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HISTORICAL SKETCH

01' THE

UNITED STATES ]\[AVAL ACADEMY,

PREPARED BY DIRECTION OF

REAR-ADMIRAL C. R.-P. RODGERS, U. S. N.,

SUPERINTENDENT U. S. NAVAL ACADEMY,
FOR THE

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AT THE
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1876.

PROFESSOR JAMES RUSSELL SOLEY, A. B.,

U. S. NAVY,

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH STUDIES, HISTORY, AND LAW, AT
THE U. S. NAVAL ACADEMY.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1876.

CON TENTS.

PART I.— HISTORICAL SKETCH.

^"AP. pAGE.

I. THE EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY 7

II. THE NAVAL SCHOOL— FIVE YEARS' COURSE 62

III. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION— SEVEN YEARS' COURSE 90

IV. FINAL ORGANIZATION — FOUR YEARS' COURSE 98

V. GROUNDS 114

VI. BUILDINGS 123

VII. LIBRARY 135

PART IL— THE NAVAL ACADEMY IN 1876.

I. ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION 139

II. EXAMINATION FOR ADMISSION 151

III. DEPARTMENTS AND COURSE OF INSTRUCTION 170

IV. PRACTICE CRUISES 216

V. RELICS AND TROPHIES 219

APPENDIX.
NOTE.

A. REPORT OF SECRETARY BRANCH, 1830 231

B. REPORT OF HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS, 1834 233

C. REPORT OF SECRETARY DICKERSON, 1835 237

D. REPORT OF SENATE COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS, 1836. .. 239

E. FIRST REGULATIONS OF NAVAL SCHOOL 241

F. SPECIMENS OF WORK OF CADETS, (PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY). 246

G. COMMANDER BUCHANAN'S PLAN OF A NAVAL SCHOOL 321

H. CLASSIFICATION OF BOOKS IN LIBRARY 324

I. LIST OF OFFICERS

J. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTICES 334

M7Q2795

PART I.

HISTORICAL SKETCH

CHAPTER I.

THE EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY.

Before the Navy Department was established by the act
of 1798, the Navy could hardly be said to have any inde
pendent existence. The acts of Congress had provided for a
small armament, and a body of officers proportioned to the
number of ships. The officers were selected from the mer
chant service, the upper grades being filled by those who had
served with distinction during the Revolution. The Navy
thus got a few commanders of tried ability and courage; and
most of the junior officers proved themselves brave men and
good seamen. As a beginning of the future organization,
eight midshipmen were placed on board each ship.* These
were appointed by the President from civil life, under no lim
itations as to agey education, or fitness, except what the
appointing authority saw fit to impose on itself. Most of
them had never been at sea before, and very few knew any
thing of either the theory or practice of navigation. Some
of them, like Decatur,t got help and instruction by attending
schools of navigation; but such cases were rare, and in gen-

* Act approved March 27, 1794; act approved July I, 1797.
t Mackenzie's Life of Decatur, p. 25, (in Sparks's Am. Biog.)

8 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

eral they had to pick up the necessary knowledge by noticing
what went on about them and by asking questions. They
became the pupils of the older officers, when the latter were
willing to teach them: but whatever education they got was
fragmentary and technical, and depended chiefly upon their
own efforts.

The Naval Regulations issued in 1802 assigned no particular
duties to the midshipmen,* but directed the commanding
officers to consider them as meriting in an especial degree the
fostering care of the Government. Commanders were to see
that the " schoolmasters " performed their duty toward the
midshipmen by "diligently and faithfully instructing them in
those sciences appertaining to their department;" while the
midshipmen, on their part, were to consider it a duty they
owed to their country " to employ a due portion of their time
in the study of naval tactics, and in acquiring a thorough and
extensive knowledge of all the various duties to be performed
on board of a ship of war."

The schoolmaster had for many years been a part of the
English naval organization; but as yet he did not exist in our
service. No provision had been made for schoolmasters in
the acts of Congress, and the reference here must be to the
chaplains, who at that time supplied their place. The same
regulations say elsewhere of the chaplain : f " He shall perform
the duty of a schoolmaster; and to that end he shall instruct
the midshipmen and volunteers in writing, arithmetic, and
navigation, and in whatsoever may contribute to render them
proficients. He is likewise to teach the other youths of the
ship, according to such orders as he shall receive from the
captain. He is to be diligent in his office, and such as are

* Naval Regulations issued by command of the President, January 25,
1802, p. 23.

t Page iS—Of the Duties of a Chaplain.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NATY.

idle must be represented to the captain, who shall take due
notice thereof."*

The system of giving instruction on board of cruising-ships,
imperfect at the best, was barren of results where the chap
lains were the teachers. The duty had no necessary connec
tion with their profession, and the subjects they were compelled
to teach were wholly foreign to their training and studies.
They were appointed without any reference to their fitness
for this work, and their qualifications for the place of teacher
of navigation were not submitted to any test ; they had no

* Taken, with modifications, from the English regulations, as will be
seen by the following extract from the "Regulations and Instructions re
lating to His Majesty's Service at Sea," London, 1734, p. 136:

"The Schoolmaster.

"ARTICLE I.

"No Person shall be warranted to serve as a Schoolmaster in any of
His Majesty's Ships, who has not been first examined before the Master,
Wardens, and Assistants of the Trinity-House of Dcbtford-Strond, and
produced a Certificate, under their Hands, of his being well skilled in
the Theory and Practice of the Art of Navigation, and qualified to teach
Youth therein ; and another, under the Hands of Persons of known
Credit, testifying the Sobriety of his Life and Conversation.

"II.

" He is to employ his Time on board in instructing the Voluntiers in
Writing, Arithmetic, and the Study of Navigation, and in whatsoever
may contribute to render them Artists in that Science.

"III.

" He is likewise to teach the other Youths of the Ship according to such
Orders as he shall receive from the Captain, and with Regard to their
several Capacities, whether in Reading, Writing, or otherwise.

"IV.

" He is to be early every Morning at the Place of Teaching, and to
represent the Names of such as are idle, or averse to Learning, to the
Commander, in order to his taking Course for their Correction." •

io THE NA VAL ACADEMY. PART I.

examination before appointment like that which the school
masters of the old English navy had to pass before the
master and wardens of the Trinity House. It was only in
cases of fortunate accident that they knew anything about
the subject before they were called upon to teach it. Except
as far as their calling presupposed a liberal education, they
were no better fitted for the work than any other officer of
the ship. They might help out what was wanting in the
rudimentary training of the midshipmen, but they were in no
way qualified to make them " artists," or even "proficients," in
their profession.

Notwithstanding the faults of this system, it continued in
force for many years with only slight modifications. The
act of January 2, 1813,* authorizing the construction of
four seventy-four-gun ships, provided that each of them
should carry a schoolmaster, appointed by the captain, with
a pay of $25 per month. Each ship had twenty midshipmen,
who were under the instruction of the schoolmaster. In
1816, again, ten seventy-fours were authorized,! and the pro
vision of the act of 1813, in regard to the number and grade
of officers, applied to them, in the absence of special legisla
tion.

This change, slight as it was, was a change rather for the
worse. In the first place, the professional teachers were lim
ited to the line-of-battle ships, and the midshipmen who went
to sea in a vessel of any smaller class had to get what they
might from the chaplain ; the old regulation in regard to the
duties of that officer continuing still in force with very slight
changes.J Moreover, the compensation was so small that

* Statutes at Large, 2, 789.

t Act of April 29, 1816. Statutes at Large, 3, 321.
t See Naval Regulations of 1818, American State Papers, Naval Affairs,
i> 532.

CHAP; I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. It

only an inferior class of men could be obtained for the service.
The schoolmasters held a very subordinate position on board
the ship, being quartered either with the warrant-officers, or with
their pupils, the midshipmen ; and their pay ceased when the
cruise was finished. Under such circumstances no teacher of
ability would be found who would give up higher compensa
tion on shore, and submit to the confinement of the ship, the
restraints of military discipline, and the discomforts of a sea-
voyage.

The Hon. William Jones, who was Secretary of the Navy
during President Madison's administration, saw the necessity
of some improvement in the system of instruction, and made
a recommendation accordingly, in a communication addressed
to the Senate, in regard to the re-organization of the Navy.*
He said : " I would suggest the expediency of providing by
law for the establishment of a naval academy, with suitable
professors, for the instruction of the officers of the Navy in
those branches of the mathematics and experimental phi
losophy, and in the science and practice of gunnery, theory
of naval architecture, and art of mechanical drawing, which
are necessary to the accomplishment of the naval officer."

This recommendation evidently had in view a school or
college which should do for the Navy what the West Point
Academy had already begun to do for the Army. The
Military Academy, founded in 1802, was then in full opera
tion. There was no good reason why a naval academy
should not have been established at the same time, and the
plan was certainly proposed. In a report t made by the Sec
retary of War, James McHenry, in 1800, submitting apian
for a military academy, he mentioned four schools — a funda
mental school, a school of engineers and artillerists, a school

* November 15, 1814. American State Papers, Naval Affairs, I, 320.

t American State Papers, Military Affairs, I, 133.

1 2 THE NA VAL A CA DEMY. FART I.

of cavalry and infantry, and a school of the Navy. The
last was to have a director, a professor of mathematics, a
professor of geography and natural philosophy, an archi
tect, and a drawing master. It was to teach those ap
pointed to or destined for the Navy " the application of the
knowledge acquired in the fundamental school in arithmetic,
algebra, geometry, statics, and navigation. To this end,
after having passed examination, (sic) they shall make voy
ages or cruises, under skillful officers, for certain periods,
during which time they ought to be exercised in the maneu
vers and observations most useful in service, and be in
structed in whatever respects rigging of vessels of war,
pilotage, and the management of cannon."

The main defect of this plan, otherwise a good one, was
the union of the schools for two dissimilar branches of the
service, necessarily controlled by different departments of
the Government, upon one foundation — a sort of military
university, where all branches of the art of war might be
taught in the various schools. It is a question whether this
would not have seriously interfered with the efficiency of the
institution. At any rate, it was not adopted. In the acad
emy which grew out of the plan, as is well known, there was
no provision for the training of naval officers, and the Army
from that time enjoyed an incalculable advantage in the
systematic training of its cadets, — an advantage which, for
more than forty years, was denied to the Navy.

If the friends of the Navy who were in high official posi
tions in the early part of this century had understood the
wants of the service, and had pressed them upon the atten
tion of Congress with the earnestness shown by the advocates
of a military academy, the Naval School would perhaps have
been founded at the same time ; or, on the other hand, greater
demands might have been thought extravagant, and might

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. l^

have killed the whole project. The Navy, at that time, had
had no opportunity of fighting its way into popularity, and
any step looking to its increase or improvement was bitterly
opposed by the anti-federalists, then and long afterward the
party in power. When the nation, rather than expend a
reasonable sum for the building of frigates, was willing to
give away a far greater amount in the shape of a disgraceful
tribute to the Barbary Powers, to secure exemption from
piratical depredations, it is not extraordinary that no move
ment was made toward the foundation of a school solely for
the benefit of naval officers. At that time many men doubt
less thought and hoped that the prosperity of the United
States was in no way dependent upon a Navy, and that the
existing establishment might presently be abolished. They
had not yet learned the fact that a nation with a large com
merce is bound to do its part in maintaining the police of
the ocean ; and they made the fatal mistake of supposing
that, upon the outbreak of a war, a navy could be built to
order, and an efficient maritime force organized, with the ease
and rapidity with which a militia is transformed into a body
of combatants. Hence, in 1802, the Navy was not generally
looked upon as a permanent organization.

After the war with Tripoli, popular and official prejudices
gave way to some extent. In 1808, Col. Jonathan Williams,
the senior officer of the Corps of Engineers, made a report
of the progress of the Military Academy,* in which he sug
gested its removal to Washington, and advised the appoint
ment of a professor of mathematics, with assistants, who
should teach, among other things, nautical astronomy, geog
raphy, and navigation. In this he clearly had in view the
education of naval officers, some of whom were afterwards
taken from the graduates of West Point. The President

T American htate JPapers, Military Affairs, I, 228.

14 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

transmitted Colonel Williams's report to Congress, with a
message, in which he said : " The idea of removing the insti
tution to this place is worthy of attention. Besides the
advantage of placing it under the immediate eye of the
Government, it may render its benefits common to the Naval
Department."

The message was referred to a committee in the Senate,
and ten days later a bill was reported ; but, after being twice
considered and postponed, it was finally laid aside for other
business.*

In a plan for a peace establishment of the Navy, pre
pared in compliance with a resolution of the House of Rep
resentatives by Secretary Thompson, he said : t "Although
perhaps not falling strictly within the scope of the resolution,
yet the present affords a fit opportunity of suggesting the
importance of establishing a naval academy for the instruc
tion of our young officers in the sciences connected with
their profession. As this is intended as a mere suggestion of
a measure deserving consideration, I have not thought proper
to present any plan for carrying it into effect. This may be
done hereafter should the measure meet with a favorable
reception ; nor is it deemed fit for me, at this time, to urge
the many considerations which will readily occur to all liberal
and enlightened minds in favor of such an institution."

Mr. Southard, who succeeded Mr. Thompson at the head
of the Navy Department, and who filled the office for six
years with great ability, never ceased to urge upon Congress
the importance of the step proposed by his predecessor. He
pointed out clearly the defects of the existing system. In

* Anuals of Congress, Tenth Congress, first session, I, pp. 171, 176,
36J.

t American State Papers, Naval Affairs, I, 816. Communicated to the
House of Representatives, December 10, 1822.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. rr

his report on the plan for a peace establishment, made Jan
uary 24, 1824,* he said: "A great portion of the science of
naval commanders can be acquired only on the ocean, and
by years of labor and discipline. It is vain to hope for a
triumphant defence of our national interests and character
there without we thoroughly train, educate, and discipline
those who have to fight our battles. To insure such a defence
beyond hazard, it is confidently believed that the nation will
cheerfully meet the requisite expense. Connected with this
point it is not improper to suggest that the early education
of most of our officers is very unequal to the character they
have subsequently to sustain, and that an effectual remedy
can be found only in the establishment of a naval school."
In another place in the same report he said : "Schoolmasters
are proposed for the two highest rates of vessels, and, as we
have yet no school for the instruction of young officers, and
as the duties of the chaplains, both as clergymen and teachers,
demand purity of character, enlargement of mind, and scien
tific attainments, a higher salary would be useful to secure
the services of those who are worthy of the station."

In his annual report on the condition of the Navy, made
December i, 1824,! he said: "Several laws seem necessary
to render the establishment economical and efficient; but
especially some provision should be made for the education
and instruction of the younger officers. We have now the
light of experience on this point in the Army, and its salutary
effects are very manifest. Instruction is not less necessary to
the Navy than to the Army."

One month later, in a special report \ to the President in
regard to alterations in the organization of the. Navy, Secre-

* American State Papers, Naval Affairs, i, 907.
t American State Papers, Naval Affairs, i, 1003.
t January i, 1825. American State Papers, Naval Affairs, 2, 44.

1 6 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART i.

tary Southard pressed yet more earnestly upon the attention-
of Congress the want of a naval school: "There is still
another alteration which, in my opinion, ought to be made,,
and which is even more important than those already men
tioned, to promote discipline, efficiency, and economy, and
to prevent the recurrence of courts-martial in the service —
the establishment of an academy, or providing in some
effectual mode for the instruction of the young officers. These
are taken from the poor, who have not the means of a good
education, as well as the rich, who have. They enter, from
the nature of the duties, at so early an age that they cannot
be accomplished, or even moderately accurate, scholars.
They are constantly employed on shipboard or in our navy-
yards, where much advancement in learning cannot be ex
pected. -Their pay will afford them a support, but no means
of literary improvement. The consequence necessarily is,
and such is well known to be the fact, that very many advance
in age and rise in grade much less cultivated and informed
than their own reputation and that of the country require.
For this evil there is but one remedy, and that is to be found in
the wisdom and beneficence of the Government, from which
they receive their offices, and to whose honor and interest
they are devoted. It is the formation of a school which
shall combine literary with professional instruction; a compe
tent portion of common learning with a profound knowledge
of everything connected with military science, seamanship,
and navigation; the theory with the practice of their profes
sion. The considerations which urge respect for this recom
mendation are connected with everything which the nation
has to hope from the naval establishment. They may be
glanced at, but cannot be suitably discussed, in this report.
The situation of our country, the nature of its territory and
its coasts, the extent of its commerce, the character of its insti-

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. ^

tutions and its political connections, all point unerringly to
that establishment as the security for its peace and honor. It
no longer remains a debatable question whether we shall
look to the Navy as one of the means by which our interests
are to be most cheaply and most securely protected. It has
been settled by a course of events which have carried the
nation forward to a point where, on this subject, it has scarcely
the liberty to choose. It has interests to protect and duties
to discharge which it cannot, if it would, disregard.

" The problem now to be solved by it is in what mode our
naval means may be commanded most surely, and with the
least possible burden, combining most efficiency with the
smallest expense.

"The answer is believed to be plain. By giving to our
officers the greatest amount of science and skill, by fitting all
to command the vessels we may choose to build and the sea
men we may be enabled to enlist. By these means, and these
only, may we, in times of quiet, keep in employment as small
a number of vessels as our commerce may absolutely require;
and yet, at the moment of trouble, swell it to the full extent
which our protection may demand and the number of our
seamen will permit; the latter being the only limit which can
be placed to our naval power. It is not, however, in this
circumstance alone that well-instructed officers will induce
economy. The better instructed and more intelligent an
officer is, the more skillfully and precisely, and, of course, the
more economically, will he perform the duties assigned him.
Ignorance is always, skill never, prodigal. There is no busi
ness, profession, or occupation in the circle of society to which
this principle applies with more energy than to our naval
establishment. Discipline and efficiency, also, necessarily
result from the same cause. Educated in such a school as it
becomes the Government to establish, moral principles are
secured, good habits formed, subordination learned, honorable

jg THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

feelings encouraged and confirmed, skill acquired, science and
discipline necessarily combined.

"The illustration of these truths is before us in another
branch of our national defence, to which the favor of the
Government has been extended; and the suggestion will be
pardoned that no sound argument can be urged in its favor
which does not receive additional force from the situation in
which the Navy is placed, and the interests and hopes which
are connected with it.

" Our future national conflicts are to rest principally on it,
come when they may. It is also the bearer of our honor
and our fame to every foreign shore. The American naval
officer is, in fact, the representative of his country in every
port to which he goes, and by him is that country in a greater
or less degree estimated. With a well-regulated national
pride, this consideration alone should insure him ample means
of instruction and improvement.

"A school, to be useful to the Navy, must combine theory
with practice. It must, therefore, be located where the
attention may be directed to the construction, equipment,
armament, and sailing of vessels. Governor's Island, in the
harbor of New York, seems to be well fitted for all these
objects. The buildings and improvements already upon it,
with slight alterations and repairs, would probably be sufficient
for present accommodation; and if the public interests would
permit its transfer for a time from the War to the Navy
Department, and an appropriation were made of $10,000
for the support of instructors, the school might be put into
operation with very little delay, and its permanent location
be hereafter determined."

In response to these recommendations, a resolution was
introduced in the House early in the session* by Mr. Liv-

* Januar} 3, 1825. Gales & Seaton's Register of Debates, i, pp.
112, II3, 127.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. ^

ingston, of Louisiana, calling for a committee to consider the
expediency of establishing a naval academy. It was briefly
discussed, and excited little interest. The next day it was
called up again, and meeting with a slight opposition and
only a feeble support, the question was put and lost.

Notwithstanding this failure, the Secretary returned to the
attack again at the beginning of the next session. In his
report* of December 2, 1825, he said: " Without an organi
zation of some kind, without a revision of our penal code
and of our rules and regulations, and without a naval school,
tardy amendments may be made in the naval service and in
its administration, but it is in vain to hope for speedy, useful,
and very practical changes. The power of the Department
is unequal to such objects.".

This report was sent to Congress among the executive
documents accompanying the first annual message of Presi
dent John Quincy Adams, who had come into office in the
preceding March. He had held consultations with the Sec
retary on the subject,! and was firmly convinced of the im
portance of the measure and of the benefits that would result
to the naval service. He made special reference to it in the
message, and urged the necessity of immediate action. Al
luding to the early organization of the Navy, he showed very
clearly how the service had been left to develop of itself, and
how little systematic attention had been paid to its growing
wants. He said : f

" Our Navy commenced at an early period of our political
organization, upon a scale commensurate with the incipient
energies, the scanty resources, and the comparative indigence
of our infancy, and was then found adequate to cope with

* American State Papers, Naval Affairs, 2, 98.

t Memoirs of J. Q. Adams, by C. F. Adams, 7, pp. 57, 9°-

t Gales & Seaton's Register of Debates, ii, part 2, p. 6 of Appendix.

20 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

all the powers of Barbary, save the first, and with one of the
principal maritime powers of Europe. But it is only since
the close of the late war that, by the number and force of
the ships of which it is composed, it could deserve the name
of a Navy. Yet it retains nearly the same organization as
when it consisted only of five frigates. The rules and regu
lations by which it is governed earnestly call for revision,
and the want of a naval school of instruction, correspond
ing with the Military Academy at West Point, for the forma
tion of scientific and accomplished officers, is felt with daily
increasing aggravation."

About two months after the opening of the session,* Mr.
Storrs, of the Naval Committee of the House, reported a bill
for the establishment of a naval school. It proposed that
the President should fix the location of the school on any of
the lands held by the United States for military or naval
purposes ; that he should appoint one professor of natural
and experimental philosophy, one professor of mathematics
and navigation, one teacher of geography and history, and
one of French and Spanish, and one fencing-master ; for all
of which an appropriation was made, the amount of which
was to be fixed. Later in the session the same or a similar
bill was introduced in the Senate,t but neither of them came
to anything. Congress showed itself still apathetic in regard
to the whole subject.

About the time when these bills were under consideration, in
January, 1826, a resolution was adopted by the Maryland
House of Delegates, in session at Annapolis, which is of curi
ous interest in connection with the history of the Academy.
It was as follows :

"Resolved by the general assembly of Maryland, That our

* January 20, 1826. In Gales & Seaton's Register of Debates, ii,
p. 1055, the text of the bill is given in full.
tMay 8, 1826. Gales & Seaton, ii, 696.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. 2I

Senators and Representatives in Congress be, and they are
hereby, requested to call the attention of their respective
houses to the superior advantages which the city of Annapolis
and its neighborhood possesses as a situation for a naval acad
emy, and that they use their best exertions in favor of the
establishment of such an institution."

This resolution was communicated to the Senate February
7, 1826, and would doubtless have had some effect in fixing
the locality had the school been established ; though the de
cision in favor of Annapolis in 1845 had no connection with it.

In the second annual message, December 5, 1826, the
President again suggested the expediency of establishing a
school, together with other improvements in the naval organ
ization. By this time the attention of Congress, or at least
of the Naval Committees, had become aroused, and a bill
for the gradual improvement of the Navy was introduced in
the Senate,* embracing several measures, and especially the
foundation of an academy. It was wider in its scope than the
bill of the last session, and less specific in its details, giving am
pler powers to the President, and leaving more to his discretion.
It met with warm opposition, and led to many spirited de
bates, in which the proposed academy was advocated with
great eloquence and ability by Robert Y. Hayne, of South
Carolina, the projector of the bill, and by others, especially
General William H. Harrison, Asher Robbins, of Rhode
Island, and Samuel Smith, of Maryland. It passed the Sen
ate, but the House made several amendments, one of which,
to strike out the clauses relating to the academy, was carried
by a vote of 86 to 78. The Senate refused to agree to' any of
the amendments, except the one mentioned, which was carried
by a vote of 22 to 21. The House finally yielded the other

* February 15, 1827. Gales & Seaton, iii, 348, 379, 501, 506-524,
1363, 1500.

2 2 THE NA VAL ACADEMY, PART!.

points, and the bill in its modified form became a law. But
for this majority of one in the Senate, the academy might
now be in its fiftieth instead of its thirtieth year of existence.

At the opening of the next Congress, Secretary Southard
again "respectfully but earnestly" presented the subject of
a naval school to the consideration of the Government. He
said : * " The reason for the preference of the Army over the
Navy in this respect is not perceived;" a statement which no
one could controvert. The President in his message reiter
ated with still greater emphasis the old arguments :t

" The establishment of a naval academy, furnishing the
means of theoretic instruction to the youths who devote their
lives to the service of their country upon the ocean, still
solicits the sanction of the Legislature. Practical seamanship
and the art of navigation may be acquired upon the cruises
of the squadrons which, from time to time, are dispatched
to different seas ; but a competent knowledge even of the art
of ship-building, the higher mathematics, and astronomy ; the
literature which can place our officers on a level of polished
education with the officers of other maritime nations ; the
knowledge of the laws, municipal and national, which, in their
intercourse with foreign states and their governments, are
continually called into operation ; and, above all, that ac
quaintance with the principles of honor and justice, with the
higher obligations of morals, and of general laws, human and
divine, which constitute the great distinction between the
warrior-patriot and the licensed robber and pirate ; these can
be systematically taught and eminently acquired only in a
permanent school, stationed upon the shore, and provided
with the teachers, the instruments, and the books adapted to

*American State Papers, Naval Affairs, 3, p. 54.

t Third Annual Message, December 4, 1827. Gales & Seaton, ii, p.
2784.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. 2^

the communication of the principles of these respective sci
ences to the youthful and inquiring mind."

No action followed the message, and the Navy remained
without a school. In 1829, when Jackson became President,
John Branch succeeded Southard as Secretary of the Navy.
In two successive reports he called attention to the want of
a school, but without success. In the first annual report on
the condition of the Navy,* December i, 1829, he brought
forward some new arguments in its favor. " The establish
ment of schools for the junior officers of the Navy, in the
various branches of science appertaining to their profession
has so often been recommended to the favorable considera
tion of Congress, and has so uniformly been passed by with
out obtaining their sanction, that it is with reluctance that the
•subject is again introduced to their notice. A firm belief,
however, that its tendency would be to qualify them for a
•better discharge of the high trust, which may, at some future
day, devolve upon them in their capacities as commanders,
forms a sufficient motive for renewing the recommendation.
It has been remarked by a naval officer of much experience
and observation that no inconvenience in the Navy is more
sensibly felt than the general ignorance of the officers of
foreign languages, in addition to which there is often great
difficulty in procuring competent and proper persons to act in
their ships of war as interpreters and linguists ; nor has any
allowance ever been made by Congress for the pay and sub
sistence of such persons. The perplexities and disadvantages
under which our officers are placed by these circumstances
may readily be conceived. They are brought into contact
during their cruises with nations speaking different languages ;
subject to be drawn into correspondence with the authorities
•of different places ; under the necessity often to board vessels

* American State Papers, Naval Affairs, 3, p. 350.

2 4 THE NA VA L A CA DEM } '. PART I .

of other nations for the purpose of examining their papers
and documents; and often without the ability to understand
their import and tendency. In time of war valuable prizes
are lost from an inability to translate their papers and to de
tect covered property and simulated documents ; unnecessary
and illegal detentions of vessels are made, and consequent
damages obtained from the Government.

" The schools which have been employed at New York*
and Norfolk in the instruction of midshipmen in the element
ary branches of mathematics have been mere temporary
arrangements made by the Department, and have never
been fostered or recognized by law. Their introduction into
use has not been effected by means very regular or direct,
but they have been tolerated by Government, having been
found useful, notwithstanding the very limited range of
instruction afforded by them. It is respectfully proposed
that, until some better system can be matured, these schools
be authorized by law, and that such appropriation be made
for their extension and support as will enable young officers
to acquire a knowledge of such foreign languages as may be
important for them to possess in the future pursuit of their
profession."

In his next annual reportt Secretary Branch used the same
strong arguments, dwelling specially upon the necessity of
giving naval officers a thorough training in international
law and in the law of courts-martial; and he contrasted
forcibly the elaborate school which had been given to the
Army, with the pitiful provision of twenty-five dollars per
month allowed to the schoolmasters on board the larger
ships of war; but all to no purpose.

*The Naval Register for the years 1827 and 1828 mentions nine chap
lains in the .service, and one of them is specified as being on duty at the
"naval school, New York."

t See Appendix A, where the extract is given in full.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY.

Three years afterwards, when Secretary Woodbury was at
the head of the Navy Department, " A bill relative to naval
schools" was introduced in the House by the Naval Commit
tee.* The object of the bill was not to establish any new sys
tem of instruction, but to make the existing system more effi
cient. It appears from the report of the committee that there
were at this time three " naval schools,"! as they were called,
in existence, connected with the navy-yards at Boston, New
York, and Norfolk. Attached to each were one or two instruct
ors and a few pupils. The Department had lately issued an
order (so called in the report, but more properly a suggestion) to
all midshipmen not otherwise employed to repair to one of these
schools to receive instruction ; but as there was no provision
for allowing them traveling expenses, few had taken advan
tage of it. This difficulty the new bill proposed to remove,.

* See Appendix B for report of committee and draught of bill.
t See American State Papers, Naval Affairs, 4, 486.

Statement of the actual condition of the naval schools as at present or
ganized, the mtmber and character of the professors employed, of youths
instructed, and the annual expenditures to maintain them, December,
1833-

Number and character of
professors.

Number of
youths in
structed.

Annual expenses.

General remarks.

Pay,&c.

Contingencies.

BOSTON.

One teacher of mathematics
and languages.

$981 75

1 Small amount
for books, in-

Since the late
order the num

NEW YORK.

One teacher of mathemat- ")
ics.
One teacher of languages. J

981 75
"662 50

i struments,and
1 stationery.
Quarters o r
• rooms are fur

bers wi}l,atthe-
\ endofthisquar-
ter, probably
be more than

NORFOLK.

nished in re

doubled.

One teacher of mathematics

981 75

ceiving-ships.

26 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

as well as that which arose from the want of competent
teachers and from the low rate of compensation. It provided
that the chaplains and schoolmasters should receive $1,200
a year, and that the former should be required, in addition
to the duties now imposed upon them, to instruct the junior
officers in mathematics, in natural and moral philosophy, in
history, and in such other branches of science as might be
deemed by the Secretary best calculated to advance the in
terests of the service. •

The tendency of this measure was to increase the faults of
the old system, by giving the chaplain more work that was
foreign to his profession, about which even the best chaplain
could not be presumed to know much. Teaching was still
to be given largely at sea ; and the shore-schools were to be
carried on without any uniform system or careful supervision.
The bill failed to meet with hearty support, even from the
Secretary, and it led to nothing.

Next year, however, one feature of it was adopted — that
relating to the pay of instructors. In the act to regulate the
pay of the Navy,* the compensation of professors of mathe
matics, when attached to vessels for sea-service, or in a yard,
was fixed at $1,200; and from this period dates the first
connection of some of the more eminent men of that corps
with the service. Secretary Dickerson, in his report f on the
condition of the Navy in the following December, spoke 01
the importance of the change, and of the regulations which
had been adopted with a view to getting the best men for
the vacant professorships. He pointed to the need of an
institution, and suggested sending a class of 100 midshipmen
to West Point to receive scientific instruction. This sug
gestion was never acted upon ; the schools were continued

* Approved March 3, 1835, Statutes at Large, 4.
t See Appendix C for extract in full.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. 2j

Sit the navy -yards, and schoolmasters (or professors, as they
were usually called) were ordered to sea. The number of
teachers was not fixed by law, and it varied according to the
wants of the service and the balance of the contingent fund
of the naval appropriation.*

The inducements of higher pay secured the services of
good men as teachers, but they had no better opportunities
than their predecessors. They continued to be the compan
ions of their pupils, until by a special act of Congress,t passed
solely for this purpose in 1842, it was provided that professors
of mathematics in the Navy should be entitled to live and
mess with the lieutenants of sea-going and receiving vessels.

Before this time the officers of the Navy had themselves
set on foot a movement to bring the wants of the service to
the notice of Congress. A meeting of officers was held on
board the U. S. S. Constitution, and an earnest protest was sent
to the Secretary of the Navy. The resolutions were signed by
fifty-five officers, several of whom are still in the service, and
among them the present Vice-Admiral of the Navy. The
report of the proceedings, transmitted to the Senate April
23, 1836, is given in full : J

" At a meeting of the commissioned and warrant officers
of the United States Ship Constitution, held on board for the
purpose of concerting measures to effect the establishment of
a naval academy, the following preamble and resolutions
were unanimously agreed to :

" Whereas, having ever felt the most ardent desire to prose
cute successfully the profession to which we are devoted, to
advance the interests of the Navy, and to perpetuate* the
commercial prosperity of our common country, consigned in

* The table given on page — will show the extent of this variation.

t Approved August 31, 1842.

t From the copy in American State Papers, Naval Affairs, 4, 884.

28 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

part to our safe-keeping; and taught by the experience of the
past that neither industry nor talent can spare the advantages
offered by early education, earnestly desirous of the means of
securing it, and deploring the inadequacy of the existing
system to accomplish either the object of the Government or
to meet our heartfelt wishes for professional instruction, and
believing, as we do, that a respectful representation of the
anxious hopes which the entire Navy have ventured to indulge
for so many years, and to the consummation of which they
look with the deepest interest, will receive the consideration
to which so excellent an object is entitled, and find from
liberal authorities that indulgence which is ever acceded to
generous aspirations and laudable exertions; we have, there
fore,

" i. Resolved, That we deem education to be of peculiar
importance to the sea-officer, and that amid the progressive
improvements in the arts and sciences which distinguish the
present age the military marine would be most conspicuous
if guided in its advance by the lights of education.

" 2. Resolved, That we look to the establishment of a naval
school as the only means of imparting to the officers of the
Navy that elementary instruction in scientific knowledge
which at the present day has become almost indispensable
to the military seaman.

" 3. Resolved, That from circumstances arising in part from
professional causes, the ship's schoolmaster can rarely, if ever,
impart such elementary or scientific knowledge, or advance
the education of the naval officer, and that were the office
absolutely abolished (of so little utility is it) that no evil
would arise therefrom.

"4. Resolved, That believing the expense incurred by Gov
ernment in providing ships' schoolmasters and professors of
mathematics for the benefit of the junior officers of the Navy

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. 2g

(and from which little or no advantage is derived) would
liberally sustain a scientific institution, we should see with
pleasure said funds directed to the establishment and sup
port of a naval school.

" 5. Resolved, That copies of these proceedings be furnished
to the Secretary of the Navy, with a request that he will
lend his countenance and support to our undertaking.

" 6. Resolved, That we will severally and collectively use
our most strenuous exertions to effect an object so dear to
us, and which promises to confer so much dignity upon the
Navy, so much honor on our beloved country.

" 7. Resolved, That a committee of ten be appointed to
take charge of the subject, and conduct it to its final dis
position.

" 8. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy be requested
to lay a copy of the foregoing resolutions before the Presi
dent of the United States, and that a copy of them be sent
to the chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs in the
Senate and in the House of Representatives.

"J. B. MONTGOMERY, Lieutenant.

"F. ELLERY, Lieutenant.

"ISAAC BRINCKERHOFF, Assistant Surgeon.

" EDW. C. RUTLEDGE, Lieutenant.

" G. F. PEARSON, Lieutenant.

"JAMES FERGUSON, Master.

" THOMAS THEO. SLOAN, Lieutenant Marines.

"*LEVIN MYNN POWELL, Lieutenant, (now Rear- Admiral.}

"THOMAS I. BOYD, Surgeon.

"JAMES EVERETT, Chaplain.

" HENRY ETTING, Purser.

"JOS. L. C. HARDY, Lieutenant U. S. M. C.

"MONTGOMERY LEWIS, Passed Midshipman.

" J. W. REVERE, Passed Midshipman.

" CHAS. CRILLON BARTON, Passed Midshipman.

* The names starred are those of officers still in the service.

30 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

"JAMES B. LEWIS, Midshipman.

"R. LLOYD TILGHMAN, Midshipman.

"JNO. N. MAFFIT, Midshipman.

" GEO. T. SINCLAIR, Midshipman.

"GEO. W. RANDOLPH, Midshipman.

"JOHN F. MERCER, Passed Midshipman.

"* FRANCIS S. HAGGERTY, Midshipman, (now Captain.}

"B. F. SHATTUCK, Midshipman.

"*JOHN M. BERRIEN, Passed Midshipman, (now Commodore.}

"JAMES L. HENDERSON, Passed Midshipman.

" JAMES W. COOKE, Passed Midshipman.

"* WILLIAM RONCKENDORFF, Midshipman, (now Commo
dore. )

"E. E. ROGERS, Midshipman.

"* STEPHEN D. TRENCHARD, Midshipman, (now Rear-Ad
miral.*)

"A. H.UBLEY JENKINS, Midshipman.

"W. T. MUSE, Passed Midshipman.

"JAMES F. DUNCAN, Passed Midshipman.

"FREDERICK OAKES, JR., Passed Midshipman.

"W. C. NICHOLSON, Lieutenant.

" F. A. NEVILLE, Lieutenant.

""CHARLES STEEDMAN, Passed Midshipman, (now Rear- Ad
miral.}

" FRANCIS P. HOBAN, Midshipman.

""WILLIAM RADFORD, Passed Midshipman, (ncnu Rear-Ad
miral.')

"ROBERT WOODWORTH, Assistant Surgeon.

"The undersigned, officers of the United States ship Van-
dalia, concur entirely in the above preamble and resolutions.

" THOMAS T. WEBB, Master, Commandant.

" ISAAC N. BROWN. Midshipman.

"EDWIN A. DRAKE, Midshipman.

"*R. N. STEMBEL, Midshipman, (now Rear-Admiral.)

"FAYETTE MEYNARD, Midshipman.

"*S. C. ROWAN, Acting Master, (now Vice- Admiral of the Navy.}-

"WILLIAM M. WALKER, Passed Midshipman.

"C. A. HASSLER, Assistant Surgeon.

"E. T. DOUGHTY, Lieutenant.^

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. ^

" THOS. W. GUMMING, Midshipman.

"WILLIAM PLUMSTEAD, Surgeon.

"E. MUSSON, Midshipman.

" FRANCIS ALEXANDER, Midshipman.

"M. C. WATKINS, Midshipman.

" WILLIAM SMITH, Lieutenant.

"JAMES BROOKS, Purser:'1

The resolutions were transmitted by the Secretary of the
Navy to Congress, and the Naval Committee of the Senate,
of which Ex-Secretary Southard was a prominent member,
made a favorable report.* The report was similar in argu
ment and expression to many of the reports made by South
ard on the same subject when Secretary; but, like so many
earlier efforts at legislation, it failed to produce any result,
partly from party opposition, and partly from a dread of the
expense it might possibly entail upon the Government.

In 1838 the Secretary of the Navy, J. K. Paulding, in his
annual report, dated November 30, again mentioned the
subject :

" The subject of a naval academy has been more than once
presented for consideration. Such an institution is earnestly
desired by the officers of the Navy, and it is believed would
greatly conduce to the benefit of the service generally. The
propriety of affording young midshipmen the means and
opportunities for the acquisition of that knowledge and those
sciences which are either absolutely necessary or highly use
ful to their profession, would seem to have been recognized
by Congress in the liberal provision for teachers and profess
ors of mathematics on board our ships of war and at the
principal navy-yards. Those, however, who have had- the
best opportunities for observing the practical operation of
this system are of opinion that it does not answer the pur-

* May 16, 1836. See Appendix D.

32 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

poses for which it was intended, and that other and more
effectual means are required."

In March, 1839, the first appropriation was made for build
ing three steam-vessels for the Navy.* This was the begin
ning of a change in the motive-power of vessels that was
destined to revolutionize the methods of naval warfare and
the character of the naval profession. The skillful handling
of a ship under sail was the chief accomplishment of the old
sea-captain, and could be learned nowhere so well as on the
deck of the vessel itself; and a certain period of sea-training
early in life was necessary to make a successful officer. By
the introduction of steam, though practical seamanship was
still an essential, other things were superadded with which a
naval officer must be familiar if he would assist instead of
retarding the development of his profession. The progress
of science was to have a new interest and a new importance
for him. Hence, if the school was a want of the service
before, it now became a necessity. Though schoolmasters
might have been able to teach young officers something
of the theory of navigation at sea, and chaplains to supply
in some measure the defects in the early education of mid
shipmen, when stationed for a few months at a navy-yard, it
was not to be supposed that either of these classes of teachers,
situated as they were, could give even an empirical knowl
edge of the laws of physics or the workings of marine engines.
Accordingly, the Secretary of the Navy, Abel P. Upshur, in
1841, called attention once more to the urgent need of a
naval school : t

"The propriety of establishing naval schools has frequently
been submitted to the consideration of Congress. I again

* Approved March 3, 1839.

t Executive Documents, Twenty-seventh Congress, second session, No.
2, p. 364.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY.

respectfully bring it to your notice, as a subject of increasing
interest to the Navy. The use of steam-vessels in war will
render necessary a different order of scientific knowledge
from that which has heretofore been required. This impor
tant object can be best attained by the establishment of naval
schools, provided with the necessary means of uniting practice
with theory. The advantages which the Army has derived
from the Academy at West Point afford a sufficient proof
that a similar institution for the Navy would produce like
results.

"The professors of mathematics have no permanent con
nection with the Navy, but are called in only as their serv
ices are needed, and are not paid except when on actual
duty. The consequence is that they cannot rely on this
employment for support, and are often reluctantly driven to
other pursuits. It is to be presumed that men whose talents
and attainments qualify them to be teachers in the Navy are
equally qualified to be teachers on land; and as this latter is
the less precarious position, the best qualified will be the most
apt to seek it. Hence the Department cannot rely with any
assurance on being able to command suitable professors at
all times when their services may be required. It is, I think,
of great importance, that some provision should be made on
this subject. I also recommend that a certain rank or posi
tion be given to the professors, which will relieve them from
the necessity of messing and sleeping with their pupils.*
This close and constant association is well calculated to
weaken the respect and influence which their relation to the
young officers ought to inspire, and which is necessary to
give due effect to their instructions. I doubt whether their
services upon the present system are worth the money which

* This objection to the position of professor was removed, as has been
already stated, in the following summer.
3

THE NA VAL ACADEMY. PART I.

they cost, although they would be highly valuable under
proper regulations."

In the following August * a bill was introduced in the Sen
ate to establish five naval schools, at unoccupied fortifications
to be transferred from the War Department to the Navy.
After a short discussion, the bill was amended so as to pro
vide for only one school, at some fortification near Fortress
Monroe. In this form it passed easily by a large majority,
only five Senators voting in the negative, t Congress, how
ever, adjourned soon afterwards, and the bill was never reached
in the House.

In his annual report of December, 1842, Secretary Upshur
called attention to the need of statutory enactments provid
ing for the selection and appointment of midshipmen : " The
Department has been left free to appoint whom it pleased,
and as many as it pleased, without any law whatever to guide
or regulate its judgment."

As a remedy for the existing evils, he proposed :

"i. The naval establishment shall be fixed by law, ascer
taining the number of officers to be allowed in each grade. * *

"2. There should be established proper naval schools on
shore. Little or no attention has hitherto been paid to the
proper education of naval officers. Through a long course of
years the young midshipmen were left to educate themselves
and one another ; and it is creditable to them that they lost few
opportunities of doing so. Suitable teachers are now pro
vided for them ; but their schools are kept in receiving-ships
and cruising-vessels, in the midst of a thousand interruptions
and impediments, which render the whole system of little or

* Debated August 8 and 9, 1842. See Benton's Abridgment of Debates,
xiv, p. 478.

t Executive Document, Twenty-seventh Congress, third session, No. 2,
p. 539 et sey.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY.

no value. Under such circumstances, the foundation of a
solid education can rarely be laid. This subject was brought
to the attention of Congress at its last session; I again ear
nestly recommend it. The schools shall be established at such
of the old military fortifications on the seaboard as may afford
suitable accommodations, and as may not be required by the
War Department. The officers and teachers shall be sup
plied from those actually in the naval service, and all nautical
instruments, boats for practice, &c., shall be furnished from
the Navy."

In continuation, he dwelt upon the fact that the West
Point cadets were furnished with an education which naval
officers lacked, though the latter " need it much more, and have
fewer opportunities."

The evil alluded to in regard to the selection of midship
men had long existed, and steps had been taken to remove
it. By an act approved August 4, 1842, the appointment of
midshipmen had been limited to the number in the service on
the ist of January, 1841,* beyond which they were not to
be increased till the further order of Congress ; but no pro
vision was made for their distribution. As a consequence,
certain sections of the country were far more highly favored
than others. t This was corrected by a clause in the appro
priation bill approved March 3, 1845, providing that mid
shipmen should be appointed from each State and Territory
in proportion to the number of Representatives and Delegates,
the appointee being an actual resident of the State from
which he was appointed. As it was impossible for the Secretary

* Modified by act 3d August, 1848, so as to extend to 464 midshipmen.

t According to a statement of Mr. Everett, in a debate on the naval
appropriation bill in the House of Representatives, May 13, 1842, out
of 158 midshipmen appointed in the past year, 31 were from Virginia, 20
from the District of Columbia, and 19 from Maryland. See Army and
Navy Chronicle for May 31, 1842.

3 6 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

of the Navy to know much about the inhabitants of each
congressional district, he naturally came to rely somewhat
upon the testimony of the member representing the district in
regard to the fitness of an applicant for appointment. From
this it was an easy step to the present system, legalized by the
act of August 31, 1852, by which no one can be appointed a
midshipman except on the recommendation of the member
of Congress representing the district in which the applicant
resides. This system had already been adopted in making
appointments of cadets at West Point.

Between 1842 and 1845 the subject of improved instruc
tion for the Navy came constantly before the public, in the
shape of bills introduced in Congress, petitions, reports of the
Secretary of the Navy, and articles in the newspapers.* The
existing system of schools at the navy-yards and on ship
board was the object of much unfavorable criticism, as well
as the corps of professors itself.

Early in 1844^ Senator Bayard introduced a bill providing
for the establishment of schools of instruction in the naval
service, and two weeks later J the same Senator presented
a memorial from the officers of the United States Ship
Vincennes, praying that the office of professor of mathematics
be abolished and that naval schools of instruction be
established in its stead. About the same time a report § on
the organization of the Navy, prepared by Commodore
Charles Stewart, was transmitted to Congress by the Secre
tary of the Navy. Commodore Stewart advocated a school
with a limited course of instruction, with special reference to

* See files of the Madisonian, the Southern Literary Messenger, and
Army and Navy Chronicle, for these years.

t January 23. See Army and Navy Chronicle February I, 1844.
\ February 3. Army and Navy Chronicle February 8. 1844.
§ February i, 1844. Army and Navy Chronicle April 4, 1844.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. ^

mathematics, languages, international law, and the principles
and mechanism of the steam-engine.

The position of the professors was still in many respects
unfortunate. They had no rank, and only within two years
had they been quartered apart from their pupils ; and their
pay was intermitted when they were not actually performing
duty.* This point is of importance, as it had a direct bear
ing upon the foundation of the Naval Academy, and was in
this way a fortunate thing for the service ; but it made a
serious reduction in the compensation of professors, and com
pelled them to take short and infrequent vacations.

In 1842 Mr. Fessenden had introduced a bill in the House
to give professors commissions with rank and continuous pay,
thus placing them on the same footing as the pursers, sur
geons, and other staff-officers; but the attempt failed at that
time. For six years the professors kept up their efforts to
improve their position ; and finally, in 1848, an act was passed
limiting their number to twelve, and giving them the privi
leges they had asked for-.t

In the mean time other changes had taken place which had
a direct influence upon the reform. In 1840, the professors
on duty at the four great naval stations were employed at

* See a letter of " A Veteran Professor " on this subject in the Army
and Navy Chronicle December 9, 1841.

t "An act making appropriations for the 'naval service," approved
August 3, 1848, § 12, Statutes at Large, 9, p. 272, provides:

"That the number of professors of mathematics in the Navy shall not
exceed twelve ; that they shall be appointed and commissioned by the
President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, and shall perform such duties as may be assigned them by
order of the Secretary of the Navy, at the naval school, the Observatory,
and on board ships of war, in instructing the midshipmen of the Navy
or otherwise ; that when on duty, the pay of a professor of mathematics
shall be at the rate of $1,500 per annum, with a ration, and when on
leave or woiting orders, $800."

38 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

the receiving-ships in giving midshipmen their final prepara
tion before the examination for promotion, which was held
every summer. This examination was chiefly- in seamanship
and navigation, and was conducted by a board of naval offi
cers of high rank. One of the professors, Mr. McClure, was
at the Naval Asylum in Philadelphia. In 1841,* McClure
dying, William Chauvenet, who had just been appointed a
professor, was ordered to succeed him. Chauvenet showed
so much ability and met with such marked success, that it was
decided to close the other schools gradually and to discon
tinue all shore instruction elsewhere. A French instructor!
was already attached to the Philadelphia school, and in
1844 Lieut J. H. Ward and Prof. Henry H. Lockwood were
ordered there, to instruct in gunnery and kindred branches.
The midshipmen preparing for examination were now sent,
as far as possible, to Philadelphia, but the attendance was
voluntary, and there was little or no discipline. The instruct
ors were able men, but the school had no organization. Pro
fessor Chauvenet had charge of the instruction in mathematics
and navigation, and Lieutenant Ward of that in gunnery,
while Professor Lockwood, a graduate of West Point, and
previously an Army officer, occasionally relieved both the
other instructors. Gunnery was not required at the examina
tion for promotion, so that Lieutenant Ward could only
depend upon the interest he might arouse and the "desire of
his pupils to learn as an incentive to exertion. His first
lecture, delivered early in 1844, was full of earnest advice
to the midshipmen, and pointed out with great force and
clearness the importance of scientific study to the young
naval officer. It is well worth reading, as showing the spirit

* Perhaps early in 1842, as his name appears in the Register of that
year.

t Called in the Register a professor of mathematics.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. 39

which prompted the movement for a higher education in the
service.*

At this time (1844), there were in the service fourteen
professors at sea, one at Boston, one at Norfolk, three at Phila-
ladelphia, and three on special service. There were also three
teachers of languages, employed respectively at Boston, New
York, and Norfolk.

The yearly cost of maintaining this force was as follows:

22 professors, at $1,200 $26,400

3 teachers of languages, at $624 1, 872

Total 28,272

This money was not appropriated by Congress specifically
for this purpose, but was considered in the estimates for the
yearly appropriation bill; and it was the custom of the Depart
ment to take this amount from the pay of the Navy and from
the allowance for contingent expenses, putting its expenditure
in a separate item of "Instruction." Owing to the fact that
professors received no pay when off duty, the amount ex
pended in any year might be reduced or increased by placing
a greater or less number of professors on waiting orders.
Thus in 1845, when two professors were waiting orders, the
sum allowed for instruction remained the same as in 1844,
while the amount spent was reduced.

The following tables show the number and assignment of
professors and teachers from 1835 to 1850, inclusive, being
made up from data furnished by the Navy Registers for six
teen successive years:

* See Army and Navy Chronicle, May 30, 1844, where the lecture is
given in full.

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

PART I.

TABLE i.— 1835-1842.

PROFESSORS OF MATHEMATICS.

1835-

1836.

1837.

1838.

1839.

1840.

1841.

1842.

New York

Norfolk

Naval School, Philadelphia . .

Naval Asylum Philadelphia .

At sea ,

Waiting orders

Total

TEACHERS OF LANGUAGES.

1835-

1836.

1837.

1838.

1839.

l840.

1841.

1842.

Boston

New York

Norfolk

Total .

;

1837. John H. C. Coffin appointed January 23, 1836.

1838. J. C. Fremont appointed April 4, 1837.

1840. D. McClure appointed June 17, 1839.

1841. M. Yarnall appointed February i, 1839.

1841. J. Meiere appointed November 9, 1840.

1842. M. H. Beecher appointed June 14, 1841.

1842. H. H. Lockwood appointed November 4, 1841.
1842. W.Chauvenet appointed December 30, 1841.

McClure appears last in Register for 1842. The first date indicates the Register
in which the name first appears.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY.

TABLE 2. — 1843-1850.

PROFESSORS OF MATHEMATICS.

