior to the average negro. What

can be expected of such people? They are low, and their

conduct must be in keeping with their breeding. I am

not at all surprised to find it so. Indeed, in ordinary

civil life I should consider such people beneath me in

the social scale, should even reckon some of them as

roughs, and consequently give them a wide berth.

What surprises me most is the control this class seems

to have over the other. It is in this class I have

observed most prejudice, and from it, or rather by it,

the other becomes tainted. It seems to rule the corps

by fear. Indeed, I know there are many who would

associate, who would treat me as a brother cadet, were

they not held in constant dread of this class. The

bullies, the fighting men of the corps are in it. It

rules by fear, and whoever disobeys its beck is "cut."

The rest of the corps follows like so many menials

subject to command. In short, there is a fearful lack

of backbone. There is, it seems at first sight, more

prejudice at West Point than elsewhere. It is not

really so I think.

The officers of the institution have never, so far

as I can say, shown any prejudice at all. They have

treated me with uniform courtesy and impartiality.

The cadets, at least some of them, away from West

Point, have also treated me with such gentlemanly

propriety. The want of backbone predominates to such

an alarming extent at West Point they are afraid to

do so there. I will mention a few cases under this

subject of treatment.

During my first-class camp I was rather surprised on

one occasion to have a plebe--we had been to the

Centennial Exhibition and returned, and of course my

status must have been known to him--come to my tent

to borrow ink of me. I readily complied with his

request, feeling proud of what I thought was the

beginning of a new era in my cadet life. I felt he

would surely prove himself manly enough, after thus

recognizing me, to keep it up, and thus bring others

under his influence to the same cause. And I was

still further assured in this when I observed he

made his visits frequent and open. At length, sure of

my willingness to oblige him, he came to me, and, after

expressing a desire to "bone up" a part of the fourth-

class course, and the need he felt for such "boning,"

begged me to lend him my algebra. I of course readily

consented, gave him my key, and sent him to my trunk

in the trunk rooms to get it. He went. He got it, and

returned the key. He went into ecstasies, and made no

end of thanks to me for my kindness, etc. All this

naturally confirmed my opinion and hope of better

recognition ultimately. Indeed, I was glad of an

opportunity to prove that I was not unkind or ungenerous.

I supposed he would keep the book till about September,

at which time he would get one of his own, as every

cadet at that time was required to procure a full

course of text-books, these being necessary for

reference, etc., in future life. And so he did. Some

time after borrowing the book, he came to me and

asked for India ink. I handed him a stick, or rather

part of one, and received as usual his many thanks.

Several days after this, and at night, during my

absence--I was, if I remember aright, at Fort Clinton

making a series of observations with a zenith telescope

in the observatory there--he came to the rear of my

tent, raised the wall near one corner, and placed the

ink on the floor, just inside the wall, which he left

down as he found it.

I found the ink there when I returned. I was utterly

disgusted with the man. The low, unmanly way in which

he acted was wholly without my approval. If he was

disposed to be friendly, why be cowardly about it? If

he must recognize me secretly, why, I would rather

not have such recognition. Acting a lie to his fellow-

cadets by appearing to be inimical to me and my

interests, while he pretended the reverse to me,

proved him to have a baseness of character with which

I didn't care to identify myself.

September came at last, and my algebra was returned.

The book was the one I had used my first year at the

Academy. I had preserved it, as I have all of my

books, for future use and as a sort of souvenir of

my cadet life. It was for that sole reason of great

value to me. I enjoined upon him to take care of the

book, and in nowise to injure it. My name was on the

back, on the cover, and my initial, "F," in two other

places on the cover. When the book was returned he

had cut the calfskin from the cover, so as to remove

my name. The result was a horrible disfiguration of

the book, and a serious impairment of its durability.

The mere sight of the book angered me, and I found it

difficult to retrain from manifesting as much. He

undoubtedly did it to conceal the fact that the book

was borrowed from me. Such unmanliness, such cowardice,

such baseness even, was most disgusting; and I felt

very much as if I would like to--well, I don't know

that I would. There was no reason at all for mutilating

the book. If he was not man enough to use it with my

name on it, why did he borrow it and agree not to

injure it? On that sole condition I lent it. Why did

he not borrow some one else's and return mine?

I have been asked, "What is the general feeling of the

corps towards you? Is it a kindly one, or is it an

unfriendly one. Do they purposely ill-treat you or do

they avoid you merely?" I have found it rather difficult

to answer unqualifiedly such questions; and yet I

believe, and have always believed, that the general

feeling of the corps towards me was a kindly one.

This has been manifested in multitudes of ways, on

innumerably occasions, and under the most various

circumstances. And while there are some who treat me

at times in an unbecoming manner, the majority of the

corps have ever treated me as I would desire to be

treated. I mean, of course, by this assertion that

they have treated me as I expected and really desired

them to treat me, so long as they were prejudiced.

They have held certain opinions more or less

prejudicial to me and my interests, but so long as

they have not exercised their theories to my

displeasure or discomfort, or so long as they have

"let me severely alone," I had no just reason for

complaint. Again, others, who have no theory of their

own, and almost no manliness, have been accustomed "to

pick quarrels," or to endeavor to do so, to satisfy I

don't know what; and while they have had no real

opinions of their own, they have not respected those

of others. Their feeling toward me has been any thing

but one of justice, and yet at times even they have

shown a remarkable tendency to recognize me as having

certain rights entitled to their respect, if not their

appreciation.

As I have been practically isolated from the cadets,

I have had little or no intercourse with them. I have

therefore had but little chance to know what was

really the feeling of the corps as a unit toward

myself. Judging, however, from such evidences as I

have, I am forced to conclude that it is as given

above, viz., a feeling of kindness, restrained

kindness if you please.

Here are some of the evidences which have come under

my notice.

I once heard a cadet make the following unchristian

remark about myself when a classmate had been

accidentally hurt at light-battery drill: "I wish it

had been the nigger, and it had killed him." I couldn't

help looking at him, and I did; but that, and nothing

more. Some time after this, at cavalry drill, we were

side by side, and I had a rather vicious horse, one in

fact which I could not manage. He gave a sudden jump

unexpectedly to me. I almost lost my seat in the saddle.

This cadet seized me by the arm, and in a tone of voice

that was evidently kind and generous, said to me, "For

heaven's sake be careful. You'll be thrown and get

hurt if you don't." How different from that other wish

given above!

Another evidence, and an important one, may be given

in these words. It is customary for the senior, or,

as we say, the first class, to choose, each member,

a horse, and ride him exclusively during the term.

The choice is usually made by lot, and each man

chooses according to the number he draws. By

remarkable good fortune I drew No. 1, and had

therefore the first choice of all the horses in the

stables.

As soon as the numbers drawn were published, several

classmates hastened to me for the purpose of effecting

an exchange of choice. It will at once be seen that

any such change would in no manner benefit me, for

if I lost the first choice I might also lose the

chance of selecting a good horse. With the avowed

intention of proving that I had at least a generous

disposition, and also that I was not disposed to

consider, in my reciprocal relations with the cadets,

how I had been, and was even then treated by them, I

consented to exchange my first choice for the

fourteenth.

This agreement was made with the first that asked for

an exchange. Several others came, and, when informed

of the previous agreement, of course went their way.

