Superintendent at West Point--General Sherman's Ulterior Reasons
for the Appointment--Origin of the "Department of West Point"--Case
of the Colored Cadet Whittaker--A Proposed Removal for Political
Effect--General Terry's Friendly Attitude--A Muddle of New Commands
--Waiting Orders, and a Visit to Europe--Again in Command in the
West--The Establishment of Fort Sheridan at Chicago.
In the centennial year, 1876, I committed the mistake of my life
by consenting, in deference to the opinions and wishes of my
superiors and in opposition to my own judgment and interests, to
give up the command of a military division appropriate to my rank
of major-general, and accept a position which by law and custom
was appropriate to the rank of colonel. The following extracts
from correspondence will sufficiently explain the reasons for this
extraordinary action, and the assurances which induced it:
"(Telegram.)
"Washington, D. C., March 28, 1876.
"General John M. Schofield, San Francisco, California:
"Will you accept the superintendency of the military academy at
West Point? I advise it. Your rank and history will elevate it
and solve all trouble. Admiral Porter's example at Annapolis is
suggested as precedent. The President, Secretary Taft, and I are
unanimous on the wisdom and propriety of it. Advise me of your
decision as early as you can--certainly this week. You will be
subject to no supervision except by the usual board of visitors
and the general commanding the army.
"W. T. Sherman, General."
"(Telegram.)
"San Francisco, Cal., March 29, 1876.
"General Sherman, Washington, D. C.:
"I appreciate the importance of the superintendency of the academy,
and the compliment paid me by the President, Secretary of War, and
yourself in desiring me to accept it. Under the circumstances I
cannot decline. . . .
"J. M. Schofield, Major-General."
"(Telegram.)
"Headquarters of the Army,
"Washington, D. C., March 30, 1876.
"General J. M. Schofield, San Francisco, California.
"Despatch received, and am much pleased; think you could add new
luster to the old academy. It has always needed a head with rank
and experience, and now I am sure that the whole country will be
satisfied. . . . I am not yet resolved on my own course of action,
but will be governed by events to occur in this week.
"W. T. Sherman, General."
SUPERINTENDENT AT WEST POINT
"Headquarters Mil. Div. of the Pacific,
"San Francisco, Cal., March 30, 1876.
"General Sherman, etc., Washington, D. C.
"My dear General: I was not taken entirely by surprise by your
despatch relative to the West Point superintendency. General Grant
mentioned the subject to me soon after the war, and army officers
since that time have spoken of it often enough to keep me in mind
of the fact that I might some time be called upon to assume that
responsibility. Yet it is with a strong feeling of reluctance that
I have brought myself to regard it as a thing to be done. This
feeling results from several causes, which I desire to explain to
you, while I know you will give me credit for a desire to do what
appears best for the public service, and satisfactory to all
concerned, without too much concern for my own personal preference.
"In the first place, I have no little doubt of the possession of
any special fitness for that position, and have pretty strong
appreciation of its difficulties and importance. I do not feel at
all confident that the flattering expectations of my friends will
be realized from my management of the academy.
"I have been there enough to know pretty well how difficult a post
that of superintendent is, and how varied the good qualities a man
ought to possess to fit him in all respects for it.
"Rank and reputation will of course be of some assistance, but
their good effect will be greatly impaired without the dignity of
command belonging to them. To transfer an officer of rank from a
high command and post of great responsibility and trust to one
heretofore regarded as appropriate to an inferior grade, may be
regarded as elevating the dignity of the new command, but looks
much more like degrading the officer, and to that extent impairs
the good effect desired to be produced. Besides, it is impossible
for any officer not to _feel_ that in taking such inferior command,
although it is even for the avowed purpose of raising its dignity,
that he is stooping to do so. Especially must both these effects
be produced when the assignment is only an executive act. If it
was done in pursuance of law, the case would be materially different.
. . .
"We were all delighted at the news of your return to Washington
and the prospect of your restoration to the proper duties and
authority of general of the army; and I sincerely hope the events
to occur this week, alluded to in your telegram to-day, may be such
as to justify you in taking the course universally desired by the
army. We want our general where he can best look after all the
interests of the military service, with power to command the army
in fact as well as in name.