1843-

1844.

1845.

1846.

1847.

l848.

i849

1850.

New York

Norfolk

Naval School, Philadelphia . .

4 .

Naval Asylum, Philadelphia.

Special service

Observatory

At sea

Waitin0" orders

Total

TEACHERS OF LANGUAGES.

1843.

1844.

i845.

1846.

1847.

l848.

l849.

1850.

Boston

Norfolk

At sea

Waiting orders

Total

The provision for instruction in the Navy for the ten years-
before the foundation of the Naval School may be clearly
seen from these tables. They illustrate all the faults of the
system. Instead of concentrating the force, and thereby
giving it strength and unity and the basis of an efficient
organization, it was spread out in fragments at navy-yards,
and, worse still, in cruising-ships. The increase of the force
had led to no corresponding improvement of results. The
intermission of pay prevented stability in the corps, and the

42 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

professors designated as being on waiting orders might as
well have been omitted from the Register, as far as their con
nection with the service was concerned.

Such was the state of affairs in 1845, when George Bancroft
became Secretary of the Navy. His own profound scholarship,
his rich and varied culture, and his personal familiarity with
educational methods, enabled him to appreciate the want of the
service and to devise a way in which it might be supplied.
To him the Navy owes the foundation of the Naval Academy.
He saw, as his predecessors had also seen, that a dozen sep
arate schools without organization or intelligent supervision,
constituted as appendages to navy-yards and sea-going men-of-
war, could produce no satisfactory results. He had seen, more
over, the failure of many efforts at legislation with a view to re
forming the system. But he discovered what those before him
had failed to see, that with him lay the authority to remedy the
evils, and that the means were already provided. By placing
a large number of the professors upon waiting orders — that
is, by dispensing with their services — a large part of the
annual outlay* for instruction might be saved ; and by concen
trating a few of the best men of the corps of instructors at a
suitable place, a school might be formed with an independent
organization.

On the 2d of June, 1845, a board of officers convened at
the Philadelphia Naval Asylum for the examination of mid
shipmen entitled to promotion. t This board was composed
of Commodores George C. Read, Thomas Ap Catesby Jones,
.and Matthew C. Perry, and Captains E. A. F. Lavallette and
Isaac Mayo.

In addition to the examination of midshipmen, the Secre
tary gave them certain duties as an advisory board to make

* $28,200. See page 39.
tNiles's Register, 68, p. 276.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. 43

suggestions in regard to a naval school. His instructions
were given in the letter which follows :

Secretary Bancroft to the Board of Examiners*

"NAVY DEPARTMENT,
" Washington, June 13, 1845.

"Sin: I desire the assistance of your board in maturing a
more efficient system of instruction for the young naval offi
cers. The opportunity which your present arduous and respon
sible duties as examiners of the school afford you of giving
practical and useful advice leads me to solicit your co-opera
tion by as full a communication of your opinion as is con
sistent with your convenience.

" Fort Severn has been recommended tome as a more suita
ble place for such a school than the Naval Asylum, especially
as a vessel could be stationed there to serve as a school in
gunnery.

"The present term of instruction is too short. Might it not
be well to have permanent instruction, and to send all mid
shipmen on shore to the school ? What plan of studies is
most advisable ? I hope your board will find time and will
be disposed to aid me by their suggestions.

" I wish, also, that they would nominate for my considera
tion a board of three experienced officers, whose qualifica
tions incline them to give long-continued attention to this
subject, and who could have the permanency necessary to
assist me, until a plan can be matured. If from your own
number you would select such a board, or would take a
wider scope in your selection, it would be acceptable to me.
" I am, respectfully, yours,

"GEORGE BANCROFT.

" Commodore GEO. C. READ,

"President Board of Examiners, &c., Philadelphia, Pa"

* From the copy in the Navy Department.

44 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

In compliance with these directions, the board gave the
subject a fuller and more exact discussion than it had ever
had before from any official body. In the course of their
deliberations they called on the professors at the Asylum for
advice, and the conclusions reached were drawn up in an
elaborate report.

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS.*

" U. S. NAVAL ASYLUM,
"Philadelphia, J-une 25, 1845.

"SiR: Your communication of the i3th instant, addressed
to Commodore Geo. C. Read, calling on the Board of Ex
aminers of Midshipmen for the present year to render the
assistance of its members ' in maturing a more efficient
system of instruction for the young naval officers,' has been
received and respectfully considered, and, after due consulta
tion and mutual interchange of opinion, the undersigned beg
leave to make the following report :

" Three of the undersigned are ignorant of the precise situation
of Fort Severn and of its fitness for a naval school in regard to
accommodations, healthiness of location, and conveniences of
the vicinity for gun-practice, but they are told by their asso
ciates, Commodore Jones and Captain Mayo, that the fort
embraces sufficient space and the harbor and neighboring
shores offer all the requisite advantages for gun-practice and
evolutions of steamers and boats. Supposing, then, that Fort
Severn is selected, and there is ample accommodation
within its walls for the officers and students of the establish
ment, it may be remarked that the Government already
possesses all the necessary means for commencing at once a
naval school, which may be enlarged and perfected at some
future time. It would be very desirable that a grade of
* From the copy on file at the Navy Department.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. ^

naval cadets inferior to that of midshipmen should be
created by law, who should compose the primary classes of
the naval school, and from which all appointments of mid
shipmen should be made after the candidate for such ap
pointment should have passed through a stated course of
elementary professional education, and acquitted himself
to the entire satisfaction of the authorities of the school, and
a board authorized to determine with rigid scrutiny his
fitness for an ultimate career in the Navy. These cadets
should be appointed in the same manner as those at West
Point, and their pay, over which they should have no con
trol, should be only sufficient to clothe and feed them.
Twenty dollars per month would be adequate. By making
this grade the source from which all others shall spring, and
by imposing upon it acquirements of a comparatively high
character, most of the delinquencies now so common in the
Navy would be unknown when the proposed system shall
have been thoroughly incorporated into the service. But,
whether a grade of naval cadets may or may not be created,
a naval school such as it is proposed to recommend would
operate equally to the advantage of acting midshipmen as
now appointed; the difference would lie only in the designa
tion and pay of the existing and proposed grades. It having
been assumed that the school shall be established at Fort
Severn, and the necessary accommodations having been pre
pared, it is recommended that the following be a part of its
regulations :

" OFFICERS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT.

" One captain, to command in chief ashore and afloat.
" One commander, as executive officer.
"Three lieutenants.
" One surgeon.

4 6 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

" One assistant surgeon.

" One purser.

"One chaplain.

" One secretary to senior captain and superintendent-in-
chief.

" One clerk to commander.

" One purser's clerk.

" One purser's steward.

"An officers' guard of marines, the commanding officer of
which, assisted by competent drill-sergeants, to give instruc
tion in infantry tactics and the sword exercise. A sufficient
number of servants, cooks, &c.

" BOARD OF INSTRUCTION.

" One professor of the English language, to embrace instruc
tion in constitutional and international law.

" One assistant professor of the English language.

" One professor of the French language.

" One professor of mathematics, to embrace instruction in
marine surveying.

" One assistant professor of mathematics.

"One professor of natural philosophy and chemistry.

" One instructor of drawing and mapping.

" In connection with the primary school there should be sta
tioned at some suitable anchorage in the vicinity a practice-
frigate and a small steamer, for the purpose of facilitating
instruction in naval-gunnery tactics and the operation of the
steam-engine. These vessels should have full appointments
of commissioned and warrant officers, with the exception of
midshipmen, of which class there should be, of those who have
passed their examination, six for the frigate and four for the
steamer. The practice-frigate would necessarily be stationary,
but the steamer might be advantageously employed in trans-

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD XAVY. 47

porting munitions, provisions, £c., to the naval school, dur
ing which employment practical instruction in the use of the
steam-engine might be imparted.

" Having thus given a plan of the entire establishment of
the school both ashore and afloat, and supposing it to be
authorized and ready for operation, the undersigned would
recommend that all persons who may from the time of its
commencement be appointed to the Navy, whether desig
nated as acting midshipmen or cadets, shall be required to-
enter the primary class, through which and the succeeding
steps they should only reach a permanent position in the
service; and to make them eligible for their final examination*
for promotion to the rank of lieutenant they should accom
plish the following course of studies and sea-service: First,
after appointment to the Navy, they should be required to
remain two years attached to the primary school, at the ex
piration of which period they may receive their warrants as
midshipmen, provided their conduct and scholastic advance
ment has been satisfactory. From the primary school they
should proceed, as warranted midshipmen, to a sea-going
ship to remain constantly at sea three years. On returning,
from their first sea-service a leave of absence, not exceeding
three months, is to be granted to them to visit their friends,,
with orders to join, on its termination, the practice-frigate,
in which vessel and in the steamer they are to pursue a course
of practical studies, to which the information previously ac
quired at the primary school and at sea will be applied. To
the practice-ship they are to remain attached at least one
year, when they will be entitled to their second and final
examination ; and it is recommended that no greater number
be examined and passed than may be actually required for
the immediate exigencies of the service. It now remains to
point out more particularly the course of studies to be pur-

48 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

sued at the primary school. As experience has shown that
the system of instruction established at the Military Academy
at West Point has operated most happily, it is recommended
that the laws for the government of that institution be adopted
in the organization of the naval school, so far as it can be
done compatibly with the genius of the two services and the
ulterior professional pursuits of the naval student. To this
end, it is proposed that the requirements enforced at West
Point in regard to the physical and mental qualifications of
applicants for admission be rigidly exacted at the naval school.
That the students at the naval school be divided into two
classes, corresponding with the third and fourth class of the
Military Academy, and the course of studies and exercises to
be almost identically the same ; the only difference should be
in omitting in the mathematical department the abstruse study
of the Calculus, and occupying the time thus saved in more
practical branches. That there take place at the naval
school semi-annual examinations, to be conducted by the
academic board under the supervision of the captain or
superintendent-in-chief, of the results of which full reports
be transmitted to the Navy Department, setting forth the
conduct of the student and recommending the dismissal of
all who may be found delinquent, either in reference to their
studies or personal deportment. That annual examinations
(the first to be held at the end of two years from the com
mencement of the school) be conducted by the academic
board, assisted by three persons to be appointed by the Sec
retary of the Navy, the whole to be under the direction of
the superintendent-in-chief. Before this board all the stu
dents shall be brought who may have been attached to the
primary school the whole period of two years, and in case of
passing their examination, they will receive their appointments
as midshipmen and be ordered immediately to sea. Those

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD XAVY. ^

who may fail to pass should be invariably dropped from the
rolls. By making the final examinations of the primary stu
dents extremely strict, both in regard to moral conduct and
academic improvement, none but the meritorious will find
their way into the Navy. It is suggested that the primary
school be of a strictly probationary character; that the age
of admission of the students should not be less than thirteen
nor more than fifteen years, and for the reason that, in
case of failure to pass the final examination, they will be of
suitable age to enter upon some other profession. The un
dersigned might go further into details, but as it is the intention
of the Department to institute a board to assist in forming a
code of regulations for the government of the proposed school,
they refrain from extending their report.

" In regard to that part of your letter in which you express
a wish that the undersigned should nominate three of their
number, or some other suitable officers, to compose the con
templated board, they beg to remark that a feeling of delicacy
impels them to prefer that the nomination should rest with
the Department. If called upon, the whole or any three of
them will most cheerfully contribute their best services in
perfecting a work which promises so much good to the coun
try, and to the Navy in particular.

" We have the honor to be, sir, respectfully, your obedient

servants,

« GEO. C. READ,
"THOS. AP C.JONES,
" M. C. PERRY,
" E. A. F. LAVALLETTE,'
" I. MAYO,
"Board of Examiners of Midshipmen for the Year 1845."

From this correspondence it appears that the Secretary had
decided to establish the school, and that Annapolis was the

5°

THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

place regarded most favorably for its location. Previous
measures had looked to the transfer of one of the old Army
posts in the neighborhood of Washington to the Navy De
partment for this purpose ; and Fort Severn seemed to be in
every way the best adapted. The Secretary of War was will
ing to give it up, but Mr. Bancroft undertook first to satisfy
himself by personal inspection of its fitness. Accordingly,
soon after the report was made, the following paragraph ap
peared in an Annapolis newspaper : *

" OFFICIAL VISIT to ANNAPOLIS. — Secretary Bancroft,
Governor Marcy, Secretary of War, and Com. Warringtonf
arrived in this city last evening from Washington, and took
quarters at the City Hotel. We understand the object of
their visit to be to examine the condition of Fort Severn and
the improvements commenced last fall, and now being com
pleted. There is a rumor afloat that it is the intention of
Government to remove the Naval School from Philadelphia
to Fort Severn, which may be one of the reasons of this visit."

A short time after this visit of inspection, the Secretary
directed a board, composed of Commanders McKean, Buch
anan, and Du Pont, to consider the subject, and to recommend
place and persons. This board decided upon Annapolis as
the place, and Ward, Chauvenet, and Lockwood as the pro
fessors.

Commander Franklin Buchanan had already been selected
by the Secretary to be at the head of the new institution. Born
in Baltimore in 1800, this officer had entered the service at
the age of fifteen, and had risen to the grade of commander,
with a high reputation for ability in his profession, as a skill
ful, energetic, and systematic organizer. He had had several
commands at sea before he was called to the new duty ; and

* Copied in Niles's Register, July 19, 1845.

t At this time Chief of the Bureau of Navy-yards and Docks.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. ^

his selection by the Secretary was itself an evidence of his fit
ness for the position. Mr. Bancroft was no ordinary authority
on matters of education. He had taken his degree at Har
vard University in 1817, and at Gottingen in 1820, and had
since that time had personal experience in teaching. He
had taken a prominent part in literature and in public affairs,
and he was therefore eminently qualified to devise a system
of education and to choose fit men to fill positions of authority
at the newly-established school. His directions to Comman
der Buchanan were full and explicit, as will be seen from the
following letter which accompanied his orders:

Secretary Bancroft to Commander Buchanan*

" NAVY DEPARTMENT,

" August i, 1845.

"SiR: The Secretary of War, with the assent of the Presi
dent, is prepared to transfer Fort Severn to the Navy Depart
ment for the purpose of establishing there a school for mid
shipmen.

"In carrying this design into effect, it is my desire to avoid'
all unnecessary expense; to create no places of easy service,
no commands that are not strictly necessary; to incur no
charge that may demand new annual appropriations, but by
a more wise application of moneys already appropriated and
offices already authorized, to provide for the better education
of the young officers of the Navy. It is my design not to
create new offices, but by economy of administration to give
vigor of action to those which at present are available;, not
to invoke new legislation, but to execute more effectually ex
isting laws. Placed by their profession in connection with the
world, visiting in their career of service every climate and
every leading people, the officers of the American Navy, if
* From the original document on file at the Naval Academy.

52 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

they gain but opportunity for scientific instruction, may make
themselves as distinguished for culture as they have been for
gallant conduct.

" To this end it is proposed to collect the midshipmen who
from time to time are on shore, and give them occupation,
during their stay on land, in the study of mathematics, nau
tical astronomy, theory of morals, international law, gunnery,
use of steam, the Spanish and the French languages, and
other branches essential in the present day to the accomplish
ment of a naval officer.

"The effect of such an employment of the midshipmen can
not but be favorable to them and to the service. At present
they are left, when waiting orders on shore, masters of their
own motions, without steady occupation, young, and exulting
in the relief from the restraints of discipline on shipboard.
In collecting them at Annapolis for purposes of instruction,
you will begin with the principle that a warrant in the Navy,
far from being an excuse for licentious freedom, is to be held
a pledge for subordination, industry, and regularity, for sobri
ety and assiduous attention to duty. Far from consenting
that the tone of discipline and morality should be less than
at universities or colleges of our country, the President expects
such supervision and arrangement as shall make of them an
exemplary body of which the country may be proud.

" To this end you have all the powers for discipline conferred
by the laws of the United States, and the certainty that the
Department will recommend no one for promotion who is
proved unworthy of it from idleness, or ill conduct, or con
tinuing ignorance, and who cannot bear the test of a rigid
examination.

"For the purposes of instruction the Department can select
from among twenty-two professors and three teachers of lan
guages. This force, which is now almost wasted by the man-

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. ^

ner in which it is applied, may be concentrated in such a
manner as to produce the most satisfactory results. Besides,
the list of chaplains is so great that they cannot all be em
ployed at sea ; and the range of selection of teachers may
be enlarged by taking from their number some who would
prefer giving instruction at the school to serving afloat/ The
object of the Department being to make the simplest and
most effective arrangement for a school, you will be the high
est officer in the establishment, and will be intrusted with its
government. It is my wish, if it be possible, to send no
other naval officer to the school except such as may be able
and willing to give instruction. Among the officers junior
to yourself there are many whose acquisitions and tastes may
lead them to desire such situations. For this end the De
partment would cheerfully detach three or four of the lieu
tenants and passed midshipmen, who, while they would give
instruction, would be ready to aid you in affairs of discipline
and government.

"Thus the means for a good naval school are abundant,
though they have not yet been collected together and ap
plied. One great difficulty remains to be considered. At
our colleges and at West Point young men are trained in a
.series of consecutive years. The laws of the United States
do not sanction a preliminary school for the Navy; they only
provide for the instruction of officers who already are in the
Navy. The pupils of the Naval School being, therefore,
officers in the public service, will be liable at all times to be
called-from their studies and sent on public duty. Midship
men, too, on their return from sea, at whatever season of the
year, will be sent to the school. Under these circumstances,
you will be obliged to arrange your classes in such a manner
as will leave opportunity for those who arrive to be attached
to classes suited to the stage of their progress in their studies.

54 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

It will be difficult to arrange a system of studies which will
meet this emergency, but with the fixed resolve which you
will bring to the work and with perseverance you will suc
ceed.

" Having thus expressed to you some general views, I leave
you, with such assistance as you may require, to prepare and
lay before this Department, for its approbation, a plan for
the organization of the Naval School at Fort Severn, An
napolis.

"The posts to which you and those associated with you will
be called are intended to be posts of labor, but they will also
be posts of the highest usefulness and consideration. To
yourself, to whose diligence and care the organization of the
school is intrusted, will belong, in a good degree, the re
sponsibility of a wise arrangement. Do not be discouraged
by the many inconveniences and difficulties which you will
certainly encounter, and rely implicitly on this Department
as disposed to second and sustain you under the law in every
effort to improve the character of the younger branch of the
service.

" I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

"GEORGE BANCROFT.

"Commander FRANKLIN BUCHANAN,

'•'•United States Navy, Washington"

Commander Buchanan had already given much thought to
the subject, so that his answer was ready very shortly.

Commander Buchanan to Secretary Bancroft.

"WASHINGTON, August 14, 1845.

" SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
communication of the yth instant, directing me to lay before
the Department for its approbation a plan for the organiza
tion of a naval school about to be established at Fort Severn,

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. ^

Annapolis, the government of which you have been pleased
to honor me with.

" Feeling sensibly the importance of the trust confided to
me, after mature reflection, a close examination of the reports
in relation to this subject from officers of high rank in the
Navy, professors, and others, placed in my hands by the De
partment, and with the aid of Commanders McKean and
Du Pont, the former of whom was so successful in his govern
ment of the Naval -Asylum while the school was there held,
I respectfully present for your consideration the inclosed plan,
embracing, I believe, generally, the views expressed in your
letter of the yth instant.

" According to your instructions, the plan submitted is kept
strictly, so far as my knowledge extends, within the means
now at the disposal of the Department. As the Navy
increases, and the country becomes alive to the advantages
of a more extended education to those who are intrusted
with the maintenance of its honor abroad, and who are so
frequently called upon to perform intricate diplomatic serv
ices, an enlarged system will doubtless be provided for. Most
of the reports made to you on this subject recommend a pre
liminary school and a more extended academic term. For
the first no authority exists. Should the extension of the term
of instruction be in accordance with your own views, it can
be so arranged. But for the midshipmen now in the service
I recommend that the present probation of five years be
adhered to, and the proposed division of that period is based
upon this view.

"All of which is respectfully submitted, by
"Your obedient servant,

"FRANKLIN BUCHANAN,

"Commander.

" Hon. GEORGE BANCROFT,

"Secretary of the Navy."

5 6 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

Accompanying this letter was the "plan" devised by Com
mander Buchanan, with the aid of Commanders McKean
and Dupont. This plan was afterwards revised by the Sec
retary and by Commander Buchanan, and approved by the
Department.*

PLAN OF THE NAVAL SCHOOL AT FORT SEVERN, ANNAPOLIS, MD.

" i. The Superintendent of the school will be appointed by
the Secretary of the Navy from the list of officers not higher
in rank than commander.

" 2. The board of examination annually appointed will com
prise at least two captains in the Navy; but except on that
board no officer of higher rank than that of commander shall
be ordered on duty at the Naval School.

" 3. The Superintendent will have the immediate govern
ment of the institution, will be responsible for its management,
direct all academic duties, and command all professors and
others connected with the school. He will frame a code of
rules and regulations for the internal government of the
school, to be submitted to the Secretary of the Navy for his
approval.

"4. Professors and instructors will be selected, so far as
practicable, from officers of the 'Navy.

" 5. Professors, under the orders of the Superintendent, will
constitute a board for the transaction of business, will conduct
the examinations during the course, decide on the merits of
the midshipmen, report on the system of instruction, and sug
gest any improvements or alterations which their experience
may dictate."

* The original plan is given in Note G of the Appendix of this volume.
The approved plan went into operation, and, supplemented by Buchanan's
regulations, governed the workings of the school until 1850. Both doc
uments are copied from the originals in the Navy Department.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. + n

" 6. Every applicant for admission to the school must be of
good moral character, not less than thirteen nor more than
sixteen years of age, and must be examined by the surgeon
of the institution to ascertain if he be free from all deformity,
deafness, nearness or other defect of sight, or disease or in
firmity of any kind which would disqualify him from perform
ing the active and arduous duties of a sea life. He must be
able to read and write well, and be familiar with geography
and arithmetic. The Academic Board will examine him on
these branches, and certify to his capacity for admission into
the school.

" 7. When an acting midshipman receives his appointment,
he is to be attached to the Naval School, subject to the exi
gencies of the service. Semi-annual examinations will be
held at the school. Those who shall be found deficient at
any examination will be dropped from the lists and returned
to their friends. Those whose conduct and proficiency meet
with the approbation of the Superintendent and Academic
Board will be retained in the service and ordered to sea.
After performing sea-duty for six months, and receiving a fa
vorable report of his conduct during that time from his com
mander, he will be entitled to a warrant bearing the date of
his acting appointment. Otherwise he will be dropped from
the lists and restored to his friends.

"8. All midshipmen on shore, not on leave of absence, will
be ordered to the Naval School.

" 9. A midshipman, after serving three years at sea as now
required, and having received a short leave of absence, at the
discretion of the Department, to visit his friends, will report
at its expiration to the Naval School to pursue his course of
studies preparatory to his final examination.

"10. The course of studies will include English grammar
and composition; arithmetic, geography, and history; naviga
tion, gunnery, and the use of steam; the Spanish and French

5 8 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

languages; and such other branches desirable to the accom
plishment of a naval officer as circumstances may render
practicable.

"u. The professors will be required to keep records of all
the recitations, and report weekly to the Superintendent the
progress and relative merit of the students. From these
weekly reports the Superintendent will make quarterly reports
to the Secretary of the Navy.

"12. Classes will be arranged according to the acquirements
and capacity of the midshipmen.

" 13. The final examination for promotion will embrace all
the branches taught at the school.

" 14. All midshipmen at the Naval School must provide
themselves with such books as are necessary to pursue their
studies, a quadrant, their uniform, and bedding.

"15. A sloop of war, or brig, may be connected with the in
stitution as a school of practice in seamanship, evolutions,
and gunnery.

" 1 6. The board annually appointed under the Regulations
of the Navy for the examination of midshipmen for promotion
are to inspect generally the management of the institution,
and report to the Secretary of the Navy on its condition and
the means of improving it.

"GEORGE BANCROFT.

"Approved.

"NAVY DEPARTMENT, August 28, 1846."

The transfer of Fort Severn from the War Department was
made at once in accordance with the following orders :

"General Orders No. 40.

"WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

" Washington, August 15, 1845.

"i. Pursuant to the orders of the President, Fort Severn
and the military site and jurisdiction near Annapolis, Md., is

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. 59,

hereby transferred to the Navy Department, and will be placed
in charge of Commander Franklin Buchanan, who has been
designated by the Secretary of the Navy to receive the same.

" 2. The public stores appertaining to the Quartermaster,.
Subsistence, and Ordnance Departments will be disposed of
in such manner as may be directed by the chiefs of those
Departments.

" 3. Having seen that due precautions are taken for the se
curity of the public property, the commanding officer (Bvt.
Maj. J. L. Gardner, Fourth Artillery) will then proceed with
his company to join the headquarters of his regiment at Fort
Monroe.

"By order:

"R.JONES,
" Adjutant- General"

Secretary Bancroft to Commander Buchanan.

" NAVY DEPARTMENT, August 15, 1845.
"SiR: The Secretary of War has issued an order for the
transfer of Fort Severn and the whole military site near
Annapolis to such officer of this Department as may be au
thorized to take charge of the same.

" You are authorized to make the necessary arrangements
and to receive possession of the station.
" Respectfully, yours,

" G. BANCROFT.

" Commander F. BUCHANAN,

" United States Navy, Washington"

It was subsequently agreed upon between the two Depart
ments that the armament, as it stood, and everything belong
ing to the battery, should remain at the fort in charge of the

60 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

ordnance sergeant, the whole to be under the control of the
naval officer in command.*

Fort Severn was an old Army post, the site of which had
been bought by the Government in 1808, at a time when
Annapolis was considered a point of military importance.
The grounds comprised about ten acres, nearly square in
shape, inclosed on two sides by a brick wall, the other sides
being open to the water. At the angle of the water-front
stood the battery, a small circular rampart, mounting en bar
bette ten heavy guns, with a magazine in the centre. The
point upon which it stood projected into the .water, with the
Severn River on one side and an arm of Chesapeake Bay
forming the harbor of Annapolis on the other. The buildings
consisted of officers' quarters and barracks, and were sufficient
for the immediate wants of the new institution.

It was generally supposed at the time that the change was
merely a removal of the Asylum school, and that, substituting
Annapolis for Philadelphia, the details and general scope of
the two would be the same. But such was clearly not the
aim of the founder; and it soon became apparent that a new
era was beginning in naval education. For the time being*
the change showed itself more in an improved discipline than
in an extended course of study. As the school was not rec
ognized by law as an institution to fit candidates for the
naval service, but only to educate those who had already
become officers, it was only in the intervals of leisure from
sea-duty that midshipmen could be taught. They might be
compelled by the needs of the service to break off suddenly
at any point in their studies ; and they might be ordered to

*R. Jones, Adjutant-General, to Lieut. Col. G. Talcott, Ordnance De
partment, August 21, 1845. Lieut. Col. Talcott to Commander Buchanan,
August 22, 1845. The Secretary of the Navy to Commander Buchanan,

August 22, 1845.

CHAP. I. EDUCATION OF THE OLD NAVY. 6 1

join the school in the middle of the academic year. Hence,
the greatest irregularity prevailed in the periods of study of
different midshipmen, and in their coming and going, during
the first five or six years, and it is difficult to give with exact
ness the number in attendance at any one time. The effect
of this system was to render courses of study broken and
instruction fragmentary.

In matters of discipline, however, the change was more
apparent. Commander Buchanan was a man of inflexible
will, and a stern disciplinarian, and his hands were strength
ened by the prompt and cordial support of the Navy De
partment. He had, moreover, an able executive in Lieu
tenant Ward. The composition of the school made it a
hard one to manage. The older midshipmen ranged from
the age of eighteen to twenty-seven. They had no strong
incentive to work, their opportunities for mental training had
been few and slight since they had entered the service, and
their sea-life of three or more years was followed by the im
providence and recklessness incidental to the sudden removal
of restraint. For such a class of students an old provincial
capital was a much better place than a commercial metrop
olis; and under Buchanan's management the institution
prospered accordingly.

On the yth of August the directions of the Navy Depart
ment were issued to Commander Buchanan. On the i4th,
the "plan for a naval school" was submitted to the Depart
ment; and on the loth of October the school was formally
opened.

CHAPTER II.

THE NAVAL SCHOOL.
OCTOBER, 1845, T0 JULY> l85°-

The academic staff of the school at its organization was
as follows:

Commander Franklin Buchanan, Superintendent.

Lieut. James H. Ward, executive officer, and instructor in
gunnery and steam.

Surgeon John A. Lockwood, instructor in chemistry.

Chaplain George Jones, instructor in English branches.

Prof. Henry H. Lockwood, instructor in natural philosophy.

Prof. William Chauvenet, instructor in mathematics and
navigation.

Prof. Arsene N. Girault, instructor in French.

Passed Midshipman S. Marcy, assistant instructor in mathe
matics.

Lieutenant Ward* was president of the Academic Board,

* James Harman Ward was a son of CoL James Ward, of Hartford,
Conn., and was born at that place in 1806. He graduated at the
Vermont Military Academy, at Norwich, Vt, and entered Trinity Col
lege, Hartford. March 4, 1823, he was appointed a midshipman on
board the United States ship Constitution, then under the command of
Captain McDonough. March 3, 1831, he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant, which he held at the time of his appointment to the Naval
School. Previously to his connection with the school he had been attached
to the Mediterranean squadron, and had been for several years on the

CHAP. II. THE NAVAL SCHOOL. 63

the Superintendent taking no part in its proceedings. Passed
Midshipman Marcy acted as secretary.

The formal opening of the school took place on Friday,
October 10. At n o'clock on the morning of that day, the
Superintendent assembled the officers of the school and the
midshipmen who had reported, in one of the recitation-halls,
and read to them the Secretary's letter, showing the views and
purposes of the Department in regard to the organization of
the school. He also read them the rules and regulations
which he had established for the government of the students,*
and addressed them "impressively and feelingly," says the
National Intelligencer, in regard to their duties. His address
was as follows :

"GENTLEMEN: In preparing the rules and regulations for
the internal government of the Naval School, I have endeav
ored to confine myself to those points so absolutely necessary
to the preservation of good discipline and harmony at an in
stitution yet in its infancy, which we all, I am well assured,
feel a pride should rank high in the estimation of our country
men. Those among you who have served several years in
the Navy know the value of wholesome laws and regulations;
and to you I look with confidence for assistance in impress-
coast of Africa. Here he wrote his Manual of Naval Tactics, published
in 1858, and still used as a text-book at the Naval Academy. In 1842 he
delivered popular lectures on gunnery in Philadelphia, and later he pub
lished his Instructions on Naval Ordnance and Gunnery, a work which
has accomplished much in the improvement of naval science. He also
published a popular work called "Steam for the Million." He was
detached from the Naval School in 1847. In 1853 he became a com
mander. At the outbreak of the war, in 1861, he was employed in
defending the water-approach to Washington. He organized the Potomac
flotilla, and was doing most efficient service, when he was killed in a gal
lant attempt to destroy a rebel battery on Matthias Point, June 27, 1861.

* See Appendix, note E.

64 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

ing upon the minds of those youths who have lately entered
the service the absolute necessity of obedience.

"The Government, in aifording you an opportunity of ac
quiring an education, so important to the accomplishment of
a naval officer, has bestowed upon you all an incalculable
benefit. But few, if any, now in the service have had the
advantage that you are about to receive.

" The Regulations of the Navy require you to pass through
a severe ordeal before you can be promoted; you must un
dergo an examination on all the branches taught at the Naval
School before you are eligible to a lieutenancy; your morals
and general character are strictly inquired into. It is there
fore expected that you will improve every leisure moment in
the acquirement of a knowledge of your profession; and you
will recollect that a good moral character is essential to your
promotion and high standing in the Navy.

"By carefully avoiding the first step toward intemperance,
shunning the society of the dissolute and idle, and by cherish
ing the wish to deserve and the hope of receiving the appro
bation of your country, you can alone render yourselves able
to occupy with honor the high standing in the Navy to which
many of you are destined.

"I feel confident that all of you attached to this institution
will endeavor to hold a high rank in the service by your ap
plication, zeal, intelligence, and correct deportment; and I
shall deeply regret to hear that any individual among you has
brought disgrace upon himself or upon his associates.

"Every indulgence, consistent with the rules and regula
tions of the institution, will be granted to those who merit
it. The laws of the Navy point out the punishment of those
who violate orders; and no commander is justified in over
looking offences against those laws, however painful it
may be to him to enforce them. There is no discretionary

CHAP. II. THE NAVAL SCHOOL. 6-

power granted to him, although that power is sometimes ex
ercised from necessity; the responsibility resting with the
commander, from which he can only be relieved by the Sec
retary of the Navy or the President of the United States.

" It is at all times an unpleasant duty to a commander to
be compelled to punish the misconduct of his juniors; but
as an omission on his part to do his duty makes him as cul
pable as the offender himself, no officer who feels a proper
respect for the service or himself will subject himself to so
unpleasant a situation. We have no right as individuals to
do that which may involve others in our misfortunes ; and
when we, as naval men, intentionally violate the laws that
govern us, we cannot without dishonor to ourselves expect
to escape punishment by making others responsible for our
crimes.

" Having thus briefly given you my views on the subject
of discipline, and the importance I attach to a strict compli
ance with all laws, orders, and regulations, I submit them to
you all with the hope that you may be benefited by them."

The character of Commander Buchanan's administration
is shadowed forth in his opening address. The first lesson
of the young naval officer is subordination ; and it was ot
paramount importance that the first administration of the
school should exact this if nothing else. Two years of lax
discipline at the start, in the period when the tone of a
school is set and school traditions are fixed for all time, would
have been a lasting element of weakness, from which the
Academy was saved by the strong government of Buchanan.

The opening of the school was noticed in the papers of the
day with favorable comments. The National Intelligencer
said:*

"We understand the object of Mr. Secretary Bancroft,
* Quoted in Niles's Register, October 18, 1845.

66 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

in removing this school from Philadelphia to Annapolis, to
be: i st. To avoid the temptations and distractions that
necessarily connect with a large and populous city to the
detriment of young officers ; 2d. To concentrate the serv
ices of excellent teachers, already in the employ of the
Government, which have been hitherto in a great degree
lost; 3d. To insure moral discipline and mental culture,
by organizing and maturing an academy where the profess
ors and students may be habitually kept together when on
land, under the wholesome restraints of laws. To these pur
poses the Government property at Annapolis is admirably
adapted. The situation is healthy and secluded, and yet of
easy access. It is situated at the mouth of the Severn River,
a beautiful tributary to the noble Chesapeake, affording am
ple opportunity to the young officers to apply their profes
sional acquirements practically by being from time to time
afloat. We conceive that Mr. Bancroft has discovered a
most commendable sagacity, as well in selecting this admira
ble location, as in making it one of the leading features of
his administration of the Navy Department to mature an
institution indispensable to the welfare of this favorite branch
of the public service."

The Maryland Republican, an Annapolis paper, a few
days \ ater, said :*

" The school is being organized with all the rapidity con
sistent with methodical arrangement. The various build
ings have been repaired and surprisingly improved, consid
ering the small expenditures and the brief time allowed,
especially the quarters allotted to the midshipmen; and the
professors are busily employed in classifying the sailor-stu
dents agreeably to grade, merit, and the nature of the pre
scribed studies. About forty young gentlemen have already
* See Niles's Register, October 18, 1845.

CHAP. II. THE NA VAL SCHOOL.

reported themselves, whose handsome appearance and gen
tlemanly deportment give a cheerful aspect to the streets of
our quiet city."

As the Republican said, the classification of the " sailor-
students " had already been undertaken. On the 4th of
October, the Superintendent directed the professors to con
vene as a board and arrange the classes of midshipmen, lay
out the course of instruction, and fix the hours of recitation.
In his letter to the board he named as subjects of the course
mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry, gunnery and
the use of steam, geography, English grammar, arithmetic,
history, the French and Spanish languages, " and such other
branches desirable to the accomplishment of a naval officer
as your judgment may dictate."

Lieutenant Ward, as president of the board, called the pro
fessors together, and after two days' deliberations submitted
a report, which was approved by the Superintendent. On
the nth, the day after the opening of the school, the profes
sors met their pupils and gave them the first directions in re
gard to studies and hours of recitation ; and on Monday, the
1 3th of October, the school was fairly in operation.

The report of the board of professors, prepared in accord
ance with the Superintendent's instructions, is given below.*

" REPORT.

"The board assumes that the academic year will extend at
least until the last week in June, thus allowing nine months
for the course of study.

"I. Course of instruction. — The instruction in this school to
be comprised under the following six professorships :

"i. Mathematics.

" 2. Natural philosophy.

* Journal Academic Board, I.

68 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

"3. Chemistry.

"4. Ordnance and gunnery, and the use of steam.

" 5. History, geography, English grammar, &c.

"6. French and Spanish languages.

" The board would suggest that instruction be given in fenc
ing. It is presumed that a competent person, to be rated as
gunner's mate, may be procured, who will be otherwise use
ful in the institution. This instruction to be given in the
hours of recreation, and not to be obligatory upon the mid
shipmen.

" The board would also suggest that the manual exercise, or
infantry-drill, be introduced. It would occupy not more than
a half-hour daily, would be a healthy exercise, and would
tend to elevate the military character of the school. Pro
fessor Lockwood offers his services as instructor in this brancn
for the present.

"The board is also of the opinion that, in the present ar
rangement of the studies, regard should be had to the eventual
introduction of drawing.

" II. Classification of midshipmen. — It is proposed to call the
two principal classes in this school the junior and senior
classes.

" Midshipmen who have just been admitted into the service
and have not yet been at sea, to be members of the junior
class.

"Midshipmen entitled to examination for the grade of passed
midshipman at the end of the academic year to be members
of the senior class.

" Midshipmen who have been at sea, but are not entitled to
said examination, to be assigned to either the junior or senior
class, or to such sections of these classes as they may be best
fitted to join.

CHAP. II. THE NA VAL SCHOOL,

" III. Division of studies.— The studies of the junior class
to be arithmetic, elements of algebra and geometry, navigation
as far as the sailings and the use of the quadrant, geography,
English grammar and composition, and the French or Spanish
language. The junior class to attend, also, the lectures in
natural philosophy, ordnance, and chemistry, which are deliv
ered to the senior class.

" The studies of the senior class to be algebra, geometry,
plane and spherical trigonometry, nautical astronomy, naviga
tion, descriptive astronomy, mechanics, optics, magnetism5
electricity, ordnance, gunnery, the use of steam, history, com
position, the French or Spanish language.

" Both classes to be exercised in the infantry-drill and fencing,
in case these branches are introduced.

"IV. Division of time. — (Provisional.)*

" i. General programme for the whole school.

" School from 8 a. m. to 12 m.

" Recreation and dinner from 12 m. to 1.30 p. m.

" School from 1.30 to 4.30 p. m., except on Saturday.

" Recreation and supper from 4.30 to 6 p. m.

" Study from 6 to 10 p. m.

" 2. Programme of recitations and study of the senior class.

" In mathematics and natural philosophy, the class to be
divided for the present into two sections :

" Mathematics, daily, first section from 8 to 9 a. m. ; second
section from 9 to 10 a. m.

" Natural philosophy, daily, first section from 8 to 9; a. m.;
second section from 9 to 10 a. m.

"Study from 10 to n.

" Ordnance, gunnery, and steam on Tuesday and Saturday,
from ii a. m. to 12 m.

* Altered October 29, 1845. Rec. Academic Board, I, p. 6.

7o THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

" Chemistry on Thursday, from u a. m. to 12 m.

" History and composition on Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday, from u a. m. to 12 m.

"French or Spanish, daily, except Saturday, from 1.30 to
4.30 p. m.

" Study from 6 to 10 p. m.

" The sections to be exercised in the use of the sextant and
other astronomical instruments at any hour favorable to
observations, provided such exercise does not in any way
interfere with recitations in other branches, or with the prep
aration for the same.

"3. Programme of recitation and study of the junior class.

" Lecture on natural philosophy, daily, from 8 to 9 a. m.

"Study from 9 to 10 a. m.

" Mathematics, daily, from 10 to n a. m.

'"Lectures on gunnery, &c., and chemistry, from 1 1 a. m. to
12 m.

"French or Spanish, excepting on Saturday, from 1.30 to
2.30 p. m.

" Geography, English grammar, and composition, daily, ex
cepting Saturday, (study and recitation,) from 2.30 to 4.30 p. m.

" Study from 6 to 10 p. m.

" The class to be exercised at suitable times in the use of the
quadrant.

"V. Merit and demerit rolls. — The merit of all recitations
to be registered upon a scale ranging from ten downwards ;
the demerit roll ranging from one upwards, — the demerit of
unexcused absence from recitation being 10, of unexcused
tardiness 5, and all other delinquencies according to the de
cision of the Superintendent in the particular case.

"At the end of the academic year the average merit of the
midshipmen to be made out from the merit and demerit marks

CHAP. II. THE NAVAL SCHOOL. 7I

made during the year, and this relative rank, at the final ex
amination, to be determined by combining their marks for
the studies pursued in the school with those given by the
board of examination for proficiency in seamanship.

"The relative weight to be allowed to the different branches
studied in the school, (in combining them for rank) : mathe
matics 3, and all other branches 2 ; in other words, that loin
mathematics be reckoned 30 ; in all other branches as 20.*

" VI. Reports. — The professors to make weekly reports to
the Superintendent, stating the merit of each recitation and
the average merit for the week, the absences and other delin
quencies of the midshipman in his class or section. The form
of these reports to be according to the model herewith sub
mitted.

"VII. Meetings of the Academic Board. — The Academic
Board to hold weekly meetings to deliberate on the transfer
of midshipmen from one class or section to another, and upon
;such other matters as may arise for their consideration.

" No transfer of any midshipman from one class or section
to another to be made until it shall have been approved by
the Superintendent.

'•' VIII. Roll-calls.— The rolls to be called at each recitation,
within five minutes after the ringing of the bell. All mid
shipmen entering after that time to be marked and reported
to the Superintendent as tardy."

The report was approved, and on the i3th the work of
instruction began. On the same day Commander Buchanan
wrote to the Secretary : " I am highly gratified at the disposi
tion shown by the young gentlemen to apply themselves with
energy and zeal to their studies."

This first arrangement, crude and hasty as it was, is to be
noticed as forming the groundwork, together with the plan
* Modified by resolution of Academic Board, February 14, 1846.

72 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

and regulations, of the school organization for the next five
years. It will be observed that the senior class was made up of
midshipmen who had been three or more years at sea, and
who were preparing for their examination for promotion.
The junior class was composed of acting midshipmen, newly
appointed, who had never been at sea, and who were sent to
the school to wait their turn. The accessions to either class
might take place at any time during the year, and midship
men of either class were liable to be detached at any time, as
the exigencies of the service demanded, and as actually hap
pened many times during the first years. It is therefore diffi
cult to determine with exactness from the records how many
of either class were at the school during the year, the
arrivals and departures being so frequent, and the numbers in
consequence constantly changing. At the end of January,
1846, four months after the opening of the school, there
appear to have been 36 midshipmen of the date of 1840,!
who were preparing for examination, 13 of the date of 1841,
who were to remain pursuing studies and attending lectures
until drafted for service at sea, and 7 acting midshipmen,
appointed since September of the previous year. The last
joined the school under a conditional letter of appointment
from the Secretary of the Navy. " If approved by the sur
geon and found respectable in intellect and acquirement,"
they were enrolled as acting midshipmen and received war
rants, which were given them conditionally, and which con
tained this proviso : "After a course of attendance at the Naval
School, if the Superintendent shall report favorably of your
merits, but not otherwise, you will be retained in the service."
By regulation, they were to remain at the school one year,,
and at the end of it to pass a satisfactory examination and be
ordered to sea. At the end of a probationary term at sea. they
t Date of entry into the service.

CHAP. IT. THE NA VAL SCHOOL. 73

were to receive, as had previously been the case, a midship
man's warrant ; and after three years of sea-service, they were
to return and spend another year at the school preparatory to
examination for promotion. This programme was not regu
larly carried out, though it served in a general way to govern
the practice of the institution. The midshipmen of the date
of 1840 — that is, who had entered the service during that
year — were the first to graduate at Annapolis, finishing their
course in July, 1846, and they were followed in succession by
the subsequent dates until the re-organization of the school
in 1851. The number of midshipmen of the date of 1841
being 186, too large to be examined at one time, and that of
1842 very small, the former were divided into three classes,
who came in successive years, the last division graduating in
1849. The date of 1842 graduated with them, but were
classed separately. There were no appointments in 1843 or
1844, in consequence of the act of 1842 limiting the number
of midshipmen, and the date of 1845 followed the last
division of the '4i's and '42 's.*

The examination for promotion of midshipmen of six years'
standing continued to be held every summer, as heretofore,
by a board of naval officers of high rank. Formerly, the
examination had been confined to seamanship and naviga
tion; now, according to article 13 of the "plan," it was to
embrace all the branches taught at the school, and seaman
ship in addition. The examiners were to act as a board of
visitors, to inspect the workings of the school and to suggest
improvements.

An article in the Nautical Magazine,t published near the
close of the year 1845, speaks in terms of high praise of the
new school and its Superintendent. " The appearance, order,

* Circular of Navy Department February 26, 1846. Lull, p. 10.
t Quoted in Niles's Register, January 31, 1846.

7 4 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

and studious habits of the midshipmen generally reflect the
highest credit upon them, upon the institution, and upon the
service of which they are members. The police and disci
pline are conducted by the Superintendent in person, with
the tone, system, and energy for which he is distinguished.
Aided by the zealous efforts of those having charge of the
various branches of instruction, he has already given to the
institution a consolidated character which would render it
difficult for an observer to detect traces of its recent origin.
Under his administration of affairs its friends may look with
confidence for such development of usefulness from year to
year as eventually to produce results which will equal the
wants and expectations of the Navy, and will stand as a
monument of honor to the Secretary by whose patriotic, zeal
ous, and judicious efforts it has been founded."

Thus it was that in four months after the first inception of
the plan, and less than eight months after assuming the duties
of his office, Secretary Bancroft was enabled to present to
the country a fully-organized academy, in efficient working
order, which was destined to do for the Navy what West
Point .had so long done for the Army. He had accomplished
during a single recess of Congress what his predecessors had
for thirty years in vain attempted to secure by legislation ;
and it had been done simply by a more judicious application
of the means which Congress had already provided. In his
annual report* of December i, 1845, he stated briefly the
steps he had taken :

" Congress, in its great desire to improve the Navy, had
permitted the Department to employ professors and instruct
ors at an annual cost of $28,200; and it had been used,
besides the few employed at the receiving-ships and the Naval

* Executive Documents, Twenty-ninth Congress, first session, No. 2,
p. 647.

CHAP. II. THE NAVAL SCHOOL. 7S

Asylum, to send professors with the midshipmen to every
ocean and every dime. But the ship is not friendly to study,
and the office of professsor rapidly declined into a sinecure;
often not so much was done as the elder officers would cheer
fully do for their juniors. The teachers on board of the
receiving-ships gave little instruction, or none whatever; so
that the expenditure was fruitless of great results. Many of
the professors were able and willing, but the system was a
bad one. The idea naturally suggested itself of seizing the
time when the midshipmen are on shore and appropriating
it to their culture. Instead of sending migratory professors
to sea with each handful of midshipmen, the midshipmen
themselves, in the intervals between sea-duty, might be col
lected in a body and devote their time to suitable instruction.
For the pay of the instructors Congress has provided. In
looking out for a modest shelter for the pupils, I was encour
aged to ask for Fort Severn, at Annapolis. The transfer was
readily made by order of the Secretary of War, and a school was
immediately organized on an unostentatious and frugal plan.
This institution, by giving some preliminary instruction to
the midshipmen before their first cruise; by extending an
affectionate but firm supervision over them as they return
from sea; by providing them suitable culture before they pass
to a higher grade; by rejecting from the service all who fail
in capacity or in good disposition to use their, time well, will
go far to renovate and improve the American Navy.

" The plan pursued has been unpretending, but it is hoped
will prove efficient. A few professors give more and better
instruction than four-and-twenty at sea. No supernumerary
.officer has been ordered to Annapolis; no idle man is attached
to the establishment. Commander Buchanan, to whom the
organization of the school was intrusted, has carried his
instructions into effect with precision and sound judgment,

76 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

and with a wise adaptation of simple and moderate means to
a great and noble end."

The progress of the school during the year i845~'46 was
such as to satisfy its authorities and justify the expectations
of its friends. Such breaches of discipline as occurred were
followed by prompt punishment, and in some cases by dis
missal. A vacation of a fortnight was given the students
at Christmas. This practice continued till 1849, when the
time was reduced to two days.* In January, 1846, it was
ordered that examinations of acting midshipmen should be
held in the April and October following.! In February a
regulation { was adopted depriving midshipmen whose weekly
average was below 40 per cent., of liberty to leave the grounds
of the institution — a rule which still exists in a modified form.
At this time the liberty-hours, according to article 23 of the
regulations, were from 4 to 10 p. m. A few days later, a
scale of numbers was adopted § fixing the relative weights ot
different branches of study in computing the final marks.
These numbers were used as co-efficients, the final mark in
each branch being multiplied by the co-efficient of the branch,
and the aggregate of the products making the final mark of
the midshipman. The scale was as follows :

Mathematics and navigation, 3.

Gunnery, 2.

French, 2.

Natural philosophy, 2.

English, i.

Chemistry, i.

* Rules, Regulations, and Orders, 36, 46, 56, 82.

t Rules, Regulations, and Orders, 37.

t Rules, Regulations, and Orders, 38. Revoked October, 1846.

§ Report of Academic Board and letter of Secretary Bancroft, February
14, 1846, in letters of the Secretary of the Navy on file in the Superin
tendent's office, United States Naval Academy.

CHAP. II. THE NAVAL SCHOOL. 77

The scale is stated in the report to be based upon — i. Pro
fessional importance of each branch; 2. Time or ability
required to obtain a competent knowledge of the branch, in
connection with time actually assigned it at the school; and,
3. Known disposition of students to reject certain branches.

The first annual examination was held in June, 1846. The
Board of Examiners, which assembled on the 2oth of that
month, was composed of Commodores Lawrence Kearney
and M. C. Perry, and Captains McKeever, McCauley, and
Mayo. During the examination the school was visited by
the Secretary of the Navy. According to the instructions of
the Secretary, all the midshipmen were examined in the
branches they had studied, the professors questioning the
students in the presence of the board. In addition, the senior
class had the usual examination in seamanship. The order
upon the navy-list of the midshipmen examined for promotion
was determined by these examinations. The final mark was
found by the same method as that used by the professors in
determining academic standing ; 5 was assigned as a factor
in seamanship, and the table of relative weights remained
otherwise the same.*

At this examination there were examined fifty-two midship
men of the date of 1840, or earlier. Of these, eighteen had
joined the school later than December i, 1845, and had con
sequently had but six months at their studies. Some of these
had even had less than three months. The irregularity of at
tendance stood very much in the way of successful instruction,
and could only be justified by the necessities of the service.
The attendance at the school during the first year may be seen
approximately from the following table : t

* Record of Examining Board, 127.

t Obtained by a collation of the Navy Register for 1846 with the jour
nal of the officer of the day and the record of the Examining Board.

7 8 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART L

Members of the senior class present throughout the
year 34

Members of the senior class arriving after December i,
18^.5, and remaining till end of year 18

Seniors present, June examination 52

Seniors detached before June 39

Total connected with senior class at any time 91

Junior class, or acting midshipmen, (periods wholly un
certain) 10

Total at school 101

Except for the unavoidable irregularities in the periods of
study, the career of a midshipman from his first appointment
to his promotion would have comprised one year at the school,,
three years at sea, and a fifth year at the school, followed by
the final examination. The examination was conducted ac
cording to the following rules, prescribed by the Secretary ot
the Navy:

"RULES TO GOVERN EXAMINATIONS AT THE NAVAL SCHOOL AT
FORT SEVERN, ANNAPOLIS, MD.*

"The Board of Examiners will meet at the Naval School,
Annapolis, Md., on the i5th of July annually, and examine
all the midshipmen attached to the school. The midshipmen
whose warrants belr date prior to [date left blank] are to be
examined in all the brandies taught at the school, in conform
ity with the plan for a naval school.