A day or two after this a number of cadets were

discussing the choice of horses, etc., and reverted to

the exchange which I had made. One of them suggested

that if an exchange of a choice higher than fourteen

were suggested to me, I might accept it.

What an idea, he must have had of my character to

suppose me base enough to disregard an agreement I

had already made!

However, all in the crowd were not as base as he was,

and one of them was man enough to say:

"Oh no! that would be imposing upon Mr. Flipper's

good nature." He went on to show how ungentlemanly

and unbecoming in a "cadet and gentleman" such an

act would be. The idea was abandoned, or at least

was never broached to me, and if it had been I would

never have entertained it. Such an act on the part

of the cadet could have arisen only from a high sense

of manly honor or from a feeling of kindness.

There are multitudes of little acts of kindness

similar to these, and even different ones. I need

not--indeed as I do not remember them all I cannot

--mention them all. They all show, however, that

the cadets are not avowedly inclined to ill-treat

me, but rather to assist me to make my life under

the circumstances as pleasant as can be. And there

may be outside influences, such as relatives or

friends, which bias their own better judgments and

keep them from fully and openly recognizing me. For

however hard either way may be, it is far easier to

do as friends wish than as conscience may dictate,

when conscience and friends differ. Under such

conditions it would manifestly be unjust for me to

expect recognition of them, even though they

themselves were disposed to make it. I am sure this

is at least a Christian view of the case, and with

such view I have ever kept aloof from the cadets. I

have not obtruded myself upon them, nor in any way

attempted to force recognition from them. This has

proved itself to be by far the better way, and I

don't think it could well be otherwise.

The one principle which has controlled my conduct

while a cadet, and which is apparent throughout my

narrative, is briefly this: to find, if possible,

for every insult or other offence a reason or motive

which is consistent with the character of a gentleman.

Whenever I have been insulted, or any thing has been

done or said to me which might have that construction,

I have endeavored to find some excuse, some reason

for it, which was not founded on prejudice or on

baseness of character or any other ungentlemanly

attribute; or, in other words, I wanted to prove that

it was not done because of my color. If I could find

such a reason--and I have found them--I have been

disposed not only to overlook the offence, but to

forgive and forget it. Thus there are many cadets who

would associate, etc., were they not restrained by the

force of opinion of relatives and friends. This cringing

dependence, this vassalage, this mesmerism we may call

it, we all know exists. Why, many a cadet has openly

confessed to me that he did not recognize us because

he was afraid of being "cut."

Again, I find some too high-toned, too punctilious,

to recognize me. I attribute this not to the

loftiness of their highnesses nor to prejudice, but

to the depth of their ignorance, and of course I

forgive and forget. Others again are so "reckless,"

so "don't care" disposed, that they treat me as fancy

dictates, now friendly, now vacillating, and now

inimical. With these I simply do as the Romans do.

If they are friendly, so am I; if they scorn me, I

do not obtrude myself upon them; if they are

indifferent, I am indifferent too.

There is a rather remarkable case under this subject

which has caused me no little surprise and

disappointment. I refer to those cadets appointed by

colored members of Congress.

It was quite natural to expect of them better treatment

than of others, and yet if in any thing at all they

differed from the former, they were the more reserved

and discourteous. They most "severely let me alone."

They never associated, nor did they speak, except

officially, and then they always spoke in a haughty

and insolent manner that was to me most exasperating.

And in one case in particular was this so. One of those

so appointed was the son of the colored Congressman who

sent him there, and from him at least good treatment

was reasonably expected. There have been only two such

appointments to my knowledge, and it is a singular fact

that they were both overbearing, conceited, and by no

means popular with their comrades. The status of one

was but little better than my own, and only in that

his comrades would speak and associate. He was not

"cut," but avoided as much as possible without making

the offence too patent.

There was a cadet in the corps with myself who

invariably dropped his head whenever our eyes met.

His complexion was any thing but white, his features

were rough and homely, and his person almost entirely

without symmetry or beauty. From this singular

circumstance and his physique, I draw the conclusion

that he was more African than Anglo-Saxon. Indeed, I

once heard as much insinuated by a fellow-cadet, to

whom his reply was: "It's an honor to be black."

Near the close of this chapter I have occason to

speak of fear. There I mean by fear a sort of

shrinking demeanor or disposition to accept insults

and other petty persecutions as just dues, or to

leave them unpunished from actual cowardice, to

which fear some have been pleased to attribute my

generally good treatment. This latter fact has been

by many, to my personal knowledge, attributed to

fear in another quarter, viz., in the cadets

themselves. It has many times been said to me by

persons at West Point and elsewhere: "I don't suppose

many of those fellows would care to encounter you?"

This idea was doubtless founded upon my physical

proportions--I am six feet one and three-quarter

inches high, and weigh one hundred and seventy-five

pounds. In behalf of the corps of cadets I would

disclaim any such notions of fear,

First. Because the conception of the idea is not

logical. I was not the tallest, nor yet the largest

man in the corps, nor even did I give any evidence

of a disposition to fight or bully others.

Second. Because I did not come to West Point purposely

to "go through on my muscle." I am not a fighting

character, as the cadets--those who know me--can well

testify.

Third. Because it is ungenerous to attribute what

can result from man's better nature only to such

base causes as fear or cowardice. This seems to be

about the only way in which many have endeavored to

explain the difference between my life at West Point

and that of other colored cadets. They seem to think

that my physique inspired a sort of fear in the cadets,

and forced them at least to let me alone, while the

former ones, smaller in size, did therefore create no

such fear until by persistent retaliation it was shown

they were able to defend themselves.

Now this, I think, is the most shallow of all reasoning

and entirely unworthy our further notice.

Fourth. I should be grieved to suppose any one

feared me. It is not my desire to go through life

feared by any one. I can derive no pleasure from

any thing which is accorded me through motives of

fear. The grant must be spontaneous and voluntary

to give me the most pleasure. I want nothing, not

even recognition, unless it be freely given, hence

have I not forced myself upon my comrades.

"But the sensible Flipper accepted the situation,

and proudly refused to intrude himself on the white

boys." -- Atlanta (Ga.) Herald.

Fifth. Because it is incompatible with the dignity

of a "cadet and a gentleman" for one to fear another.

Sixth. Because it is positively absurd to suppose

that one man of three hundred more or less would

be feared by the rest individually and collectively,

and no rational being would for an instant entertain

any such idea. There is, however, a single case

which may imply fear on the part of the cadet most

concerned. A number of plebes, among them a colored

one, were standing on the stoop of barracks. There

were also several cadets standing in the doorway,

and a sentinel was posted in the hall. This latter

individual went up to one of the cadets and said to

him, "Make that nigger out there get his hands

around," referring to this plebe mentioned above.

I happened to come down stairs just at that time,

and as soon as he uttered those words he turned

and saw me. He hung his head, and in a cowardly

manner sneaked off, while the cadets in the door

also dispersed with lowered heads. Was it fear?

Verily I know not. Possibly it was shame.

Again I recall a rather peculiar circumstance

which will perhaps sustain this notion of fear

on the part of the cadets. I have on every

occasion when I had command over my fellow-cadets

in any degree, noticed that they were generally

more orderly and more obedient than when this

authority was exercised by another.

