nant Samuel B. Rathbone fell at Queenston Heights, in 1812; Lieutenant Henry A. Hobart, at Fort George, in 1813; Lieutenant George Ronan, at Chicago, in 1812; Lieutenants Henry Burchstead and Joseph N. Wilcox, at Fort Mimms, in 1812; and Lieutenant William W. Smith, at Christler's Farm, in 1813. The whole number of graduates of the Military Academy, from its first establishment to 1840, inclusive, is 1058; of whom, according to the last official register, 396 remain in the military service, besides the graduating class of 1840. If to these be added the graduates now in the civil service of the United States, as engineers or assistants on the fortifications, coast survey, and improvement of rivers and harbours, it will be found that there still remain in the public service nearly one half of all the graduates of the Military Academy, at the end of forty years from its first establishment; while no fewer than one hundred and seventy-four of the remainder have died in service or been killed in battle. When it is added that the appointments in the two regiments of dragoons were mostly conferred on citizens, thereby disappointing reasonable hopes of promotion, and introducing many citizens into the service, the fact that about two thirds of all the officers now in the army, the whole number of which, exclusive of the medical, pay, and purchasing departments, is six hundred and thirty, are graduates of the Military Academy, is alone a proof, we think, that this institution has not failed of its object. "Our whole army," says Colonel Johnson, in his Report, "possesses now far more of the public respect and confidence than it did not. many years since. It is the great distinction. of the Academy at West Point, that it has contributed largely and effectually to this elevation of the character of the military establishment." More might be quoted, and from various sources, in praise of this institution; but we forbear. In the Florida war, out of fifteen officers killed in battle, ten were graduates of the Military Academy. Captain George W. Gardiner, and Lieutenants William E. Basinger, Robert R. Mudge, Richard Henderson, and John L. Keais, all of the artillery, fell together at the bravely fought, but unfortunate battle in which Major Dade's command was slain, December 28th, 1835. Lieutenant James F. Izard, of the dragoons, was mortally wounded when in command of the advanced guard of General Gaines's army, near the Withlacoochee river, February 29th, 1836. Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander R. Thompson, Captain Joseph Van Swearingen, and Lieutenants Francis J. Brooke and John P. Center, all of the infantry, fell at the victorious battle of Okeechobee, December 25th, 1837. Captain Samuel L. Russell, and Lieutenant W. Hulbert, both of the infantry, were killed by the Indians in 1839; the former near Fort Dallas, on the 28th of February, and the latter at Mile Creek, on the 2d of May. But the officers killed in battle are only a small portion of those who have been sacrificed, through sickness from exposure, fatigue, or privation, during this unfortunate war. In the words of a distinguished senator, on the floor of Congress, "Officers and men have fought it out where they were told to fight; they have been killed in the tracks where they were told to stand. In no one of our Indian wars have 66 our troops so stood together, and conquered together, and died together, as they have done in this one; and this standing together is the test of the soldier's character." Witness the dying words of Basinger, “I am the last officer left,-men! we will do the best we can ;"—and of the gallant Thompson, " Keep steady, men! Charge the hammock! Remember the regiment to which you belong!"'a these are indications of inefficiency in the graduates of the Military Academy, we have nothing more to offer in their behalf. If We conclude this imperfect sketch of the history of West Point, with the following lines, written by a lady, gifted of the Muses, on visiting this interesting spot. Bright are the memories linked with thee, Boast of a glory-hallowed land! Hope of the valiant and the free,— Home of their youthful soldier-band! Not pilgrim at earth's shrines of pride, When fancy's wand the past unveiled, E'er bent the heart to feeling's tide, E'er thrilled as those who thee have hailed. a See Lieutenant Alvord's address, p. 49, 50. Proud smiles each spirit-haunted height, Thou seem'st th' Elysium of the brave! ... Home of the gallant brave-farewell! Long mayst thou shine, thy country's boast,Her bulwark when strong tempests swell,Her beacon, should all hope seem lost! Long may her sons,—the prized, the true,— Be mid thy scenes to glory fired, Here bathe the soul in wisdom's dew, Be here by genius' light inspired. |