* These rules are found in a pamphlet issued by the Navy Department,
entitled, " Plan and Regulations of the Naval School at Annapolis. Wash
ington : C. Alexander, Printer. 1846." They agree substantially with
the copy of the orders of the Department to Commodore Lawrence Kear
ney, president of the Board of Examiners of 1846, bearing date June 19,.
1846, and preserved in the record of the board of 1846, page 10.

CHAP. II. THE NA VAL SCHOOL. 79

"The professors are to examine the midshipmen in the sev
eral branches of their studies in the presence of the board.
The board is to judge of the merits of the candidates in these
branches; but in giving numbers, the general average on the
professors' reports, which will be submitted to the board by
the Superintendent after the academic examination, must be
considered the basis. These reports will contain the aca
demic standing, deduced from all the branches, and give the
aggregate for each candidate, or sum of the products obtained
by multiplying the average in each branch by its proper fac
tor. To this aggregate the board will add the product ob
tained by multiplying the averages in seamanship by its factor
in order to obtain the aggregate representing the relative
merit in all the academic branches and seamanship combined.
The list thus obtained will be modified by the board on the
ground of the officer-like qualities of the candidates, their
moral and general character, the correctness of their journals,
and the character of their letters from the commanders with
whom they have served. When the board deems it necessary
to modify the list referred to, its reasons must be specifically
given in the final report to the Department, and the proposed
modification will be subject to the revision of the Department.
The list, as approved, will establish rank.

"As it is important that the Department should be fully in
formed as to the respective merits of the candidates, the
board will make separate reports of their qualifications in
the several branches upon which they shall be examined, and
also a general report showing the relative rank to which they
should be entitled.

" The board will adopt the scale of merit from one to ten in
seamanship, as in the other branches; and in making up
their general average for the assignment of rank, the multi
plier of five will be used in this branch. As a much higher

8o THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

value is thus placed on seamanship than on the other
branches, the board is directed to exercise a sound judgment
in deciding upon the numbers to be given to the candidate
before them, previous to the examination of another.

"A failure to pass in any branch other than seamanship and
navigation is not absolutely to reject an officer, provided he
passes high in those branches. An officer who shall be re
jected will be dropped from the navy-list and restored to\iis
friends. An officer who shall fail to pass in any of the
branches taught at the school, and yet displays character and
talents that will render his services valuable to the Navy,
may, if the board is satisfied that there is a good excuse for
the failure, have his case suspended upon its recommendation
till the next examination, when, if he pass, he is to be as
signed his proper rank among those with whom he may be
examined. A failure to pass a second time can admit of no
excuse, and must remove him from the service. Sickness,
which may have prevented an officer from studying, may be
considered a good reason for a second examination, provided
his general deportment be correct. The time spent at the
school by each midshipman will be considered by the board,
and a due allowance made for any deficiencies resulting from
the want of time to acquire a knowledge of the various
academic studies.

"In regard to the junior classes of midshipmen, the same
rules in general must apply to them which are hereby directed
to be observed in the examination of the class for promo
tion. The examination of the juniors may be more cursory,
and seamanship will be omitted. The board will inform the
Department if they have severally made good use of their
time at the Naval School ; and if any show a clear incapacity
for the naval service, they must be reported, and their names
will then be dropped from the list, and they will be restored
to their friends.

CHAP. II. THE NAVAL SCHOOL. ^

"The board will, in conformity with the sixteenth article of
the 'Plan for a Naval School,' inspect generally the man
agement of the institution, and report to the Department on
its condition and means of improving it.

"All the proceedings of the board will be recorded in the
* Examination Record-Book,' and deposited with the Super
intendent of the school.

"Approved :

" GEORGE BANCROFT.

"NAVY DEPARTMENT, August 28, 1846."

In addition to these instructions, before the examination of
1845, a special order had been given by Secretary Bancroft
that the Examining Board should make a preliminary inquiry
of each midshipman whether he had incurred any debts at
the Academy which remained unpaid; and if his answer was
not satisfactory, he should be considered as having failed to
pass. The letter of the Secretary* containing these instruc
tions said: "The Department is determined to do all in its
power to encourage habits of frugality and strict honor in
pecuniary transactions, and consequently to discourage a
disposition to incur debts beyond the means of punctual
payment." Secretary Mason, Mr. Bancroft's successor at the
head of the Navy Department, wrote, later,f to Commander
Buchanan in the same spirit. He spoke. of the importance
of guarding "the young gentlemen against pecuniary indebt
edness, which, without means of payment, leads to swindling,"
and ordered that." no acting midshipman shall visit a tavern,
hotel, or eating-house without permission."

These regulations, more or less modified, have continued
in force to the present time.

t May 4, 1846.

* December 17, 1846. The shore-pay of a midshipman at this time
was $350 per annum.
6

82 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

Towards the end of the first academic year the want of
additional buildings began to be felt. The Board of Exam
iners of 1846, in their report on the condition of the school,
remarked upon the crowded state of the midshipmen's quar
ters, and upon the need of new buildings and apparatus.
Commander Buchanan stated that want of space had com
pelled him to put from three to ten midshipmen in a room.

The Secretary had already foreseen these difficulties, and
had made an appeal to Congress in behalf of the school.
The expenditure, under the last appropriation, for instruction
had now been reduced one-half, by placing eleven professors,
out of twenty-two, on waiting orders. (See table.) Fur
ther reductions were contemplated, and were rapidly being
carried out. The Secretary was, therefore, in a position to put
the matter before Congress in these terms : "It has been your
custom to appropriate a certain sum for instruction in the
Navy, to pay the persons employed for this purpose. Within
the past year the number of these persons has been dimin
ished, while the benefit to the service has been vastly increased.
All that is now asked is that you will continue to appropriate
the same amount as formerly, but that it may be devoted
specifically to this new system pf instruction." To this Con
gress made a ready response in the appropriation bill of that
year.* " Of the money appropriated in this act for pay of
the Navy and contingent expenses, enumerated, an amount
not exceeding $28,200 maybe expended, under the direction
of the Secretary of the Navy, for repairs, improvements, and
instruction at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Md." This, it will
be noticed, was exactly the amount of the former appropria
tions.

No time was lost in setting about the work. Three days
after the bill became a law the Secretary informed Commander
* Act approved August 10, i846, § 4.

CHAP. II. THE NA VAL SCHOOL. 3-

Buchanan* that a certain sum was to be expended "in such
additions and alterations as will enable the Department to
attach to the school 100 midshipmen, to be well accommo
dated." The work, begun at once, consisted in the enlarge
ment and refitting of the quarters, and the erection of a
building to be used for a dining-hall, athenaeum, and kitchen.
The foundation of a hospital was laid, the chaplain's quarters
were enlarged, and other changes and improvements were
carried out.

After the June examination the school had a vacation from
the loth of July to the loth of October. At the latter date
the students again assembled, and on the i2th the school was
re-opened by the Superintendent, who met the professors and
students, and read out to them the plan and regulations, as
had been done the year before. This custom was kept up by
Buchanan's successor.

Meanwhile Secretary Bancroft had been appointed minister
to Great Britain, and he was succeeded at the head of the
Navy Department by the Hon. John Y. Mason, of Virginia.
Mr. Mason continued the policy of his predecessor in foster
ing and developing the school. In a letter to Buchanan, of
December 17, 1846, he spoke of the great interest which he
felt in the Naval School, and of " an anxious desire that the
favor of Congress may not be withdrawn." He closed his
letter. by saying: "I have read with satisfaction and a hearty
approval your remarks to the midshipmen at the opening of
the school. No branch of the military service can be main
tained without the observance of discipline and subordination.
If officers do not set the example of obedience to the laws
and regulations of the service, they cannot require or expect
it of the men under their command, and the consequence
must be inefficiency of the Navy, mutiny, and disgrace to the
* The Secretary of the Navy to Commander Buchanan, August 13, 1846.

84 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

flag, which every officer ought to be ready to lay down' his
life to honor and defend."

In his annual report,* December 5, 1846, the Secretary
gave a statement of the progress of the school and renewed
the appeal to Congress. "The Naval School during the past
year has been continued under the judicious superintendence
of Commander Franklin Buchanan, and gives renewed prom
ise of usefulness to the service. At the last session of Con
gress it was made the subject of no special appropriation,
but permission was given to apply a limited sum ($28,200)
from the existing appropriations. This moderate provision
has enabled the Department to make some necessary addi
tions to the accommodations of the school, and has been
found sufficient for its economical support. It is hoped a
similar provision will be adopted for the ensuing year."

Accordingly, the appropriation bill for 1847! repeated ex
actly the provision of the year before, with this addition :
"And for the purchase of land for the use of the Naval School
at that place, not exceeding twelve acres." The purchase al
luded to was made in the following summer. It comprised
land lying northwest of the fort territory, and was the first
addition to the original site made under the Navy Depart
ment. The details of the purchase will be found in the chap
ter on ' Grounds.'

At the beginning of the second academic year slight
changes had been made in the programme of study. Exam
inations of acting midshipmen wrere held in March and June.
The class numbered twelve at the first examination, and nine
at the second. These examinations were oral, and the pres
ident and professors of Saint John's College were invited to

* Executive Documents, Twenty-ninth Congress, second session, No. 4,

P- 385.

t Approved March 3, 1847.

CHAP. II. THE ATAVAL SCHOOL. • gc

be present.* Most of the midshipmen examined were
ordered immediately to sea.

The war with Mexico was now in progress, and Com
mander Buchanan had applied for active service soon
after the first outbreak of hostilities.f The important work
in which he was engaged at the time led the Department to
postpone action upon his request, and early the next year he
renewed it. The school being now fairly under way, the ap
plication was granted, and on the i6th of March, 1847, he
left Annapolis to take command of the United States ship
Germantown. He took an active part in the later operations
of the war, being present at the capture of Vera Cruz, and
at several other engagements.^ He was succeeded at the
school by Commander George P. Upshur, lately promoted
from the grade of lieutenant. The corps of instructors re
maining much the same, the school routine was not affected
by the change of Superintendents.

At this time, according to the Navy Register of 1847, there
were fifty-seven midshipmen at the school, besides the acting
midshipmen. The examination for promotion took place in
July, Commodore Thomas Ap Catesby Jones being president
of the board; and during the examination the school received
an official visit from the Secretary of the Navy.

* Record Academic Board, I, pp. n, 12.

t Commander Buchanan to the Secretary of the Navy, May 14, 1846.

\ After the close of the war Captain Buchanan returned home, having
fully sustained his reputation as an able officer. In 1852 he commanded
the Susquehanna in Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan, which re
sulted in the opening of that country to foreigners. In 1861 he took
the side of the South, and, his resignation not being accepted, he was
dismissed the service. He took a prominent part in the war, being in
command of the Merrimac in her engagement with the Monitor, and of
the ram Tennessee in the Mobile fight in August, 1864, on both of which
occasions he was wounded, and on the second taken prisoner. After the
war he was for a time president of the Maryland Agricultural College.
He died May 12, 1874.

86 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

Before the beginning of the new academic year, in Septem
ber, 1847, Lieutenant Ward was ordered to sea. He went
as executive officer of the Cumberland, then flag-ship of the
Gulf squadron, under Commodore Perry. Professor Chauve-
net was elected to succeed him as president of the Academic
Board, and Lieut. John A. Dahlgren took his place as in
structor in gunnery.* During the year Dr. Lockwood gave
lectures on international law, and the course in general was
revised and improved.

There were, however, defects in the system which the
board had no power to remove, and they now began to be
seriously felt. The chief difficulty arose from the irregu
larity in regard to admission, attendance, and graduation.
During the academic year 1 847-^4.8 thirty-one acting mid
shipmen attended the school, of whom more than half re
ported after January i, 1848.! They were admitted one
at a time at intervals of a few days ; and hence the class
under instruction contained students in every stage of prog
ress, but no two alike. The professors were at a loss how
to classify them, or, indeed, how to conduct their studies at
all, without having as many classes as there were pupils. At
short intervals, also, came orders detaching them, sometimes
singly, sometimes in bodies of three or four. At such times
notice was given to the professors, an examination was held,
and the party of midshipmen discharged, to renew their
studies at any time in the distant future when it might be
convenient for the Department to order them home. With
regard to the senior midshipmen, the case was nearly as bad.

* On temporary service. Journal of officer of the day, October 23,
1847. He was soon afterward detached.

t Thirty -seven candidates for admission presented themselves during
the year, and for the examination of these thirty-seven, the committee of the
Academic Board convened thirty-one times, between November and June.

CHAP. II. THE NAVAL SCHOOL. 87

They were ordered to and from the school at irregular inter
vals, only a portion remaining through the year.

In spite of these obstacles, the school was doing a good
work. The examinations in the several branches served to
give point and direction to the studies of young officers, and,
if they accomplished nothing else, they at least had some
effect in excluding unworthy candidates for appointment.
Secretary Mason said in his report of 1847, m speaking of the
Naval School :* " The examinations before an applicant can
enter the service, and those which determine his qualification
for promotion, after five or six years of service, exert the most
beneficial influence in retaining only those who have the
mental endowments essential to a skillful and accomplished
naval officer."

With the limited force of instructors at the command of the
Department, it was impossible to have accomplished teachers
in each branch, and it was necessary to shape the course
according to the abilities and attainments of the officers whom
the school was fortunate enough to get. After Ward and
Dahlgren left, their places could not be exactly filled, and
Professor Lockwood, whose range of scientific study was very
wide, took charge of gunnery and other subjects, while steam
was joined with chemistry. In October, 1848, the academic
faculty was as follows :f

Commander G. P. Upshur, Superintendent.

Lieut. Sidney S. Lee, executive officer.

Dr. John A. Lockwood, instructor in chemistry and steam.

Prof. W. Chauvenet, instructor in mathematics.

Prof. H. H. Lockwood, instructor in astronomy, mechan
ics, and gunnery.

Professor Girault, instructor in French.

Chaplain Jones, instructor in English.

* Executive Documents, Thirtieth Congress, first session, No. 8, p. 957.
f Journal Academic Board, i, p. 36.

88 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

William M. Chauvenet, assistant in French.

Passed Midshipman William N. Jeffers,* assistant in mathe
matics.

Changes meanwhile were suggested, and it was even pro
posed to apply to Congress for legislation. But, in view ol
the peculiar character and purpose of the institution, the
Secretary wisely thought that such an effort should be post
poned until a larger experience and more careful thought and
study had enabled naval officers and professors to mature a
plan which would meet the wants of the service for some time
to come. Regulations once established by hasty legislation,
however injudicious they might be, could only be modified by
the slow process of repeal or amendment. It was much that
some steps had been taken, and that no mistake had been
made so far. That the steps had been in the right direction,
the Secretary was assured. In his report for 1848 he said:t
" The beneficial effects of the Naval School upon the service
are already beginning to be sensibly felt. The truth is ad
mitted by all that the services required of officers are more of
the head than the hand. The result of experience in the
Army, that in proportion as education has been encouraged,
and the means of acquiring it afforded, so have the character
and efficiency of the officers been improved, will not fail to
be confirmed in the Navy. * * * The lad who leaves
his parents at the age of fourteen or fifteen years to enter the
service as a midshipman cannot be expected to have laid
the foundation even for so broad a superstructure of knowl
edge. The Naval School promises to furnish the means or
attaining these ends, so important for the Navy. It will pro
duce, I trust, the same happy fruits of skill and knowledge
which the Military Academy has already produced for the

* Now Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance.

t Executive Documents, Thirtieth Congress, second session, No. I,
p. 612.

CHAP. II. THE NA VAL SCHOOL.

Army." In another part of the report the Secretary spoke
of flags of captured vessels and trophies in the rooms of the
Navy Department at Washington, and recommended their
removal to the school. This removal was afterwards made,
and the flags are still to be seen in the gunnery-room of the
Academy.

In March, 1849, the administration of Taylor came in, and
William Ballard Preston, of Virginia, was appointed to suc
ceed Mr. Mason as Secretary of the Navy. Early in this
year the Academic Board had had the subject of the course
of instruction under long and careful consideration; and they
had made a formal report and recommendations which had,
as yet, been followed by no action of the Department. At
length, on the 4th of September, 1849, Secretary Preston
appointed a board to consider the subject and draw up a
system of regulations embodying their views. The board sat
at Washington, and was composed of the following officers:

Commodore William B. Shubrick,

Commander Franklin Buchanan,

Commander Samuel F. Dupont,

Commander George P. Upshur,

Surgeon W. S. W. Ruschenberger.

Professor William Chauvenet.

Capt. Henry Brewerton, of the Corps of Engineers, at
that time Superintendent of the Military Academy at West
Point, was to confer with the board oil the discipline of that
institution.

The new regulations were reported to the Secretary in
October. They were soon after approved, and went' into
operation at the beginning of the next academic year, July
i, 1850. At the same time, Commander C. K, Stribling
succeeded Commander Upshur as Superintendent. The pro
visions of the new regulations are given at length in the
following chapter.

CHAPTER III.

THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION.
JULY, 1850, TO NOVEMBER, 1851.

The essential features of the new organization were the
following:*

The institution, to be called henceforth the United States
Naval Academy, was placed under the supervision of the
Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, who was
to inspect it personally once a year, and through whom its
routine business with the Department was to be conducted ;
but in matters of discipline the reports were to be made
directly to the Secretary of the Navy. The Superintendent,
as before, had immediate charge of the institution. An expe
rienced lieutenant or commander was to be the executive
officer and instructor in naval tactics and practical seaman
ship. He was to be known as the commandant of midship
men. The other instructors were as follows :

Professor of mathematics.

Professor of natural and experimental philosophy.

Professor of gunnery and infantry tactics.

Professor of ethics, &c.

Professor of modern languages.

Instructor of drawing and draughting.

Instructor of the art of defence.

* From the copy of the report of the board in the Superintendent's
office, United States Naval Academy.

CHAP. III. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION. 9I

The five professors, with the Superintendent and comman
dant of midshipmen, were to compose the Academic Board, of
which the Superintendent was president ex officio. Its duties
were to fix the order of instruction and the time devoted to
each branch, to recommend text-books, changes in course,
and purchases of books and apparatus, and to take cognizance
of other academic matters.

But the main feature of the change was the extension
of the course and the arrangement of the examinations for
admission. These latter were to be held between the ist and
5th of October, in each year, and at no other time. After
passing this examination the acting midshipman was to remain
at the Academy for two years from the time of admission,
and if he passed this course he was ordered to sea. After
six months of satisfactory sea-service he received a midship
man's warrant, bearing the date of his appointment as acting
midshipman. By the ist of October, three years from the
time of leaving the Academy, he was to return to it, and
continue the studies of the final course of two years. At the
end of this time he was to be examined for promotion. Four
classes were thus provided for, there being an intermission of
three years between the end of the third-class and the begin
ning of the second-class course.

The course of instruction embraced six departments :

1. Naval tactics and practical seamanship.

2. Mathematics, including pure mathematics, navigation,
astronomy, and land and nautical surveying. Drawing and
draughting were in charge of this department.

3. Natural and experimental philosophy, including me
chanics, the use of steam, the construction and management
of the steam-engine, especially of marine engines, the phe
nomena of chemistry, heat, electricity, and light. Mineral
ogy and geology, treating especially of coal and iron.

9 2 THE NAVAL A CA DEM Y. PART I .

4. Gunnery and infantry-tactics, theory and practice of
gunnery, and artillery and infantry tactics. Instruction in
the art of defence, including fencing, was in charge of this
department.

5. Ethics. English grammar, rhetoric, physical and de
scriptive geography, history, moral philosophy, constitutional,
national, and international law, and military and naval law.

6. Modern languages. Speaking, reading, and writing
French and Spanish.

Each head of department was to be the judge of the meth
ods of teaching to be employed in his department, and he
was given considerable liberty in transferring students from
their positions in the class as fixed by the marks of his assist
ants.

A sloop of war was to be attached to the Academy for
sea-service and gunnery-practice during the summer. She
was commanded by the commandant of midshipmen, and
officered in part from the Academy.

The examination for admission was made very light. Can
didates were to be between thirteen and fifteen years of age,
and were to be able to read, write, and spell, and perform the
four "primary rules of arithmetic." They were also required
to pass before a medical board.

Semi-annual and annual examinations were held during
the course, and students reported deficient in any branch of
study were to be dropped; and they were not to be restored
unless upon the recommendation of the Academic Board.

The final examination of the graduating class for promotion
took place in October, instead of June, as was the case with
the others. It was conducted by a board of three captains
and two commanders, together with the Superintendent and
commandant of midshipmen, and included all the branches
taught at the Academy. The professor in charge of a branch

CHAP. III. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION. ^

put the questions orally to the students in the presence of the
board, and the final standing, which determined the order of
the midshipmen on the navy-list, was made up by combining
all the marks of the course, but was subject to the revision
of the board. At the same time a board of visitors, consist
ing of the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and six other
" gentlemen of scientific attainments," made an inspection of
the working of the Academy, and reported their views upon
it to the Secretary of the Navy.

The student's conduct had a very considerable weight in
determining his final standing, being counted as equal in im
portance to mathematics. Two hundred demerits in any year
involved dismissal. The other provisions in regard to conduct
were not unlike those which have since been in force. Duel
ing, cards, tobacco, liquor, clubs, and societies, the use of
fire-arms, the marriage of midshipmen, were forbidden. As a
general rule, leave was only granted on Saturdays. The re
striction to the grounds, singularly enough, included officers
as well as midshipmen.* A midshipman was detailed daily
to serve as officer of the day. He had an office at the gate,
and the same duties of inspection and record as were enjoined
by the earlier regulations. A master was to be attached to
the Academy, to act as instructor in mathematics. He had,
in addition, certain police duties, among which was the charge
of the mess-hall. The other provisions of the regulations
consisted of minute details in relation to the interior discipline
of the institution.

Several changes were made about this time in the force of
officers. Lieutenant Lee was relieved by Lieut. Thomas T.
Craven, f to whose long connection with the Academy —

* Chap. 9, § 6. " No professor, instructor, midshipman, or acting mid
shipman, nor any other person doing duty in the institution, is to go beyond
the limits of the inclosure without the permission of the Superintendent."

t Now rear-admiral.

94 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

nearly eight years in all — is especially due the commence
ment and elaboration of the system of practice-cruises, than
which no other feature of the course has proved more bene
ficial. He remained as second in command till 1855; and,
returning again in 1858, he finally left the Academy in 1860.
Among other changes, Mr. Jones was relieved of his duties
of instruction and acted as chaplain. He was afterwards
detached, to accompany Commodore Perry's expedition
to Japan.* He was succeeded by Prof. Joseph E. Nourse,
in the English department. About the same time Prof. W.
F. Hopkins took the place of Dr. Lockwood. The staff was
now composed of the following officers : f

ACADEMIC BOARD.

Cornelius K. Stribling, Superintendent, and President ex
officio.

Thomas T. Craven, Lieutenant, and Commandant of Mid
shipmen.

William Chauvenet, Professor of Mathematics.

William F. Hopkins, Professor of Natural and Experimental
Philosophy.

* The Rev. George Jones, A.M., was born July 30, 1800, near York,
Pa. He graduated at Yale College in 1823, with the highest honors of
his class. In 1828 he was appointed tutor in Yale College, an office
which he held till 1830. He was commissioned chaplain in the United
States Navy in 1833. His published works consisted of — I. Sketches of
Naval Life. New Haven, 3 vols. 2. Excursions to Cairo, Jerusalem,
Damascus, and Balbec. New York, 1836. 3. Observations on the
Zodiacal Light. 4°, 348 plates, pp. 750. The last work forms the third
volume of the report of Perry's Japan Expedition, during which the ob
servations were made. "The new theory of a nebulous ring around the
earth is a deduction from these observations. See Bouvier's Familiar
Astronomy, 405." (Allibone's Dictionary of Authors, vol. I. See also
Navy Register, and Yale Catalogue.) Chaplain Jones died in 1870.

t From the Navy Register of 1851.

CHAP. III. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION. ^

Henry H. Lockwood, Professor of Gunnery and Infantry-
Tactics.

Joseph E. Nourse, Professor of Ethics.
Arsene N. Girault, Professor of Modern Languages.

OFFICERS, PROFESSORS, ETC.

Daniel S. Green, Surgeon.
George Jones, Chaplain.
Samuel Marcy, Acting Master, 7

William P. Buckner, Passed Midshipman, }• Mathematics.
James Armstrong, Passed Midshipman, J
Samuel P. Carter, Passed Midshipman, Infantry -Tactics.
Alexander M. De Bree, Passed Midshipman, Natural and
Experimental Philosophy.

Alfred H. Barber, Assistant Professor of Ethics.
Edward Seager, Instructor of Drawing and of Defence.
William M. Chauvenet, Assistant in French.
Edward A. Roget, Assistant in Spanish.

The new system, though in many ways defective, was a long
step in advance of the old; and the progress was all the more
remarkable in view of the natural conservatism of military or
ganizations, and the difficulty of making considerable changes
which require departmental support and legislative action—
a movement, in short, of the whole machinery of one branch
of the Government. As it was, however, neither the Aca
demic Board nor the more intelligent officers of the Navy were
wholly satisfied. It was a great gain that four years were se
cured for study, and that the students of each class should be
gin and end their courses at the same time; but the long in
termission in the middle of the course, before habits of study
were thoroughly formed, tended to break up and scatter the
force of instruction, and to destroy the unity of the system.

96 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

During the next year the board was actively engaged in fur
ther measures of organization, and in revising the lately-adopt
ed rules. f July 30, 1850, the marking-scale of 4 was adopted,
which has continued in use since that time. In the following
spring (May 31, 1851) a system of maximum numbers and
common differences was introduced, to be used in making up
the rank of the students. The following scale was used:
Mathematics, 3 ; English studies, 2 ; French, 2 ; gunnery and
infantry-tactics, 2; drawing, i.* This scale has undergone
repeated modifications, almost yearly, during the progress of
the school, to meet new exigencies. The common differences
were retained in use until the end of the academic year
i874-'75, when the system was laid aside for that of co-effi
cients, the one in use during the first five years of the school.
After the close of the session in July, 1851, the Academic
Board addressed a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, calling
his attention to the importance of so changing the system as
to insure a consecutive course of study of four years before
actual service. From this letter t it appears that the board
had always held this view, and that it had the approval of
the Secretary, but that it had not been urged previously in
deference to the opinion of distinguished officers of the serv-

* Corresponding maxima and minima: Mathematics, 300-100; Eng-
Hsh, French, gunnery, 200-67; drawing, 100-33. The method used
was as follows : After determining the order of merit in each branch, the
number expressing the maximum of merit in each branch was attached to
the first name on the roll of that branch. One-third of the maximum was
attached to the last name on the list of those who had passed in that
branch, and was the minimum number of the branch. The difference be
tween the maximum and the minimum was then distributed by a common
difference among all the members of the class, and the series of whole
numbers most nearly coinciding with the series so found was taken to ex
press the relative merit in that branch of the members of that class. (Rec
ord Academic Board, I, 134.)

t Record Academic Board, I, p. 157.

CHAP. III. THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION. 97

ice, who considered it indispensable that the young midship
man should go to sea early in order to form those tastes and
habits which were deemed essential to the naval officer.
These objections, however, had since been obviated by the
introduction of the annual practice-cruise, in which it was
found that the midshipmen obtained more, and more valu
able, experience than in their first cruise under the old sys
tem. It was understood that the opposition under which the
plan had labored the year before had been withdrawn, and
the board accordingly had drawn up a series of revisions
which, they presented to the attention of the Department.
The changes were favorably regarded, and referred to the
board, which convened in October, 1851, to examine mid
shipmen for promotion, and which was composed of the fol
lowing officers :

Commodore David Conner.

Captain Samuel L. Breese.

Commander C. K. Stribling.

Commander A. Bigelow.

Commander F. Buchanan.

Lieut. Thomas T. Craven.

This board considered the matter and incorporated such
changes as it deemed best in the regulations ; and the modi
fied system was approved by the Secretary of the Navy, Hon.
William A. Graham, November 15, 1851, since which time
it has formed the basis of the academic organization.

CHAPTER IV.

THE FINAL ORGANIZATION.
1851-1876.

The essential part of the change from the regulations of
1850 consisted in the arrangement of the course in four suc
cessive years, as recommended by the Academic Board ; in
putting the age of admission between fourteen and sixteen ;
and in withholding the warrants until the end of the four
years. At that time each acting midshipman who passed his
final examination received a certificate of graduation, which
entitled him to a warrant bearing the date of the certificate.
No one could have a warrant who was not a graduate of the
Academy. The final examination was to take place in June,
at the close of the course. Candidates for admission were
appointed before March of each year, and the examination
was held between the 2oth and 3ist of May.* Candidates
who were qualified were admitted to advanced standing. No
candidate or midshipman rejected at an examination or
discharged from the Academy could be re-appointed or
restored.

Slight changes were made in the course. The department
of modern languages was divided into those of French and
Spanish, and a department of drawing was created. The
instruction in the latter comprised right-line drawing, sketch
ing, and perspective. Spanish and drawing were not at this

* Changed to September, by order of JS'avy Department, November 29,
1852.

CHAP. IV. THE FINAL ORGANIZATION. gg

time represented upon the Academic Board. Pyrotechny
was added to the course in the department of gunnery.

A master was to be detailed as assistant to the executive
officer, to have general charge of police duty; and a purser
was to be the treasurer and disbursing officer of the insti
tution.

A suitable vessel of war was to be attached to the Acad
emy as a practice-ship, and the midshipmen were to be em
barked immediately after the June examination. The second
class had leave of absence till the 3oth of September, instead
of going on the practice-cruise.

Midshipmen in service before January i, 1851, continued
to a certain extent the old course, and after three years at
sea remained one year at the Academy to pursue such a
modified course as might suit their peculiar situation. Their
examination for promotion was governed by the old regu
lations.

A circular of the Navy Department, issued July 23, 1852,
made provision for the examination for promotion of the
midshipmen who came under the new system — /. e., those
appointed after January, 1851. This examination was to be
held at the Naval Academy or elsewhere, by a board of three
captains and two commanders. The midshipmen came up
after getting a certificate of graduation and performing three
and a half years of sea-service, including their practice-
cruises. The subjects were seamanship and naval tactics
only, and the marks given were combined with those of the
academic course to determine the relative rank of the mem
bers of each class.

The organization adopted in 1851 has thus far met the
wants of the institution. Changes in detail have been made
at intervals,* but the general system has been preserved

* Many of these are referred to in the chapter on the course of instruc
tion.

ioo THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

throughout the administrations of the able Superintendents
who have for the last twenty-five years presided over the
Academy. Except for the temporary interruptions caused
by the war, the records during these years bear witness to the
steady prosperity and growth of the school. Of late years
the academic staff has been mainly composed of graduates
of the four-year course, with a considerable number of in
structors appointed from civil life. Among the latter, who at
one time or another have been connected with the school,
may be mentioned the late Professor Winlock, of Harvard
University; Prof. J. H. C. Coffin, the superintendent of the
Nautical Almanac; Professor Chauvenet, afterward chan
cellor of the Washington University of Missouri; Dr. Augustus
W. Smith, for many years president of Wesleyan University;
William F. Hopkins,* at one time professor of chemistry at West
Point, and afterward at William and Mary College, Virginia;
Prof. C. J. White, registrar of Harvard College; W. Woolsey
Johnson, professor of mathematics at Saint John's College ;
Prof. George A. Osborne, of the Massachusetts Institute of

* Prof. William Fenn Hopkins, LL.D., was a graduate of the Military
Academy at West Point, in the class of 1825. He was commissioned
second lieutenant in the Fourth Artillery, and was promoted to the rank
of first lieutenant September 14, 1834. He served at the Military
Academy as assistant, and afterwards as acting, professor from 1825 to
1835. He resigned his commission June 30, 1836. He subsequently
became principal of Ihe Norfolk Academy, Virginia, (1843,) professor of
natural sciences at the Western Military Institute, Georgetown, Ky.,
(1846,) president of Masonic University, Clarksville, Tenn., and professor
of chemistry at William and Mary College, Virginia. He was professor of
natural and expei-imental philosophy at the Naval Academy from Sep
tember i, 1850, to March i, 1859. Upon his resignation he was appointed
United States consul at Jamaica, W. I., a position which he held only
four months. He died in the island of Jamaica July 13, 1859. Professor
Hopkins received the degree of A. M. from Yale College in 1833, and that
of LL. D. from Trinity College, Geneva, N. Y., in 1853. (See Cullum's
Biographical Register of United States Military Academy, vol. I.)

CHAP. IV.

THE FINAL ORGANIZA TION.

101

Technology; and J. W. Langley, recently appointed professor
of chemistry and physics at Michigan University.

The period from 1850 to 1852 had been one of transition ;
and even until 1856 the old and the new systems worked side
by side, compelling a provisional arrangement of studies. The
class which entered in October, 1851, was the first class
under the present system. This class graduated in 1855. At
the semi-annual examination in February, 1852, however, ten
members of this class were selected for advancement, and of
these ten, six completed their course in three years, graduat
ing in June, 1854. Of these six, only two, Commanders
Thomas O. Selfridge and Joseph N. Miller, are still in the
service; and they are therefore the first graduates of the pres
ent academic course in the Navy. Subsequent classes fol
lowed in regular order.

Meanwhile, the midshipmen who had entered the service
before 1851 continued to report for study at the end of their
cruises. The following table will show the order in which
they came :

Number examined.

Original entry into the
service.

184^

October, 1851.

184^

)

1846

SJune, 1852.

1846

I8/L7

SJune, 1853.

I&17

1848

^June, 1854.

1848

l84Q .

£June, 1855.

1848

I 8AQ

>Tune, 1856.

2O ...

l8^0...

102 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

The midshipmen of the date of 1850, examined in June,
1856, were the last students who came under the old system.
The date of 1851 had already graduated, six in 1854, and
the remainder in 1855 ; those of the date of 1852 graduated
in 1856, and so on uniformly till the breaking out of the war.

In October, 1853, the subjects of astronomy and navigation
were taken from the department of mathematics and placed
in a separate department, of which Professor Chauvenet
assumed the charge. Other transfers of a like character were
made from time to time, but none of them of such import
ance as to alter the general organization.

Commander Louis M. Goldsborough relieved Captain
Stribling as Superintendent on the ist of November, 1853,
and retained the charge for four years. In September, 1857,
he was in turn relieved by Capt. George S. Blake. In 1859
Professor Chauvenet resigned to accept an appointment in
the Washington University. The connection of Professor
Chauvenet with the Academy for a period of nineteen years,
from its foundation, is one of the most important facts in its
early history. The thoroughness and efficiency which have
always characterized the instruction in mathematics and navi
gation are largely due to his earnest and successful efforts.*

* William Chauvenet, LL. D., was born in Milford, Pa., May 24, 1819,
and died at Saint Paul, Minn., December 13, 1870. He graduated with
high honors in 1840 at Yale College, and immediately became associated
with Alexander Dallas Bache in important meteorological and magnetic
observations at Girard College. He was appointed December 30, 1841,
a professor of mathematics in the Navy. He was attached to the Naval
School at Philadelphia, and was one of the most active and efficient pro
moters of the establishment and organization of the Academy at Annapolis.
In 1859 he was called to the chair of mathematics and astronomy at Yale
College, and to the same position at the Washington University of St.
Louis. He accepted the latter, and retained it till 1868, when ill-health
compelled him to resign. He had in the mean time been appointed chan
cellor of Washington University. Many of his contributions to scientific

CHAP. IV. THE FINAL ORGANIZATION. IO^

The age and qualifications for admission have undergone
occasional modifications. The standard has been somewhat
raised, but the changes have been gradual and slight, so that
even at the present time the examination is of a very ele
mentary character. The regulations of 1 85 5 fixed the required
age as over fourteen and under seventeen years. In 1860
the maximum was fixed at under eighteen; and these limits
are still preserved.

The first summer practice-cruise was made in the United
States steamer John Hancock, commanded by Lieutenant
Craven, in 1851. The cruise was short, and was confined to
Chesapeake Bay. Later in the summer the midshipmen em
barked in the sloop of war Preble and cruised for some time
at sea and off the coast of Maine. Since that time cruises
have been made every year, except in 1861.

In October, 1859, it was found that the quarters were too
small to hold all the midshipmen, and the experiment was
tried of quartering a part of them on board of one of the
practice-ships. The sloop of war Plymouth was at that time
moored off the Academy. The battery was removed, with
the exception of four guns, and the main deck converted into
study and recitation rooms. The new fourth class were put
on board, messing and sleeping on the berth-deck. Gas and
steam were carried from the shore, and a scow served as a
means of communication. The crew, twenty-five in number,

knowledge were of great practical value, such as his methods of determin
ing the longitude at sea, of rating chronometers, and of great-circle sailing-
charts. His "Treatise on Practical and Spherical Trigonometry " (1863)
was said by Professor Bond, of Harvard College, to be " the most thorough
and complete which had appeared in any country or language." His
other works include "The Binomial Theorem Theory of Exponents and
of Logarithms," (1843;) " Plane and Spherical Trigonometry," (1850;)
and " On Elementary Geometry," (1870.) (The above notice is taken
mainly from the revised edition of Appleton's Cyclopedia, 4, p. 346.)

104 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

lived forward on the main deck.* In the next year the frig
ate Constitution took the place of the Plymouth. She was
arranged somewhat as the other vessel had been; a house
was built for the crew on the spar-deck, and the two lower
decks were used by the midshipmen. The Constitution was
ill-adapted for practice-cruises, and was attached to the Acad
emy solely as a school-ship, for which purpose her historical
associations seemed to make her peculiarly appropriate.

During the following winter, the growing complications in
national affairs caused serious apprehensions at the Academy.
As one State after another seceded, strong pressure from home
was brought to bear on midshipmen from the South, and
some of them sent in their resignations. By the middle of
April the situation had become alarming. Disaffection to the
Union prevailed to some extent in the neighborhood, and
the Superintendent, Captain Blake, received intimations of a
threatened attack. It is uncertain whether any such attack
was really projected, but the officers in charge of the station
had every reason to apprehend one. On the i5th of April,
Captain Blake wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, describing
the defenceless character of the place and submitting a plan
of action in case of attack. He proposed to destroy the guns
and stores that he could not carry away, embark officers and
midshipmen on board the Constitution, and take her to Phil
adelphia. He was especially anxious that this vessel should
not fall into the hands of the insurgents, having " had in
formation," as he says in one of his letters, " that it is the
determination of a great many people of this State that the
Constitution shall be the first ship of war to hoist the flag of
the Confederate States." At this time she was in her position
as school-ship, moored to the wharf, and under the command

* Lull, p. 49.

CHAP. TV. THE FINAL ORGANIZATION.* IOS

of Lieut. George W. Rodgers. Her guns were double-shotted,
and every preparation was made which the limited means at
the disposal of her commander allowed.

In the mean time the state of affairs outside grew daily
worse. Communication with Washington was uncertain.
The telegraph-wires were cut. It became necessary to send
dispatches to the Department by officers of the school ordered
to make their way as well as they could to the capital.
Every precaution was taken to prevent ah attack. The
Superintendent endeavored to maintain a conciliatory policy
toward the citizens; but, notwithstanding the good disposition
of the better classes without the walls, the officers passed
several days and nights in great suspense and anxiety.

On the i Qth of April, the Massachusetts Sixth Regiment
was attacked by the mob in Baltimore. General B. F. Butler
with the Massachusetts Eighth was then at Philadelphia, and
seeing the impossibility of taking his men through Baltimore,
consulted with Commodore Dupont, commanding the Phila
delphia navy-yard, and General Patterson, as to the best
route to be taken to Washington. It was decided that the
troops should leave the railway at Perry ville and go by water
to Annapolis, from which place it was supposed they might
easily reach their destination. Butler left Philadelphia on the
2oth, seized the large ferry-boat Maryland at Perry ville, em
barked his men, and arrived off Annapolis a little after mid
night. He was surprised to find the town and the Academy
lit up, and the people astir. Rumors had been spread that
the attack on the Constitution was to be made that night by
a party from Baltimore, joined by southern sympathizers in
the town, and the officers were making such preparations as
they could to resist it. At first the troops in the Maryland
were supposed to be enemies, and the people on board the
Constitution were just about to open fire upon her when they

I06 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

found, to their surprise and their great relief, that she carried
their friends.*

General Butler immediately offered the use of the Maryland
to Captain Blake to tow the Constitution away from the
wharf and beyond the reach of danger. In performing this
service the Maryland got aground, and remained so during
the next day and night. Governor Hicks, of Maryland, who
was then at Annapolis, (his official residence being just out
side the Academy grounds,) protested against the landing of
the troops; and during the day letters were exchanged, and
a conference took place between him and the General on the
subject. On the morning of the 22d, General Butler having
already determined to land, the steamer Boston appeared in
the harbor with the New York Seventh Regiment on board.
The latter was landed at the Academy wharf, and the steamer
then took off the Massachusetts troops from the Maryland.
They were quartered, as far as was possible, in the buildings,
and the rest encamped on the grounds.

By this time the routine of the school was broken up and
the place was transformed into a camp. The two regiments
soon left for Washington, the Massachusetts Eighth rebuild
ing the railway on- its march, which had been torn up by se
cessionists. Before their departure, other troops had arrived.
On the 23d, ten members of the first class of midshipmen
were ordered to report at the Navy Department for active
service. On the 24th, the remaining midshipmen were trans
ferred to the Constitution, and Captain Blake wrote to the
Department recommending the immediate removal of the
school. He proposed Fort Adams, at Newport, R. I., as the
most available place for the moment; and he suggested that
the steamer Baltic, then used as a transport between New
York and Annapolis, should take the officers and their families.
* Lossing, i, p. 435.

CHAP. IV. THE FINAL ORGANIZATION. IO7

As there was no probability that instruction could be suc
cessfully resumed at Annapolis for a long time, Secretary
Welles adopted the recommendation, and on the 2yth the
Academy was ordered to Newport. The Baltic, commanded
by Capt. Oliver Eldridge, was placed in charge of Lieut. C.
R. P. Rodgers,* the commandant of midshipmen at that time.
All the books, furniture, models, and apparatus that could be
transported were packed and placed on board. The officers
and professors embarked with their families, and on the even
ing of the 9th of May the Baltic arrived at Newport. The
Constitution, under Lieut. G. VV. Rodgers, with the midship
men on board, which had been for some days at New York,
came in about two hours before the Baltic.

The quarters at Fort Adams were in casemates which had
not been inhabited for eighteen months, and were found very
damp and unwholesome. They furnished a scanty accommo
dation for about one-half of the officers and professors who
had been quartered at Annapolis. They were made ready
with all dispatch, and in the mean time lodgings were hired
for the officers in town. Captain Blake having remained in
Annapolis, the commandant of midshipmen, Lieut. C. R. P.
Rodgers, had charge of the re-organization of the school. So
rapidly was it accomplished, that on the i3th instant, four
days after the arrival, studies and recitations were in full oper
ation; and this in the face of the greatest obstacles, most of
the line-officers on duty having been detached and ordered
into active service. The midshipmen, also, were ordered off in
large numbers. The remaining half of the first class, and all
the members of the second and third classes, except a few re
tained to assist in the discipline of the school, were detached
soon after the loth of May. The studies of these midshipmen
were, of course, much abridged; those who entered had in '59
*Now Superintendent of the Naval Academy.

io8 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

going over only the elementary course of the first two years.
But the needs of the country admitted of no alternative. At
the close of the year the fourth class was the only one at the
Academy. They were kept steadily at exercises and drills
throughout the summer, with a limited course of study and
recitation. The detachment of the upper classes having
caused numerous vacancies, a very large class, two hundred
in number, entered in the summer of 1861. All these were
quartered on board the school-ship.

As the fort failed to give adequate or comfortable accom
modation to the officers and upper classes of midshipmen, the
Atlantic House, a large hotel in a central part of the city, was
rented for a year by the Government. The Academy was
moved in by the ist of October, the beginning of the next
academic year. This arrangement proved the most satisfac
tory that could be made, and it was .followed for the next
three years. The Constitution was still used as a school-ship,
and was moored alongside the wharf on Goat Island, with the
fourth class on board. The frigate Santee was also attached
to the Academy as a school-ship.

In September, 1865, Commodore Blake was relieved by
Admiral Porter,* after an able administration of eight years,
under the most trying circumstances — the longest in the his
tory of the Academy.!

*At this time rear-admiral.

t Commodore George Smith Blake was born at Worcester, Mass., in
1803. He was the son of Francis Blake, esq., a distinguished lawyer of
Worcester. He was appointed midshipman in 1818, and lieutenant in
1827. Soon after the latter date he made a cruise in the Grampus, on
the West India station, for the suppression of piracy. In 1832 he was
employed on a special survey of Narragansett Bay, and from i835~'46
he was attached to the Coast Survey. He commanded the lO-gun brig
Perry in 1846, and was wrecked on the coast of Florida. From i849~'52
he was attached to the Mediterranean squadron. In 1855 he was pro
moted to captain, and in 1862 to commodore. After his retirement from

CHAP. IV. THE FINAL ORGANIZATION. TOg

Congress had already decided upon the return of the
Academy to Annapolis,* and the change was to be made be
fore the beginning of the academic year of 1865. Soon

the Academy, he was for some time light-house inspector. He died at
Longwood, Mass., June 24, 1871.

He is spoken of as a gallant and accomplished officer, a man of fine
culture, a graceful and elegant writer, and as having possessed good ex
ecutive ability and a genial and affable address.

The Secretary of the Navy, in a letter to Captain Blake, October 9,
1861, said:

"Your letter of the 3d instant, informing the Department of your
readiness for any service, is received.

"Appreciating your motives, but valuing your services in the present
condition of the institution over which you preside, the Department spe
cially desires your continuance at least for the present."

After the close of the war the Secretary addressed the following letter
to Commodore Blake :

"NAVY DEPARTMENT, August 30, 1865.

" SIR: In relieving you from the important position of Superintendent
of the Naval Academy, which you have conducted with zeal and ability
for the last eight years, the Department takes occasion to express to you
its acknowledgment of your valuable services during an excited and in
teresting period.

" The removal of the Academy from Annapolis to Newport, which was
effected under your superintendence, and the final termination of the
school at the latter place, have been events of importance in the history
of the institution, and with them your name and services are honorably
identified. In retiring from the position which you have so long occu
pied with distinction, I tender to you the respectful regard of the De
partment.

"Very respectfully,

"GIDEON WELLES,

" Secretary of the Navy.

" Commodore GEORGE S. BLAKE."

(See Drake's Dictionary of American Biography; Hamersly's Records
of Living Officers; and Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia, 1871.)

*Act approved May 21, 1864, "making appropriations for the naval
service," section 4.

no THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

after the close of the war, the War Department, which had
used the buildings and grounds as a hospital and military
station, restored them to the Navy, and the transfer of the
Academy from Newport took place immediately after Admi
ral Porter's accession. All traces of the military occupation
were removed or destroyed.

During Admiral Porter's administration many important
changes and improvements were made, both in the extension
of the course of instruction, and in additions to the grounds
and the erection of buildings. In 1865 the new department
of steam-engineering was established, and in the next year
a class of acting third assistant engineers was ordered to the
Academy for instruction. Their course embraced the subjects
of steam-engineering, iron-manufacture, chemistry, mechan
ics, and practical exercises with the steam-engine and in the
machine-shop. This class graduated in June, 1868, together
with two cadet-engineers, who had entered the Academy in
1867. A building was erected for the new department, and
furnished amply with the best apparatus for giving instruc
tion. In 1868 the chapel was built and the old chapel was
converted into a hall for trophies and the models of the de
partment of gunnery. In the next year the large hall known
as the " new quarters v was finished, and the use of the Consti
tution as a school-ship was presently discontinued, the build
ings now affording accommodation for all the students. The
Santee had been previously fitted up as a gunnery-ship. The
fourth class of i868-'69 was the last class quartered on board
the Constitution. Three years later she was removed from
the Academy.

During Admiral Porter's administration, also, the executive
mansion of the governor of Maryland, with the grounds
belonging to it, was bought from the State by the Govern
ment. The whole purchase, together with parts of Scott street

Ill

CHAP. IV. THE FINAL ORGANIZATION.

and Governor street adjoining, was inclosed within the aca
demic walls. The wings of the governor's house were
removed, and a new row of officers' quarters, including a
house for the board of visitors, was built upon the new acqui
sition. The governor's house became the library-building of
the Academy.

When the Bureau of Navigation was established, in 1862,
the Academy was placed under its supervision, as it had
formerly been under that of the Bureau of Ordnance and
Hydrography. On the ist of March, 1867, it was placed
under the direct care and supervision of the Navy Depart
ment, the administrative routine being still conducted through
the bureau. This system was followed until March n, 1869,
when all connection with the bureau ceased.

In December, 1869, Admiral Porter was succeeded by
Rear- Admiral John L. Worden. Admiral Worden's admin
istration extended to October, j8;4, and the period was one
of steady progress. In October, 1871, a new class of cadet-
engineers was admitted. It followed a two-year course,
somewhat more extended than that of the class of 1868, and
graduated in 1873. Similar classes were admitted in 1872
and 1873, graduating respectively in 1874 and 1875. By an
act of Congress approved February 24, 1874, the course of
instruction for cadet-engineers was made four years instead
of two, and the new provision was first applied to the class
entering in 1874. During Admiral Worden's administration
many improvements were made in the buildings and grounds.
The most important of these was the purchase of four acres
of land in the rear of the midshipmen's quarters, and the
removal or destruction of the dilapidated frame dwellings
and tenements which occupied the neighborhood.

In September, 1874, Admiral Worden left the Academy to
take command of the Mediterranean squadron, and his

II2 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

place was taken by Rear- Admiral C. R. P. Rodgers, who had
been commandant of midshipmen at the outbreak of the
war. At the present time Admiral Rodgers still holds the
office of Superintendent. During the last two years various
improvements have been made. The brick structure origi
nally built for the convenience of the photographer has been
considerably enlarged and altered into a chemical laboratory,
which is provided with all the necessary appurtenances. The
physical laboratory has been refitted, and its accommoda
tions have been enlarged. A mess-hall for the officers' mess
has been provided in the bachelors' quarters, and the old
mess-hall has been converted into a spacious and much-needed
lecture-room. The library has been altered so as to give
much greater shelf-room, and a considerable extension has
been added to the observatory. The four houses near the
hospital, built for officers' quarters during the superintendency
of Captain Goldsborough, and known as Goldsborough Row,
have been altered into apartment-houses, with four excellent
suites of apartments in each house, each suite occupying a
floor. One of these houses was previously occupied by the
medical officer of the Academy, and each of the other three
was given to three families, though originally built for only
one. With the alterations which have been made, the four
houses now accommodate sixteen families with far more ease
and convenience than they formerly held ten. A part of the
upper floor of the new quarters has been utilized by fitting it
up as a drawing-room for the class in descriptive geometry;
and a considerable piece of land has been reclaimed by the
extension of the sea-wall on Severn River.

In the fall of 1874 the name of "cadets" was adopted as
a collective designation for the students of the Academy,
comprising cadet-midshipmen and cadet-engineers. In Janu
ary, 1875, it was decided to turn back the deficient cadets of

CHAP. IV. THE FINAL ORGANIZATION. II3

the fourth class to review the studies of the first term, instead
of allowing them to go on with a class already far in advance
of them and dropping them in June, as had been the previous
custom. Two or three months later, a thorough revision was
made of the course of study in all departments, one of the
objects of which was to put the professional studies as far as
possible into the last two years of the course, leaving the
first years for those which were more general or elementary.
At the same time, the system of common differences used
since 1851 in computing marks, was laid aside, and a system
of co-efficients or factors was adopted, the same, it will be
remembered, which was first used in the school. During the
first three months of the academic year i875-'y6 a revised
code of regulations was prepared, which went into operation
January i, 1876.

