NEWS OF 150 YEARS AGO
January and February 1863
From The Missouri Democrat, Saturday, February 7, 1863.
Are the West Point Graduates Loyal?
BY EDWARD CHAUNCEY MARSHALL, AUTHOR OF “THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY.”
It is the design of this paper to give publicity, with as little comment as possible, to certain statistics which have been prepared by the author with much painstaking and labor, in reference to the loyalty of the graduates of the Military Academy at West Point, a subject which has been under discussion often during the progress of this rebellion.
The effect of the secession movement upon the army of the United States was shown by the unusual number of resignations of officers which followed immediately the election of Mr. Lincoln, and were continued, in some degree, throughout the year 1861. An analysis, therefore, of the resignations and dismissals from the army of graduates of the Military Academy, which occurred during the period from November, 1860, to the end of the year 1861, will give a fair estimate of the comparative loyalty of the graduates. By examining carefully the army register for 1862, we find that the number of graduates from the Military Academy who resigned, were dropped, dismissed or cashiered, during the above-mentioned period, was 203. We shall proceed to analyze this number of resignations, and consider –
I. Resignations by Northern Graduates. – The term Northern is applied here to graduates from the free States, and Southern, to those from the slaveholding States.
In the above total number – 203 – of resignations, dismissals, &c., during the period to which we have referred, there were graduates native of the following States who are now
IN THE REBEL ARMY
| New York………………… | 6 |
| Pennsylvania………….. | 4 |
| Massachusetts……….. | 2 |
| New Jersey……………… | 2 |
| Vermont…………………. | 1 |
Northern graduates resigned, &c., 1860–‘61, in the rebel army..15
SYMPATHIZERS WITH SECESSION.
Graduates resigned 1860 –‘ 61, not known to be in the rebel army:
| New York………….. | 2 |
| Illinois…………….. | 1 |
| Maine………………. | 1 |
Northern sympathizers..4
Total Northern disloyal graduates, 1860–‘61….19
The names of the Northern graduates who resigned, from November, 1860, to the end of the year 1861, and are now serving in the rebel army, are as follows, viz:
NORTHERN GRADUATES RESIGNED IN 1860 –‘ 61, IN THE REBEL ARMY.
| Adj. Gen. Samuel Cooper (rebel “General”)………………………………………. | New York. |
| Capt. Wm. Steele, Dragoons…………………………………………………………….. | do. |
| Capt. Martin L Smith, Top. Eng., (rebel Brig. Gen.)……………………………. | do. |
| Capt. Franklin Gardner, Infantry……………………………………………………… | do. |
| 1st Lieut. Walter H Stevens, Engineers……………………………………………… | do. |
| 1st Lieut. Joseph C. Ives, Top. Eng’s…………………………………………………. | do. |
| Capt. Josiah Gorgas, Ordnance Dep’t………………………………………………… | Pa. |
| Brevet Major J. C. Pemberton, Art’y, (rebel Major General)………………. | do. |
| Brevet 2nd Lieut. Chas. R. Collins, Topograph’l Engineers…………………. | do. |
| Brevet Lieut. Col. Daniel Ruggles, infantry (rebel Brig. Gen.)……………… | Mass. |
| 1st Lieut. Caleb Huse, Artillery…………………………………………………………. | do. |
| 1st Lieut. Philip Stockton, Cavalry…………………………………………………….. | New Jersey. |
| 1st Lieut. Wm. G. Gill, Artillery………………………………………………………….. | do. |
| Major Isaac Lynde, Infantry……………………………………………………………… | Vermont. |
| 2nd Lieut. Frederick L. Childs, Artillery, appointed from North Carolina, born, in Maine. (Being a Southern appointment, this is enumerated with the Southern resignations.) |
To these it may be interesting to add the following names, although these names are of necessity omitted in making up the statistics which are given in this paper:
NORTHERN GRADUATES RESIGNED BEFORE NOVEMBER, 1860, IN THE REBEL ARMY.