"I have read with the greatest pleasure your capital speech to the
Knights of St. Patrick.
"Please present my respectful compliments to the Secretary of War,
and my kindest regards to the President.
"I am, dear General, as ever, truly yours,
"J. M. Schofield."
During the Civil War the demand for the services in the field of
the most capable officers had, as was generally understood, been
prejudicial to the interests of the military academy; and this
continued some time after the close of the war, in consequence of
the unusual increase in rank of those officers who were known to
be fitted in all respects for the head of that institution. This
difficulty was increased by the very unreasonable notion that
because the law had opened the academy to the line of the army,
the superintendent must necessarily be taken from the line, and
not from the corps of engineers, although the latter contained many
officers of appropriate rank who had then added to their high
scientific ability and attainments distinguished services in the
field. Even in the line, officers were not wanting of appropriate
rank, character, ability, education, and experience to qualify them
for the duties of superintendent. For example, my immediate
predecessor, Major-General Thomas H. Ruger, then a colonel of
infantry, was in all respects highly qualified for that office;
and when I relived him I found the academy in about the same state
of efficiency which had characterized it before the war. There
was, in fact, at that time little, if any, foundation for the
assumption that the interests of the military academy required the
assignment of any officer of higher rank than colonel to duty as
superintendent of the academy. Of course I did not know this before
I went there, and it was a matter for the judgment of my superiors,
whose duty, and not mine, it was to know the facts.
ULTERIOR REASONS FOR THE APPOINTMENT
But General Sherman had other reasons, some of them very cogent in
his own estimation at least, for desiring my presence somewhere in
the Eastern States; and the West Point "detail" was the only way
in which that could be readily brought about. He had just been
restored, or was about to be, to the actual command of the army,
after having been practically suspended from command a long time
because of his differences with the Secretary of War. He desired
especially to bring the military academy under his command, and
appears to have been assured of President Grant's support in that
regard. General Sherman also wished me to revise the army regulations,
so as to incorporate the theory of relation between the administration
and the command which he and General Grant had maintained as the
true one, but which had generally, if not always, been opposed by
the Secretaries of War and by the chiefs of staff departments.
These were doubtless the principal reasons for General Sherman's
anxiety to have me accept the assignment to West Point. But very
soon after my arrival in the East I found that I was also expected
to preside over a board of review in the case of General Fitz-John
Porter and in that of Surgeon-General William A. Hammond; and that
my junior in rank, Major-General Irvin McDowell, could not be given
a command appropriate to his rank unless it was the division which
I had consented to vacate. Of course I could not but feel complimented
by this indication that my superiors thought me capable of doing
well so many things at once, nor yet could I fail to see that,
after all, my care of West Point had not been considered of so
vital importance, since it would not interfere with the all-important
revision of the army regulations, and the retrial of Porter and
Hammond.
But I had given my consent, though under erroneous impressions as
to reasons and necessity, to what my superiors desired, and hence
determined to keep my thoughts to myself so long as the promises
made by General Sherman were fulfilled. But I had hardly got
settled in the academic chair before I received a great affront
from the Secretary of War, through the adjutant-general of the
army, in direct violation of General Sherman's promise that I should
"be subject to no supervision except by the usual board of visitors
and the general commanding the army." This offensive action arose
not simply from ignorance of General Sherman's promise, of which
the adjutant-general and the Secretary of War had evidently not
been informed, but from culpable ignorance of the academic regulations
on the part of the adjutant-general, and still more culpable
disregard of the invariable rule of courtesy enjoined by military
law among military men. With no little difficulty I restrained my
indignation so far as to write a calm and respectful letter to the
Secretary of War, inclosing a copy of my correspondence with General
Sherman respecting my command at West Point, and pointing out the
regulation which he or the adjutant-general had ignored, and
requesting him to submit the whole matter to the President. It is
due to the Honorable Secretary, and is a pleasure to me, to say
that he did not wait the slow course of the mail, but telegraphed
me at once that it was all a mistake, and that he made all the
amend that a gentleman could make under the circumstances. He as
well as I had been made the victim of the ignorance and discourtesy
of a staff officer, in a matter about which the Secretary of War
could of necessity know nothing unless the staff officer informed
him. But I was determined to guard against any such outrage in
the future, and hence insisted that West Point be erected into a
military department. By this means I would become entitled to the
effective intervention and protection of the general of the army.