In 1873, a law was passed enacting that "from and after
the thirtieth day of June, 1873, the term of the classes in the
Naval Academy at Annapolis shall be six years, instead of
four, as now provided by law, and this provision shall first
apply to the class entering the Academy in the year 1873
and to all subsequent classes."*

* Act approved March 3, 1873, "making appropriations for the naval
service" for the year ending June 30, 1874.

CHAPTER V.

GROUNDS.

The territory around Fort Severn, transferred in 1845 with
the fort to the Navy Department, comprised about nine acres.
It had been under the control of the War Department since
1808, when the Government bought part of it from the heirs of
the Dulany family,* in whose possession the place had been for
many years, and part of it from the city of Annapolis. t The
fort itself was built upon the land known as Windmill Point,
the easternmost extremity of Annapolis. The Dulanys had
purchased the place in 1753, but considerable additions had
been made to it during the fifty-five years that it remained
in the family.

The grounds transferred in 1845 extended from the fort,
in a northwesterly direction along the bank of Severn River?
to a point opposite the middle gate of the Academy. The
river at that time came to the foot of the terrace in the rear
of the Seamanship Hall. On the side toward Chesapeake

* Deed of November 14, 1808, from Henry Moore Ridgely, executor
of Walter Dulany, for seven acres of land in the city of Annapolis, on
which Fort Severn was built. Liber N. H., No. 14, folio 540, &c.

t Deed of December 12, 1808, from the mayor, recorder, aldermen,
and common council of the city of Annapolis to the United States, for
one undivided half of two and three-quarters acres of land in the qity of
Annapolis. Recorded December 13, 1808, in Liber N. H., No. 14, folio
543, one of the land-records of Anne Arundel County.

CHAP. V. GROUATDS. II5

Bay the shore curved in from the fort toward the centre of
the Plain, and curved out again to the angle in the present
sea-wall. At the innermost point of the curve, and near the
water, stood the large mulberry-tree which is now in the
middle of the Plain ; a considerable segment of the latter
being made land. At the angle in the sea-wall a point of land
ran out into the harbor, from which the wall bounding the
territory of the fort extended in a line parallel with the general
course of the Severn River. The wall was of brick, about
nine feet high, and buttressed at intervals. One side of the
commissary's office, at the old post, was built upon it; and
this little building, with one story added, has since been used
as quarters for officers, and later as a paymaster's office. In
1873 this house again became a dwelling, and it is now No. 27,
officers' quarters. The fort-wall may still be seen distinctly
in the side of this house, from which it runs back some dis
tance, bounding the garden. This fragment of the old wall
is about 80 feet in length.

Just outside of the old wall ran a street, called Scott street,
long since taken into the Academy grounds. The line of
this street is still distinctly marked, however, by a row of fine
maple-trees, planted by Commander Buchanan in the spring
of 1847, and running almost without interruption from the
rear of the wooden cottage occupied by the secretary, to the
road leading from the upper gate to the steamboat-wharf.
This road is itself an old street of Annapolis, being a contin
uation of Maryland avenue, (at that time called Northeast
street;) and the last of the -row of maple-trees is near this
street and marks its junction with Scott street.*

The avenue leading from the middle gate was also in for
mer times a street, known as Governor street. At its end it

* The tree alluded to is about 40 feet above the path leading to the main
entrance of the cadets' quarters.

n6 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

was crossed by Scott street; and here was the gate opening
into the grounds of Fort Severn — on Scott street, that is, oppo
site Governor street, and, consequently, opposite the middle
gate of the Academy. The grounds of the fort ended just
beyond this gate, and the wall, turning at right angles, and
continuing the line of Governor street, ran in a straight line
to Severn River.

During all this period of possession by the United States
the jurisdiction of the State of Maryland within the territory
had not been given up, though it had never been exercised.
Less than a year, however, after the foundation of the Naval
School, at the request of the authorities, the following act
was passed :

"AN ACT ceding to the United States jurisdiction over the sites of
Forts Madison and Severn."

"SECTION i. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Mary
land, That the jurisdiction and control over the lands owned
by the United States, and constituting the site of Fort Mad
ison, on the Severn River, and the site of Fort Severn, on
Windmill Point, both situated in Annapolis Harbor, in the
county of Anne Arundel, be, and the same is hereby, ceded
and vested in the said United States for military purposes :
Provided always, and the cession and jurisdiction aforesaid
are granted upon the express condition, that this common
wealth shall retain a concurrent jurisdiction with the United
States in and over the said lands and ceded territory, so far
as that all civil and such criminal process as may issue under
the authority of this commonwealth" against any person or
persons charged with crimes committed without the said lands
and ceded territory, may be executed therein in the same way
and manner as though this cession and consent had not been

* Passed by the general assembly of Maryland, March 3, 1846.

CHAP. V. GROUNDS.

made and granted, except so far as such process may effecs
(sic] the real and personal property of the United State t
within the ceded territory.

"SEC. 2. And be it enacted, That the property over which
jurisdiction is granted by this act shall be exonerated and dis
charged from all taxes and assessments which may be levied
or imposed under the authority of this State, while the said
lands and ceded territory shall remain the property of the
United States, and shall be used for the purposes intended by
this act."

The first addition to the original grounds of the Naval
School was made under Commander Upshur, and included
the land adjacent to the school and lying between Scott street
and the Severn. It reached to Northeast street, (Maryland
avenue extended,) and was comprised in three lots bought by
the United States at different times during the year 1847.
The boundary of this acquisition is distinctly shown by the
row of trees before mentioned, in the rear of the Herndon
monument. Several buildings were standing on this land at
the time of purchase, all of which have since disappeared.
The only buildings now standing on it are the gunnery hall,
the observatory, the hall of the department of steam-engineer
ing, and the band-stand.

The next additions were made during the administration
of Commander Stribling, in 1853, one or two of the final
transfers not being completed till the arrival of his successor,
Commander Goldsborough. One part consisted of land lying
between Scott street, Governor street, Hanover street, and
Northeast street, now occupied by the Academy chapel and
by the row of officers' quarters numbered from one to eleven,
called Blake row, and including the lawns in front as far as
the old line of Scott street.* The other addition comprised

* This side of Scott street is marked by five locust-trees, among them
the one struck by lightning May 15, 1876.

n8 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

the land lying along Severn River on the opposite side of
Northeast street, and between it and Tabernacle street, the
fourth side being the line of Hanover street extended. A
high hill stood upon this land at the time of purchase. This
has been cut away, and the material used to fill up the space
inclosed by the sea-wall. The buildings since erected upon
the tract are the quarters known as Goldsborough row, the
cadets' quarters, the hospital, and the physical and chemical
laboratories.

In 1853 the city of Annapolis ceded Scott street, and
Northeast street between Hanover street and the river, on
condition that the Academy should pave and curb one side
of the bounding streets, and should open Hanover street as
far as the Acadamy wall extended. The latter was done by
the purchase of a strip of land in 1858, which now forms the
extension of the street.

In 1866, while Admiral Porter was Superintendent, the old
official mansion of the governors of Maryland, with the
garden adjoining, was bought by the United States, and
Governor street became one of the avenues within the inclo-
sure of the Academy. This purchase comprised four acres.
The governor's mansion is now the library of the Academy,,
and Porter row has been built upon one side of the terraced
lawn between the house and the water.

In 1867 ten acres of land were bought of Saint John's
College, between the college yard and the creek; but these
have never been inclosed, the intermediate land being un
available. Still another outlying tract of sixty-seven acres,
known as Strawberry Hill, was bought in 1868. This land
touches the grounds of the naval hospital, (thirty-two acres
in extent,) and the whole is laid out as a park, one portion of
it being used as a burial-ground. It is connected with the
college lot by a wooden bridge thrown across the creek.

The last addition to the grounds of the Academy proper *•

CHAP. V. GROUNDS.

was made by the purchase of four acres of land, known as
Lockwoodville, lying on the river, between Tabernacle, Han
over, and Wagner streets. It was variously owned, and filled
with cheap dwelling-houses and tenements, in very close
proximity to the cadets' quarters. Some of the lots were
condemned upon an inquisition, the owners being unwilling
to fix a reasonable price. The wall has been extended around
the tract, and the houses have been removed, with the excep
tion of one, which has been rebuilt and is used as a bakery.
The rest of the ground has been sown with grass, and the
sea-wall has been built along the shore nearly to the end of
the inclosure.

After the purchase of the governor's house the lower part
of the garden was filled in, and the sea-wall was extended
across its width to a point just below the lower gate.

During the past year a considerable piece of land adjoining
the steamboat-wharf has been reclaimed from the river, and
a wall protecting its face is nearly finished.

Summary of land.

Acres.

Grounds about Fort Severn ......................... 9

Purchases of 1847 an^ 1853, including streets ......... 33

Purchase of 1866, (governors' mansion) .............. 4

Purchase of 1874, Lockwoodville ................... 4

Total within the academic walls ............... 50

Acres.
Hospital grounds ... ........... ............... 32

Strawberry Hill ...... " .............. - - ..... -67

College lot ____ ..... , ......................... I0

Outside academic limits ........................... I09

Total . ................... 159

120 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

List of deeds showing additions to the grounds of the United
States Naval Academy, taken from the certified copy in the
Superintendent's office*

1 . Land lying between Fort Severn, Scott street, North
east street, and Severn River:

1847, March 9. F. Buchanan and others to United States,

page 140.

May 8. Rebecca Nicholson to United States, page 135.
July 2. Edward Lloyd and R. Nicholson to United

States, (deed to secure the title of Mrs. Nicholson's

lot,) page 136.
December 22. A. Randall, trustee for W. O'Hara and

others, to United States, page i.

2. Land lying between Scott street, Governor street,
Hanover street, and Northeast street :

1853, June 1 6. A. Randall, trustee, and R. Welch to United
States, (three lots,) page 46.

June 1 8. A. B. Hagner and wife, page 33.

June 25. Benjamin Taylor and wife, page 30.

June 25. John Mullen and wife, page 10.

June 25. Amelia Pinkney and others, page 20.

June 25. H. Morgan and others, page 25. •

June 30. P. Clayton and wife, page 5.

June 30. W. T. and J. D. Parkinson, trustees, page 45.

July i. E. A. Roget and wife, page 36.

July 2. J. E. Nourse and wife, page 8.

July 1 8. Thomas B. Slye and others, (deed to confirm
title,) page 39.

November i. W. E. Wyatt and wife, page 49.

December 7. P. Clayton, trustee for G. Jones and oth
ers, page 52.

"The pages given are those of the volume of certified copies.

CHAP. V. GROUNDS,

121

3. Land lying between Northeast street, Hanover
street extended, Tabernacle street, and Severn River :

1853, June 27. G. W. Hughes and F. Markoe, page 13.
July 6. T. S. Alexander and A. Randall, page 41.

4. Streets:

1853, June 29. Mayor, recorder, and aldermen of Annapolis.

Scott street and Northeast street. Page 17.
1858, January 12. D. M. Sprogle and others. Lot to open

Hanover street from Northeast street to Tabernacle

street. Page 56.

5. Land lying between Hanover street, Governor
street, Scott street, and Annapolis Harbor:

1866, August 17. State of Maryland. The governor's mansion

and four acres of land. Page 59.

6. Outlying lands:

1867, November 5. Visitors and governors of Saint John's

College. Ten acres lying between the college and
Graveyard Creek. Page 63.

1868, July 15. Charles Reese and wife. Strawberry Hill, 67

acres. Page 66.

7. Lands lying between Tabernacle street, Hanover
street, Wagner street, and Severn River, formerly
known as Lockwoodville:

1873, December 22. Mary Hayden, page 76.
December 22. J. W. Bourke, page 83.
December 22. Heirs of W. Lawrence, page 89.
December 22. Widow of J. W. Wagner, page 96.
December 22. T. O'Brien, page 109.

1874, January 22. J. Mullavell, page 102.
February 4. J. R. Howison, page 116.
February 6. A. Randall and others, page 117.
February 9. N. C. Stephen and others, page 121.

122 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

February 9. T. K. Carey, page 127.
February n. John Hughes, page 120.
February n. George Lee, jr., page 126.
March 21. M. Gill and others, page 123.
November 17. Annapolis and Elkridge Railroad Com
pany, page 131.

CHAPTER VI.

BUILDINGS.

At the time of the transfer of the Fort Severn property to
the Navy Department, eight buildings stood upon the grounds,
as follows : Fort Severn, the commandant's quarters, a block of
officers' quarters, the quartermaster's office, hospital, quarters
for enlisted men, quarters for married men, and bakery. There
were also small shops for the sutler and blacksmith of the
post. Of these buildings, only the first four are now stand
ing. The block of officers' quarters is that adjoining the house
of the Superintendent, and containing four houses, numbered
from 1 6 to 19. The quartermaster's office is now No. 27,.
officers' quarters. The building for enlisted men was on a
line with the Superintendent's house, and midway between it
and the present recitation hall. The building for married
men occupied nearly the position of Nos. 3 and 4, cadets^
old quarters. The bakehouse was between the present site
of the store and Building No. 9. The hospital stood near
the bakehouse, a little higher up on the slope.

An article in the Nautical Magazine in 1845* describes the
use made by the Naval School of its newly-acquired buildings :
"The houses formerly occupied by the commandant and
subalterns of the post afford ample accommodations for the
Superintendent and most of the other officers of the insti-

* Given in Niles's Register, January 31, 1846.

T24 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

tution. The midshipmen are made very comfortable in frame
buildings, which were in use for various purposes of the post,
and are put in good repair for the accommodation of the
present occupants. Each room contains from three to eight
midshipmen, according to its size. Two large barrack-rooms
.serve excellently well for recitation halls, and the two rooms
of equal size below are used, one for a kitchen, the other for
a mess-hall."

The same article says : " The inclosure of the post is by a
brick wall, and comprises an area of about ten acres. In an
angle of the water-front stands the battery, which is a small
•circular rampart, mounting en barbette ten heavy guns, and
is provided with a magazine and a furnace for heating shot."

The barracks and shops in time disappeared, as more suita
ble quarters were erected for the midshipmen. The hospital
also was removed ; but the other buildings have remained
till the present time, having undergone occasional alterations.

The War Department began fortifications at Annapolis as
Dearly as 1794, employing a French engineer, named Vermon-
net, to superintend them. In 1796, another engineer, su
perseding Vermonnet, condemned the plan of the works, and
they were abandoned.* Nothing further, except the survey
of a new site, was done until 1808, when the United States
bought nine acres of land, from the city of Annapolis and the
heirs of Walter Dulany, and proceeded to build a circular
battery of mason-work at the extremity of Windmill Point,
which formed part of the purchase. Secretary Dearborn in
his annual report, communicated to the Senate January 6,
1809, announced that the work was nearly completed and
the cannon were mounted.f By December of that year,

* American State Papers, Military Affairs, I, pp. 93, in.
t American State Papers, Military Affairs, I, p. 237.

CHAP. VI. BUILDINGS. I25

charters for two companies had been erected in the rear of
the work. In 1822 the battery comprised four 24-pounders,
six i2-poiinders, and two 6-pounders.

The fort, as far as can be ascertained by a careful study of
plans and records, consisted of a stone wall about 14 feet in
height, inclosing a space 100 feet in diameter, in the centre of
which was a small circular magazine, built of brick. The
space between the magazine and the wall was covered by a
terre-plein or platform, upon which the battery stood. The
parapet was two or three feet higher than the platform, and
the top was sodded. The conical roof of the magazine rose
some feet above the platform. The furnace was without the
wall, on the land side.

After the foundation of the school the midshipmen were
exercised at great-guns in this battery, with the old Army
guns, mounted en barbette. At one time a wooden frame was
built at the foot of the Plain, near the water, to represent a
section of the gun-deck of a ship, and this structure may be
seen in old representations of the Naval School. Its use was-
presently discontinued.

In 1851 a wooden wall was built around the platform, inside
the parapet, and pierced with small embrasures to represent
the ports of a ship, and the whole building was roofed over.
The great-gun exercise was held here till 1861, and from 1865.
till some time during Admiral Porter's administration. It
was then transferred to the Santee, which had been fitted up
as a gunnery-ship, and the fort was turned into a gymnasium.
A floor was put in in place of the old platform, the magazine
was taken out and the contents removed to the monitor; and
a gallery, or corridor, was built around the outside of what
might now be called the second floor of the building. From
this gallery a covered way was thrown across to the fencing-
rooms. A bowling-alley was put on the ground floor, and

I26 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

the openings used in the great-gun drill were much enlarge^
so as to admit of free passage between the main floor of the
gymnasium and the gallery. Since that time hardly any
change has been made in the building.

The house which was occupied by the commandant of Fort
Severn, and which has been since 1845 tne residence of the
Superintendent, was built by Simon Duff, an architect, who
settled in the colony some time before 1728.* The exact
date of its erection is not known, but it was certainly built
before 1751, and probably much earlier. The fact that the
house was standing at that date appears from the following
advertisement, published in the Maryland Gazette of May
29, i7Si:t

"The subscriber, intending to break up housekeeping, will
either rent or sell his dwelling-house in town, which is sixty-
five feet in length and twenty-one feet in breadth, to which is
a good cellar, garden, and all necessary out-houses; delight
fully situated, near a good landing, so that no vessel can pass
up or down the bay but may be fairly viewed from the lower
story; and is well finished and in good repair, outside and
inside, and would suit any gentleman either in a public or
private way of business.

"Any person inclining to purchase or rent the said house

may apply to

"SIMON DUFF."

Duff waited two years before he received a satisfactory
answer to his advertisement. He sold the house June 30,
1753, as appears by a deed of that date in the land-office,!

* E. Allen, Historical Notices of Saint Ann's Parish.

t The discovery of this advertisement is due to the laborious researches
of Professor Karney, the indefatigable librarian of the Academy.

t Recorded in Liber E. J., No. 9, folio 370, one of the records of the
Provincial Court of Maryland.

CHAP. VI. BUILDINGS.

in which he conveyed to Walter Dulany, for the sum of ^£250,
a lot of land lying in the new town of the city of Annapolis,
with a dwelling-house "wherein the said Simon Duff now
liveth."

Apart from the evidence of age about the house itself, the
fact that this was the same house as that sold to the United
States in 1808, by the heirs of the second Walter Dulany,* is
put beyond a doubt by the nearly exact correspondence of
the dimensions given in the advertisement with those of the
house as it now stands. - The Dulany family occupied it
from 1753 to 1808. At first there was only a half-acre lot
conveyed with the house by Duff. In 1754 there is record
of the deed to W. Dulany of a half-acre lot adjoining, for
£60. Further acquisitions were made until, at the time of
the Government purchase, the family owned nearly the whole
of Windmill Point. t The house was a large and substantial
mansion of the colonial style, and gardens stretched away at
the rear nearly to the water. When the fort was built this
house was assigned to the commandant of the post. Since
1845 it has been occupied by the successive Superintendents
of the Academy. Various alterations and additions have
been made from time to time, but the main building is still
essentially the same as that of 1808, and, doubtless, as that
of 1750.

The block of four dwellings adjacent to the house of the
commandant of the post was built for officers' quarters in

* Son of Walter Dulany who bought the house from Duff, and father
of the late Grafton Dulany, esq., of Baltimore.

t The northeasternmost point of the Academy grounds. According to
Ridgely, (Annals of Annapolis, p. 135,) a stone windmill was built in Sep
tember, 1 760, on the point where Fort Severn now stands. It was de
stroyed when Fort Severn was built, but it had already given a name to
the point. The same name is now given on the Coast Survey chart to a
point on Spa Creek, at the extremity of Duke of Gloucester street.

I28 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

1834, under the supervision of Captain Samuel B. Dusenbury,
quartermaster at the fort. They had at that time one story
and a half and a basement. At the opening of the Naval
School one of them was occupied by Lieutenant Ward, and
the others by three of the professors. The only extensive
alteration in these buildings was made in the summer of
1848, during the administration of Commander Upshur, and
consisted in raising the roof so as to admit of another story.
The contract, dated May 28, 1848, was given to Richard A.
Gilpin, esq., an architect of Philadelphia, and the work was
completed September 20 of the same year.*

The small brick building used as a quartermaster's officet
was raised one story and a half in the summer of 1846.! and
given as a residence to Chaplain Jones, who had reported at
the school after the other quarters had been assigned. The
house was built upon the wall of the post, part of the latter
forming the lower portion of the side wall of the building,
which accounts for its peculiar shape. The buttresses in the
side of the house are those of the old fort wall, which runs
back 80 feet in rear of the house, as stated in the last chap
ter. The building has since been used for quarters, and
occasionally for offices. It is now known as No. 27, officers'
quarters. The present hall of the department of seamanship
was begun at the same time with the alterations in the chap
lain's house, in the summer of 1846, and was the first build
ing erected at the school after the Navy Department took
possession. It was much smaller than at present, being 80
by 33 feet, and had no projection in the middle of the south
west front, as now. It was built for a " dining-hall, athenaeum,

* Commander Upshur to ihe Secretary of the Navy, April 13, 1848;
April 28, 1848; September 20, 1848. See Letter-Book, I, pp. 391, 397,.

447-

t So designated on the plan of the fort in 1834.
J Journal of Officer of the Day, I, p. 78.

CHAP. VI. BUILDINGS. I2g

kitchen, &c."* The library was on the second floor. The
building was finished in about six months, and on the 2ist
of January, 1847, "a naval ball was given in the new mess-
hall," f it having just been completed. On this occasion
the Secretary of the Navy and the Naval Committees of
both Houses made a visit to the school. In 1853 the build
ing was lengthened and an addition thrown out in front. It
was still used for the original purposes in Admiral Porter's
administration. In 1869 the library was transferred to the
newly-purchased Government house ; and in the same year
the midshipmen moved into their new quarters, which con
tained a spacious dining-hall. The old mess-hall was thence
forth used as a dining-room for officers, and, as a matter of
convenience, for the small class of midshipmen at the Acad
emy during the summer. It is still used for the latter pur
pose during vacation, and at other times it serves as a recita
tion-room.

In 1846 the foundation of a hospital was laid on the Plain
below the Superintendent's house, near the old mulberry-tree.
The building was finished after some delay; but it was moved
in the spring of 1859,^ after the erection of the present hos
pital, to the rear of the house which had been. the quarter
master's office in the fort, and a wing was added to it, which
touched the old fort wall. Before its removal the house had
been used as officers' quarters, and it serves this purpose
now. It is a small wooden cottage-like building, and is
known as No. 28.

The gunnery-room and the recitation-hall were begun dur
ing Commander Stribling's administration, and finished-under
his successor.§ The former was built for a chapel, and was

* Journal of Officer of the Day, I, p. 78.
t Journal of Officer of the Day, i, pp. 117, 118.
t Contract dated March 17, 1859, Contracts, p. 38.
§ They are mentioned in a letter of Commander Goldsborough in Jan
uary, 1854, as being nearly completed.

130

THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART L

so used until the new chapel was built by Admiral Porter.
It was then filled with the models and apparatus of the de
partment of gunnery, and decorated with captured flags.*
The observatory was also built by Commander Stribling.

The row of nine buildings known as the cadets' old quar
ters was built partly by Commander Stribling and partly by
Commander Goldsborough. The exact dates are not known,
but the whole was probably completed between 1851 and
1856. Nos. i, 2, 3, and 4 were certainly finished by January,
1854, and the others at intervals later.

A small building (date of erection not known), on the site
of the present store, was early used for instruction in physics
and chemistry. This was enlarged about 1854 to its present
size and shape. The main building contained the labora
tory, the eastern wing was the armory, and the western was
used for instruments.! It was found that the frequent shocks
occasioned by the close vicinity of the battery injured the
precision of delicate instruments, and in Admiral Porter's
term a new laboratory was built. The main building and
western wing were then converted into store-rooms and offices
for the storekeeper. The other wing, upon the erection of the
armory, became a fencing-school, and was connected by a cov
ered gallery with the gymnasium. In 1872, offices were fitted
up above the store for the paymaster of the Academy, who
had previously been in the small brick house used by the
quartermaster of Fort Severn.

The cadet hospital and the two double houses near it, now
altered into apartment houses, were built by Commander
Goldsborough. The hospital was finished early in 1855, but
the dwellings were not ready until November 25, 18574 By

* The portico of the gunnery-room was erected about 1858 or 1859.

t Commander Goldsborough's plan, 1857-

\ Letter-book No. 5, p. 101 ; Report Board of Visitors June 16, 1855.

CHAP. VI. BUILDINGS.

the alterations of the last two years the capacity and conven
ience jof these buildings have been very much increased.

Several houses were standing upon the land purchased for
the school in 1847. Three of these, the Nicholson, O'Hara,
and Buchanan houses, were utilized as officers' quarters. The
Nicholson house, the one nearest the Superintendent's in po
sition, was assigned to the commandant of midshipmen; the
O'Hara house, next to it, a brick building, was occupied by
Prof. W. F. Hopkins ; and the third house, on the Buchanan
lot, by Professor Karney. All of them were near Scott street.
While this was still the boundary of the Academy, two new
blocks of brick houses were built on the same line, occupied
respectively by the chaplain and Lieutenant Simpson, and by
Professors Roget and Seager. A third block, near the last,
but facing Northeast street, below the present middle walk,
was built for the carpenter and sailmaker.

When the large acquisitions of land were made by Com
mander Stribling in 1853, the situation of these houses, in the
middle of the grounds, came to have many inconveniences ;
and, after much deliberation, it was resolved to take them all
down and use the materials in building new quarters nearer
the outer wall. The row between the chapel and the upper
gate was accordingly built by Captain Blake. These houses
are now called Blake row, and are numbered from i to n.
They were completed in the following order:* Nos. 8, 9,
10, n, April 20, 1859; Nos. 6 and 7, November 23, 1859;
No. i, (commandant's house) December i, 1859; Nos. 2, 3,
4, 5, February 23, 1861. It will be observed that the last
four were finished only three months before the removal of
the Academy; so that they had hardly been occupied at all
when they were handed over to the troops to be used as a
military hospital.

Many buildings were erected after the close of the war,

* Contracts, pp. 35 and 82; Letter-book No. 7, p. 112.

I32 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART 1.

during Admiral Porter's administration. The new quarters
(a five-story brick building) were finished in the summer of
1869, and were occupied by the midshipmen in the following
fall. On the ground-floor of this building are offices, recep
tion-rooms, recitation-rooms, and a dining-hall. On the floors
above, the greater number of the cadets are quartered, each
room having two occupants. On the attic floor are the large
rooms of the drawing department and of the instructor in
descriptive geometry. The kitchens, laundry, and bath-rooms
are in the basement.

The building of the department of steam-engineering was
finished in 1866. The main building is 100 feet by 45, and
has two stories. The wings increase considerably the size of
the building. The physical laboratory and the photographer's
building were built about the same time, or soon after. Both
have undergone alterations. The lecture-room and labora
tory proper in the first building have been much improved,
while the second has been rebuilt, and is now an excellent
chemical laboratory.

The chapel* and armory were also built by Admiral Por
ter, the former about 1868, the latter in the fall of 1865.
The row of officers' quarters below the governor's house was
built during the same period, Nos. 20 and 21 in 1867; Nos.
22 and 23 in 1868; and Nos. 24, (board house,) 25, and 26
in 1869.

The governor's house and grounds were conveyed to the
United States by deed of August 17, 1866. The Superin
tendent of the Academy proceeded to build as soon as pos
sible upon the land, but there was some delay about the
cession of the house. It was finally given up in 1869; the

*The site of the chapel was a part of the Pinkney lot, purchased
June 25, 1853. The old Piukney house was removed in 1860, having
been previously occupied for a time as officers' quarters. (Contracts,
p. 89.)

CHAP. VI. BUILDINGS. j,,

wings and outbuildings, which were very extensive, were
removed, and the library was brought over from the seaman
ship hall and put in the rooms of the lower floor. The second
floor was fitted up for the offices of the Superintendent and
secretary, which had previously been in a small building near
the wall, northeast of the middle gate. This building, seen
on all the old plans of the Academy, was immediately removed.

The date of erection of the governor's house is not known,
but it is undoubtedly some time before the middle of the last
century. According to Ridgely,* (and there is no question
about the fact,) the house was built by the Hon. Edmund
Jennings, of Lincoln's Inn, secretary of the province of Mary
land and judge of the land-office. By deed of February 20,
1 769,1 he conveyed it to Governor Robert Eden for ^1,000, as
follows: "All that messuage or capital mansion-house, with
the garden, yards, coach-houses, stables, and outhouses
thereunto belonging," "as the same now is or was late in the
tenure or occupation of his excellency Horatio Sharpe, as
tenant to the said Edmund Jennings."

This house, it will be noticed, was not the official residence
of the proprietary governors, as the present executive man
sion is of the State governors. There was no such official
residence in the province. Governor Bladen made an attempt
to build one in 1744, employing as architect Simon Duff, the
same who built the old Dulany house, now the residence of
the Superintendent; but the plan was on too grand a scale
to be completed. The house was partly built and then left
to decay, and after many years it became one of the halls
of Saint John's College. J Horatio Sharpe, the governor
next but one after Bladen, rented the house owned by Jen-

* Annals of Annapolis, p. 236.

t Liber D. D., No. 4, 1764-1770, one of the records of the provincial
court, now in the office of the commissioner of the land-office of Mary
land.

\ McDowell Hell.

I34 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I.

nings, as a mansion worthy of the representative of the Pro
prietary, and lived in it during his term of office, from 1753
to 1769. In the latter year he was succeeded by Governor
Eden, who bought the house from Jennings, and who resided
there for seven years. At the outbreak of the Revolution
Governor Eden took the tory side, and in 1776 he sailed
from Annapolis in H. B. M. frigate Fowey for England.*
His property was confiscated in consequence, and the house
arid grounds in Annapolis came into possession of the State.
It was thenceforth used as the residence of the State govern
ors until its purchase by the Academy.

William Eddis, surveyor of the customs at Annapolis in
1769, describes the appearance of the house in October of
that year: "The governor's house is most beautifully situ
ated, and wThen the necessary alterations are completed it will
be a regular, convenient, and elegant building. The garden
is not extensive, but it is disposed to the utmost advantage ;
the centre walk is terminated by a small green mount, close
to which the Severn approaches. This elevation commands
an extensive view of the bay and the adjacent country. The
same objects appear to equal advantage from the saloon and
many apartments in the house; and perhaps I may be justi
fied in asserting that there are but few mansions in the most
rich and cultivated parts of England which are adorned with
such splendid and romantic scenery. "t

* Eddis, Letters from Annapolis, p. 312.

t Letters from Annapolis, p. 17. Ridgely (Annals of Annapolis, p.
236) says that Governor Eden "built the wings and the long room."
This statement must, however, be taken with modifications. Eddis
speaks of the saloon in 1 769, and it is hardly likely that Governor Eden
had already built it when he had been so short a time in possession.
Moreover, this long room or saloon is almost unmistakably an integral
part of the house. It is quite possible that Eden built the tower at the
back of the house, which enlarged this room by adding to it a deep semi
circular recess.

CHAPTER VII.

LIBRARY.

Soon after the establishment of the school, in 1845, the
Navy Department transferred to it a number of books which
had been in use in navy-yards and men-of-war; and this col
lection, with small additions made from time to time between
1845 and 1850, constituted the nucleus of the present library.

In tlie fiscal year ending June 30, 1852, and so on there
after, additions were made by allowing a sum yearly out of
the congressional appropriations for' " contingent expenses of
the Naval Academy," or, as now, for "general maintenance."
The following table shows the

INCREASE OF THE LIBRARY BY DECADES.

Volumes.

December 3 1, 1855 4, 751

December 31, 1865 9, 593

December 31, 1875 17, 678

This number has been further increased during the past
year.

The library possesses in addition 26 manuscripts, 705 pam
phlets, a set of the United States Coast Survey charts, a set
of the British admiralty charts, the Pilote Fran9ais, and the
Cotes Meridionales de France. In making additions the
chief aim has always been to render the greatest possible aid
to the departments of instruction, and especially to make the

1 3 6 THE NA VA L ACA DEM Y. PART I .

collection rich in works on professional subjects. The library
possesses a large number of the most approved treatises on
naval subjects published in America and Europe. Every
new publication of this sort of any merit is added at once to
the collection. In order to do this, however, it is not found
necessary to sacrifice the interests of the scientific student or
the general reader. The total amount expended upon the
library is estimated at $35,180.

While the Academy was at Newport, most of the books
were kept in the boxes in which they had been carried from
Annapolis, as there was no suitable place for them, nor any
certainty as to how long the Academy would stay there.
About one thousand volumes, consisting of the most impor
tant books of reference, were arranged for temporary use.
Only 633 books were added during this period.

During Admiral Porter's administration the library under
went a thorough and careful re-arrangement. Excellent rooms
were prepared for it on the first floor of the governor's man
sion, and it was transferred to the new rooms in the spring of
1869. About the same time the card-catalogue was begun,
and the library was arranged in departments by Mr. Poole,
formerly of the Boston Athenaeum. The catalogue was fin
ished in 1870, and it has been kept up since that time. A
printed catalogue was prepared in 1860, but the great in
crease in the number of books has rendered it of little or no
value.

The library has received no bequests, and the gifts consist
of less than 300 volumes.

PART II.

THE NAVAL ACADEMY IN 1870.

CHAPTER I.

ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION.

The Naval Academy is under the direct care and super
vision of the Secretary of the Navy.

The Superintendent is a line officer of the Navy, of a rank
not below that of captain, assigned to this duty by the Sec
retary of the Navy. He is charged with the general super
intendence and government of the Academy, and all officers,
professors, instructors, and cadets are under his command.
He has charge of the grounds, buildings, and vessels belong
ing to the institution, and he may appoint and remove all
persons employed in it, except those for whose appointment
or discharge special provision is made by the laws or regula
tions for the government of the Navy, or of the Academy.

The commandant of cadets is a line officer of the Navy,
and is next in authority to the Superintendent. He has im
mediate charge, under the Superintendent, of the police and
discipline; and the drills and tactical instruction in the de
partments of seamanship and gunnery are under his general
direction. The officers in these departments are the assistants
of the commandant in carrying out the discipline.

The senior aid is a line officer of the Navy, and has special
charge of the grounds and buildings, of purchases and ac
counts relating to the public property, and of the workmen
employed upon the grounds and aborit the buildings.

The academic staff, engaged specially in the work of in
struction, comprises line officers, officers of the Engineer Corps,

140 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

and professors of mathematics, in the. Navy, and a number of
professors and assistant professors appointed from civil life.
The branches taught are divided into groups, and these
groups of studies are in charge of separate departments.
Each department has an executive head, a naval officer or
civil professor, as the case may be, and several assistants.
The heads of departments arrange the details of the courses
of study, and have general supervision of the work of their
assistants, giving personal instruction when it may be desir
able. The work of actual instruction is performed by the
officers, professors, and assistant professors, attached to the
several departments.

The Academic Board, or faculty, of the Academy is com
posed of the Superintendent, the commandant of cadets, and
the heads of departments. The Superintendent, or, in his
absence, the commandant of cadets, is the presiding officer ;
and all reports and returns of the board are made to or
through the Superintendent. The board prescribes the sub
jects and arrangement of the course of instruction and the
text-books to be used,* the time of examinations, the rela
tive weight of recitations and examinations, and the relative
weight of different branches of study. The board also makes
recommendations to the Department in the cases of deficient
cadets ; and " cadets found deficient shall not be continued
at the Academy, or in the service, unless upon the recommen
dation of the Academic Board." (Revised Statutes, §§ 1519,

IS2S-)

Outside of the academic staff* there are attached to the
Academy a chaplain, a number of officers of the Medical
and Pay Corps of the Navy, and four officers of the Marine
Corps, in charge of the marine guard ; and three civil at
taches — the librarian, commissary, and secretary.

* Subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Navy.

CHAP. T. ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION. I4I

There are two classes of students, the cadet-midshipmen
and the cadet-engineers, destined for two different branches
of the service — the line officers and the Engineer Corps. The
examinations for admission are distinct for the two corps, but
the four-years' course is pursued in many branches in com
mon. In these branches, as well as in matters of daily routine
and discipline, the same organization and regulations apply
to both.

The number of cadets at the beginning of the academic
year i875-'y6 was as follows :

CADET-MIDSHIPMEN.

First class 42

Second class 6 1

Third class 53

Fourth class 1 1 8

274

CADET-ENGINEERS.

First class* 3

Third class 17

Fourth class 28

Total 322

The academic year begins on the 2oth of September and
ends on the 2oth of June, consisting of two terms; the first
term from September 20 to the Saturday nearest to January 30,
and the second term from the close of the first term to June
20. At the close of the academic year the graduating class
are granted leave of absence until ordered to sea, or to

* The first-class of cadet-engineers came in under the old system of a
two-years' course ; the third and fourth classes represent the four-years'
course, first applied to the class which entered in September, 1874. See
page.

142

THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

some other duty, by the Navy Department. During the three
months of summer the cadets of the newly-formed first and
third classes go on the practice-cruise, and those of the new
second class have leave of absence until the beginning of
the next year. The candidates that have passed successfully
the June examination for admission are quartered for the sum
mer on board the frigate Santee, as the nucleus of the fourth
class, and have a light course of study and drill. The
routine of the Academy is in general suspended, and the
charge of the new cadets is given to officers detailed in turn
for short periods during the summer.

At the beginning, of each academic year the cadet organ
ization for the year is prescribed. This organization is retained
throughout the year, and is followed in all the drills, and in
all formations (except those for recitation) including the mess-
formation. All the cadets are arranged in four divisions for
great-gun exercise, the divisions containing an equal number
of guns'-crews. Each gun's-crew is composed of sixteen men,,
distributed as nearly as possible among the several classes.
Each division constitutes a battery for light-artillery drill and
a company for infantry drill. For exercises in seamanship
the guns'-crews are grouped in watches, the odd-numbered
crews making the starboard-watch and the even-numbered
crews the port- watch. The watches are stationed as a ship's
company at seamanship-exercises.

The cadet-officers are appointed from the first class, as far
as practicable, and are chosen with special reference to their
fitness for the positions; and they hold their offices during
good behavior and efficiency. They are as follows :

One cadet lieutenant-commander;

Four cadet lieutenants ;

Five cadet masters;

Four cadet ensigns ; and

CHAP. I. ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION.

Cadet petty officers, according to the number of the guns'-
crews.

The cadet lieutenant-commander bears the same relation
to the cadet organization that an executive officer bears to a
ship's company. He is present at all general formations, and
receives reports from the officers in command of divisions,
which are made through him to the officer in charge. In the
battalion organization he acts as lieutenant-colonel.

The divisions, or companies, are commanded by a cadet
lieutenant as captain, with a cadet master and a cadet ensign
as the other commissioned officers. One of the cadet masters
is selected as adjutant of the battalion.

The cadet petty officers act as first and second captains of
guns'-crews in the great-gun drills, and as sergeants and cor
porals in the infantry drills. Each table in the mess-hall is
occupied by a gun's-crew, the first and second captains being
placed at the head and foot of the table. The cadet officers,
whenever they are in charge of those portions of the organiza
tion under their command, are responsible for the preservation
of order and discipline.

DAILY ROUTINE.

The day is divided, for purposes of study and recitation,
into three periods of two hours each, two of which are in the
morning and one in the afternoon. The programme of studies
is so arranged that each cadet has three recitations a day, one
in each period. The remainder of the period, as well as the
greater part of the evening, is devoted to study or reading, —
the cadets being required to remain in their rooms at these
times. A drill takes place daily, when the weather permits,
after the last recitation. On Saturday morning studies and
recitations end at half past 10, and the rest of the day, after
the usual drill, is given to recreation. On other days, out-of-

144

THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

door recreation is limited to a portion of the afternoon and
to the short intervals between meals and study. Reveille is
sounded at 6 a. m. in the fall and spring, and at 6.15 a. m.
in the winter. At this hour cadets are required to rise and
arrange their rooms. Evening gun-fire and tattoo are at 9.30
p. m., at which time study-hours, as such, are over. At taps,
half an hour later, the lights are put out, and the cadets retire
for the night.

RELIGIOUS SERVICE.

Prayers are said by the chaplain, daily, immediately after
the morning roll-call, and the attendance of all cadets is re
quired. Divine service is held in the chapel Sunday morning
and evening. Cadets are required to be present in the morn
ing, but attendance at the evening service is voluntary.

Cadets whose parents or guardians desire it, may attend
service permanently in the city of Annapolis, at any one of
the churches of the various denominations. In such cases
they are excused altogether from the chapel service, but they
must attend every Sunday morning at their regular place of
worship.

HOSPITAL.

The sick-call is sounded soon after breakfast every morn
ing, at which time a medical officer of the Academy is in
attendance to examine and prescribe for any cadets who may
be ill. After this examination, lists are made up of cadets to
be excused from drills, and of those whose illness is serious
enough to prevent their studying. Cadets who are ill at any
other time during the day have an opportunity of consulting
the physician immediately. The cadet hospital, in the imme
diate neighborhood of the cadets' quarters, contains several
rooms for patients, and is furnished with a complete dis
pensary. An officer of the medical staff is constantly on
duty at the hospital.

CHAP. I. ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION. J4e

CADETS' QUARTERS.

The cadet-midshipmen of the second class and the cadet-
engineers occupy the old quarters between the recitation-hall
and the gymnasium. The other cadets are quartered in the
new building at the northwestern end of the grounds. Each
room is occupied by two cadets. The furniture of the rooms
is simple, and the arrangement prescribed with exactness.
The occupants of the room alternate weekly as superintend
ents of the room, and the superintendent for the time being
is responsible for the cleanliness and order of the apartment
and for the safe-keeping of public property. Cadets are re
quired to remain in their rooms during study -hours, except
when at recitation.

An officer of the academic staff is always in charge of
the quarters during the day and night. The day duty is per
formed by the assistants in the departments of seamanship
and gunnery, and the night duty by the other line officers in
rotation. The officer in charge has similar duties and responsi
bilities with the executive officer on board ship ; in general, he
sees that the regulations are enforced, and attends to the pre
servation of order and discipline. In this duty he is assisted
by the officer of the day, a cadet-midshipman of the first
class detailed for the purpose for twenty-four hours ; a regu
larly-recurring duty coming to each cadet of the first class
once in three or four weeks.

The officer in charge makes a daily inspection of the rooms
at a regular hour, and other inspections at irregular times, as
he sees fit. Under his, direction the officer of the day makes
up the conduct-report, comprising all the reports that may
have come in during the day of delinquencies in recitation,
drill, or elsewhere. This report, made up every evening, is
read out the next morning at the roll-call, before breakfast.
10

146 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

In addition to the officer in charge and officer of the day,
there is a superintendent on each floor, (or, in the old quar
ters, in each building,) who has special charge of the floor or
building, and who is responsible for any disorders that may
occur there. The superintendents are taken from the whole
list of cadets in turn, and their tour of duty is twenty-four
hours.

FIRE ORGANIZATION.

In addition to the modern appliances usually placed in
large buildings to extinguish fires, the Academy is supplied
with one steam fire-engine and one hand-engine. For exer
cise with the fire-apparatus the cadets are organized in guns'-
crews. This exercise takes place early in the year, and is
repeated at intervals. The fire-bell, designating the station
of each cadet at fire-quarters, is posted in a conspicuous
place throughout the year. Whenever the fire-alarm is
sounded, the cadets proceed at once to their stations. In
case of an actual fire the marines get under arms, and the
whole force of the Academy is very shortly on the ground.

STORE.

The store is in charge of an officer detailed from the Pay
Corps of the Navy. Clothing and other necessaries are sup
plied to cadets from the store at cost price, with a small per
centage to cover transportation and breakage. Cadets in
need of articles kept at the store send in requisitions at a
specified time during each month to the commandant of
cadets; and, if approved by him, the requisitions are filled
by the store-keeper.

PAY AND ACCOUNTS.

The pay of cadets is $500 per annum. This sum is not
paid out to them to be expended at pleasure; but their ac-

CHAP. I. ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION. I47

counts with the store-keeper, as well as the mess and laun
dry accounts, are settled by the treasurer and charged to the
cadets. Sixty dollars per annum is reserved for the purchase
of an outfit at graduation ; and the very small balance re
maining is paid at that time to the cadet to whom it is due.
No cadet is allowed to contract debts without the sanction
of the Superintendent.

RECITATIONS.

Each class is divided into sections for purposes of recita
tion. The sections are small, usually numbering ten or less,
so that instructors are enabled to give careful attention to
the individual wants of their pupils. The sections in each
branch are arranged according to the order of merit, so that
students of nearly similar capacity or attainments recite
together. The section-arrangement is renewed every month,
and the sections are not kept continuously under the same
instructor throughout the term. The cadet at the head of
each section is its leader, and is responsible for its conduct
while in his charge.

MARKS.

The scale of marks ranges from 4 as a maximum to o ; and
a mark below 2.5 is given to a recitation or exercise which is
not considered satisfactory. The marks in each branch are
averaged, and the rank-list is made out and published at the
end of every month; and a report of the marks and stand
ing of each cadet is sent at the same time to his parent or
guardian. At the end of the year the general standing of
each class is made up. The final mark of each cadet is
found by adding together the products obtained by multiply
ing the final mark in each branch by the co-efficient of that
branch.

Cadets whose mark at the end of the year is below 2.5 (or
62.5 per cent.) in any branch are deficient, and they are

I48 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

recommended to the Secretary of the Navy for dismissal. In
cases of slight deficiency they are turned back into the next
class, or subjected to a re-examination ; but in no case can a
cadet graduate from the school who has failed to get 62.5
per cent, as his yearly mark in each and every branch of
study pursued during the four-years' course.

INTERIOR DISCIPLINE.

All officers and cadet officers are authorized and required
to report offences coming under their notice in the line of
duty to the commandant of cadets ; and any cadet, in a re
sponsible position, who becomes answerable for a breach of
the regulations, is required to answer the questions of his
superior officer relating to the offence, and relieve himself of
his responsibility by reporting the offender. All the reports
are deposited with the officer in charge ; and they are col
lated and arranged upon the conduct-report every evening
by the officer of the day. This conduct-report is read out in
the morning, as has been stated, and remains posted during
the day. Cadets are thus given an opportunity of presenting
excuses and explanations, which are examined and acted
upon the next day in connection with the report. Demerits
are given for each offence, but only as a record of miscon
duct, and in no case as a punishment. Certain limits are
fixed to the number of demerits allowed any cadet, and if
the number is reached the case is reported to the Navy De
partment with such recommendation as the Academic Board
may think proper.

The punishments inflicted are comprised in the following
list:

Removal from the service.

Solitary confinement.

Coventry.

Public reprimand on parade, by written orders.

CHAP. I. ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION. I4g

Confinement under guard or in quarters.

Deprivation of leave or recreation.

Extra duties or drills.

Suspension.

Reduction of cadet rank.

No officer at the Academy, except the Superintendent, is
authorized to order or inflict punishment of any kind ; and
dismissal from the service can only be ordered by the Secre
tary of the Navy.

AMUSEMENTS.

The water around the Academy is very good water for
pulling, and the class boat-clubs among the cadets have sev
eral shells, mostly four-oars and six-oars. The clubs have a
four-oar race in June, and a flag kept at the Academy is given
to the winning crew, whose names are engraved on the staff-
plate. The class-crews have good opportunities for training
and practice, going out twice a day after they have fairly
settled down to work for the season. The regularity of their
daily life, the total interdiction of tobacco and liquor, the
abundance of exercise afforded by daily drills, with the gym
nasium and boxing, and the simplicity and excellence of their
table, do away with the necessity of rigorous training, and
give them at the start a better average form than the ordi
nary class-crew at college.

Base-ball is a favorite sport, each class having a nine of its
own, besides the Academy nine. Match games are played
on Saturday afternoons, frequently during the spring, with
clubs from Baltimore, Washington, and Annapolis. Foot
ball is played during the winter, and there is more or less
riding on Saturdays at all times. Cadets who cannot swim
are required to learn as soon as possible after admission, and
they receive instruction and practice until they are good
swimmers. One of the buildings on the wharf contains a
swimming-bath for exercise and swimming-lessons in winter,

I5o THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART I L

with a tank 30 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 4 feet deep. The
water is pumped in from the river, and heated by steam-pipes.

At all times during recreation-hours cadets have access to
the pistol-gallery and bowling-alley, and, with certain limita
tions, to the gymnasium. Two or three times a year the
best gymnasts give an exhibition, with sparring and fenc
ing matches, and exercises with the rings, bars, clubs, and
trapeze.

On Saturday evenings the gymnasium is usually cleared,
decorated, and opened for cfancing, from half-past 7 o'clock
till 10. On the night before holidays an entertainment is
given, and dancing is prolonged to a later hour. In Janu
ary the cadets of the first class give a ball, and in June those
of the second class give a similar entertainment to the cadets
about to graduate.

Leave to go beyond the academic limits is only granted
on Saturdays and on holidays, and ends at evening parade.
This privilege is forfeited by misconduct, or by neglect of
study during the week, being denied to cadets whose mark
for the week in any branch is below 62.5 per cent. The
privilege is also restricted to the first class and one-fourth of
the three lower classes, at any one time. The restriction is
.not, however, severe in practice, as there are greater resources
for amusement within the walls than without.

MESS.

All cadets are required to board at the mess-table. The
dining-room is a large and well-lighted hall on the ground-
floor of the new quarters. Captains of crews have charge of
separate tables, and the officer-in-charge has general super
vision of the hall at meals, as well as at other times. The
cost of living is about $20 per month. The fare is simple,
but carefully prepared and abundant.

CHAPTER II.

EXAMINATION AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR ADMISSION.
I. CADET-MIDSHIPMEN.

1. Nomination. — The number of cadet-midshipmen allowed
at the Academy is one for every Member or Delegate of the
House of Representatives, one for the District of Columbia,
and ten appointed annually at large. After March 5 of each
year the Secretary of the Navy notifies each Member or
Delegate of any vacancy that may exist in his district. The
nomination of a candidate to fill this vacancy is made upon
the recommendation of the Member or Delegate; but if not
made by July i of that year the Secretary of the Navy is re
quired to fill the vacancy. The nomination of candidates
from the District of Columbia and at large is made by the
President.

2. Examinations. — There are two examinations for admis
sion,' one on June 21, the other on September 12. Candidates
who are nominated in time to attend the first examination
come up in June ; the others hold over until September.
Should any candidate that ought to come up in June fail to
report, or be rejected for any reason, the Member or Delegate
from whose district he was nominated is notified to recom
mend another, who is also examined in September.

All candidates must be over fourteen and less than eighteen
years of age, and no one is examined whose age does not
fall within the prescribed limits. They must be physically

1 52 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. TART II.

sound, well-formed, and of robust constitution. To test this,
they are required to pass a satisfactory examination before a
medical board, composed of the surgeon of the Academy and
two other medical officers designated by the Secretary of the
Navy. Any one of the following conditions is sufficient to
cause the rejection of the candidate : Feeble constitution,
greatly-retarded development, permanently-impaired general
health, decided cachexia, diathesis, or predisposition, and all
chronic disease, malformation, or results of injuries, that would
permanently impair efficiency. Attention is also paid to the
stature of the candidate, and no one manifestly under size
for his age is admitted. No candidate rejected by the medi
cal board is allowed a re-examination.

Candidates must pass an examination before a committee of
the Academic Board in reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic,
geography, and English grammar. All the examinations, ex
cept in reading, are written. Candidates who fall below the
standard (62.5 per cent, in each branch) receive a second and
final examination in the subjects in which they fail. Deficiency
in any one of the subjects at the second examination is suf
ficient to insure rejection. By the Revised Statutes, § 1515,
"candidates rejected at such examination shall not have the
privilege of another examination to the same class, unless
recommended by the board of examiners."

3. General character of questions :

ARITHMETIC.

Notation and numeration.

Denominate numbers. — The tables of money, weights, and
measures; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
of denominate numbers ; the relation between the troy and
avoirdupois pound ; the reduction of differences of longitude
to their equivalents in time, and the reverse.

