The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-12-23
THE CHANGES AT WEST POINT.

The worthy men who directed the af-
fairs of the republic in its first years of
existence must have been guided by the
hand of provdential fate when they
selected site for a National Military
Academy; it could not have been alto
gether foresight of theirs. They knew
only that they had recently emerged
from a tedious war for independence,
and that weak, struggling nation was
more likely to become embroiled than
another. Thus they perceived the nee
essity for trained soldiers, and perhaps
they acted the more readily in the mat
ter since some Of them were gentlemen
with decided taste for fighting.
We have it on good authority that
Washington himself put his finger on
West Point when considering the to-be-
established Military Academy, and said,
"This is the place" Washingtons iudg-
ment might not have been final, but it
was powerfully influential. Others con-
Cured, and when, after Washington's
death, the chool became an accom-
plished fact, West Point was the spot of
its location.
1t was an excellent choice. The asso-
Citations were such as to make it fore
ing house for patriotism-a quality no
National School can afford to neglect;
and the years have shown in a surpris-
ing way the improvement the place itself
was capable of, and the high degree of
Academy itself may aspire.
This country has had Military Acad-
envy now these ninety years. In 1902,
we may believe, it was not much of a
school, even according to the standards
of tl,at Tn bacri bnl NJ
handful of students, who did about as
they pleased, and graduated at uncer-
tain intervals, but who went out and
fought the wars of the republic with a
patriotic vigor that will be becoming in
a graduate of 1898. The Academy turns
ont a more finished article now; there
has been some advance in educational
matters since the century was born, and
the Military Academy has kept pace
with the advance along its own particu-
lar lines.
Still, the Military Academy was haz-
ardous experiment till 1917, when Gen.
Sylvanus Thayer became its Superinten-
dent. He had graduated from Dart
mouth in 1907, and from the Military
Academy in the following year. This is
feat that could not even be attempted
at the present day. He continued as
superintendent till 1888. He is known
as the Father of the Military Academy"
and that appellation is cut on the monu-
ment that is raised to him at West
Point. His labors have been summed
in these words:
sin the sixteen years of his devoted
administration the Military Academy
grew from badly conducted rudimen-
tary school to a pre-eminent seminary of
science, an enduring monument of his
fame, fostering mother to the whole
army, the exposure of all educational in
situations throughout the land, and a
priceless possession for the nations Sc
curity and glory"
To-day the oldest living graduate
comes tottering back to these scenes of
his salad days, looks wondeTingly about,
and shakes his head. There is scarcely
feature that is familiar to him. He
sees the cadets wearing essentially the
same uniform as in his day, and may
allow himself 10 think how much they
resemble certain remembered ones of
his own class-the springy step, 'ect
carriage, strong toned voice, air of mill
tary precisiOn; butthere it ends, except
as he unwillingly tells himself that those
boys he knew and loved have fought the
fight, run the race, and conquered
through victorious death. That's all.
These are not the same boys, but their
successors in the inheritance. And