This is the origin of that anomaly which must have puzzled many
military men, namely, the "Department of West Point."
But I discovered in time that even this safeguard was by no means
sufficient. I had some apprehension on this subject at the start,
and telegraphed General Sherman about it; but his answer of May 25
was accepted as sufficiently reassuring. Indeed it could hardly
have been imagined that a President of the United States would
disregard an honorable obligation incurred by his predecessor; but
before I got through with that matter I was enlightened on that
point.
CASE OF THE COLORED CADET WHITTAKER
In the spring of 1880 there arose great public excitement over the
case of the one colored cadet then at West Point. This cadet,
whose name was Whittaker, had twice been found deficient in studies,
and recommended by the academic board for dismissal; but had been
saved therefrom by me, in my perhaps too strong desire to give the
young colored man all possible chance of ultimate success, however
unwise his appointment to the military academy might have been.
As was stated by me at the time, in my report of the case to the
War Department, that second and unusual indulgence was based upon
the fact that he was the only representative of his race then at
the academy. Being again, for the third time, in danger of dismissal,
that colored cadet, either by his own hands, or by others with his
consent (of which he was finally convicted by a general court-
martial), was bound hand and foot and mutilated in such manner as,
while doing him no material injury, to create a suspicion of foul
play on the part of other cadets. An official investigation by
the commandant, Colonel Henry M. Lazelle, led him to the conclusion
that the other cadets had no knowledge whatever of the outrage,
and that the colored cadet himself was guilty. Not being fully
satisfied with that conclusion, I appointed a court of inquiry to
investigate the matter more thoroughly. The result of that
investigation fully sustained the finding of Colonel Lazelle, that
the colored cadet himself was the guilty person.
But those judicial conclusions did not suffice to allay the public
clamor for protection to the recently emancipated negroes in the
enjoyment of the privileges in the national institutions for which
they had not become either mentally or morally fitted. A presidential
election was pending, and the colored vote and that in sympathy
with it demanded assurance of the hearty and effective support of
the national administration. Nothing less than a radical change
at West Point would satisfy that demand, and who could be a more
appropriate victim to offer as a sacrifice to that Moloch than one
who had already gone beyond the limits of duty, of justice, and of
wisdom in his kind treatment of the colored cadet. It was decided
in Washington that he, the over-kind superintendent himself, should
be sacrificed to that partizan clamor before the coming election.
Some rumor of this purpose had reached me, though it had been
concealed from General Sherman, who assured me that no such purpose
existed.
GENERAL TERRY'S FRIENDLY ATTITUDE
In General Sherman's absence, General Alfred H. Terry was chosen
to succeed me. He came to West Point, August 14, for the purpose
of learning from me in person the truth as to the assertion made
to him that the proposition to relieve me from duty at West Point
was in accord with my own wishes. When informed, as he had suspected,
that I could not possibly have expressed any such wish under the
circumstances then existing, he positively refused, like the
honorable man that he was, to be made a party to any such act of
wrong. There was not the slightest foundation in fact for the
assumption that my relief from command could be based upon my own
request, and no such reason could have been given in an order
relieving me. That assumption could have had no other apparent
motive than to induce my warm friend General Terry to accept the
appointment. As soon as he learned the truth from me, General
Terry went to Washington and exposed the falsehood of which he and
I together were the intended victims. This action of a true friend,
and the correspondence which had passed between General Sherman
and me, sufficed to prevent the consummation of the wrong which
had been contemplated.
After the presidential election was over, and partizan passion had
subsided, I made a formal application, November 12, 1880, to be
relieved from duty at West Point on or before the first of May
following, and to be permitted to await orders until an appropriate
command became vacant. I repeatedly expressed my desire that none
of my brother officers should be disturbed in their commands on my
account, and that no new command should be created for me. I was
entirely content to await the ordinary course of events, in view
of pending legislation relative to retirements for age, and of
retirements which might be made under the laws then existing.
