【英文文学】West Point.docx

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1、【英文文学】West PointFOREWORDWest Point played a great part in the gaining of American independence. It was strongly fortified as the key of the Hudson, and as long as it was held by the patriots of the Revolution the New England colonies could not be cut off from the others and conquered one at a time.T

2、he lack of educated officers was greatly felt by the Generals of the Revolution, and this lack was but feebly supplied by trained officers from abroad.It was mainly through the foresight and patriotism of Washington, Hamilton, and Knox that the Military Academy at West Point was founded, and their m

3、emory is still enshrined there.The Academy had its inception in very small beginnings, first by the assignment of students to an Engineer regiment until the organic act of 1802 created an Academy with ten cadets. A firm establishment was not made, however, until the detail of Colonel Sylvanus Thayer

4、 in command in 1817, who laid down the fundamental principles which govern the Academy to this day.The early graduates of the Academy suffered much from the jealousy of the old veterans of the Revolution who had no use for the educated soldier. These graduates were too few to make themselves felt in

5、 the War of 1812, and it was not until vi General Winfield Scott eulogized their services in the Mexican War that they began to be appreciated by the nation.Their services in the Civil War were inestimable and are known to all who read history. After the Spanish-American War of 1898, the then Secret

6、ary of War, Mr. Elihu Root, reported that the services of the graduates of the Military Academy in that war alone had far more than repaid the cost of the Academy since its foundation in 1802.For many years the Military Academy was what its name implies, an Academy, but it has expanded from time to

7、time until it is a military university, giving instruction for all branches of the service except the Medical Corps, and securing for each graduate a broad foundation which enables him to specialize in any direction by means of the various special schools for each branch. The glory of West Point, ho

8、wever, is in the West Point character, now well known in every civilized country in the world, with its reputation for fidelity, efficiency, discipline, and general uprightness. The standing army of the United States has always been too small for the tasks that have been laid upon it, and at every c

9、risis it has had to train large forces of citizen soldiers summoned from civil life for the emergency. These citizen-soldiers, as well as the Regular Army itself, rely upon the scientific education and high character of the West Point graduate to keep the art of war abreast, if not a little ahead, o

10、f the times, and for vii the initiative and informing leaven to permeate the mass and to cause the firm progress of discipline and uprightness throughout the whole.Shortly after the Mexican War a verse was added to the old West Point song of Benny Havens:“Their graduates blood has watered western pl

11、ainsAnd northern wilds of snow,Has dyed deep red the Everglades,And walls of Mexico.”Since that time they have shed it copiously in Cuba, China, and the Philippines, and they are now about to take their places with comrades from civil life fighting for liberty and democracy on the battlefields of Fr

12、ance.Hugh L. Scott.Washington, D. C.,May, 1917.PREFACEThis book is intended to give, aside from a brief historical sketch of West Point, something of the feelings of the cadet from the moment that he reports for duty until he graduates four years later. Perhaps some of my fellow West Pointers will d

13、isagree with me in regard to my interpretation of their feelings, but what I have written thereon is drawn from my own experience and from many conversations with cadets of to-day. The customs, traditions, methods of training of the Academy are, I believe, unique, and they make an unforgettable impr

14、ession upon the cadet. Especially does he become imbued with an almost indefinable influence that we of the Academy call the Spirit of West Point, and in the pages that follow I have tried to seize and translate into words this spirit of the institution. I have greatly enjoyed writing these pages ab

15、out West Point, a subject very dear to my heart, and I offer this book to the public in the hope that my fellow countrymen may become better acquainted with the aims and ideals of their National Military Academy.It gives me the greatest pleasure to acknowledge here my appreciation and thanks to Lieu

16、tenant Colonel L. H. Holt, U. S. A., Professor of English x and History U. S. M. A., not only for his helpful suggestions and criticisms, but for his encouragement and unselfish interest in the preparation of this book.I also wish to acknowledge the courtesy of the Reverend Herbert Shipman of New Yo

17、rk, formerly Chaplain at the Military Academy, in allowing me to use his poem The Corps, with which I close the volume.Since this book has gone to press, Colonel John Biddle, the Superintendent, has been promoted to the grade of Brigadier-General and relieved from the command of West Point. He has b