Thus whenever I commanded the guard there

were very few reports for offences committed by

members of the guard. They have ever been obedient

and military. In camp, when I was first in command

of the guard, I had a most orderly guard and a very

pleasant tour, and that too, observe, while some of

the members of it were plebes and on for the first

time. On all such occasions it is an immemorial

custom for the yearlings to interfere with and haze

the plebe sentinels. Not a sentinel was disturbed,

not a thing went amiss, and why? Manifestly because

it was thought --and rightly too--that I would not

connive at such interference, and because they feared

to attempt it lest they be watched and reported.

Later, however, even this semblance of fear disappeared,

and they acted under me precisely as they do under

others, because they are convinced that I will not

stoop to spy or retaliate.

"The boys were rather afraid that when he should come

to hold the position as officer of the guard that he

would swagger over them; but he showed good sense and

taste, merely assuming the rank formally and leaving

his junior to carry out the duty."--New York Herald.

And just here it is worthy of notice that the press,

in commenting upon my chances of graduating, has

never, so far as I know, entertained any doubts of

my ability to do so. It has, on the contrary,

expressed the belief that the probability of my

graduating depended upon the officers of the Academy,

and upon any others who, by influence or otherwise,

were connected with the Academy. Some have even

hinted at politics as a possible ground upon which

they might drop me.

All such opinions have been created and nurtured by

the hostile portion of the press, and, I regret to

say, by that part also which ought to have been more

friendly, if not more discreet. No branch of the

government is freer from the influences and whims

of politicians than the National Military Academy.

Scarcely any paper has considered how the chances

of any cadet depended upon himself alone. The

authorities of the Academy are, or have been,

officers of the army. They are, with one or two

exceptions, graduates, and therefore, presumably,

"officers and gentlemen." To transform young men

into a like ilk as themselves is their duty. The

country intrusts them with this great responsibility.

To prove faithless to such a charge would be to risk

position, and even those dearer attributes of the

soldier, honor and reputation. They would not dare

ill-treat a colored cadet or a white one. Of course

the prejudice of race is not yet overcome entirely,

and possibly they may be led into some indiscretion

on account of it; but I do not think it would be

different at any other college in the country. It is

natural.

There are prejudices of caste as well as prejudices

of race, and I am most unwilling to believe it

possible that any officer would treat with injustice

a colored cadet who in true gentlemanly qualities,

intelligence, and assiduousness equals or excels

certain white ones who are treated with perfect

equanimity. With me it has not been so. I have been

treated as I would wish to be in the majority of cases.

There have been of course occasions where I've fancied

wrong had been done me. I expected to be ill-treated.

I went to West Point fully convinced that I'd have "a

rough time of it." Who that has read the many newspaper

versions of the treatment of colored cadets, and of

Smith in particular would not have been so convinced?

When, therefore, any affront or any thing seemingly of

that nature was offered me, I have been disposed,

naturally I think, to unduly magnify it, because I

expected it. This was hasty and unjust, and so I

admit, now that I am better informed. What was

apparently done to incommode or discourage me has

been shown to have been done either for my own

benefit or for some other purpose, not to my harm.

In every single instance I have, after knowing better

the reason for such acts, felt obliged to acknowledge

the injustice of my fears. At other times I have been

agreeably surprised at the kindnesses shown me both by

officers and cadets, and have found myself at great

loss to reconcile them with acts I had already adjudged

as malicious wrongs.

I have, too, been particularly careful not to fall

into an error, which, I think, has been the cause

of misfortune to at least one of the cadets of color.

If a cadet affront another, if a white cadet insult a

colored one for instance, the latter can complain to

The proper authorities, and, if there be good reason

for it, can always get proper redress. This undoubtedly

gives the consolation of knowing that the offence will

not be repeated, but beyond that I think it a great

mistake to have so sought it. A person who constantly

complains, even with some show of reason, loses more or

less the respect of the authorities. And the offenders,

while they refrain from open acts, do nevertheless

conduct their petty persecutions in such a manner that

one can shape no charge against them, and consequently

finds himself helpless. One must endure these little

tortures--the sneer, the shrug of the shoulder, the

epithet, the effort to avoid, to disdain, to ignore--

and thus suffer; for any of them are--to me at least--

far more hard to bear than a blow. A blow I may resist

or ignore. In either case I soon forget it. But a sneer,

a shrug of the shoulder, mean more. Either is a blow at

my sensitiveness, my inner feelings, and which through

no ordinary effort of mind can be altogether forgotten.

It is a sting that burns long and fiercely. How much

better to have ignored the greater offences which could

be reached, and to have thus avoided the lesser ones,

which nothing can destroy! How much wiser to stand like

a vast front of fortification, on some rocky moral height

absolutely unassailable, passively resisting alike the

attack by open assault and the surer one by regular

approaches! The assault can be repulsed, but who can, who

has ever successfully stopped the mines and the galleries

through which an entrance is at length forced into the

interior?

"We cannot expect the sons to forget the lessons of the

sires; but we have a right to demand from the general

government the rooting out of all snobbery at West Point,

whether it is of that kind which sends poor white boys to

Coventry, because they haven't a family name or wealth,

or whether it be that smallest, meanest, and shallowest

of all aristocracies--the one founded upon color.

"If the government is not able to root out these

unrepublican seeds in these hotbeds of disloyalty and

snobbery, let Congress shut up the useless and expensive

appendages and educate its officers at the colleges of

the country, where they may learn lessons in true

Republican equality and nationality. The remedy lies

with Congress. A remonstrance, at least, should be heard

from the colored members of Congress, who are insulted

whenever a colored boy is ill-treated by the students

or the officers of these institutions. So far from being

discouraged by defeats, the unjust treatment meted out

to the young men should redouble the efforts of others

of their class to conquer this new Bastile by storm. It

should lead every colored Congressman to make sure that

he either sends a colored applicant or a white one who

has not the seeds of snobbery or caste in his soul."

I shall consider this last clause at the end of this

chapter, where I shall quote at length the article

from which this passage is taken.

If I may be pardoned an opinion on this article, I do

not think the true remedy lies with Congress at all.

I do not question the right to demand of Congress any

thing, but I do doubt the propriety or need of such a

proceeding, of course, in the case under consideration.

As to "that kind which sends poor white boys to Coventry,"

because of their poverty, etc., I can say with absolute

truthfulness it no longer exists. When it did exist the

power to discontinue it did not lie with Congress.

Congress has no control over personal whims or prejudices.

But I make a slight mistake. There was a time when

influence, wealth, or position was able to secure a

cadetship. At that time poor boys very rarely succeeded

in getting an appointment, and when they did they were

most unmercifully "cut" by the snobs of aristocracy who

were at the Academy. Then the remedy did lie with

Congress. The appointments could have been so made as

to exclude those snobs whose only recommendation was

their position in society, and so also as to admit boys

who were deserving, although they were perhaps poor.

This remedy has been made, and all classes (white),

whether poor or rich, influential or not, are on terms

of absolute equality.

But for that other kind, "the one founded upon color,"

Congress has no remedy, no more than for fanaticism or

something of that kind.

This article also tells us that "the government has been

remiss in not throwing around them the protection of its

authority." I disdainfully scout the idea of such

protection. If my manhood cannot stand without a

governmental prop, then let it fall. If I am to stand

on any other ground than the one white cadets stand

upon, then I don't want the cadetship. If I cannot

endure prejudice and persecutions, even if they are

offered, then I don't deserve the cadetship, and much

less the commission of an army officer. But there is a

remedy, a way to root out snobbery and prejudice which

but needs adoption to have the desired effect. Of

course its adoption by a single person, myself for

instance, will not be sufficient to break away all

the barriers which prejudice has brought into existence.