CHAP. II. EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION. I53

Fractions. — The candidate must be familiar with all the
processes of common and decimal fractions, and must be
able to give clearly the reasons for the processes; and he
should be familiar with the contracted methods of multiplica
tion and division given in the ordinary text-books of arith
metic.

Properties of numbers. — The test of the divisibility of num
bers by 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, u, 25, 125, &c.; the resolution of
composite numbers into prime factors ; the method of deter
mining whether a number is prime or composite, and of find
ing the greatest common divisor and least common multiple
of large and small numbers.

Ratio and proportion. — The definition and explanation of
ratio and proportion; the methods of writing a proportion;
the solution of problems in simple and compound propor
tion.

Analysis. — Miscellaneous problems similar to those in the
common-school text-books.

Percentage, interest, and discount.

Mensuration. — The measurement of rectangular surfaces
and volumes.

Evolution. — The extraction of square and cube roots.

An algebraic solution may be given, in place of an arith
metical solution, in problems which admit of it.

Candidates must be thoroughly proficient in all branches
of arithmetic, and unusual excellence may be allowed to
count in their favor in case of a slight deficiency in other
subjects.

GEOGRAPHY.

Candidates are questioned upon the grand divisions of
the land and water; the character of coast-lines; the direc
tion and position of mountain-chains, and the locality of
important peaks; the position and course of rivers, their

154 "THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

tributaries, and the bodies of water into which they empty ;
the position of important seas and bays ; the political divis
ions of the land, their position, boundaries, and capital cities ;
the position and direction of great peninsulas, and the situ
ation of important and prominent capes; straits, sounds,
channels, and the most important canals ; great lakes, and
inland seas ; position and political connection of important
islands and colonial possessions ; locality of cities of histor
ical, political, or commercial importance ; the course of a
vessel in making a voyage between well-known sea-ports.

GRAMMAR.

Candidates are examined upon the whole of English gram
mar, as treated in the common-school text-books, embracing
all that is usually given under the head of orthography,
etymology or classification, the formation and inflection of
words, and syntax, including parsing and the analysis of sen
tences. The questions in grammar are based upon the school-
books found by actual inquiry to be in most common use.

READING.

Candidates are examined in reading aloud English prose in
a standard work.

WRITING AND SPELLING.

Candidates are required to write a short original letter and
an exercise in dictation, and to spell twenty-four words in
common use. An exercise having eight or more mistakes in
spelling is not considered satisfactory, and is enough of itself
to cause the rejection of a candidate.

4. Preparation of candidates. — It is a matter of remark to
the examining board that a considerable majority of the can
didates come very poorly fitted for this or any other examina-

CHAP. II. EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION.

'55

tion. The subjects required are of an elementary character,
the papers set are simple and easy, and the marking is in
dulgent. The question occurs at once, Why is it that selected
boys from all parts of the country, of an average age of
over sixteen, and none of them younger than fourteen, should
be unable to pass a creditable examination in grammar, geog
raphy, spelling, and arithmetic ? Or, leaving out of consid
eration the first two branches, as candidates are rarely rejected
for a deficiency in geography or grammar alone, why is it that
out of 200 boys of sixteen, presented annually for examina
tion, hardly half could be called proficient in arithmetic and
spelling?

The reason seems to lie partly in the circumstances or ca
pacity of the candidates selected, and partly in the defective
condition of the fitting-schools, and a want of time for special
preparation. Candidates are appointed from every part of
the country, often with very brief notice of the coming exami
nation. As a rule, they are selected without reference to
scholastic attainments, very few being required to pass a com
petitive examination* for their appointment. Some of the
papers show a degree of ignorance so remarkable that the
most superficial preliminary examination would have disclosed
it. But these examinations are clearly the exception rather
than the rule.

Some illustrations of this defective training have been
selected from the examination-papers of candidates for ad
mission. They are taken from the English papers, as the
want of training is seen more readily in these answers than
in arithmetical examples, although it is quite as marked in
the latter.

* At the examination for admission in September, 1875, there were II
candidates out of 92 who had been appointed after competitive examina
tions, of whom two were rejected and one failed to complete his first year
at the Academy.

1 5 6 THE NAVAL A CA DEM Y.

PART I]

SPELLING.

June, 1874:

" Mullicous.

Opinon.

Privelige.

Milta.

Litarray.

Linen.

Vengence.

Soverighty.

Colonal.

Citzen.

Perserve.

Extradonarj

Colony.

Sympathy.

Talent.

Acadmey.

Embarrass.

Sarcfice.

Escential.

Deslipine.

Speech.

Milatary.

Siendentifc.

Discreet."

September, 1873 :

" Agreeable.

Skillful.

Seperate.

Condemn.

Linnen.

Academ}

Accessible.

Literary.

Severn.

Formmible.

Obveious.

Masculir

Dissention.

Exenent.

Circle.

Cornel.

Recede.

Lilly.

Amalgamate.

Qii/^icirl^

Precede.

Forren."

The following is part of a paper handed in by a candidate
from Massachusetts, who brought a letter of recommenda
tion from the master of the high-school which he attended in
a considerable town of that State. The letter stated that the
candidate stood No. 2 in a class of twenty at his school, and
that he had previously attended a Boston grammar-school.
The letter was such as to give the impression that this was
one of the most creditable pupils at the high-school in ques
tion. The paper is copied literatim.

Dictation, (Bancroft's United States, i, p. 234 :)
" Equally proverbial was the hospitality of the Verginians
labor was valuable land was cheap compitance prompty fol-

CHAP. II. EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION. ISy

lowed industry there was know nead off a scramble abound-
ance ***** tjie mOrasses were alive with
water foul the creeks abounded with oisters in inexausterble
beds * * * the woods russled with quails." * *

SPELLING.

" Forfeiture. Grievences. Precarious.

Synonimous. Beneficeary. Privalleges.

Judgeitial. Fundimental. Equivilant.

Mantinance. Perpetuate. Matrimonial.

Acknowlagement. Heredditary. Corporation.

Encouragement. Descendant. Simpathetic.

Tenement. Aillion. Agreable.

Reccompence. Eclesiastical. Dicernment."

According to the practice at that time, this candidate was
examined orally in the branches in which he had failed at
his written examination. The examining committee gave
him eight words to spell at the blackboard.

A copy of this exercise is given :

" Engenire. Incriment. Quarrantine.

Exhauxtiveness. Finantial. Chemastry. "

Ceddiment. Pylgramage.

After this it was deemed unnecessary to go any further
with the examination in this branch.

A still more inexcusable case came very recently before
the board of examiners, which, perhaps, explains in some
degree the inefficiency of secondary schools. A young man
nearly eighteen years of age presented himself, under appoint
ment, from one of the western counties of the State of New
York, for examination as to his qualifications for admission.
In filling up the required blanks, before examination, he

158 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

stated that he had been appointed after a competitive exam
ination of seventeen candidates, and that he had taught school.
Careful inquiry disclosed the following facts in regard to the
last statement. Candidates wishing to become teachers were
examined as to their proficiency by the school commissioner
of the district before appointment. The commissioners were
chosen at a general election by the voters of the school-dis
trict. This young man had been examined in the regular
way and appointed teacher in the district-school. The school-
year consists of two terms of twelve or fourteen weeks each,
and the candidate had taught school during five such terms.
He had nine pupils at first, to whom he taught arithmetic,
geography, grammar, reading, and spelling; and in the last
winter he had risen to the responsibility of thirty-four pupils,
and he was teaching algebra and United States history.

He brought with him the following letter of recommenda
tion from a judicial functionary of the neighborhood:

« N Y

j 1> . JL .,

" SUPERETENDENT OF NAVAL ACADEMY

Anapilos Md

"This is to certify that I am well acquainted with

& can chearfully say that he is a Yong Man of

Good Moral charictor & highly respected by all who know
him

« (Signed) « ."

So much for the antecedents of the candidate. At his ex
amination for admission to the Academy he failed on three-
fourths of the questions on his first arithmetic-paper, and
he barely succeeded in passing on the second. The follow
ing are his papers in spelling and geography, copied ex
actly, though no copy can do justice to the penmanship and
form:

CHAP. II. EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION.

SPELLING.

" Millionheir.

Supercilleous.

Demagogue.

Snoar (!)

Honorous.

Inflamable.

Depravity.

Engineer.

Scientific.

Tollerance.

Brigadier.

Trancient.

Infermery.

Icicle.

Verticle.

Clamor.

Proficency.

Privalege.

Stratagem.

Discention.

Democracy.

Penetant.

Malisceous.

Concession."

GEOGRAPHY.

Questions.

" I. Give the position of the following cities, and tell on or*
near what water they are situated:

"i. Toledo. 2. Carthagena. 3. Cracow. 4. Trebizond.
5. Calcutta.

"II. From what land and into what water do the following
capes project?

"i. Montauk Point. 2. Cape Canaveral. 3. Cape Race.
4. Cape Matapan. 5. Point de Galle.

" III. Make a coasting voyage from Archangel to Calcutta
via the Suez Canal. Name all the important bodies of
water you pass through, in order.

" IV. Name and locate six islands of the Mediterranean
Sea, and tell to what country each one belongs.

"V. Describe the following rivers, telling where they rise,
in what direction they flow, into what water they empty:

" i. Orinoco. 2. Pruth. 3. Columbia. 4. Po."

Answers.

" I. Toledo on the western end of Lake Erie Carthigena
norther part of france eng chanell Calcutta southern part
europe Mediteranean sea.

160 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

" II. Montauk pt from canida into lake Huron. Canaveral
west of California in to the pacific cape race from western
part Labrador.

" III. east on the Bay of Bangal Arabian sea North-east
on the red sea east on the Mediteranean Mediteranean sea
Arabian sea Bay Bangal red sea.

" IV. Corsica & Sardinia to Candy to Turkey sicily

to Itily

" V. The Orinoco Rises in the the Andes Mountans in
south America flows North-East and Empties into the carrib-
ean sea

"Columbia, is formed by the Lewis and snake river flows in
a westerly direction into the pacific ocean Po river rises in
the northern part of Itily and flows in easterly dir into the
archapelago sea "

The second papers were equally bad, or perhaps worse.
And this from a district-school teacher of two years' stand
ing! If such cases are common, the boasted American
school system must be in some places a sham or a burlesque.
Certain interesting questions present themselves as to the
kind of education generally diffused among a community
with such a school system. If this young man is the best of
seventeen candidates, what must be the other sixteen ? If a
judicial functionary of the neighborhood can spell " charac
ter" "charictor," how would a district-school teacher, for ex
ample, spell it ? And if the district-school teacher spells the
word "snore" "snoar," what must be the proficiency of his
scholars in spelling?

But even supposing that this example is a very exceptional
one, as is to be hoped is the case, it helps to account for
the large number of rejections. In these cases, want of time
for preparation is hardly a valid excuse for inability to pass
an examination as elementary as that for admission to the

CHAP. II. EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION. T6i

Academy — certainly not for cases of gross ignorance like
those just quoted. Any properly-trained boy of fourteen or
fifteen years of age ought to need little previous notice to
prepare himself to answer plain questions in the simplest
branches of knowledge. There are, it is true, rare cases
where circumstances have compelled a boy to devote most
of his time to manual labor. There are also cases, pre
sumably rare, among a picked class of boys chosen as being
worthy to receive a beneficiary education from the Govern
ment, of constitutional dullness or incapacity ; but the large
majority of rejections must be referred to the insufficient
training of the schools. If the schools of the country, pri
mary and secondary, do not teach their pupils between the
ages of seven and fifteen to spell, to cipher, to answer sim
ple questions in geography and grammar, what in those
eight years do they teach ? The letter of the master of the
Massachusetts high-school is not the only one of its kind —
a letter which finds a charitable explanation either in self-
delusion or incompetency.

5. Admission. — Candidates who pass the physical and the
mental examination receive appointments as cadet-rnidship-
men, and become inmates of the Academy. Immediately
.after admission they are required to sign articles by which
they bind themselves to serve in the United States Navy eight
years, (including the time of probation at the Academy,) un
less sooner discharged. At the same time they are required
to make a deposit with the treasurer, which is credited on his
books, to be expended, under the direction of the Superin
tendent, in the purchase of clothing, furniture, text-books,
and other authorized articles. The amount required varies
somewhat, besides being reduced more or less by the value
of clothing brought from home. Last year (i875-'76) it was
$229.99.
ii

!62 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

One month after admission each cadet is credited with the
amount of his actual expenses in traveling from his home to
the Academy; but a cadet who voluntarily resigns his appoint
ment within a year from the time of his admission is required
to refund this amount.

II. CADET-ENGINEERS.

Applications from persons wishing to enter the Academy
as cadet-engineers are made to the Navy Department. Out
of the whole number of applicants a part are selected by the
Secretary of the Navy, to whom permission is given to present
themselves for examination. The number of cadet-engineers
allowed by law is twenty-five per annum. Candidates must
be not less than sixteen nor more than twenty years of age
at the time of their examination.

The examination is held on the 5th of September of each
year, and is competitive; the first twenty-five on the list of
candidates, as determined by the examination, being selected
for appointment. The subjects of the examination are as
follows :

1. Algebra, through equations of the first degree.

2. Plane geometry.

3. Elementary physics.

4. Sketching.

5. Arithmetic.

6. Reading.

7. Writing.

8. Spelling.

9. Geography.

10. English grammar.

The examination in the six last-named subjects is similar to
that for cadet-midshipmen. Candidates who show the great-

CHAP. II. EXAM1NA TIONS FOR ADMISSION.

'63

est skill and experience in the practical working of machinery,
other qualifications being equal, have precedence for admis
sion.

Candidates are required to pass a physical examination,
and if rejected by the medical board are excluded from
further competition. The other requisites and conditions are
the same as those for cadet-midshipmen.

TABLE I. — AT e rage age of cadets at the date of admission during
the past ten years.

CADET-MIDSHIPMEN.

Yrs. Mos.

Admitted in 1866 16 4

1867 16 4

1868 16 o

1869 16 2

1870 . 16 5

1871 16 3

1872 - 16 4

1873 16 7

1874 16 3

1875 16 9

Average age for 10 years, 1866-1875 16 4

CADET-ENGINEERS.

Yrs. Mo?.

Admitted in 1874 l8 6/^

1875 --• 17 .I0

i64

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

PART II.

TABLE II. — Examinations of candidates for admission as cadet-midship
men — 1870-1875.

J.
1

Rejected by Academic Board.

•

s ^

•

Date.

"o 8

£g

u -a

0 u

1-1

8 °

.£3

'a?

."ti

•<

June, 1870 . . .

«§

Sept., 1870 . . .

IO2

3T
1

June 1871

Sept., 1871 .. .

TO.

June, 1872 . . .

-1 J

Sept., 1872 . ..

3°

June, *873 . . .

32
•

Sept., 1873 . . .

106

June, 1874 . . .

Sept., 1874...

106

June, 1875..

Sept., 1875..

NOTE. — Discrepancies between the numbers of the table and those
published in the Annual Register are explained by the following :

J. B. Alexander, admitted June, 1870, not in Register for
M. D. W. Burnett, admitted June, 1871, not in Register for
Two students from Japan were admitted in 1872.
One student from Japan was admitted in 1873.
Two students from Japan were admitted in 1874.

CHAP. II. EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION.

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THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

PART II.

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CHAP. II. EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION.

167

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THE NA VAL ACADEMY.

PART II.

TABLE IV. — Percentage of candidates from each State and Territory who-
succeed in completing the course.

State or Territory.

Percent
age.

State or Territory.

Percent
age.

Minnesota

Kentucky

Iowa

Kansas

California

Nevada

New Hampshire . .

New York . . ....

Massachusetts

Pennsylvania

Wisconsin

Alabama ....

Missouri

Louisiana

New Jersey

Maine

Ohio

Vermont

Connecticut

Virginia ....

Delaware

Georgia ...

Rhode Island

Texas

Maryland

South Carolina

Illinois

Indiana

New Mexico

North Carolina

'28

Oregon

District of Columbia

CHAP. II. EXAMINATIONS FOR ADMISSION.

169

TABLE V. — Percentage of successful candidates from each State and Terri
tory who succeed in completing the course.

State or Territory,

Percent
age.

State or Territory.

Percent
age.

West Virginia

Kentucky

Iowa

New Hampshire ....

Michigan

Maine

Vermont

Tennessee

Louisiana .

Rhode Island

Kansas

Maryland

Georgia

Missouri . ...

Mississippi

Ohio

Oregon

Texas

5°

CHAPTER III.

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

I. SEAMANSHIP.

Before 1845, seamanship and navigation were the only
•subjects required at the examination of midshipmen for promo
tion. There was this difference between the two branches, —
the first could only be learned at sea, while much of the
second was more readily acquired on shore, away from the
distractions of the ship. Consequently, the plan adopted in
1845 did not contemplate academic instruction in seaman
ship, but left it to be learned during the three years' cruise
that acting midshipmen were sure to make before they came
up for promotion.

The revised regulations of 1850 created a new and sepa
rate department, of naval tactics and practical seamanship,
with the commandant of midshipmen as its head. The
system, however, still provided for an intermediate cruise
between the first two and last two years of the academic
course, and instruction in these branches at the Academy
was confined chiefly to practical exercises.

When the four year course was adopted in November,
1851, (it was hardly in operation till the next year,) seaman-
.ship became a recognized part of the academic course.
The first book used was Totten's Naval Text-Book. This
was changed in 1852 for Brady's Kedge-Anchor, which was
in turn replaced in 1863 by Luce's Seamanship. From time

CHAP. III. COURSE OF I Ar STRUCT! ON. j^

to time kindred branches have been introduced in connection
with the course in seamanship, and the practical exercises
have been improved and their scope extended until the
course has developed into its present form. The practice-
cruises, begun in the summer of 1851, have always been a
most important auxiliary to the instruction in seamanship.

From 1850 to 1875 the commandant of midshipmen has
been nominally head of the department of seamanship,
though of late years having little connection with it except
in matters of routine. The senior assistant has been virtu
ally head, though the authority to prescribe for the depart
ment lay with the commandant. The department of ord
nance and gunnery was governed by the same system. In
1875 the senior assistants were made actual heads in name
as well as in fact, the commandant merely retaining a super
vision of the practical exercises in the two departments.

The cadet-midshipmen of all the classes are taught sea
manship by practical exercises, and the two upper classes
receive instruction, besides, from books, models, and lectures,
in the section-room.

The department has a great variety of working models and
apparatus for practical instruction, including full-rigged ships,
both with and without sails; working models to illustrate the
processes of getting in and out masts, boats, and guns, of
sending up and down spars, and of heaving down; models
of boats, anchors, chains, capstans, knots, splices, and tackles;
and models of ships in process of construction, to illustrate
the study of ship-building and naval architecture, showing
the lines, timbers, plankings, and fittings of a vessel. The
United States sloop of war Dale is moored at one of the
wharves, and is used for practical exercises in seamanship.
There are also several cutters for boat-drill, and a complete set
of signal flags, lanterns, &c., for practice in signaling.

1 72 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

PRESENT COURSE.

Cadet-midshipmen .

FOURTH CLASS — FIRST YEAR. — Four drills a week during
the first two and last two months of the academic year, as
follows :

Exercises on board the Dale. — The class learn the names of
the masts, yards, ropes, and sails, and of the different parts
of the vessel. At drills they are stationed as landsmen, and
they become familiar with the duties of this class of men.
These drills take place three times a week during the period
specified.

Boat-exercise. — The cadets go out once a week during the
months named, in twelve i2-oared cutters fitted with oars and
sails. A special organization is used for the boat-drill, and
each boat is in charge of a cadet-officer. The object of this
drill is to teach the fourth-classmen how to pull an oar.

Signals. — Exercises in signals (Myer's code) are held at in
tervals. The instructor has one division of the class at a
time, and the division is broken up into squads of four, each
squad in charge of a first-classman. The squads or groups
are stationed at various points about the grounds and signal
to one another. Proficiency is tested by sending signal-mes
sages through five or six parties, stationed at considerable
distances, in a circle, in such a way that each party can see
only the one from which it receives the message and the one
to which it is transmitted. The message is thus finally received
by the original senders, and the accuracy of the process can
be determined with exactness.

THIRD CLASS — SECOND YEAR. — Practice-cruise, three sum
mer months. Practical exercises, as before.

Practice-cruise. — After the annual examination, cadets who
have passed into the third class make their first practice-'

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. ^

cruise at sea. Here they occupy the positions of landsmen
and ordinary seamen, and are exercised in making the vari
ous knots, splices, hitches, and bends, and in fitting rigging ;
boxing the compass, heaving the log and the lead; steer
ing; and in loosing, furling, and reefing sail. At times they
have exercise in rowing, and in working boats under sail.
The instruction in Myer's code of signals is continued.

Exercises on board the Dale. — The times and methods of
instruction are the same as those of the first year, except that
the cadets are stationed more generally aloft and on the light
yards than before. Boat and signal exercises, similar to those
of the previous year.

SECOND CLASS — THIRD YEAR. — Recitations : seamanship,
three hours a week ; naval tactics, one hour a week, second
term. Practical exercises, as before.

Seamanship. — The recitations are conducted orally in the
section-room, with much illustration from models and other
appliances. The text-book is Luce's Seamanship, and the in
struction comprises the following subjects : Knotting, splicing,
and tackles; compass, log, and lead; rope-making; blocks;
cutting and fitting rigging; masting; rigging ship; cutting,
fitting, bending, unbending, making up, and stowing sails;
stowage; purchasing heavyweights; ground-tackle. Organ
ization ; making preparation for sea; handling boats. Rules
of the road. Duties of midshipmen as officers of the fore
castle and quarter-deck, and as mates of the lower decks ;
duties of the officer of the deck. Getting under way and
coming to anchor ; making and taking in sail ; reefing- and
hoisting ; making to windward.

Naval tactics. — The organization, formation, and maneu
vering of a fleet, under steam or sail, in Ward's Manual of
Naval Tactics and Parker's Steam Fleet Tactics; and the
code of signals in the United States Naval Signal-Book and
Myer's Manual of Signals.

I74 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

Exercises on board the Dale. — The cadets of the second
class are stationed as seamen and ordinary seamen, and are
instructed in sending up and down masts and yards, and in
loosing, furling, reefing, making, and shortening sail.

FIRST CLASS — FOURTH YEAR. — Practice-cruise, three
months. Ship-building and naval architecture, three hours
a week, first term. Seamanship, three hours a week, second
term. Exercises.

Practice-cruise. — After the annual examination of the second
class, cadets who pass into the first class go on their second
practice-cruise. Upon this cruise they perform the duties of
seamen and petty officers, and they act at intervals as officers
of the forecastle, and mates of the lower decks, and as officer
of the deck.

Ship-building and naval architecture. — This branch includes
the construction of ships, both iron and wooden, and the
designing of ships. It is completed in the first term. The
text-books are Wilson's Ship-Building and Thearle's Naval
Architecture.

Seamanship. — The first class take up theoretical seamanship
again at the beginning of the second term, and review the
second-class course. In addition, they study the theory of
storms and hurricanes, and the method of handling ships
under all circumstances, particularly in gales, squalls, and bad
weather. They also take up the following subjects: Making
preparations for sea; handling steamers; chasing, anchoring,
mooring and unmooring, tending ship, and clearing hawse ;
emergencies, such as parting rigging, losing sails or spars,
getting ashore, and springing a leak; the bearing of officers
and the management of men ; port and sea routine; ceremo
nies and salutes, and the various duties of all the officers of
the ship. The text-books are Luce's Seamanship, the United
States Naval Regulations, and the pamphlet of the Hydrq-
graphic Office on Hurricanes.

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. ^^

Practical exercises. — The time allotted to exercises is the
same as that in the lower classes, but the duties are of a higher
character. On board the Dale the cadets of the first class
are stationed as petty officers, and at boat-exercise they have
command of boats or divisions, according to their cadet rank..
At signal-exercise they have charge of signaling parties.

The course in seamanship is closed with a final review, and
with the accompanying exercises. The desire is to graduate
the cadets as good topmen, good helmsmen, and good leads
men, and with a fair understanding of the duties of the several
officers of a man-of-war. This knowledge, with the practical,
experience they get on ship-board after their graduation, while
midshipmen and ensigns, will fit them for the various duties,
required of deck and divisional officers.
Cadet-engineers.

The cadet-engineers study ship-building with the second
class and naval architecture with the first class, but have no
other instruction in the subjects taught in this department,
and they take no part in the practical exercises, except in the
signal-drills.

MODELS AND APPARATUS.

Models of vessels.

Antietam.—T\\t largest and most perfect model in the col
lection is that of the screw sloop of war Antietam. The origi
nal vessel was begun at Philadelphia in 1864. It is a full-
rigged working model, 41 feet in length, with all sails and spars,
complete — the hull being represented from water-line to rail.
The hull of the model was built at Washington, and1 the
spars and sails made at Philadelphia. The model was put
together and rigged at the Academy in 1872 and 1873. It
stands in the lower hall of the department of seamanship.*

*At this time (June, 1876) it forms a part of the naval department
of the Centennial Exhibition, in the United States Government Building.

176 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

Other models of parts of the same vessel, showing the de
tails of the interior construction, are used to illustrate the
course in ship-building. One of these, 13 feet long, is a full
model of the hull, in frame, showing timbers; another, of
the stern of the vessel, shows the stern-post, dead-wood, and
keel; and a third, 4 feet high, shows four midship-frames
connected.

Colorado. — Full model, full sparred and rigged.

Columbus. — Square stern-frame, showing fashion-pieces.

Congress. — Half-model of hull, showing diagonal braces,
planking, &c., 12 feet long.

Steam frigate, hove down. — Full model ; lower masts se
cured, &c.; tackles, blocks, and purchases.

Iroquois. — After body in frame, showing timbers.

Marion. — Full model of hull, shears, masts, &c., for exer
cising and masting.

North Carolina. — Full model of hull, full sparred and
rigged.

Omaha. — Half- model of hull, showing diagonal braces
and planking, 7 feet 8 inches long.

Saint Lawrence. — Full model; full sparred and rigged.

Half-models of the hulls of the following vessels :

Adriatic. Barge, (designed by Rear-Ad-
Adirondack, miral T. O. Selfridge, U.
Alabama. S. N.)
Alaska. Barge, (Brooklyn's.)
Albany. Benicia.
Alleghany, (submerged paddle-Brig, (12 guns.)

wheels.) Brooklyn.

Amphitrite. Central America.

Arizona. Chattanooga.

Bainbridge. Clipper-ship.

CHAP. III.

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

177

Columbia.

Nantasket.

Columbus.

New Hampshire.

Congress.

Niagara.

Connecticut.

Nipsic.

Constantine.

North Carolina.

Constitution.

Nyack.

Dale.

Ontario.

Delaware.

Ossipee.

Dolphin.

Pawnee.

Dunderberg.

Peacock.

Erie.

Pennsylvania.

Franklin.

Perry.

Florida.

Plymouth.

Germantown.

Potomac.

Great Republic.

Preble.

Idaho.

Princeton.

Independence.

Resaca.

Iowa.

Samson.

Iroquois.

Santee.

luka.

Saratoga.

Java.

Sassacus.

John Adams.

Severn.

Juniata.

Shawm ut.

Kansas.

Shenandoah.

Kearsarge.

Steam-sloops, (designed by

Lancaster.

Rear-Admiral Selfridge,

Launch, (steam.)

Chief Naval Constructor

Mackinaw.

Delano, and Naval Con

Miantonomoh.

structor Wilson.)

Mississippi.

Spark.

Monadnock.

Saint Louis.

Monitor.

Saint Mary's.

Monongahela.

Trajano.

1 7 8 THE NA. VA L ACA DEM Y. PART 1 1.

Truxtun. Warren.

Tuscarora. Weehawken.

Union. Worcester,

Wabash. Wyoming, and several others.

Full models of the hulls of the following:

Amphitrite, (with turrets, &c.)

Brig, (French man-of-war.)

Le Didon, (French frigate.)

Discovery.

Iron-clads, with turrets, &c.

Life-boats.

Powhatan, (on launching- ways.)

Ville de Paris.

Warren, (after body, with main and mizzen masts in.)

The department is also provided with the following appa
ratus :

Twenty-three small tackles, arranged upon racks or stands,
with heavy shot attached, to illustrate different purchases,
(now on exhibition at Philadelphia.)

Models of anchors, capstans, masts, &c.

Model of navy-yard shears, with tackle, crab, stays, &c.,
4j feet high.

Binnacle-stand and compass, presented by the Grand Duke
Alexis of Russia in 1872.

On the walls of the lower hall are placed sixteen panels,
upon which are displayed all the common knots, splices,
bends, and hitches, and the various kinds of rope. The
halls also contain many photographs of foreign men-of-war,
and other illustrations of the various branches of seamanship
and naval architecture.

II. ORDNANCE AND GUNNERY.

This department may be said to have been established in
1844, when Lieutenant Ward delivered his first course of lee-'

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. jy9

tures at the Naval Asylum in Philadelphia. When the school
was opened the next year, at Annapolis, one of the branches
of the course in the arrangement made by the Academic
Board was " Ordnance, gunnery, and the use of steam."
This group of studies was arranged with special reference to
the attainments of the officer who was to teach them. Pro
fessor Lockwood, whose West Point experience specially
qualified him for the work, took charge of the infantry-drill.
He also gave some instruction in pyrotechny.

When Lieutenant Ward was ordered to sea, in 1847, Lieut.
John A. Dahlgren took his place. But the war was then
hardly over, and Dahlgren's services were required for ord
nance duty; so that he remained only a short time. After
he left, Professor Lockwood took charge of the instruction in
gunnery, in addition to astronomy and mechanics. He suc
ceeded so well that on the re-organization, in 1850, he was
made head of the new department of gunnery and infantry
tactics. He held the position till 1857, when the subject of
the theory of gunnery was placed under the supervision of
the commandant of midshipmen, and taught by Lieut. Edward
Simpson. Professor Lockwood retained the field-artillery and
infantry-tactics.

Exercises in great-guns began April 4, 1846, with the battery
left at Fort Severn by the Army. Exercises in field-artillery
were introduced in February, 1848, two 6-pounder brass guns
having been procured from the Army for that purpose; other
pieces were afterward obtained.

In 1851 Jeffers's Theory and Practice of Naval Gunnery
was used for a short time, but in 1852 Ward's book was re
stored, and, accompanied by lectures and a small pamphlet
on great-guns by Professor Lockwood, it constituted the
course of instruction. Two Navy howitzers, i2-pounders,
were at this time procured, and took the place of the old

1 8 o THE NA VA L ACA DEM Y. PART I T .

6-poimder Army guns. The Ordnance Instructions, issued
by the Navy Department, came out in 1852. It was imme
diately adopted as a text-book, and has been taught since that
time.

In 1854 the text-books in this department were as follows:'
Ordnance Instructions, United States Navy, taught by Lieut.
J. P. Greene ; Mordecai's Notes on Gunpowder ; Jeffers's
Theory and Practice of Naval Gunnery; Dahlgren's Boat-
guns and Percussion System; Le Page's Theorie du Pointage-
Lockwood's Small-Arms.

In 1859, Simpson's Ordnance and Naval Gunnery and the
Ordnance Instructions were the principal text-books. A
translation of Le Page, also by Lieutenant Simpson, was
used until the publication of an enlarged edition of the Ord
nance and Naval Gunnery, in 1862.

Soon after Professor Lockwood was assigned to the Army,
in October, 1861,* Master Joseph D. Marvin took his place as

* Professor Lockwood was a graduate of West Point, of the class of
1836. In i836-'37 he served in Florida against the Seminole Indians.
He resigned his commission as second lieutenant in the Second Artillery
September 12, 1837. In 1841 he was appointed professor of mathe
matics in the Navy, and he was on duty at the Naval Academy from its
foundation till 1870, except during the rebellion, when he was engaged
in active service. He was commissioned colonel of the First Delaware
Volunteers May 25, 1861, and brigadier-general of United States Vol
unteers August 8, 1 86 1. In November of that year he went in com
mand of an expedition to the eastern shore of Virginia, and remained in
command there until January, 1863 j in command at Point Lookout, and
the defences of the Lower Potomac, January to June, 1863; in the
Pennsylvania campaign, (Army of the Potomac,) July, 1863, being en
gaged in the battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863 ; in command of
Harper's Ferry, Va., July to October, 1863, and of Middle Department,
headquarters at Baltimore, Mel., December, 1863, to April, 1864; in the
Richmond campaign (Army of the Potomac) May to June, 1864, partici
pating in the actions near Hanover Court-House, Va., May 30 to June
i, 1864; in command of provisional troops for the defence of Baltimore*

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. jgi

instructor in infantry-tactics. He performed this duty till
1864, at which time he again became engaged in active
service. He was relieved bj> Lieutenant-Commander A.
P. Cooke. In the spring of 1862, Lieut. S. B. Luce re
stored the artillery-drill, which had been dropped in Pro
fessor Lockwood's absence. In the fall of the same year
Lieutenant-Commander E. O. Matthews relieved Lieuten
ant-Commander Simpson, in charge of the department.
He also continued the artillery-drill. Two batteries of
heavy i2-pounder howitzers were used in this drill. At the
same time the great-gun drill was conducted on board the
sloop Macedonian, and target-practice from a small battery
on Goat Island. The subject of field fortifications was intro
duced in the spring of 1861, to give the midshipmen a suffi
cient knowledge of intrenchments to enable them to protect
themselves in case of being sent on shore with a body of men
in an enemy's country. In November, 1865, the instruction
in infantry-tactics was transferred to the department of ord
nance and gunnery, as field-artillery had been in October,
1862.

Down to 1875 the commandant of midshipmen was head
of the department of gunnery as well as of seamanship, in
addition to his other, duties. In that year the change was
made, already described under the department of seamanship,
which put the heads of both departments on a separate footing.

PRESENT COURSE.

ALL CLASSES. — Practical exercises four hours a week dur
ing the year as follows :
Infantry -drill.

against the rebel raid under General Early, 1864, and of brigade at Bal
timore, Md., July, 1864, to August, 1865. General Lockwood was
mustered out of service August 24, 1865, and returned to his duties at the
Naval Academy. (Cullum, Biographical Register United States Military
Academy, volume I.)

1 82 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

Field-artillery and boat-howitzer exercise.

Great-guns. — Exercises and target-practice on board the
United States ship Santee. t

Fencing.— Exercises with small-swords and broadswords.

SECOND CLASS. — One hour a week, first term; two hours a
week, second term.

Infantry-tactics. — Organization and formation of squad^
company, and battalion; school of the soldier; company and
battalion drill, including instructions for skirmishers and the
bayonet-exercise. Text-book : United States Infantry-Tac
tics.

Gunnery. — Practical naval gunnery, as laid down in the
Ordnance and Gunnery Instructions for the United States
Navy.

FIRST CLASS. — Two hours a week, first term ; three hours a
week, second term.

Ordnance and armor. — Preparation of gun-iron from crude
ore, including the description and use of furnaces; manufac
ture of wrought iron, steel, and bronze ; fabrication of guns
of all descriptions; manufacture of gunpowder and fuses, and
of all kinds of projectiles and fireworks.

Theory of gunnery. — Motion of projectiles in Tacuo and ia
the atmosphere; initial, remaining, an^l final velocities, and
the methods of determining their values ; the effects of varia
tions of charge, windage, and weight of projectiles; deviation
of projectiles; systems of pointing; tangent-sights, and de
termination of their values; penetration and shock of pro
jectiles, and recoil of guns. The text-books in this course
are Commander A. P. Cooke's* Naval Ordnance and Gun
nery; Ordnance Instructions, United States Navy; Gunnery
Instructions, United States Navy.

* Formerly head of the department of ordnance and gunnery at the
Naval Academy. *,

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. ^3

Mortar-practice. — The class have field-lectures and practice
with the mortar at intervals during the second term, in the
course of which they load and fire, weigh out the charges,
fill shells, and cut fuses.

Monitor-practice. — The monitor is put under steam, and the
class are exercised in working the machinery of the guns and
turret.

Target-practice with the rifle, at long and short ranges,
frequently during the first class year.

Cadet-engineers.

The cadet-engineers attend the drills with great-guns and
in infantry-tactics, field-artillery, and fencing, but have no
other instruction in this department.

MODELS AND APPARATUS.

For great-gun drill on board the gunnery-ship Santee:
24 new-pattern VHI-inch guns, on iron carriages, on the gun-
deck.

24 new-pattern 32-pounders, on iron carriages, on the spar-
deck.

For light-artillery drill:
24 light i2-pounder howitzers.
4 new 3-inch breech-loading rifled howitzers.
6 launches.

For infantry- drill :
490 Remington rifles, Navy pattern.

For mortar-practice :
i XHI-inch mortar, mounted near the .sea-wall.

Models of all the different great-guns at present used on
shipboard, with both wooden and iron carnages.

Models of all the different howitzers at present used in the
Navy, with boat and field carriages.

1 84 THE NA VA L ACA DEM Y. PART 1 1 .

Full-size wooden model of new pattern 32-pounder, on iron
carriage, for using inspecting-instruments.

One Catling gun, with equipments complete.

Model of a section of a mortar-schooner, with mortar and
equipments complete; the model showing the construction
of the vessel.

Model of a ship's magazine, with all the equipments com
plete.

Models of fortifications.

Model of flask, core, &c., used in casting guns upon the
Rodman plan.

Model illustrating the Navy process of casting shells.

Presses and implements for the manufacture of the Navy
time-fuse and Bormann fuse.

Rodman's testing-machine, capacity 100,000 Ibs.

Rocket and port-fire molds.

Inspecting-instruments for guns, powder, shot, and shells.

Schultz's electro-chronoscope.

Set of tools for making cannon-primers.

Beardsley's magneto-electric torpedo-machine.

.Wheatstone's magneto-electric torpedo-machine, (presented
by Commander T. O. Selfridge.)

Samples of powder and of the ingredients used in its man
ufacture.

Samples of fuses.

Samples of primers.

Samples of shot and shell.

Samples of torpedoes.

Samples of no different kinds of small-arms, including,
among others, the needle-gun, Snyder, Werner, Chassepot,
Vincennes, Jaeger, Enfield, Martini-Henry, and other rifles ;
Bavarian, Belgian, Austrian, French, and Spanish rifles; Rem
ington, Ward and Burton, Spencer, and Sharp breech-loaders;*

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

'85

and many others, including rifles, muske.ts, carbines, pistols,
and revolvers of various make and pattern.

Samples of 33 kinds of metallic ammunition, (presented by
Commander D. L. Braine.)

Drawings of electro-chronoscope and electro-ballistic pen
dulum, by Commander Montgomery Sicard.

Drawings of Bloomfield furnace.

Drawings of gun-foundery furnace.

Drawings of projectiles used in the campaign of 1864.

Densimeter.

Photographs of breech-loading small-arms and their parts
in use in the United States.

Photographs illustrating the manufacture of Krupp guns.

III. MATHEMATICS.

This department, at its organization in 1850, included the
following subjects: Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonom
etry, descriptive geometry, analytical geometry, the differen
tial and integral calculus, astronomy, navigation, and sur
veying.

These subjects were distributed over four years, the first
year being devoted mainly to arithmetic and algebra, and
the second to geometry, trigonometry, and descriptive geom
etry. Analytical geometry, the calculus, and astronomy were
taught in the third year, and navigation and surveying in the
fourth. In 1853 the three subjects last mentioned were
assigned to a new department.

The course in the calculus was short, and was only required
of the higher portion of the class. From 1858 to 1870 de
scriptive geometry was omitted by the lower sections of the
class, and from 1866 to 1870 little attention was paid to
analytical geometry. With these exceptions, the course re
mained substantially the same, only such changes being made

i86 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

from time to time as were required by the introduction of
new text-books. In 1871, under a new arrangement of
studies, arithmetic was discontinued and the calculus was
transferred to the department of physics and chemistry, to
be taught in connection with mechanics.

PRESENT COURSE.

Cadet-midshipmen and cadet-engineers.

FOURTH CLASS. — Six hours a week; algebra and geometry.
THIRD CLASS. — Six hours a week ; trigonometry, analytical-
geometry, and descriptive geometry.

ELECTIVE COURSES.

In addition to the required studies of the course, two elect
ive courses, established in 1875, are now open to those
cadets who display marked ability in mathematics. During
the year just ended the course has been as follows :

FOURTH CLASS. — The theory of equations, and curve-
tracing.

THIRD CLASS. — The elements of the differential and inte
gral calculus.

All the members of a class now pursue nearly the same
studies in the required course, a few of the more difficult sub
jects only being omitted by the lower sections. Written ex
aminations are held either once or twice a month, and each
instructor aims to prepare his section for the coming exami
nation. Written examinations were first introduced in 1865,
and were then held twice a year; previously to that time, ex
aminations had been oral. The system of monthly examina
tions has been in use since 1871.

In descriptive geometry the elements of the subject are
taught by recitations from a text-book, in addition to which, £,

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. jg;

period of two hours a week during the year is taken for prac
tical geometrical drawing. Original problems in descriptive
geometry are given each week, and each cadet is required to
solve them accurately.

The drawing-room used is conveniently arranged, and has
accommodations for one hundred students. No models have
as yet been provided.

The requirements in mathematics for admission to the Acad
emy have hitherto been below what would seem to be neces
sary as a preparation for the course of the first year. From
1850 to 1863 candidates were required to "perform with
accuracy the various operations in the primary rules of arith
metic, viz: numeration, addition, subtraction, multiplication,,
and division of whole numbers." In 1863 this regulation
was changed to include "vulgar and decimal fractions and
the rule of three." After 1871 the examinations included
operations upon denominate numbers; and by the present
regulations, which take effect this year, the examinations in
clude percentage, interest and discount, and the extraction
of square and cube roots.

IV. STEAM-ENGINEERING.

Instruction in the applications of steam to machinery was
first given in lectures by Lieutenant Ward, who was after
ward known as the author of a popular treatise on steam.
The subject was at that time one of the branches of the de
partment of gunnery. After Ward left the school the branch
was joined with chemistry, but little attention was paid to it.
In 1850 it was put into the new department of natural phi
losophy. The text-books were very simple — Ward's lec
tures, printed after he left the school, and a chapter or two
in Miiller's Physics. Later, Main and Brown on the Marine
Engine became the text-book. The equipment of models

•j88 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

and apparatus was very meagre. A small beam-engine, with
boilers, together with sectional and working models of a
beam-engine, was used for practical instruction.

In 1865 Chief Engineer W. W, W. Wood was ordered to the
Academy, and a new department, that of steam-engineering,
{or enginery, as it was at first called,) was established. The
building now used by the department was erected in the
summer of 1866, and during the next few years a collection
of models and apparatus for practical instruction was pro
vided, which is now one of the most complete in the Acad
emy, and for its purpose probably the most complete in the
country. In the main hall is a pair of marine engines of 600
indicated horse-power, complete, with boilers, propeller, and
all the auxiliary machinery commonly found on board vessels
of war. The boilers, four in number, such as are employed
in small corvettes, are placed in a wing in the rear of the main
hall. Two of them are used to generate steam to supply the
engine, and two are kept open and can be lighted within by
gas-jets, so that the student may see the whole interior con
struction, and learn exactly how the braces, stay-bolts, &c.,
are arranged and secured. The space above the engine is
surrounded by a broad and well-lighted gallery, and the
•whole machinery may be seen at a glance.

The wings at the sides of the main building are arranged
for offices and workshops, for practical instruction in the art
of the machinist, the pattern-maker, the smith, the boiler-
maker, and the molder. The workshops contain a well-
selected collection of machine and other modern tools.

The building also contains recitation-rooms, a room fitted
for practice in mechanical drawing, and a spacious model-
room. The apparatus in the latter consists of illustrations of
the details of steam machinery ; of methods of construction ;
of fractures and other injuries to machinery; and of engineer-

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. 189

ing implements of all kinds. Among these are models of boil
ers of different kinds ; propellers; steam and vacuum gauges;,
air-pumps; feed-pumps; a complete set of drawings in oil, upon
wood, of the monitor class of iron-clad vessels ; working models*
of slide-valves, showing their operation and adjustment;,
and many similar pieces of engineering apparatus. Cadets
have frequent access to the whole collection, and are exer
cised in the management of the large engines under steam,,
and in overhauling and taking them apart, and putting the
parts together anew. In these exercises the methods used
follow the practice of the naval service, at sea and in port.
Both the cadet-midshipmen and cadet-engineers take part
in them, but the instruction in hand-work and in the use
of machine-tools is given chiefly to the cadet-engineers.
The latter get a good knowledge of all the mechanical oper
ations which underlie the practice of steam-engineering.
The cadets have a theoretical course in addition to the exer
cises.

PRESENT COURSE.

Cadet-midshipmen.

FIRST CLASS. — Three hours a week. This time is devoted
to giving the class a general knowledge of the varieties of
marine engines, of the principles governing their care and
management, and of the methods of determining the quality
of engine performances.

Cadet-engineers.

FOURTH CLASS. — Two hours a 'week. Mechanical draw
ing.

THIRD CLASS. — Two hours a week, first term. Mechani
cal drawing.

SECOND CLASS. — Five hours a week. Mechanical draw-

190

THE NA VAL ACADEMY. PART II.

ing, one hour; fabrication of machinery, two hours; ma
rine engines, two hours.

FIRST CLASS. — Seven hours a week. Mechanical drawing,
three hours ; fabrication of machinery, two hours ; designing
of machinery and marine engines, two hours.

Text-books of cadet-engi?iee?-s. — Bourne's Handbook of the
Steam-Engine ; Warren's Elements of Mechanical Drawing;
Rankine's Steam-Engine and other Prime Movers.

It will be seen that the cadet-engineers have a much more
extended course in these branches than the cadet-midship
men. In addition to the theoretical course, the cadet-
engineers have more frequent practice with the engines, tak
ing these exercises whenever the cadet-midshipmen have ex
ercises in seamanship, great-guns, or boat-howitzers.

The instruction received by the cadet-engineers during the
practice-cruise is spoken of in another place. It is given by
assistants in the department of steam-engineering detailed for
the duty.

V. ASTRONOMY AND NAVIGATION.

From 1845 to 1853 astronomy and navigation were a part
of the course in the department of mathematics, and were
taught by Professor Chauvenet, except during 1848 and 1849
when Professor Lockwood took astronomy. In October^
1853, a separate department of astronomy and navigation
was created, with Professor Chauvenet at the head. Pro
fessor Coffin succeeded him as head of mathematics. When
Chauvenet resigned, in 1859, Coffin became professor of
astronomy and navigation; and from 1861 to 1864, owing to
the difficulty of obtaining suitable men, he took charge of
both departments. In 1865, Commander Robert L. Phyth-
ian succeeded him in astronomy and navigation ; and since
that time the department has been in charge of line offi
cers of the Navy.

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. 19 r

PRESENT COURSE.

Cadet-midshipmen .

SECOND CLASS. — Three hours a week during the first term.
Astronomy. — Descriptive and practical astronomy, in
eluding the use of instruments, especially those for determin
ing terrestrial latitudes and longitudes. The text-book is
Professor Charles J. White's* Elements of Astronomy.

FIRST CLASS. — Practice-cruise, three months. Navigation
and surveying, four hours a week throughout the year.

Practice-cruise. — Practical instruction is given to the first
class in navigation four days in each week. The ship's
position is fixed by observations of the sun, planets, and
stars, made by cadets, with the sextants. During the last
cruise, in addition to the usual keeping of dead-reckoning
and the time and latitude sights, the class constructed Mer-
cator's charts, projected the coast-line and islands near the
cruising-ground, and made sketches of prominent headlands
on different bearings.

Navigation and surveying. — Theoretical navigation is taught
from Prof. J. H. C. Coffin's Navigation, in connection with
Bowditch's Navigator. The theory is supplemented by
constant practice in working out original examples, both in
and out of the section-room. The cadets are also taught the
duties of the navigating officer, and the use of the sextant and
other navigating instruments. This course occupies the first
term.

The second term, comprising seventy-two periods, is di
vided as follows :

The deviation of the compass, t with examples, sixteen
hours. The text-book used is Merrifield's Magnetism and
Deviation of the Compass.

* Formerly assistant professor of astronomy at the Naval Academy,
t Introduced in 1875.

I92 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

The construction of charts on polyconic projections,* eight
hours.

Surveying, forty hours. This branch is taught by practi
cal exercises, consisting of surveys of the mouth of the Sev
ern River, and the projection of charts. Jeffers's Nautical
Surveying is used as a book of reference.

Solution of original problems in navigation, forty-four
hours.

Field-practice with the sextant, twenty-eight hours.

Cadet-engineers.

The first class of cadet-engineers take a special course in
astronomy.

The great aim of the department being to prepare gradu
ates to become, first, trustworthy navigators, and, secondly,
competent surveyors, little time can be given to practice in
the use of either the permanent or portable instruments of the
observatory. During the past year five members of the sec
ond class have devoted a portion of their recreation-hours to
observations with the meridian circle and portable transit
and zenith telescope. It is hoped, by an elective course, to
be able to advance in this direction without any bad effect on
the course in navigation.

APPARATUS.

The observatory, which is in charge of this department, is-
supplied with the following instruments :
i equatorial telescope, made by Alvan Clark & Sons, Bos
ton; object-glass, 73^ inches clear aperture, 9^ feet focal
length, with three positive eye-pieces, three negative eye
pieces, one filar micrometer, and a driving-clock. Sup
ported on a brick' pier on an iron frame, and provided
with revolving turret.

* Introduced in 1875.

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. I93

i meridian circle, by Repsold of Hamburg, mounted on
stone piers; object-glass, 4 inches aperture, 4 feet focal
length; circles 30 inches diameter. Provided with four
reading microscopes; one micrometer, with movable
threads, for measuring difference of declinations; three
eye-pieces ; mercurial collimator, levels, reversing-car,
and observing-couch.

i sidereal clock, by Arnold & Frodsham, London, with a
chronograph, of the Morse register type.

6 chronometers, (two sidereal, four mean time.)

i portable equatorial, by Plosel; clear aperture 3 inches,
focal length 3 feet.

i portable transit and zenith telescope combined, by Stack -
pole, (lent from Washington Observatory ;) focal length
28 inches, object-glass 2^ inches.

i portable transit, by Wurdeman; focal length 26 inches,
object-glass 2 inches.

i zenith telescope, by Wurdeman ; focal length 33 inches,

object-glass 3 inches.
(The last three instruments are conveniently mounted on

three piers of stone, placed in the meridian, 7 feet from each

other.)

i universal instrument, by Ertel ; circles 8*4 inches.

i theodolite, by Wurdeman; 8-inch limb, telescope 16
inches.

4 surveyor's transits.

i level and staff.

4 reflecting circles.
.80 sextants.

34 artificial horizons.

5 azimuth-compasses.
20 comparing- watches,
i plane-table.

1 94 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

VI. — PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY.

The course in natural philosophy, begun in 1845, under
Professor Lockwood, included mechanics, optics, electricity,
and magnetism; but, owing to the scanty preparation of
even the senior, class, the professor was able to teach little
beside mechanics. Peschel's Physics was used as the text
book. At the same time chemistry was taught by Surgeon J.
A. Lockwood. The junior class attended lectures in this
branch, and the seniors had lectures and recitations.

In 1864 Olmstead's Natural Philosophy was substituted
for Peschel, and it was kept in use till the four years' course
was established, in 1850. Up to this time the school had no
philosophical apparatus worthy of notice.

In 1850 the department of natural and experimental phi
losophy, including chemistry, was fully established, and Prof.
W. F. Hopkins took the place of Professor Lockwood, the
latter taking charge of the new department of gunnery and
infantry tactics. The course in natural philosophy was con
fined to the two upper classes. The second class had three
recitations a week throughout the year in chemistry and elec
tricity, and daily recitations in mechanics during the second
term. The first class also had three hours throughout the
year, studying optics and heat. Geology and mineralogy were
included in the course, but no record remains of the nature
of the instruction. The use of steam was taught from Main
and Brown's text-book on the marine engine.

In 1854 the course in mechanics was improved by the in
troduction of Bartlett's Elements of Mechanics in place of
Peschel. At the same time Lardner's course in physics was
adopted for the first class.