| Capt. Samuel G. French, Artillery, resigned 1856, (rebel Brig. General)…. | New Jersey. |
| 2nd Lieutenant Archibald Gracie, Infantry, resigned 1856…………………….. | do. |
| Capt. D. Leadbeater, Engineers, resigned 1857, (rebel Brig. General)……… | Maine. |
| 1st Lieut. A. G. Blanchard, Infantry, resigned 1840, (rebel Brig. General – a citizen of Louisiana since 1840)…………………………………………………………. | Mass’ts. |
| Maj. Wm. H. Chase, Engineers, resigned 1856……………………………………. | do. |
| 1st Lieut. D. M. Frost, Mounted Rifles, resigned 1853, (rebel Brig. General).. | New York. |
| 1st Lieut. J. K. Duncan, Artillery, resigned 1855, (rebel Brig. General)…….. | Penn. |
| Brevet Maj. Roswell S. Ripley, Artillery, resigned 1853…………………………… | Ohio. |
| 2nd Lieut. Francis A. Shoup, Artillery, resigned January, 1860…………….. | Indiana. |
II. Resignations of Southern Graduates. – Of the total – 203 – of resignations, dismissals, &c., from the army, of West Point graduates, from November, 1860, to the end of the year 1861, there were natives of the following States and Territories, viz:
| Virginia……………………… | 53 |
| Kentucky…………………… | 14 |
| Georgia……………………… | 14 |
| North Carolina……………. | 20 |
| Maryland……………………. | 7 |
| District of Columbia……. | 5 |
| South Carolina…………… | 20 |
| Mississippi………………… | 4 |
| Florida……………………….. | 3 |
| Louisiana…………………… | 2 |
| Tennessee…………………. | 15 |
| Arkansas…………………… | 2 |
| Alabama……………………. | 6 |
| Missouri…………………….. | 6 |
| New Mexico……………….. | 1 |
| Indian territory…………… | 1 |
Southern graduates resigned, &c., November, 1860–‘61. 173
There were also graduates who resigned, &c., at this time, were born in the North, but had been appointed from Southern Congressional Districts, viz:
southern appointees resigned, November, 1860–‘61. 5
| North Carolina……………… | 3 |
| District of Columbia……… | 1 |
| Maryland……………………… | 1 |
Total Southern graduates resigned, &c., 1860–‘61 178
III. Southern Graduates who Remained Loyal. – Against the fact that 19 Northern graduates resigned during the period referred to in this paper, from motives which were favorable to secession, an offset should be made of another fact, that all the large number of 133 graduates who were born in slaveholding States, remained loyal, and are in the arms for the Union. These graduates are natives of the following States and Territories, viz:
| Kentucky………………………… | 26 |
| Virginia…………………………… | 32 |
| North Carolina………………… | 5 |
| Georgia…………………………… | 2 |
| Maryland………………………… | 27 |
| Missouri…………………………. | 7 |
| Tennessee………………………. | 6 |
| District of Columbia………… | 19 |
| South Carolina………………… | 3 |
| Florida……………………………. | 2 |
| Alabama…………………………. | 2 |
| Louisiana………………………… | 1 |
| Indian territory………………… | 1 |
Southern graduates remaining loyal..133
IV. Whole number of graduates who remained loyal. – To ascertain this number, it is necessary for us to go back to the year 1860, before any movement towards the secession of the Southern States had been made. The country was then in the enjoyment of peace. The army was undisturbed by dissension; its condition in 1860 was its normal condition, and this is represented in the Army Register for January 1, 1861.A very careful count, made by the author of this paper, in the register for January, 1861, reveals the fact that there was in the United States army, in 1860, a total of 747 graduates of the Military Academy. To these should be added the classes of cadets who graduated at West Point in June, 1861, numbering 73 – and we obtain a total of 820 graduates. This number represents the total of West Point graduates in the army who were subjected to the disintegrating process of rebellion. From this total we must subtract the number (203) of graduates resigned, dismissed, &c., from November, 1860, through the year 1861, and the result is 617 graduates who remained in the army loyal men. But four Northerners resigned to accept commissions with the volunteers; and this gives a total of 621 loyal West Point graduates.
RECAPITULATION.
| Total of graduates in the army, 1860–61………………….. | 820 |
| Northern graduates disloyal, 1860–61: | |
| In the rebel army……………………………………………………… | 15 |
| Sympathizers with secession……………………………………. | 4–19 |
| Southern graduates remained loyal, 1860–61…………… | 133 |
| Disloyal graduates resigned, &c., Nov. 1860–61: | |
| Northerners…………………………………………………………….. | 19 |
| Southerners…………………………………………………………….. | 178–197 |
| Loyal graduates who remained in arms for the Union….. | 621 |
*These statistics are believed by the author to be positively reliable. They have been prepared with the greatest care from the official army registers of the United States, as well as from other accurate data. They furnish the following incontrovertible
INFERENCES.
1. The number of the loyal West Point graduates in this war is in an excess (621 out of 820) largely disproportionate to the natural effect of sectional divisions and the supposed influences of birth-place.
2. The great majority of the graduates who resigned from motives favorable to secession (178 out of 197) were natives of the slaveholding States.
3. The loyalty of Southern graduates (in number 133), if we consider the circumstances under which it has been displayed, is in the highest degree creditable and remarkable.
4. The proportion of 621 graduates who remained loyal to the 197 who are disloyal, and of whom the larger number (178) were natives of slaveholding States, should give us renewed confidence in this noble nursery of soldiers, which was the child of the revolution, and was planned and formed by George Washington, Timothy Pickering, Henry Knox and Alexander Hamilton – the purest and best of the patriot sires of the Republic.
*Add 2 (Northerners resigned and not favorable to secession) and 623 with 197, is equal to 820. This total of all graduates is not, of course include those who resigned before November, 1860, many of whom are now serving with the volunteers. Fifty-three of the above mentioned loyal graduates are natives of the seceding States.