The Savannah morning news., 1902-05-25
SIDNEY HERBERT'S LETTER.
THE FIRST WEST POINT GRAD
UATE FROM GEORGIA.


AbOut the Surviving Confederate
Generals - Gen. sehoaeId's Re-
marks on the Superiority of Army
Officers Who Went Into the Con-
tederate SeFvice-rhe Only Surviv-
ing Commissioned Onicer of the
Wartime Cadets of Savannah-The
Father of Lieut.. Gen. Wade Hamp-
tOn-Other Matters of General In
tcrest.
Pine Crest Villa, Maitland, Fla, May
24.-The Atlanta Constitution publishes
an interesting talk" of Miss Hermit
one Mare, daughter of an army chap
lain. about the Philippines. The name,
however, is not Mare" as she is the
daughter of Chaplain Orville ]. Nave.
U. S. A, for several years stationed
at Fort Mcpherson, near Atlanta
A society reporter speaks of
Mrs. Thomas T. Stockton as the daugh-
ter of the late Gen. Lawton of Geor-
| gia," This is an error, as the lady is
the daughter of the late Col. w, ].
! Lawton of Georgia Ia cousin of Gen.
Lawton). whose last years were spent
in Florida. He was commander of the
Second Georgia Cavalry in the
! Civil War. Mrs. StOcktons
husband, who is the bust
ness manager of the Times-Union and
| Citizen. is a son of the late Col. Will
liam 7. Stockton of Quincy. Fla He
was a native of Pennsylvania, a dis
! tinguished graduate of West Point in
1884, his first service being at the Au-
| gusta (Ga) arsenal. AS lieutenant of
! the Second Artillery he saw active
service in the Florida Seminole war,
| in 1886, during which year he resigned
| and became a planter at Quincy. For
| several years he was colonel of the
! state militia, and in 1S49 a member Of
the board of visitors to West Point,
! Col. Stockton was a man of fine cul-
! ture and an honored citizen, and went
! into the Confederate army as a lieu
! tenant colonel and would have come
out general, but he was wounded and
| captured and spent many months in
| the hands of the enemy.
| A typographical error in my letter
| of May il made Gen. Torbert's name
Torbet. and put him in the Fifteenth
| New Jersey instead of the Fifth
now comes Gen, Torrance, comman-
| der-in- chief of the G. A. r. and tells
| about Grants great magnanimity in
| refusing to accept Lees sword. l fear
this myth" will always hold a place
among historical realities" ." .
West Point Military Acadamy was
created by act of Congress on March
! 6, 1902, but did not formally open until
| July 4, of that year. The Centennial
Exercises begin this year on June .
and last three days. l shall devote an
entire letter to Georgia in West Point
Before that date The first graduate
from Georgia was VIM. w. Gordon,
! 1915, but there were two others in the
| same class. Gordon, No. 127, went in
! to the ordnance department Robert
! NJ Forsyth, No. 144, went into the Ar
| tillery Corps; Robert w. Pooler (of
English birth) No 149. went into the
Engineer Corps. But all of them were
| out of the service within three years.
l think the first three Cadets
| from Georgia who failed to gradual e
We're John c. Jones and Richard D.
| Millen, who entered in 1915, and James
| Joseph Byers, of the following year.
| This shows that 1915 was a sort of
| West Point Academy year with Geor-
gia.
! Several times l have corrected Will
| I. Hale, in his sketches of Great
Southerners," and l find another cor
rection called for by his sketch OF
Lieut.. Col John e. Howard of the Sec
| ond Maryland Regiment in 1873 Hale
| says lit is to Howard's credit that
| Washington, in 1898, selected him as
| one of his major generals" If this be
| true. which I doubt, no official record
was made of the Selection" Col
| Howard, however, was a noble patriot
brave soldier and a useful and hon
ored public official, His first army
| service was in the flying camp" OF
that old Revolutionary hero Gen
Hugh Mercer. of Scotland. :
Some unknown friend was kind enough
to send me the above-named sketch
! of Col. Howard, but simply marked
| Fer your scrap book" for which ]
| tender thanks. And the Good Samar-
! itan" of Savannah has sent me ar
"Estin button" and l am proud to be
! given the privilege of wearing it. ]
| nave known Col John Holbrook Estil
for nearly thirty years, much of the
time intimately, and I have known
every Governor of Georgia from Brown
to Gambler, and l do not hesitate Il
declare that, at the present time, Col
Estill will make the state as good q
governor as any of the whole lot did
| ne Is not Gordon IN eloquence, 6
| Brown in shrewdness, a Jenkins in Gull
ture or a Northen in energy Yet he
is man of high character, fine bust.
ness talent and great firmness.
Last Sunday mention was made OF
the Mecklenburg, N. c., Declaration
OF Independence, a subject that has
taken up considerable space in the
| newspapers during the past week. The
.
win contain a splendid illustrated his.
! tOrikal article ON this rnnrnantn,ns