The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1884-02-16

The value of thorough training in
the science of war has been too often
demonstrated to be questioned. AT
the close of the Mexican war General
Scott, who was not graduate of West
Point, said: 81 give it as my fixed
opinion that but for our graduated
cadets the war between the United
States and Mexico might, and probably
would, have lasted some four or five
years, with in its first half, more defeats
than victories falling to. our share !;
whereas in less than two campaigns we
conquered a great country and a peace
without the loss of single battle or
skirmish. p" During the late civil war
the generals on both sides who achieved
distinction were, with rare exceptions,
graduates of the West Point Academy.
A very large number of the cadets,
after having served the time required
by law, drop back into civil life, but
there were few classes before the. war
which did not contain the names of
men who have acquired fame.
envy in my time were Pemberton, Bragg,
Beauregard, Thomas, Halleck, Hardee,
Mcdowell, Meigs and A. J. Smith
The late Major Turner and Bob Renick
were both there. remember Pember-
ton as handsome boy with black curly
hair; genial, companionable, and with
a decided talent for drawing and paint
ing. Possibly he would have made a
greater name as an artist than he did as
a soldier. He was Philadelphia, and
married young lady from Norfolk,
Va, and during the late war he linked
his fortunes with the South. Thomas
was martial-looking young man about
six feet two inches. AS he and were
the two biggest in the class he was my
file leader for about two years. There
was no nonsense about him. He at
tended strictly to business and was a
model soldier. A Virginian by birth,
he married Troy girl, and when the
war came on he took the Union side.
Rather suggestive of the infunce of a
wife. However, Bob Chiffon, Lees
Adjutant General, was Southern man
who married Michigan girl, the daugh-
ter of Governor Mason, and she was
rather the more rebellious of the two,
but her ancestors were Virginians, which
may account for it.
Bragg prided himself on being the
ugliest man in the corps. He was a
reckless and daring fellow, who was al
ways ready for any sort of racket
He was one of the few who we're adj
dicted to nocturnal excursions to Benny
Havens' ranch, and many were the
hair-breadth escapes he and the other
frisky ones had in getting back to
quarters after jolly time at "Benny
Havens', OH" -
Mcdowell was called the Fat Boy,
and from his sobriquet you may know
he was good-natured. l think it was
Josh Billings who said: "You never
heard of fat man committing murder
no, indeed. A fat man never kills any
thing that isn't good to eat" Nc
Dowell made good soldier, neverthe.
Troy. The way it happened that So
many oI-tne- Officers were captured by
the fair Trojans, they were on General
Wool's staff, and he lived there, and
during the piping times of peace they
fell into the snares Of the Troy girls.
Hardee was, to use current expires.
sion, a good deal of a dude. He
thought more of his shape than his
books. His reputation came largely
from the system of tactics which bore
his name. He was pet of Jeff Davis,
who, as Secretary of War, appointed
him on a board of officers to translate
the tactics from the French-from
whence comes our military science
taking care that he should be the rank
ing officer. So the work took Hardee's
name, although the credit belonged to
Benet, who was, l think, of French ex-
traction and good scholar.
Halleck came of an obscure family,
but he was studious an scholarly, and
finally married one of the Hamiltons,
which set him on the top shelf socially.
Beauregard was French all over. He
looked like Gaul, acted like a Gaul
and his extraction stuck out every way.
He was an excellent student and grad
uatcd with high honors.
Meigs was, in my opinion, one of
the ablest men in the army, and his
career as a cadet gave promise of a
brilliant future.