We fourth classmen now began to talk of June first, the day on which we would become yearlings and be admitted to the corps on equality with the other classmen; of the dropping of the Mr., of the shedding of our “plebe-skins” and how that great event should be celebrated; of how we would treat the next class, of which of us would be made corporals, of the hops, of the ladies who come up in June, and of other topics of vital interest to fourth classmen. At a class meeting we selected six hop managers, six being our share for the summer hops, and we selected them by ballot. There were no nominations, it having been decided that the six receiving the greatest number of votes should be elected, and I was not one of the six. About the twenty-fifth of May D Company vacated its quarters and they were put in order for the candidates, who reported in my day between the first and tenth of June; then they reported later in June, after the cadets had gone into camp. Now new cadets report March 1st.
The academic year practically closed on the 31st of May, and on the next day the battalion was to again appear in its summer clothes; that is, in white pants and gray coats. White pants are the forerunners of the many changes to soon occur at the Point; a class to be graduated, another to go on furlough, and the other two, with a new class added to the corps, to go into camp; the members of the Board of Visitors[41] and hundreds of other people to arrive, some to witness the graduating exercises, old graduates to attend their alumni meeting, others to see relatives in the corps, and still others to attend the summer hops. But with all these and other pleasures in store for the cadets about a dozen of the plebes were not satisfied. They knew that on the morrow candidates would begin to report, and that then they themselves would shed their plebe-skins, drop the Mr. and be full-fledged “yearlings.” In order to mark this great event in the life of a cadet at West Point we had months before decided upon doing something that no other yearlings had done. Away back in April, while at light battery drill, we “hived” some powder, by taking a little from a dozen or more cartridges, and we also “hived” some friction-primers. The night of May 31st was cloudy and hazy, which just suited us, and the tactical officers favored us by inspecting every room before midnight. At about half-past eleven we tied the handle of the angle door to an upright of the porch and fastened a rope to the posts at the head of the angle porch stairs, and then went one at a time out to the “reveille gun” that stood near execution hollow away out on the plain. We loaded that gun and then put in it all of our old socks and rammed the charge well. Some of our trusty party got cannon balls at Trophy Point and joined the others at the gun. We then wheeled the gun near the gravel walk in front of the barracks, and one of our party went on the grass to the right and another to the left. These two then made noises that attracted the attention of the two engineer sentinels posted at night on the gravel walk, and signaled that our coast was clear. We then rushed across the walk through the Sally Port and fired that gun in the area. At the same time the cannon balls were rolled along the porches in rear of barracks, then we hastened to our rooms, undressed and went to bed to await developments. Oh, what a dandy report that gun made; it shook the barracks and other buildings, too, and shattered windows all around. The cannon balls were also a great success, for they made a horrible rumbling sound. We awoke everybody. Lieutenant M⸺l was “officer in charge,” and we soon heard him tugging away at the angle door and then stumble against the clothesline that we had so thoughtfully put up for his special benefit. He called the “drummer orderly,” who slept in the guard-house and had long roll sounded. He questioned the cadet officers, but, of course, they knew nothing; then, as he himself had been a cadet, he made the new-born yearlings fall in and told them that the outrage had been committed by some of them, and that the guilty ones should be punished. He then said that all who had not taken part in the disgraceful affair could fall out and go to their quarters; the guilty ones trembled in their shoes, but soon recovered, for not a man fell out. The night was raw and chilly, but there the Lieutenant made us stand, first at attention, then at parade rest and then at attention again. The innocent were once more told to fall out, but not a man moved. We were then put into the guard-house and several of us obtained permission to go to our rooms for overcoats. Line was re-formed and B⸺ly directed to call the roll.