I am quite confident, however, if adopted by all colored

cadets, it will eventually work out the difficult

though by no means insoluble problem, and give us further

cause for joy and congratulations.

The remedy lies solely in our case with us. We can

make our life at West Point what we will. We shall

be treated by the cadets as we treat them. Of course

some of the cadets are low--they belong to the younger

classes-- and good treatment cannot be expected of

them at West Point nor away from there. The others,

presumably gentlemen, will treat everybody else as

becomes gentlemen, or at any rate as they themselves

are treated. For, as Josh Billings quaintly tells us,

"a gentleman kant hide hiz true karakter enny more

than a loafer kan."

Prejudice does not necessarily prevent a man's being

courteous and gentlemanly in his relations with others.

If, then, they be prejudiced and treat one with ordinary

civility, or even if they let one "severely alone," is

there any harm done? Is such a course of conduct to be

denounced? Religiously, yes; but in the manner of every

-day life and its conventionalities, I say not by any

means. I have the right--no one will deny it--of

choosing or rejecting as companions whomsoever I will.

If my choice be based upon color, am I more wrong in

adopting it than I should be in adopting any other

reason? it may be an unchristian opinion or fancy that

causes me to do it, but such opinion or fancy is my own,

and I have a right to it. No one objects to prejudice

as such, but to the treatment it is supposed to cause.

If one is disposed to ill-treat another, he'll do it,

prejudiced or not prejudiced. Only low persons are so

disposed, and happily so for West Point, and indeed for

the whole country.

"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 being "found" (a cadet term equivalent to

the old college word 'plucked') by merely a hair's-

breadth."

The old way of getting rid of the rough, uncouth

characters was to "find" them. Few, very few of

them, ever got into the army. Now they are excluded

by the system of competitive examination even from

entering the Military Academy, and if they should

succeed in getting to West Point, they eventually

fail, since men with no fixed purpose cannot

graduate at West Point.

Now if the "colored cadets" be not of this class

also, then their life at West Point will not be

much harder than that of the others. The cadets

may not associate, but what of that? Am I to blame

a man who prefers not to associate with me? If that

be the only charge against him, then my verdict is

for acquittal. Though his conduct arises from, to

us, false premises, it is to his sincere convictions

right, and we would not in the slightest degree be

justified in forcing him into our way of looking at

it. In other words, the remedy does not lie with

Congress.

The kind of treatment we are to receive at the

hands of others depends entirely upon ourselves.

I think my life at West Point sufficiently proves

the truth of this assertion. I entered the Academy

at a time when, as one paper had it, West Point

was a "hotbed of disloyalty and snobbery, a useless

and expensive appendage." I expected all sorts of

ill-treatment, and yet from the day I entered till

the day I graduated I had not cause to utter so much

as an angry word. I refused to obtrude myself upon

the white cadets, and treated them all with uniform

courtesy. I have been treated likewise. It simply

depended on me what sort of treatment I should

receive. I was careful to give no cause for bad

treatment, and it was never put upon me. In making

this assertion I purposely disregard the instances

of malice, etc., mentioned elsewhere, for the reason

that I do not believe they were due to any deep

personal convictions of my inferiority or personal

desire to impose upon me, but rather were due to the

fear of being "cut" if they had acted otherwise.

Our relations have been such, as any one will

readily observe, that even officially they would

have been obliged to recognize me to a greater or

less extent, or at the expense of their consciences

ignore me. They have done both, as circumstances

and not inclination have led them to do.

A rather unexpected incident occurred in the summer

of '73, which will show perhaps how intense is that

gravitating force--if I may so term it--which so

completely changes the feelings of the plebes, and

even cadets, who, when they reported, were not at

all prejudiced on account of color.

It was rather late at night and extremely dark. I

was on guard and on post at the time. Approaching

the lower end of my post, No. 5, I heard my name

called in a low tone by some one whom I did not

recognize. I stopped and listened. The calling was

repeated, and I drew near the place whence it came.

It proved to be a cadet, a classmate of mine, and

then a sentinel on the adjacent post, No. 4. We

stood and talked quite awhile, as there was no

danger either of being seen by other cadets--an

event which those who in any manner have recognized

me have strenuously avoided--or "hived standing on

post." It was too dark. He expressed great regret

at my treatment, hoped it would be bettered, assured

me that he would ever be a friend and treat me as a

gentleman should.

Another classmate told me, at another time, in

effect the same thing. I very naturally expected a

fulfilment of these promises, but alas! for such

hopes! They not only never fulfilled them, but

treated me even as badly as all the others. One of

them was assigned a seat next to me at table. He

would eat scarcely anything, and when done with that

he would draw his chair away and pretend to be imposed

upon in the most degrading manner possible. The other

practised similar manoeuvres whenever we fell in at

any formation of company or section. They both called

me "nigger," or "d--d nigger," as suited their

inclination. Yet this ought, I verily believe, to be

attributed not to them, but to the circumstances that

led them to adopt such a course.

On one occasion, however, one of them brought to

my room the integration of some differential

equation in mechanics which had been sent me by

our instructor. He was very friendly then,

apparently. He told me upon leaving, if I

desired any further information to come to his

"house," and he would give it. I observed that he

called me "Mr. Flipper."

One winter's night, while on guard in barracks

during supper, a cadet of the next class above

my own stopped on my post and conversed with me

as long as it was safe to do so. He expressed--

as all have who have spoken to me--great regret

that I should be so isolated, asked how I got

along in my studies, and many other like questions.

He spoke at great length of my general treatment. He

assured me that he was wholly unprejudiced, and would

ever be a friend. He even went far enough to say, to

my great astonishment, that he cursed me and my race

among the cadets to keep up appearances with them,

and that I must think none the less well of him for

so doing. It was a sort of necessity, he said, for he

would not only be "cut," but would be treated a great

deal worse than I was if he should fraternize with me.

Upon leaving me he said, "I'm d--d sorry to see you

come here to be treated so, but I am glad to see you

stay."

Unfortunately the gentleman failed at the examination,

then not far distant, and of course did not have much

opportunity to give proof of his friendship. And thus,

"The walk, the words, the gesture could supply,

The habit mimic and the mien belie."

When the plebes reported in '76, and were given seats

in the chapel, three of them were placed in the pew

with myself. We took seats in the following order,

viz., first the commandant of the pew, a sergeant and

a classmate of mine, then a third-classman, myself,

and the plebes. Now this arrangement was wholly

unsatisfactory to the third-classman, who turned to

the sergeant and asked of him to place a plebe between

him and myself. The sergeant turned toward me, and

with an angry gesture ordered me to "Get over there."

I refused, on the ground that the seat I occupied had

been assigned me, and I therefore had no authority to

change it. Near the end of the service the third-

classman asked the sergeant to tell me to sit at the

further end of the seat. He did so. I refused on the

same ground as before. He replied, "Well, it don't

make any difference. I'll see that your seat is

changed." I feared he would go to the cadet

quartermaster, who had charge of the arrangement of

seats, and have my seat changed without authority. I

reported to the officer in charge of the new cadets,

and explained the whole affair to him.