My relief from West Point was effected earlier than General Sherman
or I had anticipated. Before the end of 1880 the following
correspondence passed between me and the general of the army:
"(Confidential.)
"Headquarters, Army of the United States, Washington, D. C.,
December 13, 1880.
"General J. M. Schofield, West Point, New York.
"Dear General: General Drum has just shown me the memorandum for
orders. The President has worked out this scheme himself, without
asking my help, and I am glad of it, for I would not like to burden
my conscience with such a bungle.
"He creates a new department out of Louisiana, Arkansas, and the
Indian Territory, to be commanded by the senior officer present.
. . .
"You are to command the Department of Texas and this new department,
called a division, of what name I don't know.
"Howard is to replace you at West Point. I suppose the order will
issue at once.
"Yours truly,
"W. T. Sherman."
"West Point, N. Y., December 14, 1880.
"General Sherman, Washington, D. C.
"My dear General: I have received your confidential letter of
yesterday, informing me of the bungling scheme which has been worked
out without your help. I presume it would be fruitless to attempt
any opposition to the species of mania which manifests itself in
such action. It may be best to let it run its course during the
short time which must yet elapse until a reign of reason is again
inaugurated with the incoming administration. But it occurs to me
that you may be able to save the useless expense to the government
and the great inconvenience and expense to staff officers which
would necessarily result from the organization of a division which
could only last for a few months. To me personally it is a matter
of little moment; but not so with the staff officers and the military
appropriations. I am not willing to have such a thing done, even
apparently, on my account. Please advise what official action, if
any, should be taken by me in this matter. Personally I am perfectly
ready to obey the President's order, without a word of protest;
but I am not willing to be the occasion of manifest injury to the
public service, and of useless inconvenience and expense to the
officers of the general staff who must be assigned to the headquarters
of the new division.
"Very truly yours,
"J. M. Schofield."
A MUDDLE OF NEW COMMANDS
But the public interests, and my desire to make my own entirely
subservient thereto, were alike disregarded. A new division was
carved out of three old ones, in violation of the plainest dictates
of military principles. The government was subjected to a worse
than useless expense of many thousands of dollars, and a number of
staff officers to like useless expense and trouble. For all this
there was no other apparent motive but to make it appear that there
were appropriate commands for all the major-generals then in active
service, and hence no reason for placing any one of them on the
retired list. As a part of that scheme, one of the most active
brigadier-generals, younger than one of the major-generals, was
selected instead of the latter to make way for an aspirant having
greater "influence." The correspondence of that period shows the
indignation felt in the army at such disregard of the just claims
of officers and of the interests of the military service. Neither
General Sherman nor any of the several higher officers at that time
could hope to derive any advantage from the passage of the act of
Congress, then pending, to retire all officers at a fixed age. On
the contrary, such a law would most probably cut them off when in
the full prime of activity and usefulness. But all were more than
willing to accept that rather than still be in a position to be
arbitrarily cut off to make place for some over-ambitious aspirant
possessed of greater influence, of whatever kind. I know perfectly
well that General Sherman was governed by a generous desire to give
General Sheridan command of the army for a number of years, while
the latter was still in the prime of life. But that he could have
done, and had announced his intention to do, by requesting to be
relieved from the command and permitted to await the President's
orders, performing such duties, from time to time, as the President
might desire of him. Such a status of high officers of great
experience, whose inspections, observations, and advice might be
of great value to the President and to the War Department, would
manifestly have been far better for the country than that of total
retirement, which deprives the President of any right to call upon
them for any service whatever, even in an emergency. This was one
of the subjects of correspondence between General Sherman and me
while I was in Europe in 1881-2. But it was finally agreed by all
concerned that it would be best to favor the uniform application
of the rule of retirement for age, so that all might be assured,
as far as possible, of a time, to which they might look forward
with certainty, when they would be relieved from further apprehension
of treatment which no soldier can justly characterize without
apparent disrespect to his official superior.
Such treatment is indeed uncommon. The conduct of the commander-
in-chief of the army toward his subordinates has been generally
kind and considerate in this country. But the few opposite examples
have been quite enough to cloud the life of every officer of high
rank with the constant apprehension of an insult which he could
neither submit to nor resent.