In 1860 Prof. A. W. Smith* was appointed head of the

* Rev. Augustus William Smith, LL. D., was born in Herkimer County,
New York, May 12, 1802 ; died at Annapolis, Md., of pneumonia, March

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. I95

department. During his administration, and that of Professor
Lockwood, who resumed the position at the death of Pro
fessor Smith, in 1866, many improvements were made, both
in the outfit of the department and in methods of instruction.
Smith's Mechanics was adopted as the text-book of the sec
ond class, and Silliman's Physics for the first class. From
1868 until the re-arrangement of the course in 1875, Ganot's
Physics was used instead of Silliman's.

In 1869 Lieutenant-Commander (now Commander) W. T.
Sampson succeeded Professor Lockwood, and since that time
the department has been in charge of naval officers. In 1871
the name of the department was changed to "physics and
chemistry," and the calculus was transferred to it. This
branch was taught mainly by lectures, and with reference to
its applications to mechanics. The growing importance of

26, 1866. His early years were passed on a farm, but, having a strong
desire to acquire an education, he attended the academies of his native
county and qualified himself to teach, and thus acquired the means to
prosecute his studies. He graduated at Hamilton College, Clinton, in
1826, and had been for a year previous one of the teachers in the Oneida
Conference Seminary, at Cazenovia, where he continued till 1831, being
the principal of the seminary from 1828 to 1831. In the latter year he
was chosen professor of mathematics in Wesleyan University, at Middle-
town, Conn., and continued in that chair till 1851 — twenty years — when
he was chosen president of the university. His retiring disposition had
made him very unwilling to assume or retain the presidency of the uni
versity, and after eight years of service he resigned the office in 1859,
when he was appointed professor of natural philosophy in the Naval
Academy. He remained in this position till his death. He was an ex
cellent mathematician and thoroughly familiar with all the applications
of mathematics to science, and in his field of research had few superiors.
His administration of the affairs of the Wesleyan University was charac
terized by great discretion and sound judgment. He had published sev
eral valuable text-books. He received the honorary degree of LL. D.
from Hamilton College in 1850. (See Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia,
1866.)

196

THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

the subject, and the increased necessity of its frequent appli
cation in the solution of problems in other scientific and pro
fessional branches, have made it advisable to create a new
department of mechanics and applied mathematics, to in
clude the subject of calculus. The department was accord
ingly organized in March last, in charge of Prof. J. M. Rice.*

PRESENT COURSE.

Cadet-midshipmen and Cadet-engineers.

THIRD CLASS. — Three hours a week. First term, physics ;
second term, chemistry.

When the course was re-arranged in 1875, the study of ele
mentary physics was introduced in the third class. Up to this
time it had been confined to the two upper classes. In the
new course Balfour Stewart's Physics was adopted as a text
book. By thus taking a brief and comprehensive view of
all branches of physics, the student early gets a clear idea of
the leading facts and principles, and, what is not less impor
tant, of the relations between the forces with which he has
to deal. Half the year is given to this elementary course,
the other half to chemistry. The latter subject is deemed of
special importance, not only as being an essential part of a
liberal education, but as having a direct practical application
in the service. Its importance to the naval officer is readily
illustrated by the improvements which have been made in
the art of war by the introduction of gun-cotton and nitro
glycerine, the picrate and chlorate powders, and their various
applications in torpedoes and otherwise, for use in military
operations. These improvements in military science have
begun and ended in the chemist's laboratory; and it follows,
as a necessary consequence, that scientific attainments are

* See page 201.

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. 197

among the most important of professional qualifications.
Moreover, a naval officer is constantly in the line of duty
visiting remote parts of the earth's surface which are com
paratively inaccessible to the ordinary scientific observer-
He has peculiar opportunities of aiding scientific investiga
tion by noting and recording those natural phenomena with
which he comes in almost daily contact. It is, therefore, of
the greatest consequence that he should have trained powers
of observation, and be able to make a scientific record of
what he sees.

These considerations led to the introduction of the courses
in physics and chemistry at the Academy, and the results
have gone so far to prove their usefulness that increased time
and opportunity have been given to the two subjects. The
course in elementary chemistry is supplemented by lectures
and laboratory practice. The aim is to familiarize the stu
dents with general principles and nomenclature, and to teach
them the applications of chemistry to professional work.

An advanced class, composed of those who show most
aptitude for the study, receive special laboratory instruction
in the analysis and preparation of explosives. It is hoped
that the course may be so extended in time as to give cadets
a training in analytical work which will enable them to make
or superintend such analyses as the exigencies of the service
may require.*

The laboratories are open to graduates who wish further
instruction in physics or chemistry. Several such students
have been pursuing courses during the last two years, and
they, as well as the officers attached to the department, will
be fitted by their training for a much higher class of work
than those whq pursue only the required course.

* For specimens of the work of cadets, see Appendix, Note F.

198

THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

SECOND CLASS. — Three hours a week for one term ; elec
tricity.

Jenkins's Electricity and Magnetism is used as a text-book,
and Ganot's Physics, Maxwell's Electricity and Magnetism,
and Kohlrausch on Physical Measurements, as books of
reference. The course is accompanied by experimental lec
tures, in which subjects are considered which were too diffi
cult for the third class. From four to six hours a week are
given to laboratory work by those who show most aptitude
for the subject. In the second-class course cadets learn to
measure the resistance of conductors, insulators, and electro
lytes, and of batteries ; to determine galvanometer constants
by electrolysis and by calculation; to measure current
strength and electro-motive force in various ways ; to deter
mine electro-chemical equivalents; and to determine tem
perature factors for magnets, the magnetic intensity, and de
clination, dip, &c. Some examples of the work of cadets of
this class are given in the Appendix.*

FIRST CLASS. — Three hours a week for one term.

Heat and light. — Maxwell's Theory of Heat is used as a
text-book, with Ganot and Kohlrausch as books of reference.
This course, also, is illustrated by experimental lectures,
which are a continuation of those given in the same subject
to the third class. The best-prepared students of this class
devote a portion of the time to laboratory work, in making
such measurements as are best suited to give them the care
and skill required while investigating the laws of nature.
Having had previous experience in the laboratory, the class
are left very much to their own resources. In almost every
measurement some portion of the apparatus has been im
proved by each student.*

More time is given to electricity and heat because of the

* See Appendix, Note F. *.

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. 199

direct professional bearing of these studies. Considerable
attention is paid to the study of the different methods of
exploding submarine mines and torpedoes by electricity.
A right understanding of magnetic phenomena is, of course,
important to those who have to deal with the mariner's com
pass, and especially in modern men-of-war, built largely of
iron, whose influence upon the needle must be determined
and allowed for with the greatest care.

For similar reasons, in the course in heat, which is intended
as an introduction to the study of the steam-engine, those
problems are most dwelt upon which prepare the student for
his ultimate pursuit. At the same time the more difficult
problems of thermodynamics are not neglected.

APPARATUS.

The first considerable appropriation for the purchase of
apparatus was made in 1850. Since then moderate sums
have been appropriated almost every year for its gradual
increase. During the past few years many valuable instru
ments of precision have been added, so that the department
is well supplied with general lecture apparatus, and at the
same time has facilities for more precise instruction in physi
cal measurements and for original research. The following
is a partial list of the most important instruments.

In acoustics, Helmholtz double siren, (Koenig, Paris.)

In optics, Duboscq's polariscope; Duboscq's spectroscope,
(four prisms;) duect-vision spectroscope, (Browning, five
prisms;) Silberman's heliostat; two electric-light regulators
and lanterns; two microscopes; one solar microscope; one
goniometer, (Wallaston's.)

In heat, Melloni's apparatus; Tyndall's apparatus for ra
diation and absorption of gases; Blanch i's apparatus for
liquefying gases; cathetometer.

200

THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

In electricity, one Carre's machine; one Holtz machine;
one quadrant electrometer, (Tomson's;) one absolute elec
trometer, (.Tomson's;) two short-coil reflecting astatic gal
vanometers; one long-coil astatic reflecting galvanometer, of
35,000 ohms' resistance, (Tomson's;) one marine galvanome
ter.; one short-coil reflecting galvanometer; two differential
galvanometers; two tangent galvanometers; one large electro-
dynamometer; Helmholtz's arrangement of coils; coils 50
centimetres in diameter, (Elliott Bros.;) one magnetometer;
one dip circle; one Rhumkorff coil, giving spark of 13 inches;
four dynamo-electrical machines, one producing a light equal
to 3,000 candles.

Upon application of the Superintendent of the Academy,,
the president of the Transit of Venus Commission, Rear-
Admiral C. H. Davis, U. S. N., has supplied the department
with a set of the instruments used by one of the transit par
ties. Among these are included the magnetometer and dip
circle mentioned above, an equatorial telescope, 6-inch ob
jective, with driving-clock; a sidereal clock, and chronograph.

The department also possesses three fine balances — two
by Becker, the other by Newman of London.

A copy of the standard yard and metre is deposited at the
observatory of the Academy.

In 1869 the building now occupied by the department of
physics and chemistry was completed. The building is 80 by
40 feet, two stories high, with an attic, which has recently
been converted into a battery -room.

Until 1875 a portion of this building was occupied as a
chemical laboratory. In the fall of 1875 a building adjoining
was enlarged and fitted up as a chemical laboratory. This-
building is 55 by 48 feet. It contains two laboratories, one
55 by 22 feet, fitted for work in general chemistry and qual
itative analysis. It has desk-room for fifty students at one

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. 201

time; each desk being fitted to accommodate two students,,
or one hundred in all. Many conveniences, suggested by
recent experience, have been introduced into this laboratory.
Being one story high, it is well lighted and ventilated.

The second laboratory is fitted for more advanced students
in quantitative work, and is amply supplied with all the mod
ern appointments.

The physical laboratory building contains three recitation-
rooms, an office, a general work-room, and a galvanometer-
room on the first floor, besides a small room in the centre of
the building for experiments in heat on radiation and absorp
tion. In the galvanometer-room the large dynamometer and
the galvanometer of high resistance are -solidly mounted.
On the second floor is a lecture-room, 50 by 40 feet, and a
physical laboratory, 30 by 40 feet. The building is supplied
with water, gas, vacuum and blast pumps, &c.

The lecture-room, as well as the laboratory, may be used
for analytical practice.

VII. MECHANICS AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS.

This department was formed by a division of the depart
ment of physics and chemistry, in accordance with the recom
mendation of the Superintendent of the Academy, and of the
head of the department. The change was ordered March 6,
1876, and Prof. J. M. Rice was placed in charge of the new
department.

The course of instruction includes the differential calculus,,
the integral calculus, theoretical and applied mechanics, and
the strength of materials. It'is arranged as follows:

SECOND CLASS, cadet-midshipmen, five hours a week. First
term, calculus ; second term, mechanics.

FIRST CLASS, cadet-engineers, three hours a week, first term;
one hour a week, second term. Subject : Strength of mate
rials.

202 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

The text-books used are: Rice and Johnson's Calculus,
Todhunter's Mechanics for Beginners, Smith's Mechanics,
and Wood's Resistance of Materials.

It is proposed to have in the department an elective course
in Williamson's Integral Calculus, for the benefit of those
cadets who take the elective course in the department of
mathematics.

Instruction is given by recitations and occasional lectures,
and special attention is given to the practical application of
all the branches taught. Written examinations are held semi
monthly.

VIII. ENGLISH STUDIES, HISTORY, AND LAW.

Before 1850 the senior and junior classes received instruction
in the English branches from Chaplain Jones. In the regula
tions of 1850 a new department was organized, embracing a
miscellaneous list of subjects, and called "the department of
•ethics," though ethics was only one of the many subjects in
the care of the department. Later it was called " ethics and
English studies." Prof. Joseph E. Nourse was head of the
•department from 1850 to 1865, and from 1865 to 1873 it
was in charge of line officers of the Navy. At this time the
course comprised the following subjects and text-books :

Fourth class — Worcester's History, Bullions's English
Grammar, Cornell's High-school Geography.

Third class — Eliot's History of the United States, Quack-
cnbos's Rhetoric.

First class — Kent's Commentaries, volume i.

Ethics was taught first in recitations in Wayland's Moral
.Science, and afterward in familiar lectures by the chaplain.
Otherwise, instruction was chiefly given in recitations, exami
nations being held semi-annually. Subsequently, instruction
in ethics was wholly discontinued, and in 1873 the name of

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

203

the department was changed to " English studies, history,
and law."

The course now covers the four years of the academic
course, except during the first term of the fourth year. In
struction is given mainly in recitations, and, in one or two
history courses, in lectures. Monthly and term examinations
are held in all the courses, except that of the second class
in themes. The object aimed at is threefold : to give the
cadets, first, a certain amount of literary culture ; secondly, a
clear, simple, and graceful habit of expression, and facility in
the proper use of English ; and, thirdly, such an acquaintance
with the history of their own and other countries, and of the
service to which they belong, as will enable them to under
stand the character and development of the Government
they serve, its relation to foreign states, and their duties
toward it as public officers. A special course is given in
international law.

In the matter of English training, the work done in the
monthly examinations is held to be of great importance.
Upon entering the Academy, the written work of nearly all
the cadets is in very bad form, as is shown by the papers at
the examinations for admission, and still more by those at
the first monthly examination. To correct this, the papers
in English and history are examined and marked by the
instructors, not only with reference to the subject-matter,
but to faults in spelling and punctuation, to bad writing, to
looseness of thought, and slovenliness of form and expres
sion. The examiners designate the faults on the papers by
using a list of abbreviations, with which the cadet is furnished
and to which he can refer for explanation. The papers are
then returned to the writers, by whom they are corrected,
handed in to the examiners at the following recitation, and
inspected anew to insure thorough correction. Cadets are

204

THE NA VAL ACADEMY. PART IT.

required to notice in some way every mark made on the
papers by the examiner, and the process of revision is con
tinued with each paper until it is complete ; ample opportu
nity being given the writer of asking and receiving expla
nation.

This system of examination and correction of course
entails great labor on the instructors, but it is believed that
the results justify the method. Cases have occurred since its
introduction in which the papers of a cadet at the November
examinations contained upward of four hundred marks of
correction, while those of the same cadet in May had less
than thirty; while a corresponding improvement was seen
in neatness and accuracy of expression.

In addition to the monthly examinations, the cadets re
ceive special practice in English composition, as follows:

Fourth class. — Prose versions of extracts from classical
English poets.

Third class. — Official reports, once a fortnight, during half
the year.

Second class. — Themes, once a month.

In all these exercises the same system of revision and
correction is rigorously followed.

PRESENT COURSE.

Cadet-midshipmen and cadet-engineers.

FOURTH CLASS. — Five hours a week.

Punctuation. — The cadets begin the course in English with
the chapter on punctuation in Hart's Rhetoric. The manual
and exercises take up two hours a week for five weeks, at the
end of which an examination is held. During .the rest of
the course all the examinations and exercises of cadets in
this department are required to conform to the practice of
the manual.

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. 205

History. — The class take Freeman's General Sketch of
History simultaneously with the course in English, and recite
in it three hours a week during the term, going over the first
twelve chapters, which comprise European history down to the
Reformation. Part of the last month, as in all the studies of
this department, is given to a review of the course prepara
tory to the term examination. Especial stress is laid in all
the history courses on territorial changes and historical geog
raphy, Labberton's Atlas being used in connection with
Freeman.

In the second term the class have Eliot's History of the
United States for three hours a week in place of Freeman.
A modern atlas is used in connection with it, and the course
is supplemented by lectures, as time allows and occasion
requires.

English. — After the Manual of Punctuation is finished the
rest of the term for two hours a week is occupied with Tan-
cock's English Grammar. This book contains a sketch of
the growth of the language, which is taken up in connection
with the chapters of Freeman relating to early English his
tory. The grammar proper is treated very briefly, the time
being devoted mainly to the etymological and syntactical
analysis of passages of English prose and poetry, a fair selec
tion of which accompanies the grammar. A small etymo
logical dictionary is used in preparing the lessons.

In the second term the class take up the u English Les
sons," by Prof. J. R. Seeley and Mr. E. A. Abbott, for two
hours a week through the term. In connection with the
text-book, they have regular practice in writing prose ver
sions of poetical extracts from the collection in Tancock's
Grammar. They have also much practice in correcting the
common faults of speaking and writing, and exercises in the
use of figures, and in the solution of simple problems in
logic.

206 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

Throughout the year the lesson in history for the day is
considered a lesson in spelling. This takes about seven min
utes from the recitation in history, but some definite practice
of the kind is necessary, and this method seems to give the
best results at the least expense of time. It has been already
shown that the examination for admission is not severe
enough to exclude bad spellers.

The necessity of the course in English grammar also arises
from the rudimentary character of the examination for ad
mission. On account of the variety of school-grammars now
in use throughout the country,* and the confused arrange
ment of the subject in these text-books, the examination in
grammar is, of necessity, general and indulgent in its char
acter. If it could be made specific and rigorous, the most
rudimentary part of the course might be dispensed with; but
at present it is not safe to presume upon any degree of gram
matical' training in the successful candidate for admission.

* Inquiry made at the June and September examinations in 1875 showed
that the following works on English grammar had been used by the can
didates :

Number of candi-

Text-book. dates by whom

studied.

Harvey 20

Green 16

Bullions 15

Butler 14

Brown II

Kerl „ ii

Pinneo 10

Smith 10

Clark 7

Quackenbos 7

Weld 4

Fewsmith 3

Norton 3

Swintori 3 *.

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

207

The exercise in writing prose versions, instead of original
composition, has the advantage of furnishing beginners with
their subject-matter and enabling them to give attention more
exclusively to the form of expression. The great difficulty
of a novice in learning to write is the want of ideas ; if these
can be furnished, all his effort can be expended upon the
form in which they are to be put. If he is left to his own
resources, his strength is wasted in the production of boyish
and immature thought in a style which runs either into fine
writing or commonplace formalism.

THIRD CLASS. — Three hours a week.

History. — The first term is mainly occupied with the last
five chapters of Freeman's General Sketch, (from the Refor
mation to the present time,) and a general review of Euro
pean history.

In addition to the general course, a course of twelve or
more lectures is given on the history of the United States
Navy. The cadets take notes, and the substance of the lec
tures may be required at the final examination.

Number of candi-
Text-book. dates by whom

studied.
Tancock .......................................... 3

Arnold ____ ........................................ I

Bain ..............................................

Bingham .................. ___ . ____ . ........... ___ .

Burt .............................................

Chandler ..........................................

Covell-. ...........................................

Fowler ____ . ........... ___ ..................... ....

Holmes ...........................................

Kirkham ..........................................

Notes by teacher ...................................

Twenty-five text-books on grammar among 147 students — i. e., one gram
mar for every five or six students.

208 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

Rhetoric. — Bain's Rhetoric, including the whole of Part I
and the first four chapters of Part II, occupies three hours
a week during the second term.

Composition. — The class write official reports once a fort
night during the second term upon some designated subject;
as, the performance of a certain duty, or the execution of a
specific order. The report may relate to a fictitious expedi
tion or survey, or may be based upon information obtained
during the summer cruise. The writers are required to ob
serve the forms prescribed by the Naval Regulations in regard
to official correspondence.

SECOND CLASS. — Themes, once a month.

Composition. — The instructor meets the class once a month
and gives out subjects, suggests methods of treatment, and
notes books of reference. A part of the time is given to the
reading and revision of corrected themes and to commenting
upon them. Three subjects are usually given out, differing in
aim and scope, of which the cadet may choose any one, and
suggestions are made about them with a view to stimulate
individual thought. Occasionally cadets are allowed to write
on subjects of their own choice; but, as a general rule, the
other way is found more satisfactory.*

* The following are some of the subjects given for i875~'76 :
November :

1. What good is to come from arctic explorations ?

2. The naval hero of the Revolution — his character and career.

3. On leave ; being an incident of the vacation.

December:

I. The qualifications of a naval officer.

"None other than a gentleman, as well as a seaman both in theory and
practice, is qualified to support the character of a commissioned officer in
the Navy ; nor is any man fit to command a ship of war who is not also
capable of communicating his ideas on paper, in language that becomes
his rank." (J. Paul Jones, letter to the Marine Board, 1777.)

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

209

FIRST CLASS. — Two hours a week for one term.

Constitution of the United -States. — The text of the Consti
tution is studied by the class, with as full explanation and
comment as the time permits.

International law. — The greater part of the term in the
hours allotted is occupied with Woolsey's International Law.
The leading cases are studied in connection with the text
book, and many original cases, of greater or less complica
tion, involving such principles of international law as may
arise in the experience of naval commanders, are given as
problems for solution in the recitation-room.

IX. MODERN LANGUAGES-.

Professor Girault taught French at the school from 1845
to 1850. At the latter date, the department of modern lan-

Januiry:

1. Are standing armies and navies dangerous to civil liberty?

"The relinquishment of privateering would not be a gain to the United
States, where a powerful navy is not maintained, on account of its great
cost and its danger to civil liberty." (W. L. Marcy, dispatch to Sartiges,
July 28, 1856.)

(Captain Luce's answer to Secretary Marcy's statement.)

2. The Anglo-Saxon, the German, and the Celt — three elements in
American character and civilization.

February :

1. The Eastern question. (E. A. Freeman in Fortnightly Review,
December, 1875.)

2. A narrative version of Shakspeare's Merchant of Venice.

3. What is culture, and how is man to get it ?
k March :

Subjects chosen by writers.
May:

1. The volunteer-militia system versus standing armies.

2. How far is non-professional culture a desirable part of the education
of a naval officer ?

210 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

guages was founded, and included French and Spanish. In
November, 1851, the two languages were separated, and Prof.
E. A. Roget became head of the department of Spanish, an
office which he continued to hold until 1873. Professor
Girault remained in charge of the French department till 1866,
when he was succeeded by Prof. L. V. Dovilliers. In 1870
Commander E. Y. McCauley became head of the department.
In 1873 French and Spanish were again combined in one
department, under Commander W. Scott Schley.

PRESENT COURSE.

Cadet-midshipmen and cadet-engineers.

FOURTH CLASS. — Three hours a week.

French. — Fasquelle's Grammar throughout the year.

THIRD CLASS. — First term, two hours a week; second
term, three hours a week.

French. — The use of Fasquelle is continued, with Howard's
Aid to French Composition, and exercises in composition
and dictation.

SECOND CLASS. — First term, four hours a week; second
term, three hours a week.

French. — The class read Erckmann-Chatrian's Le Consent,
continuing the use of Fasquelle, with exercises in composition
and dictation. The class also study Prud'homme's French
Nautical Phrase-Book.

Spanish. — Spanish is taught through the medium of French,
the text-books being Roget's Spanish Manual and Tolon's
Reader.

FIRST CLASS. — Two hours a week for one term.

Spanish is continued as before.

In the study of both languages the grammar is used
throughout the course, to fix principles of pronunciation and
construction, the inflection of verbs and the formatiar; of

CHAP. III. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. 2ii

tenses, and the rules and idiomatic peculiarities of the two
languages. When the classes are far enough advanced in
the grammar, they have practice in translation into English,
and in French and Spanish composition, followed by the ana
lytical study of both languages, and conversations, to educate
the ear and tongue.

The instructors in the department are now, and have gen
erally been, natives of France or Spain. Their fitness for
the position has always been determined by rigid examina
tion of their qualifications in French, Spanish, and English,
the last acquirement being of absolute importance.

The limited time allowed the students stands in the way
of their attaining as high proficiency as in the more profes
sional branches, though it serves to fix the knowledge of prin
ciples which must be of great use to them in their future
intercourse abroad. The immediate object has been to teach
them to read and write with correctness, and so to familiarize
the ear that, with a little study and opportunity, they will be
enabled to use these languages with ease in their official and
social intercourse on foreign stations.

X. DRAWING.

The department of drawing was established in 1851, with
Prof. Edward Seager in charge. He held the position till
1867. From that time till 1873 it was in charge of line offi
cers of the Navy; and in 1873 Prof. R. S. Smith, previously
professor of mathematics, was transferred to this department.

PRESENT COURSE.

Cadet-midshipmen .

FOURTH CLASS. — Two hours a week.

Line-drawing and topography. — The course in the latter
branch consists of the representation of ground in detail by
the usual conventional methods. The system of contour-lines

212

THE NAVAL ACADEMY,

PART II.

and that of the line of greatest descent are both taught.
Each map is illustrated by a marginal pen-drawing of a coast
view, according to the usage of the United States Coast Sur
vey.

THIRD CLASS. — Two hours a week for one term.

Free-hand drawing. — The aim of the instruction in this
branch is to attain as high a culture of hand and eye as pos
sible in the student, with special view to its usefulness in the
profession. For this purpose, drawings are made altogether
from object-models, varying in complexity from a square box
to a statue. They comprise groups of boxes, vases, draper
ies, anchors, blocks, cordage, &c., models of boats and ships,
objects used in artillery a,nd ordnance, casts of hands, feet,
masks, and of antique statues.

SUMMARY.
First year.

Cadet-midshipmen.
Algebra.
Geometry.
English.
History.
French.
Drawing.
Practical instruction in —

Seamanship.

Naval tactics.

Great-guns.

Infantry-tactics.

Field-artillery.

Boat-howitzers.

Fencing.

Dancing.
Swimming.

Cadet-engineers.

Algebra.

Geometry.

English.

History.

French.

Mechanical drawing.

Practical instruction in —

Use of tools.

Marine engines.

Great-guns.

Infantry-tactics.

Field-artillery.

Fencing.

Dancing.

CHAP. III.

CO URSE OF INS TR UC TION.

213

Second year.

Cadet-midshipmen.
Trigonometry.
Descriptive geometry.
Analytical geometry.
History.
Rhetoric.

Elementary physics.
Chemistry.
French.

Drawing, (free-hand.)
Practical instruction in —

Seamanship.

Naval tactics.

Great-guns.

Infantry-tactics.

Field-artillery.

Boat-howitzers.

Signals.

Fencing.

Gymnastics.

Cadet-engineers.
Trigonometry.
Descriptive geometry.
Analytical geometry.
History.
Rhetoric.

Elementary physics.
Chemistry.
French.

Mechanical drawing.
Practical instruction in-

Use of tools.

Marine engines.

Great-guns.

Infantry-tactics.

Field-artillery.

Signals.

Fencing.

Gymnastics. ,

214

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

PART II.

Third year.

Cadet-midshipmen.

Seamanship.

Ship-building.

Naval tactics.

Infantry-tactics.

Ordnance instructions.

Astronomy.

Applied mathematics.

Mechanics.

Electricity.

French.

Spanish.

English composition.

Practical instruction in —

Seamanship.

Naval tactics.

Great-guns.

Infantry-tactics.

Field-artillery.

Boat-howitzers.

Signals.

Fencing.

Boxing.

[ Cadet-engineers.

Marine engines.

Ship-building.

Fabrication and designing of

machinery.
Mechanical drawing.
Applied mathematics.
Mechanics.
Electricity.
French.
Spanish.
English composition.

Practical instruction in —
Use of tools.
Marine engines.
Great-guns.
Infantry-tactics.
Field-artillery.
Signals.
Fencing.
Boxing.

CHAP. III.

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

2I5

Fourth year.

Cadet-midshipmen.
Seamanship.
Naval architecture.
Ordnance and armor.
Navigation and surveying.
Marine engines.
Light.
Heat.
Spanish.
Public law.

Practical instruction in-
Seamanship.
Naval tactics.
Great-guns.
Infantry-tactics.
Field-artillery.
Boat-howitzers.
Mortar-practice.
Marine engines.
Signals.
Fencing.
Boxing.

Cadet-engineers.
Mechanics.
Astronomy.
Mechanical drawing.
Naval architecture.
Physical measurements.
Fabrication and designing of

machinery.
Marine engines.
Light.
Heat.
Spanish.
Public law.
Practical instruction in —

Use of tools.

Marine engines.

Great-guns.

Infantry-tactics.

Field-artillery.

Marine engines.

Signals.

Fencing.

Boxing.

CHAPTER IV.

PRACTICE-CRUISES.

The cadets of the newly-formed first and third classes are
embarked, immediately after the June examination, on board
the practice-ships, to perform such a cruise as the Secretary
of the Navy directs.

The practice-ship of the cadet-midshipmen is a sailing
vessel, (or vessels,) commanded by the commandant of cadets,
and the cruise generally extends along the coast as far north
as New Bedford. The cadets are stationed in the watch and
station bills with the crew, and perform the same duties ; those
of the first class being rated as seamen, and those of the third
class as ordinary seamen. The cadets of the first class are
also detailed to do duty in turn as midshipmen of the fore
castle, quarter-deck, and tops, and as mates of decks and
hull; and they have frequent opportunities in charge of
the deck of working ship and performing evolutions. All
the cadets receive special instruction in seamanship and
navigation ; the latter is more especially given to the first
class. This class, during the practice-cruise of 1875, per
formed the following work, using their own observations in
every case: Latitude and longitude by dead-reckoning; course
and distance made good; bearing and distance of port; cur
rent; longitude, by time-sights, of sun, moon, and star; lati
tude by meridian-altitude of the same, by observation of the
sun off the meridian, by three different methods, and by alti-

CHAP. IV. PRACTICE-CRUISES. 217

tude of * Polaris ; determination of deviation by azimuth and
by amplitude of sun ; determination of time of high water and
of sunset ; of ship's position, by Sumner's method and by cross-
bearings. They also filled in the coast-line between Cape
Hatteras and Cape Cod on skeleton charts, and constructed
a Mercator's chart of Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard Sound ;
and plotted the ship's track on the coast-chart, and measured
linear distances. Scale-sketches were made of the various
anchorages, and descriptions written in their sketch-books.

The third class keep seamanship note-books, in which they
describe and illustrate by drawings the fitting and lead of all
the rigging of the ship. They are taught to heave the log,
get a cast of the lead, and steer, and have frequent exercise
aloft. Examinations in seamanship are held, to test their
progress.

The practice-ship of the cadet-engineers is a steamer, com
manded by an officer detailed from the academic staff. The
cadets are divided into watches at stations in the engine and
fire rooms. Each cadet is required to keep a rough note and
sketch book, in which notes and sketches are made on the
spot of all points of interest. The rough notes are carefully
rewritten in their journals, and from the rough sketches care
ful drawings are made in their sketch-books. The general
plan of instruction is to familiarize the cadets with "the con
struction, care, and management of the engines of the ship.
They are required to make sketches of all the steam and
water pipes, and of the different parts of the engines and
pumps ; and they are constantly on watch with their instruct
ors whenever the ship is under steam. Their stations are fre
quently changed, in order that each may have an opportunity
of learning all the duties required of those in care of the
engines, and they are detailed in turn to keep the steam-log.

Upon this cruise the cadet-engineers visit the principal

2i8 THE NA VAL ACADEMY. PART II.

founderies, rolling-mills, machine-shops, iron-works, and ship
yards at the cities on the Atlantic coast. In this way the
ship usually visits New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Provi
dence, Chester, and Wilmington; at which places the cadets
go ashore, and, in company with an instructor, examine such
works and mechanical processes as may be specially pointed
out.* The instructor gives explanations, and designates the
machinery or process which each is to sketch. The visits to
shops on shore are made during four or five days of the week
when in port, each visit being four or five hours long. The
rest of the time is devoted to writing up journals and making
drawings.

Besides the regular officers of each ship, who are taken, as
far as possible, from the academic staff, officers are specially
detailed to instruct the cadet-midshipmen in navigation, and
the cadet-engineers in the principles of steam-engineering.

* About forty such establishments were visited during the practice-
cruise of 1875.

As showing how great opportunities of special training in seamanship
are afforded by the practice-cruise of the cadet-midshipmen, it may be
stated that 380 separate maneuvres were performed during the summer
cruise of 1876. The cadets of the first class, numbering 47, had there
fore eight maneuvres each, including tacking, wearing, boxhauling, chap-
elling, gettirtg under way, and anchoring. These movements were
directed by the cadet, under the immediate supervision of the command
ing or executive officer, or officer of the deck. The cruise in this way
gave the cadets practice which they would hardly have got in years of
sea-service, though liable at all times during their career to emergencies
in which this very experience might be called into requisition.

CHAPTER V.

RELICS AND TROPHIES.
FLAGS.

United States.

Lawrence. — A square red flag, bearing the words " DON'T
GIVE UP THE SHIP." The Lawrence was the flag-ship of Com
modore Oliver H. Perry in the battle of Lake Erie, Septem
ber 10, 1813, and upon going into action he displayed this
flag at the mast-head. The Lawrence was named after Capt.
James Lawrence, commander of the Chesapeake in the action
with the Shannon.

American ensign. — This flag was used at the landing of
Commodore Matthew C. Perry, at Uraga, near Jedo, in July,
1853, and was the first American flag displayed in Japan.

Great Britain.

Alert. — Sloop of war of 20 guns, commanded by Capt. T.
L. P. Laugharne, captured August 13, 1812, by the frigate
Essex, 32 guns, Capt. David Porter, in the North Atlantic.
The fight lasted eight minutes. The Alert had three men
wounded, and was converted into a cartel and sent in. The
Essex had no casualties.

Boxer. — Fourteen-gun brig, commanded by Capt. Samuel
Blyth. Captured September 5, 1813, off Portland, Me., by
the brig Enterprise, 16 guns, Lieutenant-Commanding William
Burrows. Both commanders were killed early in the action.

220 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

Confiance, Beresford, Chubb, Linnet. — Part of the English
fleet captured in the battle of Lake Champlain, off Plattsburg,,
September u, 1814, by the fleet under Commodore Thomas
McDonough. The English force was commanded by Com
modore George Dovvnie, and the Confiance was his flag-ship.
He was killed by the dismounting of one of his long 24-
pounder guns by a shot from the Saratoga, Commodore
McDonough's flag-ship.

Cyane, Levant. — Ships of 20 and 18 guns, respectively, cap
tured off Madeira, February 20, 1815, by the Constitution,
44, under Capt. Charles Stewart. The Cyane was com
manded by Capt. Gordon T. Falcon, the Levant by Capt.
the Hon. George Douglass.

Detroit, Lady Frevost, Hunter, Little Belt, Chippewa. — Part
of the English fleet captured by Commodore O. H. Perry in.
the battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813. The English
force was commanded by Commodore R. H. Barclay.

Dominica. — English schooner of 16 guns, captured August
5, 1813, by the privateer schooner Decatur, Captain Diron,
of 7 guns.

Duke of Gloucester. — Brig of 14 guns, -captured at York,
(now Toronto,) Upper Canada, April 27, 1813, by the Lake
Ontario squadron, under Commodore Isaac Chauncey. The
flag is a royal standard.

Epenier. — Brig of 18 guns, commanded by Capt. R. W.
Wales, captured April 29, 1814, off Cape Canaveral, by the
Peacock, 22, Master-Commandant Lewis Warrington.

Frolic. — Brig of 22 guns, commanded by Capt. T. Whin-
yates, captured October 1 8, 1 8 1 2 , by the Wasp, 1 8, Capt. Jacob
Jones. Both vessels were captured later in the same day by
the Poictiers, 74.

Guerriere. — Ship of 38 guns, commanded by Capt. J. R,
Dacres, captured August 19, 1812, in lat. 41° 30' N., loajg.
55° 30' W., by the Constitution, 44, Capt. Isaac Hull...

CHAP. V. RELICS AND TROPHIES, 221

Java. — Ship of 38 guns, commanded by Capt. H. Lam
bert, captured December 29, 1812, in lat. 13° 6' N., long.
.38° W., by the Constitution, 44, Capt. William Bainbridge.

Macedonian, — Ship of 38 guns, commanded by Capt. John
Garden, captured October 25, 1812, in lat. 29° N., long. 29°
39' W., by the United States, 44, Capt. Stephen Decatur.

Peacock. — Brig of 18 guns, commanded by Capt. William
Peake, captured off Demerara, February 24, 1813, after an
action of fifteen minutes, by the Hornet, 18, Master-Comman
dant James Lawrence.

Penguin. — Brig of 18 guns, commanded by Capt. J. Dick-
enson, captured off Tristan d'Acunha, March 23, 1815, by the
Hornet, 18, Master- Commandant James Biddle.

Reindeer. — Ship of 18 guns, commanded by Capt. William
Manners, captured June 28, 1814, in lat. 48° 36' N., long.
11° 15' W., by the Wasp, 18, Capt. Johnston Blakely.

St. Lawrence, — Schooner of 15 guns, commanded by Lieut.
I. E. Gordon, captured February 26, 1815, oft" Havana, by the
privateer schooner Chasseur, 14, Capt. T. Boyle, of Baltimore.

France,

Bercean. — Ship of 24 guns, Captain Senes, captured Octo
ber 12, 1800, latitude 22° 50' N. longitude 51° W., by the
Boston, 28, Capt. G. Little.

Insurgente. — Ship of 40 guns, commanded by Captain Bar-
reau, captured February 9, 1799, °^- Basseterre, West Indies,
by the Constellation, 36, Commodore Thomas Truxtun.

Algiers.

Estidio. — Brig of 22 guns, captured June 19, 1815, off Cape
Palos, by the Guerriere, 44, flag-ship of Commodore Stephen
Decatur.

Mezonra. — Ship of 46 guns, captured June 17, 1815, off
Gape de Gatt, by the Guerriere, 44.

222 THE NA VA L ACA DEM Y. PART 1 1 .

Mexico.

Flag captured at Mazatlan by a landing-party from the
Pacific squadron November u, 1847. The force was sent
from the United States ships Independence, Congress, Cyane,
and Erie. The squadron was under the command of Com
modore William Bran ford Shubrick.

Flag captured at Tuspan, April 18, 1847, by a force of sea
men and marines from the Gulf squadron, under Commodore
Matthew C. Perry. Commander Buchanan took part in this
expedition. The town was taken with but little loss to the
Americans.

Corea.

Flag of the Corean generalissimo, Fort McKee, Corea,
captured June n, 1871, by Capt. McLane Tilton, United
States Marine Corps; Corporal Brown, United States steamer
Colorado, and Private Purvis, United States steamer Alaska..
Fourteen other Corean flags, captured at about the same time.

JAPANESE BELL.

The Japanese bell suspended in the grounds was presented,
July 12, 1854, by the Regent of the Lew-Chew Islands, a de
pendency of the empire of Japan, to Commodore Matthew
C. Perry, at that time the commander-in-chief of the United
States squadron in the Asiatic seas, and Minister Plenipoten
tiary charged with the duty of opening intercourse between
the United States and Japan. After the death of the Commo
dore, March 4, 1858, it was presented to the Naval Academy
by his widow, in fulfilment of his wish.

A copy of the Japanese inscription on the bell having been
made by a citizen of Japan, Cadet-Midshipman J. G. Kuni-
tomo, now of the second class of the Naval Academy, and
transmitted to the Japanese legation at Washington for trans
lation, the following was very kindly furnished:

CHAP. V. RELICS AND TROPHIES. 223,

" In the eighth year of Eiraku and of Kanoye Tora, of the
reign of the King of Lew-Chew, Kei-shi-yo-ho-Ho-o offered
a prayer of benevolence for the people, and afterward ordered
a large bell to be foundecj. He did this as an act of thanks
giving, and presented it to the temple of Daizen Anji, in the
kingdom, in order that the King might reign prosperously
and live long, and that the people of the three worlds,—
Heaven, Earth, and Hades, — might be saved from infernal
doctrines; and therefore it was that he instructed Shokoku
Ansai to frame this inscription :

'"This beautiful Bell has been founded, and hung in the.
tower of the temple. It will awaken dreams of superstition.
If one will bear in mind to act rightly and truly, and the
Lords and Ministers will do justice in a body, the barbarians
will never come to invade. The sound of the bell will convey
the virtue of Fushi, and will echo like the song of Tsuirai;
and the benevolence of the Lords will continue forever like
those echoes.'

"The 2oth day, loth month, yth year Keitai.*

"SHIU EISHI,
" Chief Priest of the Temple.

" EMONNOSKE FUJIWARA KUNIMITO, Founder of the Bell.

" YONAFUKU Cmv SKI, President of the Hanging Ceremonies"

FIGURE-HEADS OF VESSELS PLACED IN THE GROUNDS OF
THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

Franklin. — Line-of-battle ship, rating 74, and carrying 86
guns. She was built at Philadelphia in 1815, and launched
in the same year.

Columbus. — Line-of-battle ship, rating 74, and carrying 80
guns. She was begun in 1816, at Washington, and launched
in 1819. She was burned at Norfolk, Va., on the 2Oth of

* Corresponding to the year 1456.

224 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

April, i86i,by order of the Government, to prevent her fall
ing into the hands of the enemy.

Delaware. — Line-of-battle ship, rating 74, and carrying 84
guns. She was begun in 1817, at Gosport, and launched in
1820.

Macedonian. — Ship of 38 guns, captured first from the
French by the English, and from the latter by the United
States ship United States, as already described. The figure
head belonged to her originally when in the French service.

Constitution. — This vessel, for fifty years the favorite ship
of the Navy, was launched at Boston, September 20, 1797,
being the third vessel of the newly-organized Navy, in the
water. She first went to sea July 20, 1798. She was the flag
ship of Commodore John Barry during the war with France,
and of Commodore Edward Preble in the Tripolitan war, in
1804. In the war of 1812 she was victorious in many engage
ments. Soon after the outbreak of the war she sailed from
Annapolis under the command of Capt. Isaac Hull. On the
1 7th of July she fell in with an English squadron, under Com
modore Broke, consisting of the Africa, Shannon, Guerriere, and
other vessels, and got away from them after a remarkable chase
of three days, which has become famous in naval history.
Her exploits later in the war have been already mentioned.
After its close she made repeated cruises, and up to the year
1853 she was constantly in commission. Since the war of
1812 she had made twenty-four separate cruises.

The figure-head now in the grounds of the Naval Academy
is a representation of President Jackson, and was put on the
vessel while she was lying at Boston, under the command of
Commodore J. D. Elliot, during the second term of Jack
son's administration. It occasioned some demonstration of
partisan feeling, and about two months after its attachment
to the vessel the head of the figure was cut off and canned

CHAP. V. RELICS AND TROPHIES. 225

away by some person, at the time unknown. A new head
was afterward carved and put on in New York. The follow
ing extracts from papers of the day give in full the history of
the affair — an affair which created much talk and excitement
at the time :

Niles's Register for May 17, 1834, (vol. 46, p. 189,) refers
to the excitement at Boston on the subject, and states that
the figure-head had been placed on the bows of the Consti
tution "about two or three weeks ago" — /'. <?., early in May,
1834.

The number for July 12, 1834, says: "Individuals hi pub
lic employment have no right to force their private prefer
ences on the people's attention. A great excitement had
been caused by placing a wooden effigy of President Jack
son on the bows of the frigate Constitution. To say the
least of that proceeding, it was ill-advised and in bad taste.
On the bows of that ship the head of no living man should
be placed; or, if so, the place belongs to that of the 'Father
of the Constitution,' the illustrious Madison."

The same paper quotes from the Boston Courier of July
4, 1834: "It appears that during the night of Wednesday"
(/. e., July 2) "the head of this wooden image was sawed
off by some person or persons unknown. It is rather a
mysterious affair. The Constitution lies at the navy-yard
between two seventy-fours, and it is understood that a guard
or watch is continually kept on board. It seems impos
sible that the deed could have been executed without dis
covery, notwithstanding that the night was dark and rainy.
The head, which has been severed from its trunk, it is said,
was at least 25 feet above the surface of the water. It is
the opinion of several intelligent men who examined the
premises yesterday that the perpetrators must have gone to
their work through the navy-yard.

226 THE NAVAL A CA DEM Y. PART 1 1.

" It was reported last evening that Commodore Elliot had
offered one thousand dollars for the discovery of the person or
persons who committed the deed."

The number for July 19, 1834, in a short article, says:
"There is much feeling on account of the mutilation of the
figure-head of the frigate Constitution, and we fear that it
may be turned into an important public concern, (though
probably the uncounseled and unassisted act of a solitary
individual, yet unknown,) through the indiscretion of politi
cal parties ! ! ! One of these laughs immoderately at the pro
ceeding, and the other is immoderately angry about it; and
some are crawling enough to compare it with the personal
attack that was made on the President by Ex-Lieutenant
Randolf of the Navy." It adds: "There is no relation be
tween the two cases ; and thousands who would defend the
person of the President at the risk of their own lives, see no
great harm in sawing off the head of a wooden image. * * *

" No discovery has been made of the head or beheader,
whose adroitness and courage was equally remarkable. Ru
mor, however, says that it was the act of a boy, without coun
sel or assistance; that he was two hours engaged in the work,
during all which he heard the tread of the sentinels, though
it rained in torrents; and some particulars are given as to his
operations. How were they known?"

It appears that the persons engaged in the affair became
afterward known. Volume 53 of Niles's Register for 1837,
p. 147, contains the following :

"THE FIGURE-HEAD. — The New York Journal of Com
merce contains a report of a trial in one of the courts there
of an action for assault and battery, in which Samuel W.
Dewey was plaintiff vs. Joseph Fay and Edward H. Dixon,
defendants. In the course of the evidence one of the wit
nesses stated that Dewey, who it seems is a captain, informed

CHAP. V. RELICS AND TROPHIES. 227

him on the evening of the assault that he (Devvey) cut off
the figure-head of the frigate Constitution. But for a turn
the court's proceedings suddenly took, the whole matter
would have been exposed. The Boston Sentinel adds : ' There
is no doubt that Captain Dewey, who is a native of Cape
Cod, cut off the figure-head as stated. It is now in the Navy
Department at Washington, where it was lodged by Captain
Dewey, the Secretary of the Navy giving him a written obli
gation that he should never be prosecuted for the offence he
had committed."'

Niles's Register of March 21, 1835, volume 48, page 42^
contains this :

"The following is from the New York Daily Advertiser of
Monday last," (March 16:)

" ' On Saturday forenoon " (March 14) " the head carved by
Messrs. Dodge & Sons, of this city, was placed on the trunk
representing President Jackson on the bow of the frigate
Constitution. The whole affair has been managed with great
care and secrecy. It was given out when the frigate came
into port that she would remain some five or six weeks, and
on Saturday we learn some of her officers were in Philadel
phia. When the frigate came up, a few days since, she an
chored in the stream, opposite the navy-yard. The head has
been carved with great caution, and a few hours after it was
put on, two steamboats towed the frigate down the lower bay,
where she anchored, some fifteen or twenty miles from the
city, so as to be out of the reach of any popular excitement.
The manner of placing this head on the frigate appears
wholly in character. As the frigate has been provisioned at
Boston, there can be no doubt that she came around here
for no other object than to accomplish that which could not
have been done at Boston. We are exceedingly gratified
that, since it has been determined at Washington that the

228 THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART IT.

head shall be placed on the bows of this most favored of all
other ships in the Navy, that it has been done by stealth.
Had the ship been at the wharves of our city, or at any
place where the populace could have reached her, we very
much fear a riot of the most serious consequences would
have followed, the end of which no human being could fore
tell. So far as we can judge, the opinion is general among
all classes of respectable citizens, that neither the head of
General Jackson or that of any other living man should be
placed on the bow of that of all other frigates, but that she
should continue with the same head and appearance with
which she has won so many laurels in the wreath of our
country's glory. The frigate, however, with whatever block
she may have for a head, go where she may, will have the
best wishes of every American.'"

OTHER TROPHIES.

Wooden figure of the British lion, crowned, and with one
paw resting- on the globe. Taken from the quarter-deck of
H. B.M. ship Macedonian, after the battle, October 25, 1812,
in which she was captured by the United States, Captain
Decatur.

Two* iron guns, 24-pounders, captured on board the Brit
ish frigate Confiance, at the battle of Lake Champlain, by
Commodore McDonough. These guns are placed vertically
one on each side of the entrance of the hall of the department
of steam-engineering. One of them is indented on the face of
the muzzle by a shot, and slightly cracked; it is the gun which,
by its recoil, killed Commodore Downie, the commander of
the British fleet. It was identified by Commander Platt,
who was in the action, and by Commodore Alexander S.
Wadsworth, who saw the guns soon after the fight.*

* Letter from Commodore D. N. Ingraham, Chief of Bureau of «Qrd-
nance, to Captain Blake, March 3, 1860.

CHAP. V. RELICS AND TROPHIES. 229

Two 32-pounder carronades, captured with the British
frigate Cyane, by Captain Stewart, in the Constitution. They
are placed in the gun-park, in front of the armory.

Eight long brass guns, originally French, captured at the
Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, Vera Cruz, Mexico, which ca
pitulated March 27, 1847. Commodore M. C. Perry was at
this time in command of the fleet. The guns are in position
in front of the Tripoli monument.

One Whitworth rifled gun, 8o-pounder, captured at Morris
Island, South Carolina, 1863.

One Armstrong Vlll-inch rifled gun, mounted en barbette.
Built by Sir W. G. Armstrong in 1864, and captured at Fort
Fisher. In position in the gun-park.

One Blakely 2o-pounder rifled gun, captured at Fort Fisher.
In position in gun-park.

One Italian rifled gun, presented to the United States by
the Italian government. Gun-park.

One 6o-pounder rifled gun, manufactured at Galveston,
Tex., from the shaft of the United States steamer Westfield.
Gun-park.

One 5o-pounder Dahlgren rifled gun.

Two small brass signal-guns, captured from the cruiser
Shenandoah. Placed at the entrance of the gunners-room.

Two suits of Mexican armor, captured in 1847.

Mexican drum, machete, and commander's baton, cap
tured in 1847.

Corean head-piece, breast-piece, and gingals, captured in
1871; and other relics or trophies of various countries and
miscellaneous description.

In the library are portraits in oil of John Paul Jones, Deca-
tur,* Preble, Jacob Jones, O. H. Perry, Rodgers, Macdonough,
D. Porter, Stewart, J. Biddle, and M. C. Perry. There are

* By Sully.

230

THE NAVAL ACADEMY. PART II.

also large paintings of the battle of Tripoli, of Barney's ac
tion in the Delaware with the General Monk, and of the
fight between the Constitution and the Guerriere. The origi
nal of Barry's commission as senior captain in the Navy,
signed by Washington, hangs in the library, in a frame made
out of wood of the Constitution.

APPENDIX.

NOTE A.

Extract from Second Annual Report of J-ohn Branch, Secre
tary of the Navy* December 6, 1830.

As a measure tending to give reputation and efficiency
to the Navy, the cultivation of the minds of those who are to
compose its active members is a subject of great national in
terest. It is a fact which will not be questioned that the
early education of the officers of the Navy is entirely unequal
to the character they have subsequently to sustain.

Few appointments under the Government involve the ne
cessity for more general and scientific attainments. As offi
cers of the Navy, they are required to act as judges of the law
and evidence on trials of their brother officers, for offences
affecting the lives and character of the accused ; as command
ers of ships, they should possess not only a practical acquaint
ance with seamanship, but an accurate knowledge of those
branches of mathematics connected with the science of navi
gation, with astronomy and geography ; and as commanders
of fleets or squadrons, they must be well-informed on all
points of international law, having reference to the rights of
neutrals and belligerents, the often-recurring question of the
rights of blockade, and other interdictions of intercourse be-

*American State Papers, III, p. 758.

232

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

tween powers standing in this relation to each other; to pos
sess an accurate acquaintance with the modern languages, to
enable them to enter into discussion on points of difference
which may arise with the representatives of foreign states
speaking such foreign language ; and it may often happen
that the communications can only be advantageously made
in the language of the party with whom the subject of dis
pute may exist. The sons of the wealthy may obtain these
advantages from the bounty of their parents ; but without the
aid of public instruction, how are the sons of the less affluent
to become qualified to command in the naval service?

It may be further remarked, that while a school on the
most liberal and comprehensive plan of instruction has been
provided for the military talent of the country, and has been
endowed with every attribute for the advancement of the edu
cation of the youth% who aspire to a share in the toils or the
honors of a military life, the only provision which has been
authorized by law for the instruction of midshipmen in the
Navy is to be found in the allowance of $25 per month to
the schoolmasters retained on board the larger vessels of war-

NOTE B. APPENDIX. 233

NOTE B.