"You take the seat," said he, "assigned you in the

guard house"--the plan of the church, with names

written on the pews, was kept here, so that cadets

could consult it and know where their seats were--

"and if anybody wants you to change it tell them I

ordered you to keep it."

The next Sabbath I took it. I was ordered to change

it. I refused on the authority just given above. The

sergeant then went to the commandant of cadets, who

by some means got the impression that I desired to

change my seat. He sent for me and emphatically

ordered me to keep the seat which had by his order

been assigned me. Thus the effort to change my seat,

made by the third-classman through the sergeant, but

claimed to have been made by me, failed. It was out

of the question for it to be otherwise. If the sergeant

had wanted the seat himself he would in all probability

have got it, because he was my senior in class and

lineal rank. But the third-classman was my junior in

both, and therefore could not, by any military

regulation, get possession of what I was entitled to

by my superior rank. And the effort to do so must be

regarded a marvellous display of stupidity, or a belief

on the part of the cadet that I could be imposed upon

with impunity, simply because I was alone and had shown

no disposition to quarrel or demand either real or

imaginary rights.

While in New York during my furlough--summer of '75

--I was introduced to one of her wealthy bankers. We

conversed quite a while on various topics, and finally

resumed the subject on which we began, viz., West Point.

He named a cadet, whom I shall call for convenience

John, and asked if I knew him. I replied in the

affirmative. After asking various other questions of

him, his welfare, etc., he volunteered the following

bit of information:

"Oh! yes," said he, "I've known John for several years.

He used to peddle newspapers around the bank here. I

was agreeably surprised when I heard he had been

appointed to a cadetship at West Point. The boys who

come in almost every morning with their papers told me

John was to sell me no more papers. His mother has

scrubbed out the office here, and cleaned up daily for

a number of years. John's a good fellow though, and

I'm glad to know of his success."

This information was to me most startling. There

certainly was nothing dishonorable in that sort

of labor--nay, even there was much in it that

deserved our highest praise. It was honest, humble

work. But who would imagine from the pompous bearing

assumed by the gentleman that he ever peddled

newspapers, or that his mother earned her daily

bread by scrubbing on her knees office floors? And

how does this compare with the average negro?

It is not to me very pleasant to thus have another's

private history revealed, but when it is done I can't

help feeling myself better in one sense at least than

my self-styled superiors. I certainly am not really

one thing and apparently another. The distant

haughtiness assumed by some of them, and the constant

endeavor to avoid me, as if I were "a stick or a stone,

the veriest poke of creation," had no other effect

than to make me feel as if I were really so, and to

discourage and dishearten me. I hardly know how I

endured it all so long. If I were asked to go over it

all again, even with the experience I now have, I fear

I should fail. I mean of course the strain on my mind

and sensitiveness would be so great I'd be unable to

endure it.

There is that in every man, it has been said, either

good or bad, which will manifest itself in his speech

or acts. Keeping this in mind while I constantly

study those around me, I find myself at times driven

to most extraordinary conclusions. If some are as good

as their speech, then, if I may be permitted to judge,

they have most devoutly observed that blessed

commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother, that

thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy

God giveth thee," in that they have profited by their

teaching both mentally and morally.

On the other hand, we hear from many the very worst

possible language. Some make pardonable errors, while

others make blunders for which there can be no excuse

save ignorance. Judging their character by their

speech, what a sad condition must be theirs; and more,

what a need for missionary work!

This state of affairs gives way in the second, and

often in the first year, to instruction and discipline.

West Point's greatest glory arises from her unparalleled

success in polishing these rough specimens and sending

them forth "officers and gentlemen." No college in the

country has such a "heterogeneous conglomeration"--to

quote Dr. Johnson--of classes. The highest and lowest

are represented. The glory of free America, her

recognition of equality of all men, is not so apparent

anywhere else as at West Point. And were prejudice

entirely obliterated, then would America in truth be

that Utopia of which so many have but dreamed. It is

rapidly giving way to better reason, and the day is not

far distant when West Point will stand forth as the

proud exponent of absolute social equality. Prejudice

weakens, and ere long will fail completely. The advent

of general education sounds its death knell. And may

the day be not afar off when America shall proclaim her

emancipation from the basest of all servitudes, the

subservience to prejudice!

After feeling reasonably sure of success, I have often

thought that my good treatment was due in a measure to

a sort of apprehension on the part of the cadets that,

when I should come to exercise command over them, I

would use my authority to retaliate for any ill-treatment

I had suffered. I have thought this the case with those

especially who have been reared in the principles of

prejudice, and often in none other, for "prejudices, it

is well known, are the most difficult to eradicate from

the heart whose soil has never been loosened or

fertilized by education. They grow there as firm as

weeds among rocks."

When the time did come, and I proved by purely

gentlemanly conduct that it was no harder, no more

dishonorable, to be under me than under others, this

reserve vanished to a very great extent. I might

mention instances in which this is evident.

At practical engineering, one day, three of us were

making a gabion. One was putting in the watling,

another keeping it firmly down, while I was preparing

it. I had had some instruction on a previous day as

to how it should be made, but the two others had not.

When they had put in the watling to within the proper

distance of the top they began trimming off the twigs

and butt ends of the withes. I happened to turn toward

the gabion and observed what they were doing. In a tone

of voice, and with a familiarity that surprised my own

self, I exclaimed, "Oh, don't do that. Don't you see

if you cut those off before sewing, the whole thing

will come to pieces? Secure the ends first and then

cut off the twigs."

They stopped working, listened attentively, and one

of them replied, "Yes, that would be the most sensible

way." I proceeded to show them how to sew the watling

and to secure the ends. They were classmates. They

listened to my voluntary instruction and followed it

without a thought of who gave it, or any feeling of

prejudice.

At foot battery drill one day I was chief of piece.

After a time the instructor rested the battery. The

cannoneers at my piece, instead of going off and

sitting down, gathered around me and asked questions

about the nomenclature of the piece and its carriage.

"What is this?" "What is it for?" and many others.

They were third-classmen. Certainly there was no

prejudice in this. Certainly, too, it could only be

due to good conduct on my part. And here is another.

Just after taps on the night of July 12th, 1876, while

lying in my tent studying the stars, I happened to

overhear a rather angry conversation concerning my

unfortunate self.

It seems the cadet speaking had learned beforehand

that he and myself would be on duty a few days hence,

myself as senior and he as junior officer of the guard.

His chums were teasing him on his misfortune of being

under me as junior, which act caused him to enter into

a violent panegyric upon me. He began by criticising

my military aptitude and the manner in which I was

treated by the authorities, that is, by the cadet

officers, as is apparent from what follows:

"That nigger," said he, "don't keep dressed. Sometimes

he's 'way head of the line. He swings his arms, and

does other things not half as well as other 'devils,'

and yet he's not 'skinned' for it."

What a severe comment upon the way in which the file-

closers discharge their duties! Severe, indeed, it

would be were it true. It is hardly reasonable, I

think, to suppose the file-closers, in the face of

prejudice and the probability of being "cut," would

permit me to do the things mentioned with impunity,

while they reported even their own classmates for them.

And here again we see the fox and sour grapes. The

gentleman who so honored me with his criticism was

junior to me in every branch of study we had taken up

to that time except in French. I was his senior in

tactics by-- well, to give the number of files would

be to specify him too closely and make my narrative

too personal. Suffice it to say I ranked him, and I

rather fancy, as I did not gain that position by

favoritism, but by study and proficiency, he should

not venture to criticise. But so it is all through

life, at West Point as well as elsewhere. Malcontents

are ever finding faults in others which they never

think of discovering in themselves.

