Year: 1872

Gen. Sherman's Opinion of Army


Officers


A communication haVingappeared
in the Army and NaUy Journal con-
cerning the alleged inactivity of the
army, General Sherman writes a
letter to that journal in refutation of
the writer's statements. The Gen
eral says:


To question the honor. integrity,
and intelligence of our higher histo-
ry, which they have had full share
in making and writing. It is of the
junior officers that / wish to .reat,
because they are scattered to the
four winds, in little detachments far
away from civilization, and cannot
appeal to the bar of public opinion
save by their official conduct and
their friends. Of these l am the
chief; and from daily, weekly, and
monthly reports from themselves
and their lawful superiors, I have a
mass of testimony far better than
your correspondent can possibly
have. I am perfectly satisfied with
them, and hereby encourage them in
the faithful discharge of the duties
to which they are appointed, with the
full belief that they possess as many
advantages for mental and physical
education as had Meade and Thorn
as, MCPHERSON and Mower, Grant
and Sheridan, in their day of proba-
ton, and that with patience and time
they may attain the same reward and
fame. At all of our military posts,
the officers and men have schools
and libraries as far as their limited
pay and means afford, and though
the necessities of our country de-
mand that the great bulk of the ar
my shall be kept in the Wild and
uninhabited parts of our vast count
ry, as it were outlying pickets in the
lines of settlement, still to each off
Ger in turn will be afforded chance
to see occasionally his own home
and family, and to mingle with the
most refined classes. OF course
there are those who are exceptions
to the general rule as to character,
but courtsmartial and the stern rules
of war will surely eliminate them as
it has in the past for more than $50
young officers" have been dismissed
whose war record was as good as
that of the 60 Prussians referred to
by your correspondent, and for like
causes.


The army is not responsible for
the new appointees, whether from
West Point or civil life. We take
them, they fall quickly into the
ranks and work out their own desti-
ny. West Point is as independent
of the army as Yale or Princeton.
Each Congressman appoints his ca
det for reasons best known to him
self. For the four or five years he
is at the Academy, he is under Con-
gressiOnal government and inspect
ion. The Secretary of War has
immediate control, under the laws of
Congress, so that the army is no
more responsible for the kind and
quality of education than if West
Point was college of surgeons. To
be sure, the Officers and Professors
at West Point are military men, and
though some Of them have never
served directly with soldiers or taken
part in battle. Still, they are mill
tary men, and impart the knowledge
presumed by past experience to
make good soldiers, and it may be
they impart what are known as ''the
.prejudices of the CASTE" But that
the army takes and receives a gradu-
ate of West Point as a finished sol
dier is a mistake at which every
veteran smiles. The vanity ofyouth
is not limited to this spot, but is
found everywhere-at Heicelbern, at
Saint Cyr and Sandhurst, and at
Yale and Princeton. No sooner
has the graduate reached his COM
pany than he finds he has some
things to uhlearn and thousands OF
things to learn; and that many have
learned them, and learned them well,
is familiar to the readers Of American
history. The criticisms made by the
last Board of Visitors is severe and
it may be just, but is criticism on
themselves, not on the army. Con
gress makes all laws; its members
appoint the cadets by name from
their own constituents, supervise
their education by annual visits and
reports, and if they send into the ar
my officers improperly educated, it
is their business, not ours. Some OF
the graduates may make mistakes In
grammar, and even be little back
ward in the classics, but on the whole
they are usually a fine set Of manly
fellows, and the only fault find is
that there too few of them for the
usual vacancies. If a little vain of
their newly-fedged offices and their
own superior knowledge, itsoon van
ishes, and usually they settle down
to their work like welltrained rae
ers. It is an awful mistake if they
think their education is complete
when they are commissioned. Every
minute and hour of the day they
are told quite the contrary, and all
the schooling in the world would not
be more ef1cacious than what their
own eyes and ears teach them on
first reaching their post of duty.


An old bachelor got married. Fif-
teen days after-mind you, fifteen
days-he met friend and SAID to
him: "Why is my wife like baker
who is making a small gooseberry
pieF' Il don't know" said the dis
agreeable creature, 'it's because she
is growing a little tart"