Report of the Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of
Representatives ', on making provision for naval schools for
midshipmen, communicated January 3, 1834, by Mr. Wat-
mough of the committee.

The Committee on Naval Affairs, taking into considera
tion the condition of the naval schools as at present estab
lished at Boston, New York, and Norfolk, and their inade
quacy to effect the object proposed, deem it a duty to present
to the House the accompanying bill. It is presumed no one
will question the vital importance of these institutions to the
service, both as it respects the well-being of the junior offi
cers and their future usefulness to their country.

By the subjoined letter (A) from the Secretary of the Navy,
it will be found that there are 450 midshipmen in service.
Of these, about one-half are supposed to be at sea; one-fifth
on duty at shore-stations; and the remaining 135 are on
leave, waiting orders, furlough, or sick. Admitting that of
the latter class 35 are sick — and this would seem to be a very
large proportion — there still remain 100 youths left entirely
to their own guidance, freed from those restraints so essential
to their period of life, and subject alone to the influences of
their own ardent impulses. The consequences are, in too
many instances, fatal. It is believed to be the duty, as it
assuredly is within the competency, of Congress to arrest the
evils resulting from this state of affairs. The appropriation

234

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

called for in the bill, under the judicious management of the
Secretary, will effect much. The third and fourth sections of
the bill, which provide an increase of the pay of the two re
spective grades of the service, the chaplains and schoolmasters,
it is hoped will have the effect to enhance greatly the bene
fits to be derived from the appropriations; while, in truth,
they do no more than fulfill the original intention of Congress
in creating those grades, by placing them on a footing con
sistent with their dignity and usefulness. Their present rate
of pay is admitted on all hands to be entirely insufficient. A
reference to the annexed letter of the Secretary, (marked " B,")
with its accompanying statement, (A,) shows the actual con
dition of the schools, the amount expended from the contin
gent fund, but under no law, and the limited number of
youths who are enabled to avail themselves of what benefits
do result. It is true the Department has lately issued an
order requiring all midshipmen, not otherwise employed, to
repair to some one of these schools ; but as the Government
does not feel itself authorized to allow the traveling-expenses
incidental to such an order, few will be able to avail them
selves of its benefits. The fifth section of the bill is intended
to obviate this difficulty. If, however, the whole number
should repair as required, it would only afford an additional
and paramount obligation to the passage of the bill.

A BILL relative to naval schools.

Be it enacted, er-v., That the President of the United States
be, and he is hereby, authorized to improve the means of in
struction now in operation at New York, Norfolk, and the
navy-yard at Charlestown, Mass.

SEC. 2. That the sum of $10,000 be, and the same is
hereby, annually appropriated, until otherwise ordered by law.

NOTE B. APPENDIX, 235

out of any moneys not otherwise appropriated, to carry into
effect the provisions of this act.

SEC. 3. That from and after the passage of this act, the
pay of chaplains in the Navy shall be $1,200 per annum,
and that, in addition to the duties now imposed upon them,
they shall be required to instruct the junior officers in mathe
matics, in natural and moral philosophy, in history, and in
such other branches of science as may be deemed by the
Secretary of the Navy best calculated to advance the inter
ests and elevate the character of the service.

SEC. 4. That from and after the passage of this act, the
pay of schoolmasters in the Navy of the United States shall
be $1,200 per annum, and it shall be the duty of the Secre
tary of the Navy to see that no individual shall be appointed
to said station unless his application be accompanied by the
most satisfactory testimonials of intellectual and moral at
tainments.

SEC. 5. That each midshipman or junior officer, when not
under orders, or furloughed by competent authority, shall be
directed by the Secretary of the Navy to attend at such one
of the schools as may be designated by the Secretary, and
diligently to submit himself to instruction, and while there
shall be subject to all the rules and regulations for the better
government of the Navy, as though actually engaged in serv
ice on shipboard; and the order of the Secretary of the
Navy, or of any superior officer competent to give the same,
to any midshipman to repair to said schools, shall be deemed
a sufficient voucher to entitle, said midshipman to the full
amount of his transportation.

SEC. 6. That the Secretary of the Navy shall prepare, or
cause to be prepared, such rules and regulations as may be
deemed necessary for the good order, sound government, and
direction of the said schools.

236 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

SEC. 7. That the pay specified above for the chaplains and
schoolmasters shall be in lieu of and in full of all compensa
tions and allowances whatever at present made.*

* Three communications from the Secretary of the Navy accompany
this report ; the substance of the first is given in the text ; the second
will be found in the note, and the third contains a faint commendation
of the proposed bill. The whole may be found in the American State
Papers, Naval Affairs, IV, p. 484.

NOTE C. APPENDIX.

237

NOTE C.

Extract from the report of Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the
Ravy, December 8, 1835.*

The compensation to be given by the late pay-bill to
professors of mathematics is such as to command the serv
ices of those who are every way competent to perform the
duties of this station. A regulation is adopted to appoint
none to this station who shall not receive a certificate of com
petency after submitting to a rigid examination by scientific
gentlemen who shall be appointed for that purpose. This
will be of great advantage to the young officers of the Nayy;
and if a large portion of them should be called into active
service by employing an additional naval force for the pro
tection of our commerce, they will be enabled to perfect
themselves in seamanship, the most important part of their
education, and which can be acquired only at sea ; but to
make them accomplished officers, something more is required
than can probably be derived from those sources. A knowl
edge of military tactics, of engineering and drawing, is deemed
indispensable in the education of an officer of the Army, and
which ought to be deemed equally so in the education of a
naval officer. So much of chemistry, geology, and natural
history as is taught at the Military Academy, although not
absolutely essential to the military or naval officer, yet is de
cidedly more important to the latter than to the former.

* American State Papers, Naval Affairs, IV, 732.

238 THE NAVAL A CADEM Y.

If provision should be made for the admission of a class
of one hundred midshipmen at a time at the Academy at
West Point, to pursue such studies as should be prescribed
by the Navy Department, and to be succeeded at the end of
one or two years by another class, all in their turn might
receive the advantage of this course of studies, highly nec
essary to their education as accomplished officers of the
Navy, and at a small expense ; as the midshipmen, while at
the Academy, would receive no more pay than if attending,
the schools at the navy-yards, or if waiting orders.

NOTE D. APPENDIX.

NOTE D.

Report of the Committee on Naval Affairs on the expediency of
the establishment of a naval scJwol ; communicated to the Senate
May 14, 1836.

Mr. Southard, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, re
ported a bill to establish a naval academy; which was read,
and ordered to a second reading. The report is as follows :

"The Naval Committee, to whom were referred the resolu
tions of sundry officers of the Navy in relation to a naval

school, report :

######*

" They have directed their chairman to report a bill for a
naval school.

"At the last session of the Senate a bill was introduced for
this object, and subsequently reported by the committee, but
was not finally acted upon. In again presenting it to the
Senate, the committee are influenced by a strong and decided
conviction of its indispensable necessity to the public interests
and to the efficiency of the Navy.

" Our Navy visits every land and every ocean. It protects
a commerce at this moment as valuable as that of any other
nation, though less than one other in amount of men and
tonnage, scattered over the whole habitable globe and exposed
to dangers of every possible description. In the protection
of this commerce our naval officers are often brought in con
tact with the governments and official agents of every civilized
nation, and are often obliged to have intercourse with them

240

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

upon subjects which can only be properly treated by well-
educated and well-informed men. They are, indeed, our
national representatives in all other countries, and from them
much of the estimate of us, as to our manners, intelligence,
and character as a nation, must be drawn. It is not possible
that their duties can be performed in the manner in which we
should desire without science, intelligence, and knowledge.
Besides, we are a growing nation, and it is our interest and our
duty to draw from every other region every species of knowl
edge which can be useful to us. This can be more effectually
and usefully accomplished by this than by any other class of
our citizens. But how can all these be accomplished by them
without proper practical and useful education ? And where
are they to receive this education ? They are appointed when
mere boys — generally between the ages of fourteen and
seventeen — when it is not possible that they should be well-
informed and disciplined scholars. Their situation and duties
in the service render it equally impossible that they should
make extensive literary or scientific acquirements beyond the
mere practical duties of the seaman. They have not pay
enough at that period of their service to purchase the means
of instruction, nor time enough to acquire it.

"The only mode by which it can be secured is by the es
tablishment of a school which shall combine literary and
scientific instruction with the practical performance of a
portion of their duties; and this may be accomplished by
competent teachers, and by connecting with the school one
or more small vessels, in which they may be compelled, under
proper guidance, to perform in turn all the services of the
common sailor with those also which belong to office and
command." (Gales & Seaton's Register of Debates, 12, p.
I453-

NOTE E. APPENDIX.

241

NOTE E.

Rules and regulations for the government of the United States
Naval School at Fort Severn, Annapolis.

ARTICLE i. The laws and regulations for the government
of the Navy of the United States are to be strictly observed
by every person attached to the school.

ART. 2. All regulations for the discipline and government
of the school issued from time to time by the Superintendent
must be strictly obeyed.

ART. 3. All officers are required to observe toward each
other a courteous deportment, and to conduct themselves on
all occasions with propriety and decorum.

ART. 4. Officers having cause of complaint against any
person connected with the school will make known such
cause to the Superintendent.

ART. 5. The professors will be held responsible for the
regular and orderly conduct of their respective classes while
under their immediate instruction.

ART. 6. As obedience and subordination are essential to
the purposes of the school, all midshipmen are required to
obey the commands of the professors. The strictest atten
tion to order and study is required in the recitation-halls;
and no midshipman will be allowed to absent himself from
them without permission from a professor.

ART. 7. No person will be excused from the performance
of his duties on the plea of sickness, unless so excused by
the surgeon ; and no officer whose name is on the sick-list
16

2 4 2 THE NAVAL ACAD EM Y.

will be permitted to leave the bounds of the institution un
less it is recommended by the surgeon.

ART. 8. The professors are required to keep records of all
the recitations, and report weekly to the Superintendent the
progress and relative merit of the students, and their absences
and all other delinquencies. From these weekly reports the
Superintendent will make a quarterly report to the Secretary
of the Navy.

ART. 9. The professors are not permitted to exercise any
discretionary power in excusing the students for absence from
recitation or for tardiness, but must report all such cases to
the Superintendent.

ART. 10. During the hours appropriated to study, previous
to recitations, the midshipmen are directed to confine them
selves to their rooms for that purpose, and are not permitted
to lounge or promenade about the grounds of the institution.

ART. ii. A conduct-roll will be kept by the Superintend
ent, to be laid before the board of examiners, to embrace all
improprieties committed at the school — such as neglect of
duty, insubordination, disobedience of orders, inattention to
studies, tardiness at recitations, breaking liberty, incorrect
deportment at recitation, indecorous conduct at the mess-
table or elsewhere, irregularity at meal-hours. All serious
offences will be reported to the Secretary of the Navy for his
action.

ART. 12. As one of the objects of the Government in re
taining "acting midshipmen" at the school previous to their
being sent to sea is to ascertain whether their qualifications
and deportment are calculated to reflect credit upon the Navy
if retained in it, there will be a semi-annual examination of
the junior class of acting midshipmen in all the branches
taught them since joining the school.

ART. 13. No midshipman is permitted to go beyond'the

NOTE E. APPENDIX. -243

limits of the institution without permission from the Super
intendent or officer in charge.

ART. 14. One midshipman from each room occupied by
the students will perform the duties of superintendent of the
room for one week; and he will be held responsible for the
cleanliness and general neat arrangement of the room.

ART. 15. No midshipman shall remove from the room
assigned to him without permission from the Superintendent.

ART. 1 6. No midshipman shall bring, or cause to be brought,
within the limits of the institution, any wine, porter, or other
intoxicating or spirituous liquors.

ART. 17. No midshipman shall cook or prepare food in his
room, or give any entertainment, without permission from the
Superintendent.

ART. 1 8. No meals are to be furnished to midshipmen in
their rooms except in cases of sickness, and then only by the
surgeon's orders.

ART. 19. Smoking cigars is prohibited in any of the mid
shipmen's rooms, recitation-halls, or rness-room. Chewing
tobacco in the mess and recitation rooms is positively pro
hibited; and no acting midshipman will be permitted to chew
or smoke tobacco.

ART. 20. The students are cautioned and enjoined not to
mark, cut, or in any manner deface or injure the public build
ings or property of any kind.

ART. 21. The midshipmen must prepare their clothes for
the washerwoman before recitation-hours on Monday morn
ing.

ART. 22. A midshipman shall be detailed as "officer of the
day," whose duty it shall be to carry into effect any orders he
may receive from the Superintendent. His duties will com
mence at 8 a. m. and continue until 10.30 p. m. He will
occupy office No. i, at the gate, and not absent himself

244 THE NA VA L ACA DE

from there longer than his duties render it necessary. He
will, when applied to by visitors and strangers, give any in
formation required respecting the institution or persons con
nected with it. The watchmen will be under his orders, and
assist him in executing the orders of the Superintendent. He
will occasionally walk through the yard and see that no im
proprieties are committed by any one. He is not to visit any
of the midshipmen's rooms, except on duty. He will, at
10.30 p. in., see all lights and fires extinguished in the reci
tation-halls, mess-room, kitchen, and midshipmen's rooms,
and report to the Superintendent. The watchman will accom
pany him to extinguish the fires and lights. He will keep a
record of the weather, height of the barometer and ther
mometer at the hours of 8 a. m., meridian, and 8 p. m. He
will record the arrival or departure of any officer attached
to the school, mention in the record-book the number of
mechanics and others employed from day to day, and insert
the names of all visitors to the institution in the visitors'
register. A watchman will remain at the gate during the
meal-hours of the officer of the day. The meal-hours are
as follows: Breakfast at 8 a. m., dinner at 1.30 p. m., and
supper at 6 p. m.

ART. 23. The midshipmen who wish permission to visit
the city of Annapolis, or go beyond the bounds of the insti
tution, will record their names in the liberty-book by 4
o'clock p. m. of each day. The " officer of the day " will
take charge of the liberty-book, and submit the list of
applicants at that hour to the Superintendent, or officer in
charge during his absence, for his approval. Permission to
be absent will be granted only after the regular hours appro
priated to recitations and study during the day, and extend
only until 10 o'clock p. m., unless by special permission to
exceed that hour. All midshipmen must report their return

NOTE E. APPENDIX.

245

to the officer of the day, who is directed to note the time
of such return in the liberty-book, for the inspection of
the Superintendent or commanding officer at 9 o'clock the
following morning. In the absence of the officer of the
day from his office, officers will note the time of their re
turn opposite their names. Any officer who is on the sur
geon's report, desiring liberty, will, after obtaining his consent,
insert opposite his name " doctor's consent."

The liberty -book is to be regarded as an official record,
exhibiting faithfully each officer's return to the institution;
and all entries must be made in ink.

Approved :

GEORGE BANCROFT.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, August 28, 1846.

246 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

NOTE F.

DETERMINATION OF THE WAVE-LENGTH OF A RAY OF

LIGHT.

Bv CADET-MIDSHIPMAN S. J. BROWN, FIRST CLASS, 1876.

This determination was made by means of an improvised
spectrometer. A large Duboscq spectroscope was used, by
removing the prisms from the table, and placing in the centre
of the table the rulings on glass, which were to produce the
diffraction-spectra.

In order to find the number of rulings on the glass, and
their distance apart, placed the ruled side of the glass in
contact with a steel scale graduated to .2mm. Placed both
under a microscope, with the right edge of the rulings over
the centre of a division of the scale; then counted the rulings
and the divisions of the scale as they moved past a black
spot on the eye-piece of the microscope. I counted 294
spaces on the glass, the 289^ line coming exactly on the
25th division of the scale, leaving 6 lines over. The number
of rulings to a scale-division is equal to 288— 25 = up.
Hence, 6 lines would be ^ = .5208 divisions of the scale;
the whole distance 25.5208; and consequently the rulings
are .oi736imm apart, a distance too great to secure the most
accurate result. These measurements were repeated many
times.

To get the glass in truly perpendicular position to the
spectroscope-table, I imbedded it in a piece of cork, placrag

NOTE F. APPENDIX.

247

the rulings vertical or parallel to the face of the telescope
and parallel to the slit. Placed the second telescope 180°
from the other, so that their axes coincided, which was
known by the position of the image of the slit on cross-hairs.
I found that six turns of the micrometer-screw moved the
second telescope through one degree. There were fifty divis
ions on the micrometer-head, or one division = 12".

Placed metallic sodium in the flame, and measured from
right-hand edge of central band to right-hand edge of the
second diffraction-band on the right; then reversed the screw,
and read from right-hand edge of second diffraction-band on
the right, to the same edge of second band on the left. The
mean of the several angles taken was i° 56' i".2. The wave
length of the ray is / sin <f, where —

(f = i° 56' i".2, and / = distance of rulings apart.

/ = .017631 log 8.2462769

<p = i° 56' i" ' .2 log sin 8.5281641

Wave-length = .ooo5948tum log 6.7744410

This is for the D2 line of the solar spectrum.

DETERMINATION OF SPECIFIC HEAT OF LEAD.

By CADET-MIDSHIPMAN H. C. GEARING, FIRST CLASS, 1876.

The method employed was that of mixture, by mixing lead
of known weight with a known weight of water, and from
the weights and rise of temperature computing the specific
heat. Two thermometers were used in the experiment : one
marked " Celsius " and the other " C." Thermometer marked
"Celsius" when placed in melting ice read o°.8; in steam of
boiling water, ioo0.3. Thermometer marked " C," in melting
ice, read o°.6; in steam of boiling water, ioo°.4. The ba
rometer read at the time 30.20 inches; attached thermometer?

248 THE NAVAL A CA DEM Y.

73° F. = 22°.77 C. The barometric height corrected for tem-
perature=/z — 0.000181 h . /, where h is the observed height
and /is the temperature centigrade, and o.oooiSr is the co
efficient of expansion of mercury. The true height of ba
rometer was found by this formula to be 30.08 inches. The
boiling-point of water corresponding to this height, given in
standard tables, is ioo°.i5. The change in error of Celsius
for 100° is o°.65; of C, o°.35. If the changes in the errors
of the thermometers be taken as uniform, change in error for
Celsius in i°— o°.oo65; in C, o°.oo35.

The water was placed in a small glass vessel, which was
itself placed in a larger vessel, the contact being prevented
by wrappings of cotton yarn about the smaller vessel. This
was to prevent loss of heat by radiation or conduction. Ob
tained the weight of the specimen of lead (pure), smaller
glass vessel, and water (distilled), by method of double
weighing. Suspended the lead by a silk thread in a vessel
whose temperature was maintained constant by being sur
rounded by steam, and obtained the temperature to which it
was raised by thermometer Celsius. When reading of ther
mometer became stationary, quickly removed the Jead and
placed it in the water, whose temperature was previously
ascertained by thermometer C. Kept stirring the lead and
water well until the highest reading of thermometer C had
been obtained. If M is the mass or weight of the specimen
of lead, c its specific heat, T the temperature of the lead,
m the weight of water, m\ that of the smaller glass vessel, c\
the specific heat of glass, 0 the final temperature of lead and
water, / the original temperature of water, we have the for
mula:

M c (T — 0) = ;;/ ( 0 — /) + ml ^ (0 — t)

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 249

In the experiment —

M =.41405 Ibs., ;«=. 44422 Ibs., m\ = .13318 Ibs., ^i = . 19768-
Temp, of lead, by Celsius, = 97°, corrected = 96°.83 = T
Temp, of water, by C, = 23°, corrected = 22°.48 = /
Final temp., by C, = 25°, corrected =[24°. 49 = 0.

These values substituted in the above equation give —

c _ (.44422 + .02611) x 2.01 = .9453633
.41405 X 72.34 29.9524

c = 0.03156, the specific heat of lead.

DETERMINATION OF THE SPECIFIC HEAT OF CADMIUM,

BY CADET-MIDSHIPMAN E. M. KATZ, FIRST CLASS, 1876.

The experiments were conducted according to the " method
of mixtures." When two bodies of unequal temperature are
brought together, the hotter gives off heat to the colder until'
their temperatures are equal. The increase or decrease in
temperature will be inversely as the capacity of the body for
heat. Referring the capacity thus found to a unit mass, we-
obtain the specific heat of the body.

In the experiments, a hot piece of cadmium was plunged
into a mass of distilled water ; the original and resulting tem
peratures being observed both for the metal and water. To
ri eat the cadmium, it was placed in an air-space surrounded
by steam at 100° C. In this space, a thermometer was also
placed. The water was contained in a beaker placed inside
of a larger beaker, the two- being kept apart by a cotton
skein wrapped about the top of the inner one. This pre
vented most of the loss of heat by radiation and conduction.
In recording temperatures, two thermometers were used; one
being marked " Celsius," the other marked " C." The fol
lowing comparisons were taken :

250 THE NA VA L ACA DEM Y.

In steam of
In melting ice. boiling water.

Celsius 00°. 8 i°o°-3

C oo°.6 100°. 4

Barometer, 30". 2; thermometer attached, 73° F = 22.77° C.

Reducing the barometer to what it would have been at o°
C., b = $o".2 —0.000181 X 30". 2x22. 77=30". 08 = 764™™.

Under a pressure of 764mm, the boiling-point of water is
1 00°. 1 5 C.

To correct the readings of each thermometer for a reading
a, we therefore have —

For Celsius, a + .8 — .0065 a
For C, a -f .6 — .0035 a

Used " double weighings," viz : first weighed the body
against a counter-weight, and then removed the body and
put weights in its place. This eliminated errors of the bal
ance.

Record of the two measurements.

•

Weight of cadmium, .16988 Ib. .16955 lb.*

Weight of water, .94460!^ .6176 lb.

Weight of inner beaker, .20668 lb. •I35? lb.
Temperature of cadmium, 95° [thermometer Celsius] 98°
Temperature of water, 19°. 2 [thermometer C] 22°.6

Resulting temperature, 20° [thermometer C] 23°. 8

Thermometer-reductions.
95° [Celsius] =95°.i8 C. 98° [Celsius] = 98°.2 C.

I9°.2 [C] = I9°.73 C. 22°,6 [C] = 23°.I C.

20° [C] = 20°.53C. 23°.8[C] =24°.3C.

* This loss of weight was occasioned by the cadmium dissolving in the
water during the interval between the experiments, thereby, also, render
ing scraping necessary. «

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 251

First Second

measurement, measurement.

Cadmium fell in temperature, 74°-65 C. 73°-96 C.

Water and glass rose in temperature, 00°. 8 C. i°.2 C.

Mean temperature of water, 20°. 13 C. 23°. 7 C.

Mean specific heat of water, 1.0012162 1.00153

Formula.

M T C = m t c + m1 t' c'
M = mass of cadmium.
in = mass of water.
m'= mass of glass.

T = range of temp, through which cadmium fell.
t = range of temp, through which water rose.
/' = range of temp, through which glass rose.
C = specific heat of cadmium.
c- = specific heat of water.
c' = specific heat of glass.

First measurement.

.16988 x 74.65 JT = .9446 x .8 x 1.00122 + .20668 x .8 x .19768

. 16988. .log = 9.23014- 10 0.9446 . .log = 9.97525- 10 0.20668 . .log = 9.31530- 10
74.65 . .log = i .87303 0.8 . .log = 9.90309- 10 0.8 . .log = 9.90309- 10

1. 00122. .log = 0.00052 0.19768 . .log = 9.29597- 10

1.10317

°-75659- -log = 9.87886- 10 0.032686. .log = 8.51436- 10
0.03268

0.78927.. log = 9.89723- 10
log = 1.10317

No. Corr. = .06223.9 = specific heat, log = 8.79406- 10
Second measurement,

.16955 x 73. 9 .r = .6176 x 1.2 x 1.00153 + .1358 x 1.2 x .19768
.16955. .log = 9.22930- 10 0.6176 . .log = 9.79071- 10 0.1358 . .log = 9.13290- 10

73-9 . .lOg = 1.86864 1.2 . .lOg = 0.07918- 10 1.2 . .lOg = 0.07918- 10

1.00153. .log = 0.00065 0,19768 . .log = 9.29597- 10

1.09794 , -•

0.74223. .log = 9.87054.- 10 0.03222. .log = 8.50805- 10

0.03222

o . 77445 . . log = 9 . 88890- ro
log = 1.07994

No. Corr. = .061795 = specific heat, log = 8.79096- 10

Mean result = .062017.
Atomic weight = 112. Atomic heat = 122 x .0620:7 = 6.9.

252 THE NA VAL ACADEMY.

THE DETERMINATION OF THE LATENT HEAT OF STEAM.

BY CADET-MIDSHIPMAN WALTER MCLEAN, FIRST CLASS, 1876.

The thermometer marked " Celsius" was used in this deter
mination. This thermometer, placed in melting ice, read
o°.8, and, in the vapor of boiling water, ioo0.3. The water
was boiled under the following conditions: bar. 3oin.2 =
767mm.o66i; att. ther. 73° F.= 22°.777 C. The height of
bar. was corrected by the formula b= I — .000181 //, where
b=. corrected height of bar., /= height of bar. as read =
767mm.o66i.,/r=att. ther. = 22°-777, and .000181 =coef. of
expansion of mercury, b = 763mm. 75 182. The temperature
of steam, under above conditions, as determined by Regnault,.
= 100°. 142. The temp, of steam, as marked by ther. usedr
= ioo°.3 .•. correction to be applied to ther. = — o°.i58.
The temp, of freezing by ther. = o°.8 . • . correction to ther.
= — o°.8. Hence,— o°.642 = change in correction of ther.
between boiling and freezing points, and — o°. 00642 = correc
tion to be applied to reading of ther. for each degree. To
determine the " water-equivalent" of the ther. used, weighed
a quantity of water in a test-tube, read its temp, by ther.,
and then heated ther., and placed it in the water and noted
the rise in temp. ' Then

mc(T — 0) = m1 (0 — t) + m" c' (0 — t]

where m = wt. of ther., T = temp. ther. was raised to, 0 =
temp, of water after the ther. was introduced, m1 — wt. of
water, / = temp, of water at first, m" = wt. of tube, and c1 =
sp. heat of glass in tube. The amount of water taken =.oi
lb., wt. of tube =.04188 lb.. temp, of water at commence
ment = 23° (per ther.) = 22°.853, heated ther. to 90° =
89°.422, and temp, of water after ther. was introduced was
25° = 24°.84.

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 253

.-.me (89°.422 - 24°.84) = ;//' (240.84 - 22°.853) + .o4i88 x
.i98x(24°.84-220.853)

64.582

I then made a calorimeter by taking two glass beakers, one
being considerably larger than the other. Around the top of
the smaller one placed a grommet of cotton yarn, and then
placed it in the larger one, the grommet preventing contact,
and forming a non-conducting jacket of air between the two.
A glass retort was filled with water, the end of the neck being
fitted with a small tube bent at right angles. The water in
the retort was made to boil, the steam escaping by the small
tube. While the water was boiling, noted the bar. 29^.82
and att. ther. 78° F., and, as before, determined the temp, of
steam under these conditions to be 99°. 786. While the water
was still boiling, and steam was emitted from the tube, the
tube was introduced into the calorimeter and steam condensed.
Care was taken to prevent the steam from condensing before
it reached the calorimeter by keeping the neck heated, as it
was necessary that the water in the calorimeter should receive
heat from the steam alone. The distance that the end of the
tube was immersed below the water in the calorimeter was
measured, and the increase in temp, of steam calculated,
and found to be o°.oo4, so that the temp, of steam, as it
entered the calorimeter, was 99°. 7 9. Before introducing the
steam into the calorimeter, the small beaker containing
water was weighed, its weight being .67203 Ib. The beaker
alone weighed .13583 Ib., so that the water weighed .5362
Ib. Immediately before introducing the steam, the temp, of
the water was noted, and found to be 26° = 25°. 833 ; and the
supply of steam was stopped when the temp, had risen to
52° = 5i°.667. Then the beaker and water were again
weighed, the wt. being .69693, giving .0249 Ib. of con-

254

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

densed steam. Having obtained these data I was prepared
to calculate the latent heat of steam. From the principle
that the amount of heat taken up by the water in the calorim
eter, the ther., and the calorimeter itself, is equal to the
amount of heat given up by the steam in condensing, we are
enabled, with the data obtained, to form an equation from
which we may easily determine the latent heat required;
Letting M = wt. of steam condensed,
m = wt. of water,
m' = wt. of beaker,
c' = specific heat of glass in beaker,
' n = water-equivalent of thermometer,
T = temp, of steam,
/ = temp. of water at beginning,
6 = temp, of water at end,
x = latent heat of steam,
we see that

M# + M (T — 0) = (m + u + m'c'} (0 — t)
.•.Mx = (w+u + m'c') (0 — t) — M (T — 0)
m' = . 15583... ...... log 9.13300

log 9-29579

m' c' = .02684 ......... log 8.42879

7« = .5362

2/ = .00056

m1 c1 -\- m -\- u = .5636 ...... log 9.75097

0 — /=25°.834 ....... log 1.41202

c1 -\- m-\- 11) (B — /) =• 14.554. .log 1.16299

NOTE F. APPENDIX.

255

M = .0249 log 8.39620 log 8.39620

T=99°-79

T — 0 = 48°.i23 log 1.68236

M (T — #) = 1.1983 log 0.07856

(m1 d + u + m) (0-t)- M (T - 0) = 13-3557 --log 1.12568

*=536-39 • log 2.72948

DETERMINATION OF THE HORIZONTAL COMPONENT OF
THE EARTH'S MAGNETISM AT ANNAPOLIS, MD.

BY CADET-MIDSHIPMEN A. JEFFRIES AND H. M. WITZEL, SECOND CLASS, 1876.

The magnetometer used is supported by a tripod. The box
is leveled by means of three foot-screws; and the stand upon
which it rests can be turned horizontally about an axis through
its centre. The telescope is set upon the stand in the pro
longation of the axis of the magnet. An azimuth-circle is
used, in connection with the telescope, for determining the
value of a division of the scale, which shows the deflections
of the magnet to the right or left, and serves to measure the
declination. This scale is engraved upon a plate of glass in
the north end of the magnet, and is read by means of a lens
in the south end. It is numbered from o to 16, each num
bered division being divided into ten equal parts. The mag
net, which is in the shape of a hollow cylinder, is carried by
a stirrup connected with the torsion-head by means of several
fibers of cocoon-silk. The torsion-head is used to get the
torsion out of the silk fibers. To do this, a hollow cylinder
of brass, of the same weight as the magnet to be used, is
placed in the stirrup and allowed to come .to rest. If its axis
does not coincide with the magnetic meridian, it is made to
do so by turning the torsion-head to the right or left.

256 THE NA VAL A CADEMY.

In connection with the box of the instrument is a deflect-
ing-bar, which extends to about thirty inches on each side; it
is placed at right angles to the box, so as to be in the plane
of the magnetic prime vertical when the box is in the mag
netic meridian. It supports two long semi-cylinders of brass,
which are graduated to tenths of a foot, and of such a height
that when the deflecting-magnet is placed in them, the axes
of the two magnets are at the same level. The bar is gradu
ated in order to show the distance between the centers of the
magnets.

In making the experiments, the two magnets used are of
different lengths; the short one being 3.3 inches long, and the
long one 3.9 inches. The short* magnet is used as the oscil-

lating and deflecting magnet in determining M H and -

ri.

respectively. To obtain the values of deflections, it is neces
sary to determine the value of a scale-division and the mag
netic axis of the magnet; these were obtained from the fol
lowing observations made by Cadet-Midshipmen Winterhalter
•and Taylor. To determine the magnetic axis of either mag
net, it is placed in the stirrup, and made to vibrate through a
small arc, and the extreme right and left readings are noted
by means of the telescope; this is repeated after the magnet
lias been turned 180° in the stirrup. In the first case, the
figures of the scale are erect, while in the second case they
.are inverted.

*The long magnet should have been used. — W. T. S.

NOTE F.

APPENDIX.

257

Axis of magnet T. V. 14.

Scale-reading.

M>an

Means

Left.

Right.

2 and 4.

2.8

7.8

5-3

13.0

2.65

7.82

5-3

6-55

2.7

7-9

5-3

7.81

9-5

6.,

7-8

Axis of magnet T. V. 13.

Magnet.

Scale-reading.

Mean.

Means
of i and 3,
2 and 4.

Axis.

Left.

Right.

15-05

14.9

14.97

13-2

13-8

13-5

14.89

14.225

i5-3

i4-3

14.8

13-56

15-5

"•75

13.62

To determine the value of a scale-division, the magnet is
stationary and the cross-wires of the telescope made to coin
cide with o on the scale; at the same time, the reading of the
azimuth-circle is taken. The cross-wires are then brought to
i, 2, 3, 4, &c., up to the end of the scale, the reading of the
azimuth-circle being taken at each number. The readings
are then taken in the reverse order, and the mean of the two
readings for each division is noted. The mean of all these
means will be the value of a scale-division.

258

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

Value of scale-division of magnet T. V. 13,

Division.

Mean of two
readings.

Value of 80
divisions.

0 , „

0 / //

235 42 3°

235 21 00

234 56 3°

234 33 0°

234 10 30

233 48 30

233 25 oo

233 02 30

232 40 oo

3 02 30

IOO

232 i 8 30

3 02 30

231 54 oo

3 °2 3°

120

231 31 oo

3 02 oo

130

231 08 oo

3 02 30

140

23° 45 3°

3 03 oo

150

230 22 30

3 02 30

160

230 oo oo

3 02 30

Mean

3 02 30

Value of i division. . .

2'. 28l

OBSERVATIONS FOR — .

In determining 1-, the long magnet was placed in the stir-
H.

rup and the short one used as the deflecting-magnet. The
time was taken for one hundred oscillations in sets of ten, the
time being noted at the end of each set. The oscillations were
counted as the magnetic axis of the magnet passed over the
cross-wires of the telescope from left to right. The extreme
scale-readings were also taken, but do not appear in the work.
The deflecting-magnet was placed on the east and west ends
of the deflecting-bar, with its north end east; and, after* the

NOTE F.

APPENDIX.

259

scale-readings and times were noted, the north end was
shifted so as to point to the west, and the same readings were
taken.

OBSERVATIONS FOR M H.

To determine the moment of inertia of short magnet : Sus
pend the magnet by itself, and afterward in connection with
a ring of known moment of inertia, and note the times of one
hundred oscillations, in sets of ten each, in both cases. Then

in which K is the moment of inertia of magnet, K! that of the
ring, and / and t\ the times of oscillation.

Suspend the small magnet, and cause it to oscillate. Note
the times of one hundred oscillations, as before.

Observations for — .
H

De fleeting-magnet in magnetic prime vertical- — I\Iagnet T. V. 14 deflecting,

Magnet.

N.end.

Time.

Temp.

Scale-
readings.

Alternate
means.

Differences.

Distance.

h . in .

ii 45

125.2

160.5

125.2

35-3

12 IO

67.5

125.0

160.0

35-0

'E.

159-5

2.2 feet.

ii 57-5

67.5

35-i

ii 50

160.0

125.5

159.6

34-1

12 15

159.2

125-3

33-9

Mean

W.
s

67-5

125.2

,12 25

34-°

12 0

67.4

2 n = 34.6

260

THE NAVAL ACADEM

One scale-division = 2'. 281
. + - log o.ooiio

M_ „/. P

M = ^ *„„ (,-£,)

P =

A~^l
A'

~r*~r?

Magnet.

N.end.

Time.

Temp.

Scale
readings.

Alternate
means.

Differences.

Distance.

h. m.

12 03

67.5

131.9

1-53-0

131-5

21.5

12 25

131.2

152.9

21.7

152-7

12 II

68.5

21.6

II 56

153-0

132.0

152.3

20.3

12 17

152.3

131.9

20.4

131.8

12 6.5

20.3

Means

12 8.7

68.1

2 JU.' = 2O.9

log 1.23805
2'.28i ...... log 0.35813

........... log o.oono

= 39'. 562 ..... log 1.59728

log tan 8.06099
log 1.02726
log 9. 69897

A = .061266 ---- log 8. 78722

A .............. log 8.78722

r2 ............ colog 9.31516

.012658 ____ log 8.10238

/u/ = iod-45 log i .01912

id = 2'.28i log 0.35813

! + ->- log 0. 001 10

//'=23;.897 log i. 37835

u' log tan 7.84203

rt3 log 1.24491

% log 9. 69897

A' = .061082 log 8.78591

A' log 8.78591

rp colog 9.17006

.009036.... log 7.95597 f

NOTE F.

APPENDIX.

261

J\Ia%net T, V. 14 suspended with ring No. 7. — 8 fibers.

No. of
vibrations.

Time.

Temp.

Time of 50
vibrations.

h. m. s.

m. s.

i 26 09

28 28

30 47-5

33 °7

35 26

37 45

ii 36

40 04.5

72-5

ii 36 5

42 24

.11 36.5

44 43

ii 36

47 03

ii 37

IOO

49 22

ii 37

Mean .

I I "36 <

1 A JU • J

t\ = 13-93

Magnet T. V ' . 14 suspended, — 8 fibers.

No. of
vibrations.

_. ,_ I Time of 52
lime. lemp.
1 vibrations.

h. m. s.

m . s.

i 57 i-5

72.25

58 34

2 0 06

3°

i 37-5

3 °9

4 41

4 59-5

7 58

6 31.5

7 57-5

8 03

7 57

9 34

7 56.5

ii 07

7 58

1O2

12 38.5

72.5

7 57-5

Mean

7 57 • 4

t = 9.181

262

THE NA.VAL ACADEMY.

-__ = . 003622.. colog 2.44105

A— A' — .000184 ____ log 6.26482
r* . .colog 9.31516

— = .010406 . . . .log 8.02103
r* ______

—, = .99 ---- -99542

A ____ log 8.78722

^ ....log 8. 78264
To determine M H.

M H

r— .10801 ft. 7-i=. 0832 ft. W = 89. 839 grams.
Magnet T, J-r. 14 suspended by four fibers.

No. of
vibrations.

Time.

Temp.

Time of 50
vibrations.

h. in. s.

m. s.

9 24 38

26 09

27 40

68.75

29 11.5

30 44

5«

32 15

7 37

33 46.5

7 37-5

35 16.5

7 36.5

36 49-5

7 38

38 20.5

7 36-5

IOO

39 5L5

7 36.5

Mean

7 37

T=9.i4

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 263

-2 log 0.99430

y* log 9.69897

(;-2 + ^2) }0g 8.26903

1 + 7 lOg O.OO022

W log 1.95347

1.18843

f1 log 1.92578

(A2 — ^2) - - -colog 7.95960
T2 colog 8.07810

M H ....... log 0.06790

....... colog 1.21736

2)1.28526

11=4.3917.. log 0.64263

NOTE. — This value of H is in the foot-grain system ; to
convert it into the centimetre-gramme system, add the log
arithm 8.66378 to the log of H given above.

H = .2025 in centimetre-gramme system.

In combining M H with g, no correction for temperature

is introduced, because the difference of temperature was so
small that the correction would be nearly inappreciable. The
dimensions of the inertia-ring from which the above dimen
sions were obtained were taken at 86° F.

DETERMINATION OF THE DIP OF THE MAGNETIC
NEEDLE AND TOTAL INTENSITY OF EARTH'S MAG
NETISM.

BY CADET-MIDSHIPMAN J. K. BRICE, SECOND CLASS, 1876.

The construction of the dipping-needle, by which this was

264

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

determined, made it necessary to determine the magnetic
prime vertical, and from it the meridian. The instrument had
one needle, moving in a vertical plane; the angle from the
horizon was measured by a circle graduated to twenty min
utes. The motion of the instrument in azimuth was read by
means of a circle graduated to read to one minute by means
of a vernier. To determine the prime vertical, the azimuth-
circle was read when the needle was vertical. The following
readings were taken :

Prime vertical.

Circle south.

Circle north.

Face south.

Face north.

Face south.

71° 30'

?6° 59'

77° l6'

72° 28'

Mean 74° i4'.5

Mean 74° 52'

Mean 74° 33' 15"

The instrument was then turned + 90° and — 90° in azimuth,
and the following readings of the dip taken :

Circle east.

Circle west.

Face east.

Face west.

Face east.

Face west.

N. S.

71°

71° 40'

69° 30'

69° 25'

71° 25'

71° 30'

69° 50' 69° 40'

Mean 70° 23' 45"

Mean 70° 36' 15"

Mean dip 70° 30'

NOTE F.

APPENDIX.

265

The magnetism of the needle was then reversed by stroking
it with bar-magnets, and the observations repeated:

Ptime vertical.

Circle north.

Circle south.

Face south.

Face north.

Face south.

27° oo'

20° 33'

19° 57'

26° oo'

Mean 23° 46' 30"

Mean 22° 58' 30"

Mean 21° 22'

Meridian.

Circle east.

Circle west.

Face east. Face west. Face east. Face west.

S. N.

70° 10'

70°

71° 40'

72° 70° 40'

70°

71° 50'

71° 5o'

Mean 70° 57' 30"

Mean 71° 5'

Mean dip 71° i' 15"

Mean of two observations 70° 45' 37.5", dip.

The total intensity is found by dividing H, the horizontal
intensity, by the cosine of the dip :

R
R =

H =4-357
H ............... log 0.63918

0 ............. log cos 9.51789

.$.22 log I.I2I29

266 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

MEASUREMENT OF RESISTANCE OF YARD-TELEGRAPH.
Bv CADET-MIDSHIPMEN DAVID AMD ORCHARD.

ANNAPOLIS, June, 1876.

This line is a short one, used for sending messages between
distant points of the yard.

The battery is placed in the battery -room of the laboratory,
and consists of six gravitation-cells set up in series. These
cells are used because they will produce a steady current for
a long time in a closed circuit. From the laboratory there are
two branches of the line: one extending to the new build
ings, connecting with a sounder, then connecting with the
earth; the other leads to the office of the officer in charge,
old buildings, then to the Superintendent's office, and lastly
to the commandant's house, where connection is made with
the earth. At each of these stations, connection is made with
a sounder for receiving messages. In the measurement, a
Wheatstone's bridge, a single needle galvanometer, and three
gravitation-cells were used.

Call resistance of line to new building A, and of other
branch B.

First. To measure A or B, make connections for bat
tery and galvanometer as usual ; connected end of line to
be measured between r and battery; connected end of R'

with the earth. Took --= — > distant end of line to earth.
R 10

Second. To measure A+B, connections as before except
that end of other branch of line was connected between R'
and battery. Both ends of line to earth.

Third. To measure insulation resistance, insulate both ends
of the line and make connections as in second case.

Fourth. To measure resistance of both branches in multi
ple arc, connect both branches between r and battery; the

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 267

other ends being to earth. Connect R' and galvanometer
with the earth.

The following were the results obtained :

Resistance of A 8.63 ohms.

Resistance of B 17.20 ohms.

Resistance of A-f-B 25-83 ohms.

Resistance in multiple arc 5.74 ohms as measured.

Resistance in mult, arc = =5. 74 ohms as computed.

A+B

Insulation resistance of whole line, 800,000 ohms.

TO DETERMINE THE ELECTRO-CHEMICAL EQUIVALENTS
OF COPPER, ZINC, HYDROGEN, AND OXYGEN.

By CADET-MIDSHIPMEN J. K. BRICE AND O. G. DODGE, SECOND CLASS, 1876.

The object of determining the electro-chemical equivalents
of these elements is that, by knowing them, we may be able
to measure the strength of a current of electricity passing
through any of their electrolytic compounds, by observing
the quantity of the element decomposed in a given time; or,
knowing the current, we may find the weight of the element
it will deposit in a given time.

To determine these quantities, three decomposing-cells, con
taining copper sulphate, copper nitrate, and zinc sulphate, and
a voltameter containing acidulated water, were placed in the
circuit, and a current was sent through them from five Grove's
cells. The platinum electrodes immersed in the decompos
ing-cells, each positive one having first been coated with the
metal contained in the electrolyte, were carefully weighed
before and after the current was passed. From these weigh
ings, the exact weight of the metallic element deposited on
each negative electrode and that taken from each positive

268 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

one was obtained. Having noted the whole time that the
current was passing, the amount deposited per second was
readily found from the whole amount deposited.

The current was passed through the voltameter for a short
time before beginning the experiment to saturate the water
with the gases; so the difference between the readings of the
voltameter at the beginning and end gave the whole volume
of the gases decomposed. These volumes had to be cor
rected for temperature and pressure and tension of the aque
ous vapor that was mixed with them. Since eight parts, by
weight, of oxygen were liberated for every one part of hy
drogen, it was unnecessary to work out the electro-chemical
equivalent of more than one of the gases from its observed
volume.

In order to find the strength of the current, it was assumed
that the measurements were correct, and it was deduced from
the copper nitrate by dividing the weight of copper deposited
per second by its electro-chemical equivalent, as taken from
Jenkin's Electricity.

COPPER NITRATE.

Grams.

Weight of positive electrode before experiment. . . 1.6590
Weight of positive electrode after experiment .... 1.5825

Weight of negative electrode after experiment .... i.
Weight of negative electrode before experiment . . . 1.24730

Weight deposited on negative electrode °7745

Weight dissolved from positive electrode 0765

Time current was passing, 45 m. = 45 x 60 sec.

Electro-chemical equivalent of copper, .00324 grams.

C=-

•°7745

45 x 60 X .00324

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 269

.07745 log 8.88902 — 10

45 lo§ T-6532i

60 log 1.77815

.00324 log 7.51055

0.94191

C - log 7-94711

COPPER SULPHATE.

Grams.

Weight of positive electrode before experiment 14506

Weight of positive electrode after experiment I-3^95

Weight of negative electrode after experiment - 1-385

Weight of negative electrode before experiment . . . 1.309

Weight deposited on negative electrode 076

Weight dissolved from positive electrode 06 n

Unfortunately, the copper on the positive electrode was
all dissolved before the experiment was completed, which ac
counts for the great difference between the amount deposited
and that dissolved. As soon as the copper was all off of the
positive electrode, the solution, semi-saturated at first, began
to get weaker. Furthermore, the sulphuric acid set free at
tacked the deposited copper. So the deposit must have been
too small, and, in consequence, the electro-chemical equiva
lent also.

Electro-chemical equivalent = — ^

60 X 45 x C

.076 log 8.88081 — 10

60 log 1.77815

45 loS r-6532i

C log 7-94711

1.37847

Electro-chemical equivalent = .00318 log 7.50234

270

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

ZINC SULPHATE.

Grams.
Weight of positive electrode before experiment 1-2734

Weight of positive electrode after experiment 1.1842

Weight of negative electrode after experiment 1.3562

Weight of negative electrode before experiment .... 1.2750

Weight deposited on negative electrode 0812

Weight dissolved from positive electrode 0892

Electro-chemical equivalent of zinc = — '° — —

60 X 45 X C

.0812 log 8.90956 — 10

60 X 45 x C log 1.37847

Electro-chemical equivalent = .0033968. . . log 7.53108

HYDROGEN.

Corrected barometer, 76.6ncm.
Thermometer, 17.778 C.

Height of column of water in voltameter, 43.3°™.
Specific gravity of the acidulated water, 1.053.
Specific gravity of mercury, 13.5592.
Height of an equivalent column of mercury :
43-3 * 1-053 = 6 cm

I3-5592
Tension of aqueous vapor in gas, 1.5170.

76.611 + 1.517 — 3-3634 = pressure on gas = 74.765cm
By Charles's law :

29.6: V'= 273+17. 773:273
v/= 29.6X273

290.778
By Mariotte's law:

V':Vrr 76 174.765

y _ 74-765 x v/_74-765 x 29-6 x 273
76 290.778X76

NOTEF. APPENDIX. 271

74-765 .... log 1.87370

29.6 log 1.47129

273 r log 2.43616

5-78II5

290.778 log 2.46356

76 log i. 88081

4-34437

V = corrected volume 6f gas log 1.43678

Specific gravity of hydrogen = .0012932 X .0693.
Weight of hydrogen in grams = V X .0012932 X .0693.

Electro-chemical equivalent=V X 'T^2 *^

DO X 45 X C

V log 1.43678

.0012932 log 7.11167 — 10

.0693 log 8.84073 — 10

7.38918—10
60 x 45 x C log 1.37847

Electro-chemical equivalent =.0001025 6.01071 — 10

OXYGEN.
Electro-chemical equivalent = .0001025 x 8 = .00082

BRADLEY'S TANGENT GALVANOMETER COIL No. 2.

METHOD OF FINDING THE CONSTANT.
BY CADET-MIDSHIPMAN O. G. DODGE, SECOND CLASS, 1876.

The construction of this instrument makes it impossible to
measure the size of the coil or count the turns. It is there
fore necessary to determine the constant by comparison with
a standard, or by electrolysis, the method here employed.

272

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

The galvanometer, a eudiometer containing acidulated
water, a decomposing-cell containing neutral copper sulphate
semi-saturated, were placed in circuit with three cells of a
Grove's battery. The eudiometer used was so made that
both the oxygen and hydrogen were collected in the same
tube, which had been carefully calibrated. Two strips of
platinum, carefully cleaned, were selected as electrodes for
the copper sulphate. Upon one of these, a reguline deposit
of copper was formed to act as the positive electrode. The

following weighings and observations were made :

Grams.

Positive electrode with copper deposited i. 6916

Negative electrode i. 2768

The circuit was then closed, the time being noted. The
deflections of the galvanometer and the readings of the
eudiometer were taken at intervals of five minutes. When
the circuit was broken, the barometer and thermometer were
read.

Ther.

Time. Galvan.

Eudiometer. Bar.

h. m.

/;////. inches.

300 82.75

05 82.75

10 82.00

15 82.00

20 ^1.50

25 81.25

107

3° 8l-25

127

35 8o-75

146

40 80.50

164

45 80.00

182 30.01

Interval = 45™.

Mean deflection = 8 1°

28' 30".

Volume of gases = 31

.89 cm.3.

68.303 F.

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 273

Positive electrode ........................ i -6349 grams.

Negative electrode . . 1-3309 grams.

Deposited ....... 0541 " Dissolved.. -0567 "

Mean .......... 0554 "

.00324 : 10 webers : : _ ; x webers

6ox45

60x45x^00324
C = constant =

— —~
tan D

.-.C =

•564

6oX45x-oo324x tan D

• 554 .................................. log 9-74351

60 ......................... log 1.77815

45 ........................ loS 1-653"

.00324 ..................... log 7.51055

8i°28/3o// ............... log tan .82421

- 1.76612

C ...................................... log 7-97739

C = .009492

32.8cm=column of water in eudiometer.
2.4 1 3 icm= equivalent column of mercury.

i.76cm=tension of vapor in eudiometer.
75.945cm=corrected height of barometer.

• '• 75-945 + 1.76 — 2.4131 = 75. 292cm pressure on gases.

By the laws of Boyle and Charles, we have:
31.89 cm.3: Vi :: 293.185 : 273
. v _3I-89X273

293-185
Vt : V2:: 76: 75.292

. v ..31.89 x 273 x75-292

76x293.185
18

274

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

V=volume formed per second= -3.L9_xi73xi5

-.__

76x293.185x60x45
.1721 : i weber : : V : x webers

V
"'.1721

-r "l7"

C = constant = --- =- =

tan D . 1 7 2 1 x tan JJ
i.89x 273x75-292

76 x 60 x 45 x 293.185 x -1721 x tan D

3T-89 ........................... log I-5°365

273 ............................ log 2.43616

75-292 .......................... log 1.87675

-- 5.81656
76 ............................. log i. 88081

60 ............................. log 1.77815

45 ............................. log I-6532i

293-l85 ........................ log 2.46715

•1721 .......................... log 9-2357S

81° 28' 30" .................. log tail .82421

........... og 7-97725

C=. 009489

NITRO-GLYCERINE.

BY CADET-MIDSHIPMAN FRANK J. SPRAGUE, THIRD CLASS, 1876.

The germ of that numerous group, nitro substitution com
pounds, may be deemed to have started with Professor Cal-
lan proposition to add sulphuric acid to the nitric acid of
Grove's battery. The German philosopher Schonbein inves
tigated this remarkable mixture, and discovered ozone and
gun-cotton, the last of which was patented by him in 1846.

