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In the rear of the main building is a large and well-furnished gymnasium in which, besides the usual appliances for systematic exercise, there are bowling alleys for the use of the students. Experience has proved, however, that the regular daily drill with the musket supplies of itself an ample sufficiency of thorough, steady, and healthful exercise.

On the establishment of the Academy in October, 1861, it opened with about thirty pupils. During the term ending July 1, 1862, there were seven instructors and fifty-six pupils; during that ending July 1, 1863, eleven instructors and eighty-seven pupils.*

THE MILITARY DEPARTMENT of the Academy consists of a superintendent, who is a regularly trained military officer,† and of the following officers selected from the cadets themselves: a lieutenant-colonel, a major, an adjutant, a quarter-master, a sergeant-major, five lieutenants, an orderly sergeant, a color sergeant, six sergeants and six corporals.

The following is the general daily routine of the school as stated in the catalogue:

REVEILLE.

At Reveille, Cadets will immediately turn out and prepare for roll-call.

MORNING PARADE, INSPECTION AND BREAKFAST.

Formations will always be in that locality where the call is sounded; if the call is from the upper piazza, the formation will be made in the public hall. At the sounding of the "General" the Cadets will assemble.

At the "Assembly" the companies will be formed by the Sergeants, under the command of their respective Officers.

At the sounding of “To the Color," they will be marched to the Color line, and there formed for inspection, when the officer in command, with the adju tant, will inspect the battalion, the adjutant making memoranda of anything not in order; when finished, they will return to place. The order will then be given, "Close order: march," when the rear rank will close on the front. The adjutant then gives the order, “The parade is dismissed," at which the Officer of the Day, and field and staff officers, will leave the parade.

When the Officer of the Day, and field and staff officers, shall have left the parade, the call, “To breakfast" will be sounded; the captains will direct their companies to their respective tables; on arriving at the tables, each captain will take position in rear of his chair, at the head of his table, his sergeant taking the foot, and the cadets taking position corresponding to their places in the ranks; all will remain standing in rear of their respective chairs until the blessing has been asked, and the officer in command gives the order, "Seats;" at which the cadets will place their caps under their chairs, and quietly take their seats. When the cadets at each table shall have finished their meal, the captain will rise and look at the adjutant, who will acknowledge the report by raising his right hand; the captain will then resume his seat; when all shall have reported, the adjutant will make it known to the officer in command, who, rising from his seat, will tap on the table, and give the order, "Rise," at which order each cadet will rise, put on his cap, step to the rear of his chair, putting it in place, and facing towards the door; at the order, "March," from the adjutant, the captains will advance, followed by their companies, in proper order, and proceed to their parade stations on the campus, and break ranks.

• Among the pupils, whose names and those of their parents are in the catalogue, are the sons of Generals Birney, Heintzelman and Robinson, and Colonels Bache, Drew and Morse of the army; and of Admiral Porter and Commodore Kearney of the navy. For the present term, which opened Sept. 1, we understand that a largely increased number of pupils have already entered.

↑ Colonel F. N. Freeman, a graduate of the military school at Norwich, Vt., and author of "A Military Manual for Schools, (New York, 1862.)"

GUARD MOUNTING.

The Police Guard will be mounted at 7:30 A. M., according to the form prescribed in the army regulations.

THE SICK CALL

Will be sounded at 7:45 A. M., when all desiring to be excused from duty will repair to the place designated for attending to the sick.

MORNING STUDIES AND RECITATIONS.

At the study call, the cadets will proceed to their respective desks, quietly, and immediately commence their studies.

No books will be kept on the desks except those required for study, or for reference. The cadets will be careful in using their ink, and not throw it from their pens on the floor. All scrap-paper will be thrown into baskets provided for the purpose. Newspapers, &c., when read, may be put in the baskets. All communication between the cadets during study hours is strictly prohibited.

FROM STUDIES.

At the call, studies will cease, when books, papers, seats, &c., will be neatly arranged.

DINNER.

At the call, all books, papers, &c., must be put in order, after which the cadets will form on the campus, in their respective places, muster, &c., and march to and from dinner, in the order prescribed for breakfast; on returning to the campus, they will be formed and dismissed by their captains.

DRILL.

The cadets will assemble as for morning parade, and be marched to the armory for arms, in the order of rank of their officers, the senior officer going first. The drill will continue from one hour to one hour and a half.

EVENING PARADE.

The cadets will assemble as prescribed for morning parade, when the conduct-report, detail for the day following, and orders, are read. After the parade has been dismissed, at the call, "To Supper," the captains march their companies to supper, as prescribed in directions for breakfast. After supper the cadets assemble in the public hall for prayers and the settlement of the reports on the book of the Officer of the Day.

EVENING STUDIES.

At the call, the cadets will repair to the school-room, as prescribed for morning studies. No cadet will leave his desk without permission.

TATTOO.

At the call, the cadets will retire to their quarters, and at "taps" they must all turn in, and all noise must cease.

At ten o'clock, the Officer of the Day and the Quartermaster-sergeant will go through the barracks, see all study-room windows, study and recitation room doors closed, and all lights out, except that in the main hall, and will report to the Military Superintendent, at his office, who will then give them permission to turn in.

Of the effects and tendencies of this system, as developed by the experience of several years, the opinion of the authorities of the Academy is thus expressed:

"The military discipline, on which the whole system is based, is found to produce the happiest effects upon the general conduct and bearing of the cadets. It inculcates the useful lesson of cheerful and ready obedience. It gives self

respect and promotes the growth of feelings of honor and true independence. The cadet who has been elevated by good conduct to a position of command over his comrades, naturally feels the honorable responsibility which such a command involves, and is consequently careful to set a good example to those in the ranks; while they, in their turn, seeing that good conduct and compli ance with the rules of order insure promotion, are inspired with an honorable ambition to rise by the same means.

