One day a misunderstanding arose between a yearling and a plebe that nothing but a fight could settle. Seconds and a referee were chosen, and they and others wishing to see the fight repaired to old Fort Clinton. The fight was begun and several rounds fought, when one of those present heard footsteps, and peeping through the brush he saw a blue uniform and gave the alarm. A stampede followed, and in a moment the whole party scaled the parapet, and almost tumbled over one another in their mad haste down toward Flirtation Walk, where trees and bushes covered their retreat. The referee declared the fight off. The principals respected one another’s fighting qualities and afterward became warm friends. The only one in the party that the officer recognized was B⸺p, the referee and a captain of my class, and for being present at the fight he was reduced to the ranks.
Cadet ________, Private 1st Class “B” Co., has permission to get a drawing table from the Engineering Drawing Room and keep it in his quarters until he finishes his drawing of Noizet’s Front, having been in the hospital and excused from attending recitations for over a week, he was not able to complete the drawing in the Academy.
Respectfully referred to the Professor of Engineering, By command of Col. _____________
In January, after the examinations were over, the daily papers informed us that the Secretary of War had written to the Superintendent saying that it was his intention to require the presence of the Corps of Cadets in Washington on March 4th next, on the occasion of the inauguration of the President-elect, a graduate of the Academy. The secretary did this because he was gratified by the conduct and marked improvement and bearing of the young gentlemen at the Academy, and he believed the duties which a trip of this kind would require them to perform would be a relaxation from the close confinement to which they were subjected at the Academy. Furthermore, he desired to show the people gathered at the Capitol from all parts of the country a body of young military men which he believed in discipline, drill and orderly appearance and the qualities that make a military cadet could not be surpassed.
In due time the necessary orders were issued, and with knapsacks on our backs we arrived in Washington on the 3d of March. We were quartered at the Ebbitt House, and in the afternoon gave a drill and dress parade before a large audience in front of the Arlington. In the evening we were given the freedom of the city, the Delinquency Book having been left at the Academy. On the 4th we joined the procession and took the post of honor at the head of the long column. We were without overcoats, and it was fearfully cold, too. Some of us wore double suits of underclothing, and as many pairs of white gloves as we could and hold on to our guns. Bands playing (ours at the head, too), banners and flags waving, bright eyes beaming upon us, and delicate hands applauding us as we marched on Pennsylvania avenue, made us forget all about overcoats. We stood in front of General Grant while the oath as President of the United States was administered to him. We then marched at the head of the procession along Pennsylvania avenue and passed General Grant on a reviewing stand in the White House grounds, where we fell out of the column and saw the balance of the procession pass. Next to the cadets came some battalions of U. S. Artillery, then the midshipmen from Annapolis, a battalion of U. S. Marines, then regiment after regiment of militia, then ex-Presidents and Vice-Presidents, the U. S. Supreme Court, U. S. Court of Claims, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, the U. S. Senators and Representatives, Foreign Ministers, Presidential Electors and tens of thousands more. Of all the military I was especially pleased to see the Second Connecticut, a magnificent body of well-drilled men, whose lines were perfect as they passed us, and extended from curb to curb.