Soon after the inauguration of President Garfield, the "Division
of the Gulf" was broken up, and I was permitted to visit Europe,
as I had requested in the preceding November, until the President
should be pleased to assign me to a command according to my rank.
"(Telegram.)
"Washington, D. C., May 3, 1861.
"General J. M. Schofield, Commanding Division, New Orleans, La.:
"In case the President will repeal the orders creating the new
division and department, and agree to give you the Division of the
Pacific in a year, will you be willing to take your leave to go
abroad meantime? Telegraph me fully and frankly for use.
"W. T. Sherman, General."
WAITING ORDERS, AND A VISIT TO EUROPE
"Headqrs. Mil. Div. Gulf,
"New Orleans, La., May 3, 1881.
"General W. T. Sherman, Washington, D. C.:
"Your telegram of this date just received. I am debarred, by a
promise made to General McDowell about two years and a half ago,
from making any condition affecting his command of the Division of
the Pacific. If I am to displace him, it must be without regard
to any wish of mine. If it is the purpose of the President to
assign me to that command in a year, I would like to go abroad in
the meantime, as it would not be convenient to go afterward, though
I would prefer to go next year rather than this. But I cannot
afford to go on leave with reduced pay. If it is not found
practicable to give me a command according to my rank, and so
organized as to benefit rather than injure the military service,
I am willing to await orders for a year without reduction of pay.
"This is substantially the proposition I made in my application to
be relieved from duty at West Point; and I am still willing to
abide by it, although my wishes were then disregarded, if it will
relieve the present administration from embarrassment. But I would
much prefer to have a proper command. . . .
"J. M. Schofield, Maj.-Gen."
"(Telegram.)
"Washington, D. C., May 5, 1881.
"General J. M. Schofield, Commanding Division, New Orleans, La.:
"Your despatch of the third was duly received, and a copy thereof
laid before the Secretary of War, who has received the orders of
the President to repeal all parts of General Orders, No. 84, of
December 18, 1880, which refer to the Division of the Gulf and
Department of Arkansas, restoring the _status quo_ before that
order was made. You will be placed on waiting orders, with full
pay, till further orders of the President. You may take action
accordingly.
"W. T. Sherman, General."
My stay in Europe--from May, 1881, to May, 1882--was marked by only
one incident of special military interest. Under orders of the
War Department, upon invitation from the government of France, I
witnessed the autumn manoeuvers of the Twelfth Corps of the French
army at and about Limoges. A few other officers of our army, and
many from other countries, enjoyed the same privilege. The
operations, which were interesting and instructive, culminated in
an assault upon and the capture of Limoges. The next day the corps
was reviewed in the streets of the city. The general-in-chief and
his staff and suite rode along the line at full speed. The head
of the cavalcade, consisting of the French and American generals,
and a few other officers of high rank, came out in good order.
The others were much disordered, and so covered with dust that the
uniforms of all nations looked very much alike. The ceremony was
terminated at the public square, where the cavalry was formed along
one side, and the opposite was occupied by high officials and
prominent citizens of the town. The charge of the squadrons across
the square, halting at command within a few feet of the reviewing
general, was a fine exhibition of discipline and perfect control.
After the review the general-in-chief made a long address to his
assembled officers, explaining in much detail the important lessors
taught by the manoeuvers. He closed with a feeling allusion to
his own mental and physical strength and vigor, which had been so
fully displayed in the last few days, and which were still at the
service of his beloved France. But the gallant old soldier was
retired, all the same, at the end of the year. Republics seem to
have much the same way of doing things on both sides of the ocean!
A pleasing incident occurred at one time during the manoeuvers.
At the hour of halt for the midday rest a delicious repast was
served at the beautiful home of the prefect of the department,
between the two opposing lines. The tables were spread in lovely
arbors loaded with grapes. When the déjeuner was ended, speeches
were made by the distinguished prefect and the gallant general-in-
chief, to which, as senior of the visiting officers from foreign
countries, I was called upon to respond. Thus suddenly summoned
to an unwonted task, I was much too prudent to address the guests
in a language which they all understood. But by a free use of the
words and phrases which are so common in the military language of
France and of this country, linked together by as little Anglo-
Saxon as possible, I made a speech which was warmly received, and
which, after careful revision with the aid of a highly accomplished
French officer who had been educated in England as well as in
France, was made to appear pretty well when printed in both
languages.
