The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-06-15
SIDNEY HERBERT'S LETTER.
GEORGIA AT WEST POINT FROM
1874 TO 1902.

Two Cadets i'm the Academy In
1902 an ErrOr-List of Georgia
Graduates and List of Georgia
cadets Who Failed to Graduate
DurinG the Existence of the Acad-
emy-ImpOrtnnce of West Point
sbouId Not lie BelittIed-Other Mat
,ers of Special Interest.
Pine Crest Villa, Maitland. Fla, June
1.-THE past week has been a most
Glorious time for West Point Military
Academy its graduates, it's non-grad-
,.ates. cadets and all its officers and
,riends. The centennial celebration,
covering several days from Monday,
was all that could have been desired.
The old graduates of the Blue and the
GRAY met again under the ''old flag
thew had fought for in Mexico, and
some in the Spanish-American war
Gen. E. Porter Alexander, of Georgia,
rApresenting the class of 1857, made
an eloquent and patriotic address on
"The Confederate Veteran" and TO him
and venerable Lieut.. Gen. James Long
street. c. S. A, class of 1912, quite an
ovation was given.
As far back as 1875, at which time
a reunion of the graduates was to be
held. Prof. Charles Davies, for nearly
a quarter of a century the famous
mathematical instructor and author
and Familiarity known to the cadets as
cold Tush,' sought to bring the South
ern graduates back to West Point for
a glad reunion of the Blue and the
sion so full of pathetic greetings of
once estranged graduates in a civil
war. Prof Davies, with a voice trem-
bling with emotion, said: when my
ewes shall behold for the last time
the fading light on the mountain tops
Of the highlands of the Hudson next
10 the hope of a better life, would be
the consciousness that union, fratern-
itv. peace and mutual regard had
reached the heart and would regulate
the life of every graduate of this in
stitution." If that grand old man,
now a saint in heaven, was permitted
to know of this centennial reunion,
how his soul must have rejoiced at the
patriotic words OF Gen. Alexander:
"Whose vision is now so dull that he
does not recognize the blessing it is
10 himself and to his children to live
in an undivided country. The
right to secede, the stake for which
we fought so desperately, were it Of
fered us as a gift we would reject"
With an army full of foreign engi-
neer ofTlcers,-French, German and
Polish-it is not strange that Wash
ington saw the need of a National Mil
itary Academy in which to educate
cadets properly in the higher Tnathe-
mates and engineering. Jefferson OPP
posed such an expense as unconstitu-
tional, but Randolph favored the
movement, as did Hamilton and
Knox; and a year after Washington's
suggestion - 1894 - Congress decided
against Jefferson's idea, and he &C
cepted the decision, but wanted the
academy located at Washington. How
ever, as West Point had been a mill
tary station during the war, in 1907
Congress favored that place, and the
engineer corps was located there ana
made the nucleus of the proposed acad7.
envy. II remained in charge OF the
engineers until 1856, when the super
intendency was opened to all branches
of the service, and Col. (Bt. Brig.
GEM Thomas G. Pitcher Forty-fourth
Infantry, was appointed.
The statement that only two cadets
were in the Academy in 1902, is an
error, as Walker *. Armistead OF VIZ
ginia, entered on May l, 1871; henry
B. Jackson. of Massachusetts,, on
March 2, same year; John Livingston,
Of New York, on June 8, 1902; Samuel
Gates. of Massa chusetts, on March z
1901 Now. the first class to graduate
If it can be called such-conta1ned
Joseph G. Swift of Massachusetts, who
was a cadet from May II, 1900, and
Simon M. Levy, of Maryland, who en-
tered on March 2, 1901. AS these two
graduated on Oct. II, 1902, 1t Will be
seen that there were then in the Acad-
envy six cadets. Armistead, jackson
and Livingston graduated in 1903 ana
Gates the year following. Swift of Mas
sachusetts, and Armistead of Virginia,
We're the first distinguished represen-
tatives of the North and the South
Both lived to a ripe old age and were
crowned with many honors; both haV-
ing been made brevet brigadier gener-
ais and chief engineers of the U. ). A.
Swift died in 1865 and Armistead IN
1916, the former out of service from
1878, but the latter colonel of Third
L. S. Artillery at Fort Moultrie.
The second graduate, Second Lieut..
Simon Levy, was an engineer on South
ern coast in 1906, when he resigned,
nah in 1907. If this be true he was the
first West Pointer to visit that city
Maj Swift did not come South until
after 1910. Georgia's first graduate was
W. w. Gordon (No 12O in 1915, fol-
lowed the same year by Robert M. For
syth (No. 144, and Robert w. Pooler
tNo. l49), born in England. Wlthin
three years, however, after entering the
army, Gordon and Pooler resigned, and
Forsyth was dismissed, dying the fol-
lowing year QS1s). There were two ca
diets from Georgia, who entered that
year C815), but failed to graduate.
They We're John c. Jones and Richard
D. Millen. These FIVE were, l think,
Georgia's first contribution to the
Academy. 1 give here an alphabetical
list Of all the Georgia graduates up to
1901
Georgia's graduates of West Point
are as follows, with date of entrance
10 the academy: 1853, Edward Porter
alexander, Robert Houston Anderson;
1876, William f. Basinger; 1858, Thorn
is j. Berry; 1S4S, John S. Bowen; 1917,
oscar ]. Brown; 1894, Earl l. Brown;
~ Goode Bryan; 1874. Frank DE
Launay Darlington; 1851, John X.
church; 1858, Aurelius F. Cone; 1868,
John Conline; 1871. Henry Coffee 1S45,
Alfred Cumming: 1875, James B. Erwin;
1886. Lawrence Julian Fleming; 1873,
Henry O. Flipper (colored); 1913. Rob-
ert VI. Forsyth: 1877. William Woods
forsyth; 1873, Daniel A. Frederick;
"a VIM. Montgomery Gardner; 1877
Ernest Albert Darlington; 1914. VIII
nam Washington Gordon; 1893, VIM. w.
hamilton, 1863 Geo NJ Harris; 1868,