neglect to employ also the biggest battalions and the
heaviest guns.
JAMES B. McPHERSON
During all that time I continued to live with my old room-mate, James
B. McPherson, in a tower room and an adjoining bedroom, which
LaRhett L. Livingston also shared. I had been corporal, sergeant, and
lieutenant up to the time of my dismissal; hence the duties of private
were a little difficult, and I found it hard to avoid demerits; but with
some help from our kind-hearted inspecting officer, Milton
Cogswell,--bless his memory!--I contrived to get off with 196 demerits
in a possible 200 that last year. In a mild way, McPherson was also a
little under a cloud at that time. He had been first captain of the
battalion and squad marcher of the class at engineering drill. In this
latter capacity he also had committed the offense of not reporting some
of the class for indulging in unauthorized sport. The offense was not so
grave as mine, and, besides, his military record was very much better.
So he was let off with a large demerit mark and a sort of honorable
retirement to the office of quartermaster of the battalion. I still think, as
I did then, that McPherson's punishment was the more appropriate.
Livingston was one of those charming, amiable fellows with whom
nobody could well find any fault, though I believe he did get a good
many demerits. He also seemed to need the aid of tobacco in his studies.
William P. Craighill, who succeeded McPherson as first captain, had
no fault whatever, that I ever heard of, except one--that was, standing
too high for his age. He was a beardless youth, only five feet high and
sixteen years old when he entered the academy; yet he was so
inconsiderate as to keep ahead of me all the time in everything but
tactics, and that was of no consequence to him, for he was not destined
to command troops in the field, while, as it turned out, I was. It has
always seemed to me a little strange that the one branch which I never
expected to use afterward was the only study in which I graduated at
the head. Perhaps McPherson and Craighill thought, as I did, that it
made no difference where I stood in tactics.
Among all the tactical officers of our time, Lieutenant John M. Jones
was esteemed the most accomplished soldier and tactician, and the
most rigid but just and impartial disciplinarian. It had been my good
fortune to enjoy his instruction while I was private, corporal, sergeant,
and lieutenant, and I fully shared with others in the above high estimate
of his character. I even flattered myself that my soldierly conduct in all
that time had not escaped his favorable notice. When my case was
before the court of inquiry in the summer of 1852, the professors who
had been called to testify gave me a high character as a faithful, diligent
student. When Lieutenant Jones was called to testify as to my character
as a soldier, he replied that, in his opinion, it was very bad! While I was
not a little surprised and disappointed at that revelation of the truth
from the lips of the superior whom I so highly respected, and did not
doubt for a moment his better judgment, I could not be unmindful of
the fact that the other tactical officers did not know me so well and had
not so high a reputation as Lieutenant Jones in respect to discipline; and
I felt at liberty to avail myself, in my own interest, of the opportunity
suggested by this reflection. Hence, when, after my complete
restoration to the academy in January, I found my demerits
accumulating with alarming rapidity, I applied for and obtained a
transfer to Company C, where I would be under Lieutenant Cogswell
and Cadet Captain Vincent, my beloved classmate, who had cordially
invited me to share his room in barracks.
ROBERT E. LEE
John B. Hood was a jolly good fellow, a little discouraged at first by
unexpected hard work; but he fought his way manfully to the end. He
was not quite so talented as some of his great associates in the
Confederate army, but he was a tremendous fighter when occasion
offered. During that last period of our cadet life, Colonel Robert E. Lee
was superintendent of the academy; he was the personification of
dignity, justice, and kindness, and he was respected and admired as the
ideal of a commanding officer. Colonel Robert S. Garnett was
commandant of cadets; he was a thorough soldier who meted out
impartial justice with both hands. At our last parade I received
"honorable mention" twice, both the personal judgment of the
commandant himself. The one was for standing at the head
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