The charming hospitality of the general-in-chief of the Twelfth
Army Corps and of the prefect of Limoges, with all the other
incidents of the autumn manoeuvers of 1881, are an ever fresh and
pleasant memory, with the many other recollections of beautiful
France under the empire and under the republic.
AGAIN IN COMMAND IN THE WEST
According to the understanding expressed in my correspondence with
General Sherman of May 3, 1881, I returned from Europe at the end
of a year, and reported for duty. But in the meantime President
Garfield had been assassinated, and the bill then pending in Congress
providing for the retirement of officers at a fixed age was amended
so as to make that age sixty-four years instead of sixty-two.
Hence I continued to wait without protest until the retirement of
my junior in rank, the next autumn, for the fulfilment of General
Sherman's assurance conveyed in his despatch of May 25, 1876: "If
any hitch occurs at any future time, you can resume your present
or some command due your rank." Although this long suspension from
command was very annoying, I had the satisfaction of knowing that
none of my brother officers had been disturbed on my account.
In the fall of 1882, I was again assigned to the command of the
Division of the Pacific, awaiting the time of General Sherman's
retirement under the law and the succession of General Sheridan to
the command of the army. Nothing of special interest occurred in
that interval. In 1883 I succeeded to the command of the Division
of the Missouri, with my headquarters in Chicago. One of the first
and most important subjects which impressed themselves upon my
attention after the generous reception and banquet given by the
citizens of that hospitable city, was the necessity for a military
post near that place. The location of Chicago makes it the most
important strategical center of the entire northern frontier. It
is also the most important center of interstate commerce and
transportation anywhere in the country. Yet in 1883 there were no
troops nearer than St. Paul, Omaha, and Leavenworth. At the time
of the railroad strikes in 1877, troops had been brought there in
time to render the necessary service, but no thought appears to
have been given to the necessity of better provision for the future.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FORT SHERIDAN AT CHICAGO
There had been in early times a military reservation at the mouth
of the Chicago River, on which old Fort Dearborn was located. But
that had become far too valuable to be retained for military use,
and no longer suitable for a military post, being in the heart of
a great city. Hence it had passed out of the hands of the government.
Upon consultation with Senator Logan and a few others, it was not
thought possible to obtain from Congress the large sum of money
necessary to buy ground for a post near Chicago; but that if the
United States owned the ground, the appropriations to build a post
could readily be obtained. Hence the subject was mentioned to a
few prominent citizens, with the suggestion that a site be purchased
by subscription and presented to the United States. I was soon
invited to meet the Commercial club at one of their monthly dinners,
where the matter was fully discussed. At another meeting, some
time later, it was made the special subject for consideration, and
this resulted in the organization of the plan to raise the money
and purchase the ground. All the eligible sites were examined,
the prices obtained, and the purchase-money pledged. Then the
proposition was submitted to the War Department and approved.
General Sheridan was sent out to select the best of the sites
offered, and his choice fell on that which all, I believe, had
esteemed the best, though the most expensive--a beautiful tract of
land of about six hundred acres, situated on the shore of Lake
Michigan twenty-five miles north of Chicago. The cost was nothing
to the broad-minded and far-sighted men of that city. The munificent
gift was accepted by Congress, and appropriations were made for
the finest military post in the country. It was appropriately
named Fort Sheridan, not only in recognition of the great services
the general had rendered to the country, but as a special and
graceful recognition of the services he had rendered Chicago in
the time of her sorest need.
During my brief service--two years and some months--in the Division
of the Missouri, I traveled many thousands of miles, and visited
nearly all parts of that vast territory, from the Canadian line to
the Gulf of Mexico, some of which was then new to me, attending to
the ordinary routine duties of a time of comparative peace. Nothing
else occurred at all comparable in importance, in my judgment, to
the establishment of the post of Fort Sheridan.