Personal Memoirs of General Sheridan | Page 7

however, and threw
me back into the class which graduated in 1853. Terrill was a Cadet
Sergeant, and, while my company was forming for parade, having,
given me an order, in what I considered an improper tone, to "dress" in
a certain direction, when I believed I was accurately dressed, I fancied I
had a grievance, and made toward him with a lowered bayonet, but my
better judgment recalled me before actual contact could take place. Of
course Terrill reported me for this, and my ire was so inflamed by his
action that when we next met I attacked him, and a fisticuff
engagement in front of barracks followed, which was stopped by an
officer appearing on the scene. Each of us handed in an explanation,
but mine was unsatisfactory to the authorities, for I had to admit that I
was the assaulting party, and the result was that I was suspended by the
Secretary of War, Mr. Conrad, till August 28, 1852--the Superintendent
of the Academy, Captain Brewerton, being induced to recommend this
milder course, he said, by my previous good conduct. At the time I
thought, of course, my suspension a very unfair punishment, that my
conduct was justifiable and the authorities of the Academy all wrong,
but riper experience has led me to a different conclusion, and as I look
back, though the mortification I then endured was deep and trying, I am
convinced that it was hardly as much as I deserved for such an
outrageous breach of discipline.
There was no question as to Terrill's irritating tone, but in giving me the
order he was prompted by the duty of his position as a file closer, and I
was not the one to remedy the wrong which I conceived had been done
me, and clearly not justifiable in assuming to correct him with my own
hands. In 1862, when General Buell's army was assembling at
Louisville, Terrill was with it as a brigadier-general (for, although a
Virginian, he had remained loyal), and I then took the initiative toward
a renewal of our acquaintance. Our renewed friendship was not
destined to be of long duration, I am sorry to say, for a few days later,
in the battle of Perryville, while gallantly fighting for his country, poor
Terrill was killed.
My suspension necessitated my leaving the Academy, and I returned
home in the fall of 1851, much crestfallen. Fortunately, my good friend
Henry Dittoe again gave me employment in keeping the books of his
establishment, and this occupation of my time made the nine months

which were to elapse before I could go back to West Point pass much
more agreeably than they would have done had I been idle. In August,
1852, I joined the first class at the Academy in accordance with the
order of the War Department, taking my place at the foot of the class
and graduating with it the succeeding June, number thirty- four in a
membership of fifty-two. At the head of this class graduated James B.
McPherson, who was killed in the Atlanta campaign while
commanding the Army of the Tennessee. It also contained such men as
John M. Schofield, who commanded the Army of the Ohio; Joshua W.
Sill, killed as a brigadier in the battle of Stone River; and many others
who, in the war of the rebellion, on one side or the other, rose to
prominence, General John B. Hood being the most distinguished
member of the class among the Confederates.
At the close of the final examination I made no formal application for
assignment to any particular arm of the service, for I knew that my
standing would not entitle me to one of the existing vacancies, and that
I should be obliged to take a place among the brevet second lieutenants.
When the appointments were made I therefore found myself attached to
the First Infantry, well pleased that I had surmounted all the difficulties
that confront the student at our national school, and looking forward
with pleasant anticipation to the life before me.


CHAPTER II
.
ORDERED TO FORT DUNCAN,
TEXAS--"NORTHERS"--SCOUTING DUTY--HUNTING--
NEARLY CAUGHT BY THE INDIANS--A PRIMITIVE
HABITATION--A BRAVE DRUMMERBOYS DEATH--A
MEXICAN BALL.
On the 1st day of July, 1853, I was commissioned a brevet second
lieutenant in the First Regiment of United States Infantry, then
stationed in Texas. The company to which I was attached was quartered
at Fort Duncan, a military post on the Rio Grande opposite the little
town of Piedras Negras, on the boundary line between the United States

and the Republic of Mexico.
After the usual leave of three months following graduation from the
Military Academy I was assigned to temporary duty at Newport
Barracks, a recruiting station and rendezvous for the assignment of
young officers preparatory to