When the time came the detail was published at

parade, and next day we duly marched on guard.

When I appeared on the general parade in full

dress, I noticed mischievous smiles on more than

one face, for the majority of the corps had turned

out to see me. I walked along, proudly unconscious

of their presence.

Although I went through the ceremony of guard

mounting without a single blunder, I was not at

all at ease. I inspected the front rank, while my

junior inspected the rear. I was sorely displeased

to observe some of the cadets change color as they

tossed up their pieces for my inspection, and that

they watched me as I went through that operation.

Some of them were from the South, and educated to

consider themselves far superior to those of whom

they once claimed the right of possession. I know

it was to them most galling, and although I fully

felt the responsibility and honor of commanding the

guard, I frankly and candidly confess that I found

no pleasure in their apparent humiliation.

I am as a matter of course opposed to prejudice,

but I nevertheless hold that those who are not

have just as much right to their opinions on the

matter as they would have to any one of the various

religious creeds. We in free America at least would

not be justified in forcing them to renounce their

views or beliefs on race and color any more than

those on religion.

We can sometimes, by so living that those who differ

from us in opinion respecting any thing can find no

fault with us or our creed, influence them to a just

consideration of our views, and perhaps persuade them

unconsciously to adopt our way of thinking. And just

so it is, I think, with prejudice. There is a certain

dignity in enduring it which always evokes praise

from those who indulge it, and also often discovers

to them their error and its injustice.

Knowing that it would be unpleasant to my junior

to have to ask my permission to do this or that,

and not wishing to subject him to more mortification

than was possible, I gave him all the latitude I

could, telling him to use his own discretion, and

that he need not ask my permission for any thing

unless he chose.

This simple act, forgotten almost as soon as done,

was in an exceedingly short time known to every cadet

throughout the camp, and I had the indescribable

pleasure, some days after, of knowing that by it I

had been raised many degrees in the estimation of

the corps. Nor did this knowledge remain in camp.

It was spread all over the Point. The act was talked

of and praised by the cadets wherever they went, and

their conversations were repeated to me many times by

different persons.

When on guard again I was the junior, and of course

subject to the orders of the senior. He came to me

voluntarily, and in almost my own words gave me

exactly the same privileges I had given my junior,

who was a chum of my present senior. In view of the

ostracism and isolation to which I had been subjected,

it was expected that I would be severe, and use my

authority to retaliate. When, however, I did a more

Christian act, did to others as I would have them do

to me, and not as they had sometimes done, I gave cause

for a similar act of good-will, which was in a degree

beyond all expectation accorded me.

Indeed, while we are all prone to err, we are also

very apt to do to others as they really do to us. If

they treat us well, we treat them well; if badly, we

treat them so also. I believe such to be in accordance

with our nature, and if we do not always do so our

failure is due to some influence apart from our

better reason, if we do not treat them well, or our

first impulse if we do. If now, on the contrary, I

had been severe and unnecessarily imperious because

of my power, I should in all probability have been

treated likewise, and would have fallen and not have

risen in the estimation of the cadets.

It has often occurred to me that the terms "prejudice

of race, of color," etc., were misnomers, and for this

reason. As soon as I show that I have some good

qualities, do some act of kindness in spite of insult,

my color is forgotten and I am well treated. Again, I

have observed that colored men of character and

intellectual ability have been treated as men should

be by all, whether friends or enemies; that is to say,

no prejudice of color or race has ever been manifested.

I have been so treated by men I knew to be--to use a

political term--"vile democrats." Unfortunately a bad

temper, precipitation, stubbornness, and like qualities,

all due to non-education, are too often attributes of

colored men and women. These characteristics lower the

race in the estimation of the whites, and produce, I

think, what we call prejudice. In fact I believe

prejudice is due solely to non-education and its effects

in one or perhaps both races.

Prejudice of--well, any word that will express these

several characteristics would be better, as it would

be nearer the truth.

There is, of course, a very large class of ignorant

and partially cultured whites whose conceptions can

find no other reason for prejudice than that of color.

I doubt very much whether they are prejudiced on that

account as it is. I rather think they are so because

they know others are for some reason, and so cringing

are they in their weakness that they follow like so

many trained curs. This is the class we in the South

are accustomed to call the "poor white trash," and

speaking of them generally I can neglect them in this

discussion of my treatment, and without material error.

In camp at night the duties of the officers of the

guard are discharged part of the night by the senior

and the other part by the junior officer. As soon as

it was night--to revert to the subject of this article

--my junior came to me and asked how I wished to

divide the night tour.

"Just suit yourself. If you have any reason for wanting

a particular part of the night, I shall be pleased to

have you take it."

He chose the latter half of the night, and asked me to

wake him at a specified time. After this he discovered

a reason for taking the first half, and coming to me

said:

"If it makes no difference to you I will take the first

half of the night."

"As you like," was my reply.

"You 'pile in' then, and I'll wake you in time," was

his reply.

Observe the familiarity in this rejoinder.

The guard was turned out and inspected by the officer

of the day at about 12.20 P.M. After the inspection I

retired, and was awakened between 1 and 2 P.M. by my

junior, who then retired for the night.

The officer in charge turned out and inspected the

guard between 2 and 3 p.m.

Several of the cadets were reported to me by the

corporals for violating regulations. The reports

were duly recorded in the guard report for the day.

I myself reported but one cadet, and his offence was

"Absence from tattoo roll-call of guard."

These reports were put in under my signature, though

not at all made by me, as also was another of a very

grave nature.

It seems--for I didn't know the initial circumstances

of the case--that a citizen visiting at West Point

asked a cadet if he could see a friend of his who was

a member of the corps. The cadet at once sought out

the corporal then on duty, and asked him to go to camp

and turn out this friend. The corporal did not go. The

cadet who requested him to do so reported the fact to

the officer of the day. The latter came at once to me

and directed me, as officer of the guard, to order him

to go and turn out the cadet, and to see that he did it.

I did as ordered. The corporal replied, "I have turned

him out." As the cadet did not make his appearance the

officer of the day himself went into camp, brought him

out to his citizen friend, and then ordered me in

positive terms to report the corporal for gross

disobedience of orders. I communicated to him the

corporal's reply, and received a repetition of his

order. I obeyed it, entering on my guard report the

following:

"--, disobedience of orders, not turning out a cadet

for citizen when ordered to do so by the officer of

the guard."

The commandant sent for me, and learned from me all

the circumstances of the case as far as I knew them.

He made similar requirements of the corporal himself.

Connected with this case is another, which, I think,

should be recorded, to show how some have been disposed

to act and think concerning myself. At the dinner table,

and on the very day this affair above mentioned

occurred, a cadet asked another if he had heard about--,

mentioning the name of the cadet corporal.

"No, I haven't," he replied; "what's the matter with

him?"

"Why, the officer of the day ordered him reported for

disobedience of orders, and served him right too."

"What was it? Whose orders did he disobey?"

"Some cit wanted to see a cadet and asked C--if he

could do so. C--asked--, who was then on duty, to go

to camp and turn him out. He didn't do it, but went

off and began talking with some ladies. The officer

of the day directed the senior officer of the guard

to order him to go. He did order him to go and--

replied, "I have turned him out," and didn't go. The

officer of the day then turned him out, and ordered

him to be reported for disobedience of orders, and I

say served him right."