18、een succeeded by Colonel Samuel E. Tillman, Retired, who until 1910 was the Professor of Chemistry and Electricity at the Military Academy. Colonel Tillman perhaps more than any officer in the Army is better qualified for this important position. He is a graduate of West Point, to whose advancement

19、he has devoted most of his life and he has made an exhaustive study of its needs. His appointment by the President seems to be particularly felicitous for he possesses a most intimate knowledge of the Military Academy. All West Pointers rejoice that West Point is in such good hands.Robert Charlwood

20、Richardson, Jr.West Point, N. Y.,May, 1917.CHAPTER I IN THE DAYS OF THE REVOLUTIONDespite the successful attempts of the architect to give to the magnificent new buildings at West Point a medi?val character, there is nothing about them to suggest a feeling of oldness, a feeling that they are linked

21、with the history of the place. Not until one wanders among the ruins of old Fort Putnam, explores the crumbling works of the chain of Redoubts on the surrounding hills, or rambles over the dbris of Fort Constitution on Constitution Island, does he feel the flavor of age, the romance of West Point of

22、 the past. It is only then that the imagination races back over the years to the days of the Revolution where it pauses to rebuild the stirring events that filled the daily lives of our ancestors in their desperate struggle for our independence. Looking backward through the vista of more than a cent

23、ury the most commonplace 2 happenings seem powdered with the golden dust of romance. Interwoven with each event are the names of the men who helped to make possible these free United States: Washington, Hamilton, Knox; and of him who was almost successful in thwarting their efforts, the traitor Bene

24、dict Arnold.As far back as the time of the French and Indian Wars both the Americans and British recognized the great value of the control of the Hudson River. It would seem, therefore, that when the Revolution broke out both sides would take every means to seize and fortify the most strategic point

25、s along its banks. Strange to say, the Americans were as indifferent about its control as the British, so that the Revolution was in progress for three years before West Point, the natural key to the rivers defense, was fortified.During the Revolution the British were operating from Manhattan on the

26、 south and Canada on the north as bases. Had they controlled the Hudson, they could have separated the eastern from the middle colonies, which division would have prevented the patriots from military combination and from interchanging the necessary commodities for both sections.Immediately after the

27、 battles of Concord and Lexington, the Congress of New York, acting upon a suggestion from the Continental Congress, sent a commission to the Highlands to select “the most proper place for erecting one or more fortifications.” 3 Constitution Island, and the sites where Forts Montgomery and Clinton1

28、were afterwards built, were chosen. Nothing much was accomplished, however, in the way of fortifications despite the appointment of another commission that recommended the absolute necessity for works at West Point opposite Constitution Island.Washington, accompanied by General Heath, finally sailed

29、 up the river in 1776, and General Heath tells us that “a glance at West Point without going on shore evinced that this post was not to be neglected.” Meanwhile the Revolution dragged on into its third year, 1778, but still no fortifications at West Point. Due to Washingtons persistence, work was be

30、gun there early in January, 1778. General Parsons with his brigade arrived at West Point on the 20th of January and began the erection of defenses. The weather was extremely cold, provisions were scarce, the men inadequately clothed, and the troops poorly supplied with the proper implements to carry

31、 on their labor. Altogether, a very depressing and discouraging situation confronted Parsonss men as they debouched upon the Plain and surveyed their surroundings. If any thought could have given them courage it must have been the reflection that at least they were somewhat 4 better off than their c

32、omrades in arms down at Valley Forge, who, despite their wretched condition, were bravely keeping alive the patriotic fires of the Revolution.What a contrast was that first sight of West Point to Parsonss troops to that offered today! Instead of the beautiful level parade ground surrounded by fine g

33、ranite buildings they found an undulating plain covered by a growth of yellow pines ten or fifteen feet high, without house or habitation. The only point of similarity was the snow, waist high. After strenuous efforts to get logs from the neighboring hills, a few rude huts were hastily thrown togeth

