dignity of a first class man to perform sentry duty, and, in accordance with custom, omitted the names of all first class men from the details. The omission was soon discovered, but, compromising with my sense of duty, I refrained from putting an end to it till it was too late. By some means, never explained, my company commander, Lieutenant McCook, afterward a distinguished major general and an army corps commander, discovered it and haled me with the other first sergeants before the commandant of cadets. The latter made short work of it as a clear case of gross neglect of duty, and, as it could neither be denied nor explained, he sent us all to our quarters in arrest. In a short time. the superintendent reduced us to the ranks and sentenced each to perform ten extra tours of camp guard duty and to be confined to the limits of the camp till the punishment was completed.

During my stay at West Point I naturally became expert in the exercises and tactics of the various arms and, both as a corporal and sergeant, felt that I was as good a drill master as could be found. At West Point as well as elsewhere it is the pride of every non-commissioned officer to make his squad as nearly perfect as possible, and with the best men it is remarkable how rapidly they progress, and how soon they become skillful in every military practice.

Having in later life seen many of the crack regiments of Europe and Asia, I entertain no doubt whatever that the corps of cadets at West Point, all things considered, is the best battalion of infantry in the world. For most of my time Colonel Hardee, the author of the tactics, afterward a Confederate

1

lieutenant-general, was commandant, and with his rigid instruction the corps became almost perfect in bearing, discipline, and drill. Under his searching eye no slouchy man escaped. I can hear now his clarion voice, with its slightly Southern accent, sing out: "Attention, battalion! Hold up your head, Mr. Sweet, you'll never make a soldier in your life!" And then would follow the command with which the drill began. But Hardee was not satisfied to let the battalion go with his instruction. No one knew better than he that perfection in the school of the soldier and squad is necessary to perfection. in the school of the company and battalion, and consequently he was always on the drill ground when the new cadets were being broken in.

I have a distinct recollection of an awkward incident under his eye which brought an unexpected laugh upon me. As we were approaching the end of our second encampment, I was putting my best squad of twelve men through inspection of arms in my severest manner. Hardee was looking on as I thought with approval. Everything went well and to my entire satisfaction till I stepped in front of the squad preparatory to closing ranks. I had noticed a pile of cobble-stones nearby, but, as I started to walk backward for the purpose of taking in the whole squad at a glance, I felt the stones under my heels, and almost instantly they began to roll. My feet became entangled and, losing my balance, I fell completely over backward. Of course, the exhibition I made was more than the squad could stand. Every

In fact, he became one of the most gallant men of his day, and was killed while leading a squadron headon at Gaines' Mill against Jackson's Corps.

man of them, and especially Cadet McKenzie,1 broke out in an audible laugh. Hardee himself failed to keep his face straight, and this made the situation all the more embarrassing. But I always thought I proved myself equal to the occasion. Springing to my feet at once, I sang out: "Close ranks, march! Fours, left! Forward, double quick, march!" And off we went around the plain without halting. By the time we had made one turn the breathing became heavy, but, as it seemed to me there was still enough breath left for another laugh, I continued the doublequick till we got around a second time, when I halted the squad and gave the command: "Order armsin place, rest!" It is notable that although we had covered something like a mile and a half at full speed, no one had fallen out, but all were so nearly exhausted that when I asked quite informally, as I did, if they thought they could witness such another accident without laughing they were unanimous in saying they thought they could. This, of course, closed the incident, though the commandant intimated later that he thought the punishment somewhat too great for the offense. In this he was probably right, but it is interesting to note that as long as I remained first sergeant of that company I had perfect order in ranks.

Those were great days, and, while the drilling and studying were intermingled with dancing, fencing, riding, and gymnastics, time passed rapidly and agreeably, with marked improvement to both body and mind. 'When we graduated there was not an infirm or unsound man in the class, but, on the con'Afterwards a distinguished brigadier and major general of

cavalry,

trary, there were many who would have passed anywhere as athletes of no mean quality, although the period of football and baseball was yet in the future. The entire course was admirably arranged to combine physical with mental development, and in this connection I give it as my deliberate opinion, after many years of observation, that the national schools at West Point and Annapolis are the best of their kind in the world. They get all there is to be had out of the cadets, and ruthlessly send away those who cannot reach the required standard of efficiency. There is no idling, no lost time, and no favoritism, and the result is altogether admirable.

Having been accustomed to horses from childhood, I became a good theoretical, as well as practical horseman. It was my lot to be put in charge of vicious mounts, more than one of which fell over backward or ran away with me, but, fortunately, without doing me any harm. It was due solely to this fact, as well as to the manner in which I managed my own horses in the field, that I was assigned to the command of cavalry after I reached the grade of brigadier general, through two and a half years' service in the engineering and inspecting departments.

Looking back on my military life, I have only two regrets in connection with it: first, that I was never an enlisted man in the infantry or cavalry, because, with my health, activity, powers of endurance, and skill in handling a rifle and a horse, I always felt that I would have been as good a soldier as could be found anywhere in the ranks, while I was far from having the same confidence in my capacity as a commissioned officer; and, second, that

I was never a prisoner of war, because I felt that the privation and ill treatment of that fate would have stimulated me to even greater determination and services in behalf of the Union cause.

My last summer, like all the rest, was a busy one, for, in order to get rid of my confinement, as well as the extra guard duty to which I had been sentenced, I was allowed the privilege of walking my regular and extra tours consecutively, and thus for twelve days without intermission I was constantly on guard, walking two hours and resting four, both day and night, till I had paid the penalty and wiped out the score against me.

In addition to performing all regular duties, I was up to everything within limits and to an occasional trip off limits in those days. At the "Eagle Valley Retreat" fried chicken and buckwheat cakes were most attractively served by the landlord's eldest daughter, and cakes always kept coming till one of our number, a handsome Virginian, would stop them by a graceful wave of the hand and "sufficient of the buckwheats, Sarie." Fortunately, these escapades, during which I swam the river more than once to the trestle work above Garrisons and back to the Point, were undetected and therefore unpunished.

My aggregate recorded demerits amounted to something like one hundred and seventy for the five years of my cadet life, and, as conduct counts along with studies and duties in making up class standing, I paid the penalty in the end by graduating only sixth in the class, when, if I had been a "good boy," I might have done one or two files better. But, as General Grant used to say: "We had a power of