"I don't see it," was the reply.

"Don' t see it? Why--'s relief was on post, and it

was his duty to attend to all such calls during his

tour; and besides, I think ordinary politeness would

have been sufficient to make him go."

"Well, I can sympathize with him anyhow."

"Sympathize with him! How so?"

"Because he's on guard to-day." What an excellent

reason! "Because he's on guard to-day," or, in other

words, because I was in command of the guard.

He then went on to speak of the injustice of the

report, the malice and spirit of retaliation shown

in giving it, and hoped that the report would not

be the cause of any punishment. And all this because

the report was under my signature.

When the corporal replied to me that he had turned

out the cadet, I considered it a satisfactory answer,

supposing the cadet's non-appearance was due to delay

in arranging his toilet. I had no intention of

reporting him, and did so only in obedience to

positive orders. There surely was nothing malicious

or retaliatory in that; and to condemn me for

discharging the first of all military duties--viz.,

obedience of orders--is but to prove the narrowness

of the intellect and the baseness of the character

which are vaunted as so far superior to those of the

"negro cadet," and which condemn him and his actions

for no other reason than that they are his. How could

it be otherwise than that he be isolated and persecuted

when such minds are concerned?

In his written explanation to the commandant the

corporal admitted the charge of disobedience of

orders on his part, but excused himself by saying

he had delegated another cadet to discharge the

duty for him. This was contrary to regulations,

and still further aggravated his offence.

For an incident connected with this tour of guard

duty, see chapter on "Incidents, Humor," etc.

The only case of downright malice that has come to

my knowledge--and I'm sure the only one that ever

occurred--is the following:

It is a custom, as old as the institution I dare

say, for cadets of the first and second classes to

march in the front rank, while all others take

their places in the rear rank, with the exception

that third-classmen may be in the front rank whenever

it is necessary for the proper formation of the

company to put them there. The need of such a custom

is apparent. Fourth-classmen, or plebes not accustomed

to marching and keeping dressed, are therefore unfit

to be put in the front rank. Third- classmen have to

give way to the upper classmen on account of their

superior rank, and are able to march in the front

rank only when put there or allowed to remain there

by the file-closers. When I was a plebe, and also

during my third-class year, I marched habitually in

the rear rank, as stated with reason elsewhere. But

when I became a second-classman, and had by class

rank a right to the front rank, I took my place there.

Just about this time I distinctly heard the cadet

captain of my company say to the first sergeant, or

rather ask him why he did not put me in the rear rank.

The first sergeant replied curtly, "Because he's a

second-classman now, and I have no right to do it."

This settled the question for the time, indeed for

quite a while, till the incident above referred to

occurred.

At a formation of the company for retreat parade in

the early spring of '76, it was necessary to transfer

some one from the front to the rear rank. Now instead

of transferring a third- classman, the sergeant on

the left of the company ordered me, a second classman,

into the rear rank. I readily obeyed, because I felt

sure I'd be put back after the company was formed and

inspected, as had been done by him several times

before. But this was not done. I turned to the sergeant

and reminded him that he had not put me-back where I

belonged. He at once did so without apparent hesitation

or unwillingness. He, however, reported me for speaking

to him about the discharge of his duties. For this

offence, I submitted the following explanation:

WEST POINT, N. Y., April 11, 1876.

Offense: Speaking to sergeant about formation of company

at parade.

Explanation: I would respectfully state that the above

report is a mistake. I said nothing whatever about the

formation of the company. I was put in the rear rank,

and, contrary to custom, left there. As soon as the

command " In place, rest," was given, I turned to the

nearest sergeant and said, "Mr.--, can I take my place

in the front rank?" He leaned to the front and looked

along the line. I then said, "There are men in the front

rank who are junior to me." I added, a moment after,

"There is one just up there," motioning with my head

the direction meant. He made the change.

Respectfully submitted,

HENRY O. FLIPPER,

Cadet Priv., Comp. "D," First Class.

To Lieut. Colonel--, Commanding Corps of Cadets.

This explanation was sent by the commandant to the

reporting sergeant. He indorsed it in about the

following words:

Respectfully returned with the following statement:

It was necessary in forming the company to put Cadet

Flipper in the rear rank, and as I saw no third-

classman in the front rank, I left him there as

stated. I reported him because I did not think he

had any right to speak to me about the discharge of

my duty.

"------, Cadet Sergeant Company "D."

A polite question a reflection on the manner of

discharging one's duty! A queer construction indeed!

Observe, he says, he saw no third-classman in the

front rank. It was his duty to be sure about it, and

if there was one there to transfer him to the rear,

and myself to the front rank. In not doing so he

neglected his duty and imposed upon me and the

dignity of my class. I was therefore entirely

justified in calling his attention to his neglect.

This is a little thing, but it should be borne in mind

that it is nevertheless of the greatest importance. We

know what effect comity or international politeness has

on the relations or intercourse between nations. The

most trifling acts, such as congratulations on a birth

or marriage in the reigning family, are wonderfully

efficacious in keeping up that feeling of amity which

is so necessary to peace and continued friendship between

states. To disregard these little things is considered

unfriendly, and may be the cause of serious consequences.

There is a like necessity, I think, in our own case.

Any affront to me which is also an affront to my class

and its dignity deserves punishment or satisfaction. To

demand it, then, gives my class a better opinion of me,

and serves to keep that opinion in as good condition as

possible.

I knew well that there were men in the corps who would

readily seize any possible opportunity to report me,

and I feared at the time that I might be reported for

speaking to the sergeant. I was especially careful to

guard against anger or roughness in my speech, and to

put my demand in the politest form possible. The offence

was removed. I received no demerits, and the sergeant

had the pleasure or displeasure of grieving at the failure

of his report.

I am sorry to know that I have been charged, by some not

so well acquainted with West Point and life there as they

should be to criticise, with manifesting a lack of dignity

in that I allowed myself to be insulted, imposed upon, and

otherwise ill-treated. There appears to them too great a

difference between the treatment of former colored cadets

and that of myself, and the only way they are pleased to

account for this difference is to say that my good

treatment was due to want of "spunk," and even to fear,

as some have said. It evidently never occurred to them

that my own conduct determined more than all things else

the kind of treatment I would receive.

Every one not stubbornly prejudiced against West Point,

and therefore not disposed to censure or criticise every

thing said or done there, knows how false the charge is.

And those who make it scarcely deserve my notice. I would

say to them, however, that true dignity, selon nous,

consists in being above the rabble and their insults, and

particularly in remaining there. To stoop to retaliation

is not compatible with true dignity, nor is vindictiveness

manly. Again, the experiment suggested by my accusers has

been abundantly tried, and proved a most ridiculous

failure, while my own led to a glorious success.

I do not mean to boast or do any thing of the kind,

but I would suggest to all future colored cadets to

base their conduct on the aristonmetpon, the golden

mean. It is by far the safer, and surely the most

Christian course.

Before closing this chapter I would add with just

pride that I have ever been treated by all other

persons connected with the Academy not officially,

as becomes one gentleman to treat another. I refer

to servants, soldiers, other enlisted men, and

employés. They have done for me whatever I wished,

whenever I wished, and as I wished, and always kindly

and willingly. They have even done things for me to

the exclusion of others. This is important when it is

remembered that the employés, with one exception, are

white.