34、er, and then, at the end of three weeks, the soldiers fell to work with a will, building Fort Clinton under the direction of a splendid young French engineer by the name of de la Radire. The cold was most intense, but the men went up the river, cut the timber for the Fort, and assembled it so that w

35、hen the river was open, it might be floated down to the Point. Their hard daily toil was not relieved by any diversions in the evening, for West Point was a veritable wilderness. General Parsons, in writing to Colonel Wadsworth, said of West Point, “to a contemplative mind that delights in a lonely

36、retreat from the world tis as beautiful as Sharon, but affords to the man who loves the society of the world a prospect nearly allied to the shades of death. News arrives here by accident only.” The poor soldiers had to repair 5 night after night to their little log huts and get what pleasure they c

37、ould from one anothers society.The rigors of the winter and the hardships to which the Revolutionary soldiers were accustomed overwhelmed the delicate constitution of the brilliant young de la Radire. Unhappily, he contracted a severe cold that culminated in consumption from which he died the follow

38、ing mid-summer. Another European, attracted by the justice of the Revolutionary cause, succeeded de la Radire. Thaddeus Kosciusko, a Pole of education and culture, joined Parsonss officers, with whom he became a great favorite, not only on account of his engineering ability but by reason of his char

39、ming manners, soft and conciliating, and by the elevation of his mind. One officer wrote that he took much pleasure in accompanying Kosciusko with his theodolite measuring the heights of the surrounding mountains.Today Kosciuskos name is more familiar to West Pointers than de la Radires, for an ench

40、anting little garden, a tiny retreat hanging on to the cliff near the river, bears his name, and a monument, in the northeast corner of the Plain near Port Clinton that he helped build, commemorates his devotion to the Revolutionary cause.Kosciuskos presence and energy put new life into the work of

41、construction. Shortly afterwards, when orders came from Washington to expedite the completion of all of the forts, Parsons and Kosciusko, under the direction of Colonel 6 Rufus Putnam, immediately commenced excavations for Fort Putnam.2 The men now daily trudged up the small hill back of the Plain a

42、nd began making clearings for the forts foundation. It was hard laborious work, extremely fatiguing, and, to add to the mens discomfiture, they were greatly annoyed by large rattlesnakes with which the hill top seemed to swarm.While the land defenses were being so well prepared, steps were taken to

43、prevent enemy ships from passing up the Hudson. The topography of West Point and the adjacent country lent itself most admirably to the plan of obstructing the river.The Hudson, as it comes down from Newburgh a straight course of nine miles, strikes West Point, where it is deflected eastward for a q

44、uarter of a mile, flowing between Constitution Island and the steep cliffs of the Point before again turning south. Any British sailing vessel coming up the river from New York would, upon rounding Gees Point, lose a great deal of its speed on account of the swift current, and if stopped by some obs

45、truction could be held under the fire of the batteries on both shores. General Putnam, therefore, through his Quartermaster-General, contracted with the Sterling Iron Works of Noble, Townsend and Co., for an iron chain 500 feet long, each link about two feet long, to be made of the 7 best Sterling i

46、ron 2? inches square, with a swivel to every hundred feet and a clevis to every thousand feet, for which the government was to pay $440 for every ton weight of chain and anchors.3Photo White StudioArtillery Target PracticeThe chain was to obstruct the navigation of the river. It was stretched across

47、 the narrowest part on April 30, 1778, and fastened at West Point in the second small cove west of Gees Point, and on Constitution Island where the present small boathouse and landing-place stand. Very large logs, sixteen or more feet long, a little pointed at the ends to lessen opposition to the fo

48、rce of the water on flood and ebb, were used to buoy up the great weight of the obstruction. During the winter it was taken up, because the ice in the river was an effective blockade, but when spring came the work of 280 men was needed to lay it across the stream.Meanwhile, Kosciusko labored strenuo

49、usly on the forts, so that by June, 1778, the work on the fort in the northeast corner of the Plain begun by de la Radire in the January past, was completed and given the name of Fort Arnold. Later, when Benedict Arnold turned traitor, its name became Fort Clinton. A small portion of the wall stands today. Washington, on a visit to West Point in September, 1778, paid Kosciusko a great compliment, stating to General Duportail, 8