One of the great evils of schools is the reluctance which a generous boy naturally feels in reporting to the teachers infractions of order, and so incurring the stigma of tale-bearing. But where the cadets, under strict military discipline and the constant supervision of the teachers, are required to govern themselves, this entirely ceases. Two years' experience has proved that an officer never incurs the ill-will of his command by the performance of his duties, but that, on the contrary, the best officer, the one who is strictest in reporting all infractions of discipline, is also the most loved and the most popular. The reports, too, being read publicly every evening, in the presence of the teachers and the cadets, who are thus given an opportunity of exculpating themselves, present an effectual hindrance to the petty tyranny and jealousy, as well as to the combination among the pupils against the teachers, which all, practically connected with the work of education, admit to be among the most serious difficulties encountered by them in the discharge of their onerous duties. Treating boys as responsible beings, possessed of honorable feeling, is the surest way of inspiring it.

The objection is sometimes made to the system of military training in schools, that it stimulates the love of arms and produces a disrelish for the ordinary pursuits of peaceful life. Practical experience, however, shows that there is little force in this objection. As a passion for the life of a sailor is often cured by the experience of a single voyage, so the natural inclination of our American youth for the pomp and circumstance of war is quite as likely to be satiated by the familiarity with military matters acquired at the Academy. At the same time the advantages of such familiarity, when in time of war the country calls for the services of her citizens, are too obvious to be more than alluded to. In such emergencies, the graduates of our military schools will be naturally looked to by the people as their leaders in the field.

The real object of military discipline in the Academy is not to make soldiers only of the students, but to give them strength of body, vigor of constitution, and manliness of bearing; to fit them not merely for the field of battle, but for all employments and departments of life which demand vigor, energy, and endurance. The effects of the drill, of the regular, daily, systematic drill, under competent officers, in restoring to health and strength delicate, dyspeptic and debilitated youths, would be alone sufficient to assure us of its high utility. The promptness, accuracy, and general habits of order and precision to which cadets are trained, together with the steady cultivation of fidelity, honesty and courtesy, as essential to military excellence, have also been found of incalcula ble value in fitting them for legal, mercantile and, in fact, all professional and business pursuits.

In its influence upon manners, the military system is especially remarkable. It accustoms the pupil to ready and cheerful obedience to his superiors, while at the same time it cultivates an erect, manly and graceful bearing, and enjoins good temper and good breeding as equally essential to the true soldier and the true gentleman."

THE ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT of the School is divided into four classes, of which the following is the prescribed order of studies:

PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT.

English Language: Easy lessons in composition, with text-book, reading, elocution, writing, spelling and punctuation.

Arithmetic: The four first rules-simple mental exercises.

Geography-Descriptive: Outline map-drawing, with blackboard delineations and familiar oral descriptions.

History-United States: Easy outlines. Natural History: Familiar lessons. Drawing.

[graphic]

JUNIOR DEPARTMENT.

English Language: Composition; elements of grammar; analysis of sentences; study of words; reading, elocution, writing, and spelling. Mathematics: Arithmetic; Algebra begun.

Latin, begun. French, begun.

Natural Philosophy: Continued. Chemistry. Astronomy.
Geography: Descriptive and physical, map-drawing.

History: United States, and outlines of English history.

Natural History, continued. Drawing.

MIDDLE DEPARTMENT.

English Language: Composition; grammar; criticism; rhetoric; elocution. Mathematics: Algebra and Geometry.

Latin. French. German, begun.

Geography: Statistical and commercial.

Astronomy: Continued. Natural Philosophy. Chemistry: Analytical. Meteorology-with keeping of tables.

History: Universal. Natural History, completed.

Science of Government: Constitution of the United States.
Book-Keeping: Single and double entry. Drawing.

SENIOR DEPARTMENT.

English Language: Extempore speaking and oratory; history of English language, and of English and general literature.

Mathematics: Trigonometry; conic sections; analytical geometry; calculus; astronomy, with calculations of eclipses and occulations.

Mensuration, Surveying and Navigation.

Latin. Greek. French. German. Spanish.

Philosophy: Moral and Intellectual. Logic. Philosophy of History.

Political Economy: Nature and origin of political constitutions and laws; nature and objects of international law; rights and duties of nations in time of

war.

Physiology: General and Comparative. Anatomy: Human and comparative. Classes are formed in Military Engineering, including the location and construction of field and permanent works, the attack and defense of fortified places, the construction of mines and galleries, also in the art and science of war, including strategy, logistics and tactics.

The following persons constitute the faculty of the Academy at the present session:

COL. F. N. FREEMAN, Military Superintendent and Teacher of Topographical Engineering and Surveying.

MR. EDWARD BUTLER, Academic Superintendent, and Teacher of Geometry and Moral and Intellectual Philosophy.

MR. JOHN LOWRY, Elocution and English Branches.

MR. ROBERT CARTER, History, Geography and Belles-Lettres.

MR. R. W. LINEN, Latin, Greek and Chemistry.

MR. HARRY P. GRAY, Mathematics.

MONS. COUVENS-DELFOSSE, French and Higher Mathematics.

MR. OHLFSEN BAGGE, German and Music.

MR. GEORGE PLATT, Book-keeping, Surveying and Navigation.

MR. G. W. KING, Figure, Landscape, and Mechanical Drawing and Painting. MR. F. H. FREDERICKS, Dancing and Calisthenics.

C. MCKNIGHT SMITH, M. D., Surgeon.

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