"NATIONAL SCHOOLS AND SNOBOCRACY.

"'Cadet Smith has arrived in Columbia. He did not

"pass."' --Phoenix

"'Alexander Bouchet, a young man of color, graduates

from Yale College, holding the fifth place in the

largest class graduated from that ancient institution.'

--Exchange.

"These simple announcements from different papers

tersely sum up the distinction between the military

and civil education of this country. One is exclusive,

snobbish, and narrow, the other is liberal and

democratic.

"No one who has watched the course of Cadet Smith

and the undemocratic, selfish, and snobbish treatment

he has experienced from the martinets of West Point,

men educated at the expense of the government, supported

by negro taxes, as well as white, who attempt to dictate

who shall receive the benefits of an education in our

national charity schools--no one who has read of his

court-martialings, the degradations and the petty insults

inflicted upon him can help feeling that he returns home

to-day, in spite of the Phoenix's sneers, a young hero

who has 'passed' in grit, pluck, perseverance, and all

the better qualities which go to make up true manhood,

and only has been 'found' because rebel sympathizers at

West Point, the fledglings of caste, and the Secretary

of War, do not intend to allow, if they can prevent it,

a negro to graduate at West Point or Annapolis, if he is

known to be a negro.

"Any one conversant with educational matters who has

examined the examinations for entrance, or the

curriculum of the naval and military academies, will

not for a moment believe that their requirements, not

as high as those demanded for an ordinary New England

high school, and by no means equal in thoroughness,

quantity, or quality to that demanded for entrance at

Yale, Amherst, Dartmouth, or Brown, are too high or

abstruse to be compassed by negroes, some of whom have

successfully stood all these, and are now pursuing

their studies in the best institutions of the North.

"No fair-minded man believes that Smith, Napier and

Williams, Conyers and McClellan, have had impartial

treatment. The government itself has been remiss in

not throwing about them the protection of its authority.

Had these colored boys been students at St. Cyr, in

Paris, or Woolwich, in England, under despotic France

and aristocratic England, they would have been treated

with that courtesy and justice of which the average

white American has no idea. The South once ruled West

Point, much to its detriment in loyalty, however much,

by reason of sending boys more than prepared. It

dominated in scholarship. It seeks to recover the lost

ground, and rightly fears to meet on terms of equality

in the camp the sons of fathers to whom it refused

quarter in the war and butchered in cold blood at Fort

Pillow. We cannot expect the sons to forget the lessons

of the sires; but we have a right to demand from the

general government the rooting out of all snobbery at

West Point, whether it is of that kind which sends poor

white boys to Coventry, because they haven't a family

name or wealth, or whether it be that smallest, meanest,

and shallowest of all aristocracies--the one founded

upon color.

"If the government is not able to root out these

unrepublican seeds in these hot-beds of disloyalty

and snobbery, then let Congress shut up the useless

and expensive appendages and educate its officers at

the colleges of the country, where they may learn

lessons in true republican equality and nationality.

The remedy lies with Congress. A remonstrance at least

should be heard from the colored members of Congress,

who are insulted whenever a colored boy is ill-treated

by the students or the officers of these institutions.

So far from being discouraged by defeats, the unjust

treatment meted out to these young men should redouble

the efforts of others of their class to carry this new

Bastile by storm. It should lead every colored

Congressman to make sure that he either sends a colored

applicant or a white one who has not the seeds of

snobbery and caste in his soul. Smith, after four years

of torture, comes home, is driven home, because, forsooth,

he might attend the ball next year! He is hounded out of

the Academy because he would have to be assigned to a

white regiment! There are some negroes who feel that

their rights in the land of their birth are superior to

the prejudices of the enemies of the Union, and who dare

to speak and write in behalf of these rights, as their

fathers dared to fight for them a very few years ago.

"Bouchet, under civil rule, enters Yale College the

best prepared student of one hundred and thirty

freshmen, and all through his course is treated like

a gentleman, both by the faculty and the students, men

who know what justice means, and have some adequate

idea of the true theory of education and gentlemanly

conduct. Two freed boys, from North Carolina and South

Carolina, slaves during the war, prepare at the best

Northern academics, and enter, without remonstrance,

Amherst and Dartmouth. What divinity, then, hedges

West Point and Annapolis? What but the old rebel

spirit, which seeks again to control them for use in

future rebellions as it did in the past. The war

developed some unwelcome truths with regard to this

snobbish and disloyal spirit of our national

institutions, and the exploits of some volunteer

officers showed that all manhood, bravery, skill, and

energy were not contained in West Point or Annapolis,

or, if there, did not pertain solely to the petty

cliques that aim to give tone to those academies. It

is not for any officer, the creature of the government

--it is not for any student, the willing ward of that

government--to say who shall enter the national schools

and be the recipients of my bounty. It is the duty of

every member of Congress to see that the government

sanctions no such spirit; and it becomes every loyal

citizen who wishes to avoid the mistakes of the former

war to see to it that no class be excluded, and that

every boy, once admitted, shall have the strictest

justice dealt out to him, a thing which, thus far,

has not been done in the case of the colored cadets.

"The true remedy lies in the feelings and sympathies

of the officers of these academies, in the ability

and fair investigations of the board of examiners;

not from such gentlemen as at present seem to rule

these institutions.

"NIGER NIGRORUM."

This article was taken from some South Carolina paper

during the summer of '74. Its tone is in accordance

with the multitude of articles upon the same subject

which occurred about the same time, and, like them all,

or most of them, is rather farfetched. It is too broad.

Its denunciations cover too much ground. They verge

upon untruth.

As to Conyers and McClellan at the Naval Academy I

know nothing. Of Napier I know nothing. Of Smith I

prefer to say nothing. Of Williams I do express the

belief that his treatment was impartial and just.

He was regularly and rightly found deficient and

duly dismissed. The article seems to imply that he

should not have been "found" and dismissed simply

because he was a negro. A very shallow reason indeed,

and one "no fair-minded man" will for an instant

entertain.

Of four years' life at the Academy, I spent the

first with Smith, rooming with him. During the

first half year Williams was also in the corps

with us. The two following years I was alone. The

next and last year of my course I spent with

Whittaker, of South Carolina. I have thus had an

opportunity to become acquainted with Smith's

conduct and that of the cadets toward him. Smith

had trouble under my own eyes on more than one

occasion, and Whittaker* has already received blows

in the face, but I have not had so much as an angry

word to utter. There is a reason for all this, and

had "Niger Nigrorum" been better acquainted with it

he had never made the blunder he has.

*Johnson Chestnut Whittaker, of Camden, South Carolina,

appointed to fill vacancy created by Smith's dismissal,

after several white candidates so appointed had failed,

entered the Academy in September, 1876. Shortly after

entering he was struck in the face by a young man from

Alabama for sneering at him, as he said, while passing

by him. Whittaker immediately reported the affair to the

cadet officer of the day, by whose efforts this

belligerent Alabama gentleman was brought before a court-

martial, tried, found guilty, and suspended for something

over six months, thus being compelled to join the next

class that entered the Academy.

I cannot venture more on the treatment of colored

cadets generally without disregarding the fact that

this is purely a narrative of my own treatment and

life at West Point. To go further into that subject

would involve much difference of opinion, hard

feelings in certain quarters, and would cause a

painful and needless controversy.