Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-02-13
STORIES OF THE FLAG.
Respect For the Emblem Radiates
From West Point.

son is to hold 1t In honor. From the
day of his entrance to the academy
until the day of his graduation, the
cadet has ever before him the flag Of
his country. He Is taught that II
stands for all that Is dearest in life
and that greater honor can come to ne
man than the honor Of laying dowr
his life for the flag.
There Is a common impression tina
the president Of the United States Ii
the commander-in-chief Of the coun.
try's forces on land and on sea. The
| flag Is the commander in chief. Wher
it passes, the president must bare hil
head, for it is the only thing from
sea to sea and from lake to gulf which
ranks him in authority.
I have seen a STRIPPING doing his
first tour of guard duty, stop short II
answering a question put to him by 6
major-general of the United States
army to come to a carry" and then tt
present" ignoring for the moment
the flag was passing.
Should it be asked II the gray-hairet
soldier resented the striplings caution
let it be said in answer that when he
saw its cause he brought his heels to-
gether, and took the position Of a sold
Ter, taught him forty years before, and
stood uncovered and In silence.
On another occasion, when the color
line had been established for the frs
time during the summer encampment
on the Hudson plateau, saw major.
general cross the color line with his
cap upon his head. The old soldier
had been looking the other way ant
did not know that the guarded flag
was resting upon it's base of bayonet:
bristling from the stacked arms.
The cadet guarding the colors order.
ed the officer to recross the line an6
to remove his cap, and the major-g gen.
eral did 1t shamefaced, because he hat
unwittingly neglected to do honor tc
the flag under whose folds he had wor
for The armies of the United States
the battle of Franklin.
Should there be need to make strike
home the lesson Of that which befalls
the man who dishonors the flag Of his
country, the cadet at West Point may
have his attention called to a tablet
in the little post chapel. There grav-
en- on the marble and wrought into
relief with gold are the names Of the
general officers Of the Revolutionary
army. One name Is blotted out with
black, but there remains showing
enough Of the extremes Of the letters
to let the reader know that the black
blotted name Is that Of Benedict
Arnold.
It has been held that no man car
be taught to honor the flag Of his
country, that such honor is innate OF
1t can never exist. The soul Of nc
man Is so dead as not to be quickened
at the thought of the flag Of his coun-
try, but in the man to whom the les
son Of the flags love has been taught
daily the spirit of love and honor new
er dies.
What has West Point done for the
flag? 1t has been said by those who
do not know that despite the teachings
of the Military Academy, it's gradu-
ates forsook the flag for secession. Ir
the armies Of the north during the
war Of secession there were scores
upon scores Of southern officers, grad
yates Of the United States Military
Academy. Nearly one-third Of the
southern graduates held true to the
country's colors.
In what case were the southern
civilians appointees to the army? OF
the southern men who received their
appointments from civil life and who
were following the colors at the out
break of the war Of secession not one
stayed true to the flag. Answer
enough to the question Of the value
of the academy's training in patri-
otism.
followers of the flag through the
long years Of the war know what
they suffered. They were despised
and condemned at home, and sus-
pected and treated with indifference
by the civilian authorities Of the
country for which they were fight
ing.
Only Gen. Thomas, the Virginian,
seemed able to convince the authori-
ties that his loyalty was from heart.
No army officer Of the north suspect
ed his loyal brother from the south,
but the West Point graduates who
came from the slave states and who
would not forsake the flag were given
frontier posts or were kept In minor
positions with the armies Of the east,
because their civilian superiors believ-
ed they were playing a double part.
In no single case was there turn
ing aside from duty, however distaste-
full or humble, on the part Of these
southern men who had learned at
West Point to love the Stars and
Stripes.
What was the case Of the West Point
graduates who went with the states
of their birth when those states Sc
ceded from the Union? Did these Of
ficers have no love Of the flag? They
had such love for it that the Confed-
crate states of America adopted the
stars and bars as their emblem. The
academy graduates held that the
southern states had the same right
a right bought at Yorktown, at
Cowpens and later at New Orleans
that had the northern states. They
urged that the necessary number of
stars be stricken from the field, and
that the flag of the south be the old
flag which they had been taught to
love.
It is almost certain death In battle to
be the bearer of the colors, and yet
when one color bearer Is stricken
down his fellows fight for the honor
of offering themselves as the next sac
rifice.
1t is the civilian who cheapens the