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 275

Numerous controversies arose as to the nature of the changes
which the cotton had undergone, and, aroused by these, As-
cague Sobrero, a pupil of Pelouze, in Paris, and now profess
or of chemistry in the University of Turin, made a series of
experiments. Walter Crum having stated that " pure gjm-
cotton was lignine, in which three atoms of water were replaced
by three atoms of nitric acid," Sobrero made similar com
pounds with gum, sugar, dextrine, manna, and finally glycer
ine, where it was evident that there could be no absorption,
as stated by some of the writers on gun-cotton. He was re
warded by the discovery of nitro-glycerine. This was in 1847
or 1848. The discovery remained dormant until the Crimean
war, when it was rumored that Admiral Napier was prevented
from taking Cronstadt from fear of torpedoes charged with
nitro-glycerine by Professor Jacobi, as well as by the difficul
ties of navigation. In 1864, eighteen years after its discovery,
Alfred Nobel, a Swedish engineer, obtained a patent for its
application to blasting purposes. So little was nitro-glycerine
then known that he has been credited with its discovery.

Nobel also attempted to control its use in the United States,
but finally failed.

Soon after its introduction into this country, three startling
accidents occurred, which threw this new explosive into pub
lic disfavor. The first was -in 1865, when an explosion oc
curred in Greenwich street, New York, opposite the Wyoming
Hotel, caused by throwing a box of " glonoin" into the street,
which had been left by a German as security for his board.
The next was that on board the steamer European, at As-
pinwall, in 1866. Forty-seven persons were killed or mortally
injured; the vessel, pier, and adjacent warehouses were de
stroyed, the loss amounting to over $1,000,000. Immediately
succeeding this was an explosion in the office of Wells, Fargo
& Co., San Francisco. Eight persons lost their lives, and

2 7 6 THE NA VAL AC A DEM Y.

property to the amount of $250,000 was destroyed. Noting
these accidents, George M. Mowbray, then of Titusville, Pa.,
undertook the preparation and qualitative examination ot
nitro-glycerine, and shortly afterward advertised to manufac
ture it for miners and others.

In 1867, at the invitation of Chief Engineer Doane, Mr.
Mowbray arrived in North Adams, and undertook to furnish
the Hoosac Tunnel with nitro-glycerine. Since then he has
almost steadily been manufacturing this explosive, and dur
ing the eight years since he began he has had but three ac
cidents at the manufactory, having made over one million
pounds in this time. The first accident was on December 23,
1870, when a magazine exploded, supposed to have been
caused by the accidental starting of a flame. The fore man
was killed.

March 12, 1871, another explosion of a magazine took
place, caused by continuous overheating. Sixteen hundred
pounds were in the magazine at the time, and 600 pounds of
congealed nitro-glycerine within 12 feet of the magazine.
This last did not explode, although battered and bruised,
and no one was hurt.

The third was the explosion of the works, two men being
killed and one slightly injured. This was January 26, 1876.
The works are now rebuilt and running.

So nitro-glycerine has been known but about ten or twelve
years in the United States as a blasting agent, and has been
known to chemists but twenty eight or nine years. Among
the more prominent of those who have investigated, written
upon, and used it, are Railton, Girard, De Vrij, Millott,
Vogt, Nobel, Papillon, and Berthollet on the continent, and
Mowbray and Hill in this country.

Such is a brief and partial resume of the history of nitro
glycerine. In following out a more detailed account, We are

NOTE F. APPENDIX.

277

surprised by the various names given to it, and the conflict
ing statements of its properties and composition.

For synonyms we find the following: Nitrate of oxide of
lipyl, [glycerine,] (Berzelius;) glonoin, mono-, di-, and tri-
nitro-glycerine, (Liecke;) glonoine, (Gmelin;) fulminating oil,
nitroleum, tri-nitrin, glyceryl nitrate, (from Wagner.)

Its formula is C3 H5 (NO2)3 O3, though it may be written
differently in conforming to different theories.

Modern researches have shown that there are thres nitrins,
mono-, di-, and tri-nitrin, whose formulae are as below.

Nitro-glycerine is made from glycerine and nitric acid, sul
phuric being mixed with the nitric to absorb the water formed
during the process, and thus keep the nitric acid of the re
quired strength. In the chemical action that takes place,
the radical nitryl (NO;) of the nitric acid takes the place of
one, two, or three atoms of hydrogen in the glycerine, ac
cording as one, two, or three molecules of nitric acid unite
with one of glycerine. The products are mono-, di-, and tri-
nitro-glycerine, and the reactions are as follows:

C3H5
H3

]0,

C3 H5

= H^
NO.,

, H
+ H;

1°

Cj FT 5
H;3

\0-,

C3H,

= H
(NO,),

0:5 -f 2 ^

H ?
H 5

)

C"ul

|o3

= (NoS

0:3 + 3^

H^
H^

)

n
oJ

where the first gives mono-nitro-glycerine, H2 C3 H5 (NO2) O3;
the second, di-nitro -glycerine, H' C3 H5 (NO2)2 O3; and the
third, tri-nitro-glycerine, C3 H5 (NO2)3 O3.

The tri-nitro-glycerine is the only one of these compounds
which has yet been successfully prepared, and is the one
which is employed in blasting and for torpedoes ; hence the
rest of the paper will be devoted to this compound.

278

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

We have, then, the formula for tri-nitro-glycerine, C3 H5
O3, which, written on the triple type of water, is

' wliere tlie raclical N°2 is univalent, and C3 H5
trivalent, as before in glycerine. Written graphically, it is :

o o

H H O

\_s \_/ \^ •--"-*-" \j '

O O

That of glycerine being :

c — o

Comparing, we see that the formula for tri-nitro-glycerine
may be written by substituting one atom of NO2 for an
atom of hydroxyl, HO, in glycerine ; and this is perhaps the
best way to show the similarity and difference between the
molecules of these two substances.

NOTE F.

APPENDIX.

279

The formula for manufacture, written graphically, would
be:

Nitric acid.

n o :N

O-

Glycerine.

c — o

Tri-nitro-glycerine.
Q

Water.

O-^N7 +

O
O

The composition is as follows :

Centesimally

36 micro-criths . . 15.859 +

C. — Carbon ---- 3 atoms

O.— Oxygen... 9 " .. 144

N. — Nitrogen.. 3 " .. 42

H.— Hydrogen. 5 " .. 5

One molecule = 20 " .. 227

63.436 +

18.502 +

2.203 —

100.000

28o THE NA VAL ACADEMY.

A brief description of the method of manufacture by
Mr. Mowbray, which differs but little from that employed by
Mr. Walter N. Hill at the Torpedo Station, will be given.

Fresh nitric acid (sp. gr. 1.45) direct from the stills is taken
up by sulphuric acid.

The acids are afterward thoroughly mixed and nitrous
fumes expelled by a current of air furnished by blowers. The
acid mixture is now distributed in stone pitchers arranged in
troughs. The troughs are filled with ice-cold water, or ice
and salt, to within four inches of the top of the jars. From
glass jars arranged on a shelf above the pitchers, chemically
pure glycerine is allowed to fall, drop by drop, by means of
a siphon with a rubber tube attached, into the mixture of
nitric and sulphuric acids.

A current of air is forced through each pitcher by a rub
ber and glass tube while the acids and glycerine are mixing.

During the one and a half to two hours required for this
operation, great care and close attention are necessary..
Nitrous fumes are given off. If too freely, the mixture is
stirred with the glass tube already mentioned. Sometimes
this is caused by the glycerine running too fast, which fires
the mixture, wastes the glycerine, forming oxalic acid, and
giving off abundant fumes.

If such is the case, the flow of glycerine is stopped and
the mixture stirred. If the current of air is stopped, the mix- '
ture will take fire. When the action is complete, no more
fumes being given off, the nitro-glycerine is dumped into a
large tank of water at 2i°.i C., where it sinks to the bottom.

After remaining about fifteen minutes, the water is drawn
off the top, and the nitro-glycerine run off into a large swing
ing wooden tub, where it is washed three times with water
and twice with soda, a current of air working through, it
meanwhile. It is then removed to the magazine and poured

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 281

into "crocks," (earthenware jars, holding sixty pounds.)
These are immersed to within six inches of the top in water
at 21°. i C., where they remain about seventy-two hours,
during which time any impurities rise to the surface as scum.
The nitro-glycerine is then chemically pure and ready for
packing. It is put in tin cans lined wi*h paraffine and frozen,
in which state it is stored away.

It takes one and a half or two hours to make it, seventy-
two to purify it, and forty-eight to congeal it.

When pure, nitro-glycerine is nearly colorless, but ordina
rily has a light lemon tint, owing to coloring matter in the
glycerine used. (Mowbray.)

When freshly made, it is creamy-white and opaque, but
clears on standing, (Hill.) It is an oily, odorless liquid, but has
a sweet, pungent, aromatic taste ; is very poisonous, and hand
ling at first, or tasting from the point of a pin for the first
time, gives one a persistent, throbbing headache, but persons
lose this sensitiveness to its effects after using it some time.
It is a powerful refractor of light, (Mowbray,) and is inflam
mable, lighting with a flame, and burning without explosion,
yielding a light ethereal flame of considerable volume, (Mow
bray.)

Freezing-point, when fresh, is — i6°.i to — 15^ C. ; cleared,
3°.9 to 4°.4 C., (Hill.) It freezes at 7^.2 C., and contracts
one-twelfth of its bulk, (Mowbray.)

Freezes to a white crystalline mass, and when frozen is very
difficult to explode, even with a heavy charge of fulminate.
In the air, when pure, it may be kept a long time without
change.

It decomposes at 160° C., giving off red fumes, (Mowbray.)
Easily decomposes by drying in a warm room with rarefied
air, (Williamson.) It is instantly decomposed when dissolved
in alcohol, (Mowbray.)

When impure, it rapidly changes, becoming orange-yellow,

282 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

and evolving fumes; its freezing-point is lowered, and it is
then liable to be exploded by any jar. The impurity of
the article has been in all probability the cause of many ex
plosions. In some cases, the pressure exerted by gas formed
in closed vessels may have had some influence on it, and, in
view of this, N. K. List has proposed to use loosely-stoppered
vessels, or have them fitted with a safety-valve. In treating
of the explosion of nitro-glycerine, some general principles
may be given, (from Hill :)

" The explosive effect is dependent upon —

"ist. The great change of state produced; that is, the
formation of gas very much greater in volume than is the sub
stance from which it is derived, and which is still more ex
panded by the heat evolved ;

"2d. The shortness of time required for the change to
take place."

" The circumstances of explosion may be generally con
sidered under —

"ist. The physical or mechanical condition of the sub
stance itself;

" 2d. External condition ;

"3d. Mode of firing."

" The explosive effect is dependent also on these.

" Roux and Sarran divide explosions into two kinds :

" First order, or detonation ;

" Second order, or simple explosion.

" Detonation is the instantaneous explosion of a body.

" The following comparison is given :

Second order. First order.

Gunpowder , i .00 4.34

Gun-cotton 3.00 6.46

Nitro-glycerine 4.80 10.13"

(Hill, Notes on Explosives.)

If lighted, nitro-glycerine produces an explosion of the sec
ond order; if detonated, of the first.

APPENDIX. 283

To fully develop its power, it must receive a peculiar
vibratory shock, which breaks up the molecule. This may
be imparted by a concussion, either immediate or remote,
and it has been done by a note from a violin.

But it does not always explode by concussion, probably
because the conditions are not fully complied with. An ex
ploder suspended over the glycerine in a partially-filled car
tridge has been exploded without affecting the glycerine.

Containing-bottles have been smashed, and no 'further
injury resulted.

When nitro-glycerine is allowed to drop on a hot plate, we
have the following actions :

If the plate is moderately hot, it volatilizes quietly.

If red-hot, it volatilizes instantly.

If just hot enough to cause the nitro-glycerine to boil, it
explodes violently, or detonates.

The best method of exploding is to fire an exploder im
mersed in the liquid nitro-glycerine by electricity. The ex
ploder should be charged with a fulminate.

The products of decomposition are given differently. The
Engineering Journal (November 17, 1871) gives this :

One grm. nitro-glycerine gives 284 c. c. of the following
gases at o° C. and 29.7 inches (75.5cm) barometrical pressure :

Carbonic acid 4S-72 7

Binoxide of nitrogen , 20.36 j> volume.

Nitrogen . . 33.92 j

100.00

Wagner gives this :

Water, (steam) 20.00

Carbonic acid . . . 58.00

Oxygen 3.50

Nitrogen 18.50

100.00 parts.

284 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

• According to experiments made in Belgium, the combus
tion of nitro-glycerine does not yield free oxygen, but a large
quantity of nitrogen suboxide, according to the formula

2 (C3H5N309) = 6C02+ 5 H20 + N20 + 4 N

When fully exploded, no poisonous gases are given off; but
when imperfectly, oxides of nitrogen are formed, and the
whole quantity of gas will be lessened. (Hill.)

Its firmg-point has been given as 180° C. M. P. Champion
did not find this to be the case. M. Leygue designed an
apparatus by means of which M. Champion prepared the
following table, giving the various changes at different tem
peratures to which nitro-glycerine may be subjected :
365° F., boils, volatilizes with disengagement of yellow vapor..
381° F., evaporates slowly.
3j2° F., evaporates rapidly.
422° F., deflagrates violently.
442° F., deflagrates lively.
465° F., detonates with difficulty.
494° F., detonates very perfectly and violently.
512° F., detonates feebly.
548° F., detonates feebly with flame.

Mowbray, Appendix.

At a dark-red heat, nitro-glycerine assumes the spheroidal
state, and evaporates without explosion.

The following table gives the temperature at which certain
explosive substances burn or detonate :

Degrees F.

Powder used in the Chassepot rifle ..... . .......... 380-

Fulminate of mercury ........................... 392

Mixture of equal parts of sulpuur and K Cl O ....... 392

Abel's gun-cotton, compressed ................... 4OCk'

Gun-cotton, loose ................. ..............

NOTE F. APPENDIX.

285

Sulphur burns in air 475

Nitroglycerine explodes 493

Sulphuret of antimony i part, chlorate of potash i part,
explodes 536

Sporting-gunpowder 540

Cannon-powder 563

Picrate of mercury, of lead, of iron 565

Designolle's torpedo-powder, (picrate;) artificial saffron 600
Picric acid, picrates of magnesia, of ammonia, of potash 605

Musket picrate powder 6 1 o

Cannon-powder, quickened with picrate 716

Various methods have been devised whereby nitro-glyc-
erine may be rendered safer to use. (Mowbray, Appendix.)

Mowbray has made the following :

Nitro-glycerine, 30 pts.
Nitro-toluol, 10 pts.

This will not explode by blows, burns when thrown on a
fire, and explodes only with a very heavy charge of fulmi
nate, fifteen or twenty grains.

The chief drawback is that it does not solidify at a mod
erate temperature, and is thus liable to evaporate, leaving the
glycerine unprotected.

Nobel dissolves it in wood-spirit, and separates it by add
ing water. Seeley says of this :

1 i ) Wood-spirit is expensive, and is lost in the large amount
of water used to wash it away;

(2) It may evaporate, being volatile, and leave the nitro
glycerine unprotected ;

•(3) Chemical action takes place between these two bodies ;
(4) Vapor of wood-spirit is very volatile, and forms with
air an explosive mixture.

The most common method is to mix the nitro-glycerine

286 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

with moist matter. The principal of these mixtures used for
blasting are the following :

Dynamite. — Is a mixture of nitro-glycerine with siliceous
earth, infusoria, tripoli, rotten-stone, &c. These are very
good absorbents, taking up two or three times their own
weight of the explosive. When frozen solid, it is inexplosive ;
but, if in grains, it can be exploded. It is not very sensitive
to friction or percussion. With 75% of nitro-glycerine, it is
about six times as strong as powder. It should be dry. It
is liable to exudation.

Giant-powder — Dynamite No. 2. — This is dynamite mixed
with nitrate of potash or soda, with perhaps a little paraffine
and charcoal.

Lithofracteur, or "Rend-rock" — Nitro-glycerine and finely-
divided powder, or nitro-glycerine, kieselguhr, coal, sulphur,
and potassium or sodium nitrate.

Dualin. — Sawdust and nitro-glycerine, containing some
times a little saltpeter; the best is about half as strong as
nitro-glycerine alone.

Port/era nitroleum. — Nitro-glycerine and sponge, or other
vegetable fiber.

Metalline nitroleum. — Nitro-glycerine and red lead or other
metallic powder.

Selenitic powder. — Nitro-glycerine and plaster of Paris.

Titanite. — Granulated gun-cotton and nitro-glycerine.

Vulcanite. — Rifle-powder and nitro-glycerine.

Mica-powder. — Mica scales coated with nitro-glycerine.
This congeals at about the same temperature as nitro-glyc
erine. In this condition, a lump burns like saltpeter. It is
nearly as powerful as nitro-glycerine. It is unlike dynamite
in being coated, while, in the latter, the nitro-glycerine is
absorbed. Infusorial silica, being so great an absorbent, has
come into use to quite an extent, and may be taken as one

NOTE F. APPENDIX.

287

of the best representatives of the class of absorbents, so that
dynamite may be compared with mica-powder. To show
the difference, I have the following direct from Mr. Mow-
bray :

" f S°% °f nitro-glycerine.
( 50% of infusoria, (rotten-stone burned to. a red heat.)

" This mixture will not explode, nor will it burn when flame
is applied to it.

% of nitro-glycerine.
( 88% of mica scales.

" This will explode violently, and burns when lighted.

" Evidently, the explosive power of nitro-glycerine is partly
lost when mixed with infusoria. Only when there is a per
centage of 66-75 parts of nitro-glycerine to 34-25 parts of
infusoria, does it make a good explosive.

"Again,

"50% of nitro-glycerine f is not as } 50% ot nitro-glycerine,
" 5°/o vf powdered jx&ca, \ good as } 50% of mica scales.

" Fifty per cent, of nitro-glycerine with mica scales was much
more effective than 77% of infusoria with nitro-glycerine in
artificial blocks of stone. In fact, whenever nitro-glycerine
is absorbed, instead of being superficially coated over inert
matter, there is a considerable loss of force."

This is further evident when we compare the relative force
of the two with nitro-glycerine.

Theoretically, calling nitro-glycerine ten times as strong as
powder, dynamite containing 75% should be seven and a half
times as strong. Mica-powder is nearly as strong as the ex
plosive itself. The latter can be fired after being in water ;
the former cannot, which is a very important consideration
in wet ledges and submarine work.

The following table gives various mixtures of nitro-glyc
erine with other substances, together with their sensitiveness :

.288

NAVAL ACADEMY.

d
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Observations

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NOTE F.

APPENDIX.

289

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•go

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

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NOTE F. APPENDIX. 291

While the mixture of nitroglycerine with inert matter may
at times be useful, provided that a due distribution and not a
loss of force is had, the adulteration by other explosives, as
powder, picrates, &c., in order to make it stronger and act
quicker, is entirely useless, and necessarily fails in its purpose.

Nitro-glycerine, being in itself the strongest and most rapid
explosive used for blasting, cannot be aided by the addition
of any of its older and slower rivals. Their action is so much
behind that of nitre-glycerine that their force is wasted and
consequently useless.

The comparative power of powder and nitro-glycerine has
been variously estimated. Elwyn Waller (Chemical News)
makes the following :

A measure containing i cubic foot will hold 796 ounces of
blasting-powder and 997.1 ounces of water; /. ^., the sp. gr.
of powder is about .8. The sp. gr. of nitro-glycerine is 1.6;
therefore, bulk for bulk, supposing explosive power to be the
same for same mass, nitro-glycerine is twice as strong as pow
der. In reality, the following vols. of gas are generated :
i vol. most effective powder gives 221.4 vols. carbonic-acid gas.

74.6 vols. nitrogen.

296.0 vols. gas.

i vol. of another, exploding at a lower temperature, gives —

391 vols. carbon protoxide.
66 vols. of nitrogen.

457 vols. gas.

i vol. of nitro-glycerine gives 469 vols. carbonic anhydride.

554 vols. steam.
39 vols. oxygen.
236 vols. nitrogen.

1298 vols. gas disengaged.

292 THE XAl'AL ACADEMY.

These vols. are at o° C., except steam, 100° C.

For 1000° C., supposed temperature of exploding gunpow
der, we have, using the formula V = V ( i + a /),

For (i) powder, 1480 vols.

For (2) powder, 2285 vols.

The supposed temperature of exploding nitro-glycerine is
2000° C. By this same formula we have vol. of gas equals
10,607. Taking into account the specific gravities, we have
for the nitre-glycerine 21,214 vols.; nearly ten times the
amount of gas from the powder yielding the most gas.

M. Berthollet gives this table. The first column indicates
heat furnished by one kilogram of the matter under con
sideration; the second, the volume of gas disengaged; the
third, the resulting product of the two quantities, serving as
an approximate estimate of the explosive power :

Heat. Vol. of gas. Est. exp. force.

Blasting-powder 509 units, 0.173 nter>

Artillery-powder 608 units, 0.225 ^ter> J37

Sporting-powder 641 units, 0.2 16 liter, 139

Powder, nitrate of soda for

base 764 units, 0.248 liter, 190

Powder, chlorate of potash

for base 972 units, 0.318 liter, 309

Gun-cotton 590 units, 0.801 liter, 472

Picric acid 687 units, 0.780 liter, 536

Potassium picrate 578 units, 0.585 liter, 337

Gun-cotton mixed with

chlorate of potash 1420 units, 0.484 liter, 680

Picric acid mixed with

chlorate of potash 1424 units, 0.408 liter, 582

Picrate mixed with chlo
rate of potash 1422 units, 0.337 liter, 478

Xitro-glycerine 1320 units, 0.710 liter, 939

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 295.

M. Papillon describes tri-nitro-glycerine as "the ideal of
portable force : it burns completely, without residue, in fact
gives an excess of oxygen; develops twice as much heat as
powder, three and a half times more gas, and has seven
times the explosive force, weight for weight, and, taken
volume for volume, it possesses twelve times more energy."

M. Berthollet says: "Theoretically, there is but one sub
stance which can surpass it — liquefied protoxide of nitrogen,
whose energy is represented by 1000."

But this cannot be used; for the gases must be reduced to
liquids, and hermetically sealed, in which form they must be
mixed and fired to obtain the full force. But, in all these
calculations, the consideration of rapidity, which must greatly
heighten the effect, is not taken into account.

The extreme rapidity with which nitro-glycerine decom
poses is the reason why it does not have to be confined. In
the short time such decomposition takes place, the air, press
ing down with a force of over a ton per square foot, cannot
be raised, and consequently the body on which it rests must
give way.

The many accidents which have occurred with nitro-glycer
ine have been generally due to ignorance or carelessness, and
used properly it is safer than many other weaker explosives.
Finally, the greatly superior power of nitro-glycerine, its free
dom from noxious and offensive gases during combustion,
the great rapidity of decomposition in explosion, and its
safety when intelligently used, are destined to make it the
important agent in all great public and national works where
there is need of the strongest and most rapid blasting ma
terial.

2 94 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

CHLORATES.

BY CADET-MIDSHIPMAN JAMES H. GLKNNON, THIRD CLASS.

UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY,

June 9, 1876.

Of the compounds of chlorine and oxygen, the most im
portant is perhaps chloric acid, which gives rise to a series
of compounds called chlorates. The chlorates are all soluble
in water, although some are only so to a very sli-ght extent.
Mixtures containing them are very sensitive to friction and
percussion, and the operation of mixing them is an extremely
dangerous one. A characteristic of the class is that all the
chlorates are decomposed by heat, giving off all or part of
their oxygen. If potassium chlorate (KC1O3) be taken, it
may be decomposed in accordance with the reaction,

In the case taken, however, the decomposition of potassium
chlorate into potassium chloride and oxygen would be effected
only at a very high temperature. But if potassium chlorate
be mixed with black oxide of manganese (Mn O2), though the
oxide will not be affected, the oxygen will be given off at a
much lower temperature from the potassium chlorate. All
the chlorates except one deflagrate when thrown on lighted
charcoal. Thus, with ammonium chlorate, the following
reaction takes place :

2(NH4)C103 + 3C = 2(NH4)C1 + 3C02
All the chlorates give up their oxygen readily to combus
tible substances, especially when heated, combining with some,
as phosphorus (P), sulphur (S), antimony (Sb), with sufficient
violence to cause an explosion. On this account, they are
much used for fireworks and colored fires ; the metal with
which they are combined imparting different colors to the
flame.

INOTE F. APPENDIX.

295

The following are a few of the characteristic colors as im
parted :

Substance. Formula. Color of flame.

Potassium chlorate, K Cl O3, Violet.

Sodium chlorate, NaClO3, Yellow.

Copper chlorate, Cu C12 O6, Blue.

Strontium chlorate, SrCl2O6, Red.

Barium chlorate, Ba C12 O6, Green.

A mixture which detonates powerfully may be obtained by
-mixing powdered antimony tersulphide (Sb2 S3) and potassium
chlorate (KC1 03) by means of a feather. Potassium chlorate
is also used as the basis of many fuse-mixtures. Many are
:so liable to explosion as to be unfit for use. The following
.are taken from a treatise on explosives by Professor Hill, of
the Torpedo Station at Newport :

CHLORATE MIXTURES.

Potassium chlorate, K Cl O3, with rosin.

Potassium chlorate, KC1O3, with galls (Horsley's powder).

Potassium chlorate, KC1O3, with gambier (Oriental pow-
•cler).

Potassium chlorate, KC1O3, with sugar (used in fuses).

Potassium chlorate, KC1O3, with potassium ferrocyanide,
-K4FeCN6.

Potassium chlorate, KC1O3, with tannin (Erhardt's pow
der).

Potassium chlorate, KC1O3, with sulphur (Pertuiset pow
der).

The mixture of potassium chlorate and potassium ferrocy-
.anide is known as the "white or German gunpowder," and
is used in the cartridges of the needle-gun. Pertuiset powder
is used in explosive bullets.

Potassium chlorate (K Cl O3) is composed of 31.89 parts by

296

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

weight of potassium (K), 28.95 parts of chlorine (Cl), and
39.16- of oxygen (O). At the ordinary temperature it exists
as white crystals, which are rhombic and tabular. It is solu
ble, according to Wagner, in 16 parts of water at 15.8°, in 8
parts at 35°, and in 1.6 parts at 100°. It is not altered by
exposure to the air; from this fact it derives its advantage
over sodium chlorate (NaClO3), which, being hygroscopic,
absorbs moisture when so exposed. Potassium chlorate, and,
in fact, all the chlorates, may be prepared from chloric acid.
Chloric acid is itself prepared from barium chlorate (Ba
CLjOe) by the action of sulphuric acid (H2SO4),

BaCl2O6+H2SO4 = 2HClO3 + BaSO4

Any chlorate may be prepared by neutralizing chloric acid
by means of the oxide or carbonate of the metal. Thus, for
lead chlorate, taking lead oxide (PbO),

and for potassium chlorate, taking potassium carbonate
C03),

Potassium chlorate may be better prepared as follows :
A current of chlorine (Cl) is passed into a saturated solu

tion of potassium hydrate (KHO). Potassium chlorate is

produced in accordance with the reaction,

This, however, is not economical in practice. It is there
fore customary, on a large scale, to use calcium chlorate
(CaCl2 O6) instead of potassium hydrate (K H O). Calcium
chlorate is itself prepared bypassing chlorine (Cl) through a
boiling solution of milk of lime (Ca H2 O2). By the addition
of potassium chloride (KC1) to calcium chlorate, potassium

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 297

chlorate is formed, which may be separated from the calcium
chloride (CaCl2), formed by crystallization,

CaCl2O6 + 2KCl=2KClO3+CaCl2

In order that much energy may be brought into action on
the explosion of substances, the volume occupied by the
results of the explosion must be very great as compared
with the original volume. It might be said, not taking into
consideration the expansion of the gases formed by the heat
produced, that the work done will be proportional to the
resulting volumes as compared with the original.

Now, the products of the decomposition of ammonium,
chlorate ( (NH4)C1O3) are all gaseous.

Thus,

(NH4)C103=(NH4)C1 + 30

Ammonium chloride ( (NH4)Cl),at the ordinary tempera
ture, is a solid; but, at the high temperature produced, it exists,
as ammonia (NH3) and chlorhydric acid(HCl), both of
which are gaseous. If two molecules of potassium chlorate
be taken from it, we may obtain three molecules of oxygen (O)
and two molecules of potassium chloride. But the potas
sium chloride formed, being a solid, occupies but very little
space. The three volumes of oxygen are, however, gaseous .
In the case of ammonium chlorate, however, we obtain not
only the three volumes of oxygen, but two other volumes of
gas, or, in all, five volumes. Now, as a molecule, of ammo
nium chlorate weighs only - — 'J-as much as a molecule of

122.6

potassium chlorate, it can be s'een that for equal weights of the
two, nearly twice as great a volume of gas can be obtained
from ammonium chlorate as from potassium chlorate.

Ammonium chlorate has another advantage over other
chlorates. This is that no residue is left when it is decom
posed. In the case of potassium chlorate, the potassium

298 THE NA VAL A CADEMY.

chloride is solid, and remains as a residue. Unfortunately,
however, ammonium chlorate explodes even at ordinary tem
peratures from no apparent reason, so that it is very danger
ous to use it. Consequently it has never gained the place
that the less explosive potassium salt has. It has been found
in pyrotechny that the perchlorate of potassium (KC12O4) is
preferable to the chlorate, being less dangerous to manipu
late, and, owing to the different arrangement of the atoms, it
emits more light.

Barium chlorate is prepared by saturating aqueous chloric
acid with barium hydrate or carbonate,

2 HClO3 + BaH2O2 = BaCl2O6 + 2 H2O
2 HC1 03+ BaC O3 — BaCl2O6 + H2O + C O2
It detonates powerfully with combustibles, producing a
.green flame when -heated with sulphur (Duflos), and emitting
•a bright flashing light with sulphuric acid. According to
Hutstein, it emits light on crystallizing.

Percentage composition.

Barium (Ba) 45-22

Oxygen (O) 31.68

Chlorine (Cl) 23.10

100.00

Calcium chlorate is prepared like barium chlorate. With
water, it forms deliquescent crystals. When heated, these
first dissolve in their water of crystallization, and decompose
.at a higher temperature.

Percentage composition.

Calcium (Ca) 19.42

Oxygen (O) 46.60

Chlorine (Cl) 33.98

IOO.OO

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 299

Cupric chlorate (Cu C12 O6) detonates on red-hot carbon,
and is used in pyrotechny for the production of a green fire.

Percentage composition.

Copper (Cu) 27.64

Chlorine (Cl) 30.52

Oxygen (O) 41-84

IOO.OO

Magnesium chlorate (Mg C12O6) is easily soluble in alcohol.
With water, it forms deliquescent crystals, which melt at 40°,
and give off their water at 120°.

Percentage composition.

Magnesium (Mg) 1 2.63

Chlorine (Cl) ^ f 38.64

Oxygen (O) 5°-53

IOO.OO

Uranium chlorate (Ur C12 O6) decomposes spontaneously,
evolving chlorine and oxygen.

Percentage composition.

Uranium (Ur) 41.96

Chlorine (Cl) 24.47

Oxygen (O) 33-57

JOO.OO

Manganese chlorate (Mn C12 O6) is known only in solution.
Percentage composition.

Manganese (Mn) 24.89

Chlorine (Cl) 31.67

Oxygen (O) 43-44

IOO.OO

300

777.fi: NAVAL ACADEMY.

Mercuric chlorate (Hg C12 O6) is obtained by dissolving
mercuric oxide in warm chloric acid; mercuric chloride crys
tallizes out and mercuric chlorate remains in solution. Mer
curic chlorate forms with water crystals which are deliques
cent. It is resolved by heat into oxygen, mercurous chloridey
and mercury. It does not deflagrate on red-hot charcoal.

Percentage composition.

Mercury (Hg) 54.64

Chlorine (Cl) I9-I3

Oxygen (O) 26.23

100.00

Silver chlorate (Ag Cl O3) deflagrates on red-hot coals..
When mixed with sulphur, it detonates violently on very
slight pressure. Chlorhydric acid (H Cl), nitric acid (H NO3),,
and acetic acid (C2 H4 O2) convert it into the chloride.

Percentage composition.

Silver (Ag) • 56.39

Chlorine (Cl) 18.54

Oxygen (O) 25-°7

100.00

Sodium chlorate (Na Cl O3) is, next to potassium and am
monium chlorates, perhaps the most important of the chlo
rates. It would perhaps be used even more than the po
tassium chlorate, were it not for the fact that it is hygroscopic,
and consequently cannot be kept in the air for any length of
time without absorbing moisture. The gas resulting from
the explosion of equal weights of the potassium and sodium
chlorate is the greater in the case of the sodium chlorates.

NOTE F. APPENDIX, 301

Percentage composition.

Sodium (Na) 2 1 .60

Chlorine (Cl) 33.33

Oxygen (O) 45-°7

100. OO

Of the other chlorates, some are known only in solution;
some, like the ammonium chlorate, decompose spontaneously;
while others, like the potassium chlorate (K Cl O3), are per
manent, but all to some extent soluble in water except one.

The two following analyses are of the same sample of
powder :

ANALYSIS OF GUNPOWDER.
BY CADET-MIDSHIFMAN HARRY P. HUSE, THIRD CLASS, U. S. N. A., 1876.

U. S. NAVAL ACADEMY LABORATORY,

May 30, 1876.

The following are the results of an analysis of gunpowder
No. 2 made in this laboratory. The gunpowder was un-
glazed, and had a slightly brownish tinge. Some impurities
were present, preventing any very accurate results :

I. NITER.

Weight of crystal -f- powder 10.5989

Weight of crystal 6.0019

Weight of powder 4.5970

Weight of evaporating-dish and niter 69.4857

Weight of evaporating-dish 66.0499

Weight of niter 3.4358

3-43S8 -T- 4-597° =-7474
.-. <p — 74-74%

302

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

II. SULPHUR.

Weight of crystal + powder 9.1048

Weight of crystal , 6.0026

Weight of powder ............................ 3.1022

Weight of Ba S O4 + crucible X filter-ash ..... , . . . 14.0707

Weight of crucible ............................ 1 1 .5640

Weight of Ba S O4 + filter-ash ................. 2.5067

Weight of filter-ash .......................... 0.0003

Weight of BaSO4 ........................... 2.5064

2 .5064 grams Ba S O4 = .3442 grams S, equivalent to 1 1 .09 %

III. CARBON.

Weight of crystal + powder ........... . ........ 10.0551

Weight of crystal ............................ 6.0069

Weight of powder ............................. 4.0482

Weight of carbon + niter ...................... 1-1497

Weight of filter .............................. 0.4905

Weight of carbon ............................ 0.6592

0.6592 4- 4.0482 = .1629
.-. ^= 16.29%

IV. MOISTURE.

Weight of glass -f powder ..................... 46.9350

Weight of glass .............................. 38.3407

Weight of powder 8/5943

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 303

Weight of glass + powder 46.9350

Weight of glass -j- powder (air-bath, 24 hours at

60° C) 46.8524

Loss of weight 0826

.0826 -^- 8.5943 = .0096
•••? =-96%

RESULTS.

Niter 74-74%

Sulphur ii .09%

Carbon I3-2l%

Moisture , , = 96%

100.00

The results in the case of the carbon not being accurate,
owing to the fact that the ammonium sulphydrate did not
dissolve all the sulphur, the percentage of carbon was deter
mined by difference.

METHOD OF ANALYSIS.

The analysis was conducted in the following manner:

To determine the niter :

Weigh out from 4 to 5 grams of the powder, and place it
in a beaker-glass, covering it with about 50 cm3, of distilled
water; then boil it for some time. When it has been heated
for a sufficient length of time to dissolve the niter, filter the
solution, and wash the residue with hot water until no signs
of niter occur in the nitrate.

The filtrate is then poured into an evaporating-dish, the
weight of which has been previously ascertained, and evap
orated to dryness over a water-bath. The dish is then thor
oughly dried by ignition, and, when cool, weighed. The

3 04 THE NA VAL A CA DEM Y.

difference in the weights of the dish before and after the ex
periment will give the weight of the niter.

To determine the amount of carbon :

Weigh out about 4 grams of the powder and place it in a
beaker-flask, covering it with from 20 to 30 cm3, of ammonium
sulphydrate. This will dissolve out the sulphur. We then
filter it through a filter-paper previously dried at 100° C. and
weighed, washing out the niter by means of boiling water.
Then dry the filter, first in an evaporating-dish, then in the
air-bath at 100° C., and weigh it. This weight, minus the
weight of the filter-paper, gives the weight of carbon.

To determine the sulphur :

Place from 3 to 4 grams of the powder in a beaker-flask,
and cover it with a small amount of nitric acid (fuming).
Heat gently over a water-bath, adding, from time to time,
small quantities of potassium chlorate. The sulphur and
carbon are oxidized to sulphuric acid and carbon dioxide ;
the latter going off as a gas, and the former uniting with the
water resulting from the decomposition of the nitric acid,
apd with the potassium of the potassium chlorate. During
the first part of the operation, nitrous fumes are given off,
and, when these cease, the flask is filled with a greenish gas,
chlorine and oxides of chlorine. When the oxidation is com
pleted, the solution will be perfectly clear, and of a yellowish-
brown color. It is now transferred to an evaporating-dish,
and evaporated to dryness; when it has reached this state,
hydrochloric acid is added until the solution is strongly acid.
It is again evaporated to dryness, and very dilute chlorhydric
acid added. The object of all this is to drive off the chloric
acid by decomposing the excess of potassium chlorate by
chlorhydric acid, forming potassium chloride and oxides of
chlorine. The solution is then heated, and the sulphuric
acid is precipitated with barium chloride, and the liquid por-

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 305

tion filtered off. The precipitate is thoroughly washed with
hot water, removing all the traces of barium and potassium
chlorides. The filter-paper containing the residue is dried,
placed in a porcelain capsule, and ignited. The weight of
the capsule being known, as also that of the ash of the filter-
paper, we may find the amount of barium sulphate, and from
that the weight of the sulphur. The presence of traces of
barium chloride in the precipitate would be shown by its
grayish color.

To determine the moisture :

The powder is placed in a watch-glass, covered over with
another glass, the two being held together by a spring. It
is then placed in the air-bath for about twenty-four hours,
and kept at a temperature of about 60°. It is taken out,
weighed when cold, and the difference in weight before and
after the heating ascertained. This difference is the weight
of the moisture.

ANALYSIS OF GUNPOWDER No. 2.

BY CADET-MIDSHIPMAN H. KIMMEL, THIRD CLASS, 1876.

Gunpowder is a mechanical mixture of niter, charcoal, sul
phur, and moisture.

NITER.

The separation of the niter from the other constituents
depends upon the fact that it is soluble in water, while the sul
phur and charcoal are not, and that it is much more soluble
in hot water than in cold. The niter is then obtained, free
from moisture, by evaporating the solution to dryness, and
then igniting it.

I put a weighed quantity of powder in a beaker about half
full of distilled water, and heated it upon an iron stand, being
careful not to allow the water to boil, as, in that case, some
of the niter might be lost. It was heated until the powder

3°6

THE NATAL ACADEMY.

lost its granular condition, then allowed to settle, after which
the solution was filtered. Hot water was added to the resi
due in the beaker, which was passed through the filter, and
the charcoal and sulphur were washed with hot water, until
the water passing through the filter showed no traces of po
tassium when tested in the flame. I then poured the filtrate
into a perfectly clean evaporating-dish, previously weighed,
and evaporated it to dryness over the water-bath, and then
ignited it to incipient fusion to remove the last traces of
moisture. I allowed the dish to cool, and then weighed it,
and the difference between this weight and the weight of the
dish was the weight of niter in the given weight of powder,
from which the per cent, of nitre can be calculated.
The following was the result obtained :

Weight of glass and powder 12.8278

Weight of glass „ 6.0014

Weight of powder ^ . . . , ....................... 6.8264

Weight of dish and niter ...................... 70.1358

Weight of dish .............................. 65.0745

Weight of niter ., ................. , ........... 5-0613

i oo =74-14% of niter.

SULPHUR.

A quantity of powder was weighed out in the same man
ner as for the determination of the niter, put into a beaker-
flask, and covered with strong nitric acid. The flask was
heated gently, and, from time to time, small pieces of potas
sium chlorate were added to aid in the oxidation of the sul
phur and carbon; the former being oxidized to sulphuric acid
and the latter to carbon dioxide. The potassium nitrate and
chlorate were converted into potassium sulphate and potaV

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 307

slum chloride, and there was also left an excess of potassium
chlorate. It was then put into an evaporating-dish and evap
orated about one-half, then treated with strong chlorhydric
acid, which converted the remaining potassium chlorate into
potassium chloride, and oxides of chlorine were given off. I
heated the liquid until it was evaporated to dryness and the
oxides of chlorine were all given off, and then added chlorhy
dric acid and distilled water, and heated until completely dis
solved. It was then poured into a beaker, diluted with dis
tilled water, heated gently, and a solution of barium chloride
was added to it. The sulphuric acid acted upon the barium
chloride, and barium sulphate was formed and deposited as a
white precipitate. The barium sulphate was boiled with distilled
water to dissolve all the potassium chloride, so that it could
pass through the filter, and filtered through a filter the weight
of whose ash was known. After allowing the filter to dry, it
was placed with its contents in a porcelain crucible, which
had been previously ignited and weighed. The crucible with
its contents was ignited until the paper was reduced to a white
ash. When cool, it was weighed, and the total weight, minus
the weight of filter-ash and crucible, was equal to weight of
barium sulphate, from which the weight, and therefore the
per cent, of sulphur, can be obtained.
Weight of glass and powder ................... 8.6144

Weight of glass .............................. 6.0043

Weight of powder ................ . ........... 2.6101

Weight of dish and Ba S O4 ................... 13.1262

Weight of dish and filter-ash (.0003) ...... ....... 10.9985

Weight of Ba SO4 ........................... 2.1277

2.1277 x ^2 = .2922 weight of sulphur.

JL_ x ioo - 1 1. 20/0 of sulphur.
2.6101

3o8 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

MOISTURE.

For this purpose, t\vo watch-glasses, held together by a
wire-spring, contain the powder. The apparatus is weighed,
and a given weight of powder is then put between the glasses.
The glasses are opened a little, so as to allow the moisture to
escape, and then put into an air-bath, where they are kept
twenty-four hours at a temperature of 60° C. They are then
taken out, the glasses shut to keep out all moisture, and
weighed: the difference between the weight before and after
being placed in the bath is the weight of the moisture, and
from this the per cent, of moisture can be obtained.

Weight of glasses, spring, and powder 42.8483

Weight of glasses and spring 32.3359

Weight of powder 10.5124

Weight with moisture 42.8483

Weight without moisture 42.7480

Weight of moisture 1 003

.1003 r

°- x ioo = .95 % of moisture.
10.5124

CHARCOAL.

The separation of charcoal from the other constituents de
pends upon the solubility of niter in hot water and sulphur
in ammonium sulphydrate. The weighed powder is placed
in a beaker-flask and completely covered with ammonium
sulphydrate and heated very gently over the water-bath. In
a few moments the sulphur is dissolved, and the .carbon and
niter remain. The mixture is filtered through a weighed
filter, and thoroughly washed with hot water to remove the
niter. It is washed with water and sulphydrate until no
traces of niter or sulphur remain in the filter. The filter 'te

NOTE F. APPENDIX.

309

then placed in the air-bath, where it remains for twenty-four
hours at 100° C., thus removing all moisture. At the end of
that time it is removed and weighed; the weight, minus weight
of filter, being weight of charcoal, from which per cent, of
charcoal may be determined.

Weight of glass and powder 17.0269

Weight of glass 6.6093

Weight of povyder 10.4176

Weight of filter and charcoal 2.059

Weight 01 filter 3706

—-— x ioo x 16.20% of charcoal.

Weight of charcoal 1.6884

1.6884
10.4176

As there appears to be some inaccuracy in the work, and
this is most likely to be in the charcoal, we will take the per
cent, of this constituent by difference :

ioo °/ — 86.29% = I3-7T/o °f carbon.
SUMMARY.

Niter 74.14

Sulphur 1 1.20

Carbon. I3-7I

Moisture .95

100.00

3 ! 0 THE NA VAL A CADEM\.

ANALYSIS OF GUNPOWDER, REGULATION No. 12.

CANNON-POWDER, MADE BY ORIENTAL POWDER COMPANY,
SPECIFIC GRAVITY 1.754.

BY CADET-MIDSHIPMAN F. C. SKIMNER, THIRD CLASS, 1876.
DETERMINATION OF NITER.

The separation of the niter from the other ingredients of
the gunpowder depends upon the fact that it is soluble in hot
water, while sulphur and carbon are not.

The manner of carrying on the analysis is as follows : A
watch-glass is first weighed alone and afterward with a quan
tity of gunpowder : the difference in weight is the weight of
the gunpowder. The powder is next put into a beaker, cov
ered with distilled water, and heated until the water boils.
By this process, the niter is dissolved by the water, and may
be separated from the sulphur and carbon by filtration. An
evaporating-dish is then weighed, after having been ignited
and cooled, and the filtrate is evaporated to dryness in this
dish over a water-bath. The dish with its contents is again
ignited to incipient fusion to remove the last traces of moist
ure.

After the dish has been allowed to cool, it is again weighed,
and the difference between its two weights is the weight of
the niter.

Having the weight of powder taken, and the weight of the
niter obtained from it, it is very easy to calculate what per
cent, of niter the powder contains. In gunpowder No. 4,
the following results were obtained :

Weight of watch-glass + powder 14.1453

Weight of watch-glass — powder 6.0026

Weight of powder taken 8.1427

NOTE F. APPENDIX.

Weight of evaporating-dish -f K N O3 56.4263

Weight of evaporating-dish — K N Oa ...... .... 50.4798

Weight of K N O3 5.9465

c.Q46c

- X ioo = 73.03 % of niter.
8.1427

DETERMINATION OF SULPHUR.

The gunpowder is weighed in the same manner as before,
and is put into a beaker-flask and covered with strong nitric
acid. The flask is then warmed and crystals of potassium chlo
rate are thrown in from time to time. The sulphur and car
bon are oxidized, the former to H2 S O4 and the latter to C O2.
The potassium nitrate and chlorate are converted into K2 S O4
and potassium chloride, and there is also left an excess of
potassium chlorate. The liquid is then put into an evapo
rating-dish and treated with chlorhydric acid, which converts
the remaining potassium chlorate into potassium chloride, and
oxides of chlorine are given off. Heat the liquid until it is
evaporated to dryness, and the oxides of chlorine are all
driven off. Dissolve the residue in chlorhydric acid and add
distilled water. When the solution is complete, transfer the
liquid to a beaker, dilute with distilled water, heat to gentle
ebullition, and add a solution of barium chloride.

The sulphuric acid of the solution acts upon the barium
chloride, and forms barium sulphate, which is precipitated as
a white powder. The liquid is decanted after the precipitate
has been allowed to settle, and the barium sulphate is then
boiled with distilled water, which removes the potassium
chloride, and we have left nothing but barium sulphate. The
water with which the sulphate is mixed is then passed through
a filter, the weight of whose ash is known. After being
allowed to dry, the filter-paper with its contents is placed in
a porcelain crucible, which has been previously ignited,

3 j 2 THE NA VA L ACA DEM Y.

cooled, and weighed. The crucible is then heated until the
filter-paper is reduced to a white ash, when it is allowed to
cool.

When entirely cooled, the crucible with its contents is
weighed, and from this weight is subtracted the weight of the
crucible and ash of the filter-paper : the remainder is the
weight of barium sulphate.

The method of calculating the weight of sulphur in this
weight of barium sulphate depends upon the law of definite
proportions.

The atomic weight of sulphur is 32; the molecular weight

of BaSO4is 233: therefore the weight of sulphur is — — of

the weight of barium sulphate.

Now, having the weight of sulphur, we may calculate what
proportion it bears to the weight of the powder taken :

Weight of watch-glass -j- powder 7-5233

Weight of watch-glass — powder 6.0019

Weight of powder taken t 1-5214

Weight of crucible + BaSO4 and ash of filter-paper. 11.8561
Weight of crucible — BaSO4 and ash of filter-paper. 10.7704

1.0857
Weight of ash of filter-paper 0003

Weight of barium sulphate . . i .0854

233
,14907

:x 1.0854= .14907

X ioo = 9.798 »/ of sulphur.

1.5214

DETERMINATION OF MOISTURE.

;

For determining the moisture, two watch-glasses, held to-

NOTE F . A PPENDIX. 3 1 3

gether by a wire-spring, are used. This apparatus is weighed,
and then a quantity of powder is put between the glasses,
and the whole is weighed: the difference in the weights is the
weight of the powder.

The glasses are then opened a little, so as to allow the va
por to escape, and are put into an air-bath, where they are
kept for twenty-four hours at a temperature of 60° C. They
are then taken out, and the glasses are shut, and the whole is
again weighed. The loss in weight is due to the loss in moist
ure. From this weight of moisture we calculate the per cent.
of moisture which the powder contains :
Weight of glasses -f- powder .................. 46.6900

Weight of glasses — powder .................. 35.5 172

Weight of powder taken ...................... 1 1.1728

Weight of glass + powder before heating ....... 46.6900

Weight of glass -j- powder after heating ......... 46.5470

Weight of moisture .......................... -143°

-— 0 x ioo = i. 28% of moisture.
11.1728

DETERMINATION OF CARBON.

The separation of the carbon from the other constituents
of the gunpowder depends upon the solubility of sulphur in
ammonium sulphydrate and of niter in hot water.

The powder, after having been weighed, is put into a beaker-
flask and covered with ammonium sulphydrate and allowed
to stand for a few moments. The sulphur is dissolved and
the carbon and niter remain. The mixture is filtered on a
weighed filter, and thoroughly washed with boiling water,
which dissolves all the niter and leaves all the carbon on the
filter.

3 ! 4 THE NAVAL A CADEM J ".

The filter with the carbon is now put into an air-bath, and
remains there twenty-four hours, thus taking away all the
moisture.

Finally, the carbon and filter are weighed, and, subtracting
the weight of the filter, we find that of the carbon. From
this weight of carbon we calculate the per cent, of carbon
in the powder :

Weight of watch-glass -f powder 12.4373

Weight of watch-glass — powder 6.0025

Weight of powder taken 6.4348

Weight of filter-paper -|- carbon 1.5041

Weight of filter-paper — carbon •5I73

Weight of carbon 9868

.9868

~ X 100 = 15.34% of carbon.

0.434^

SUMMARY.

Niter 73.03

Sulphur 9.80

Moisture 1.28

Carbon 1 5-34

ANALYSIS OF GUNPOWDER-CAKE.
BY CADET-MIDSHIPMAN JAMES H. GLENNON, THIRD CLASS.

UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY,

J-une 9, 1876.

Gunpowder is composed of three chief constituents, nitre
(K N O3), carbon (C), and sulphur (S). Besides these, there
is' generally another constituent in ordinary gunpowder. This
constituent is moisture, which enters the powder when ex
posed. In analyzing gunpowder, the first thing necessary is
to determine the niter and then the other three constituents.

NOTEF. APPENDIX.

DETERMINATION OF THE NITER.

From four to five grams of the powder are poured upon
a watch-glass, the weight of which is known. The watch-
glass must be free from dust and moisture ; if any is present,
it can be seen, and should be wiped off. The watch-glass
and powder are weighed together. The weight of both,
minus the weight of the glass, is the weight of the powder
taken.

In order that we may be certain that no powder is lost, it
is well to weigh the glass after the powder has been taken.
In the case in question, gunpowder cake, some powder is
almost certain to remain upon the glass, as the powder is un-
glazed. The powder is emptied from the watch-glass into a
beaker, which has previously been cleaned, and rinsed with
distilled water. About 50 cm3, of distilled water is next
added to the powder, and it is then boiled for a certain length
of time. The object of this is to dissolve the niter. Care
must be taken that the boiling is not too tumultuous, as
niter may be lost mechanically. The liquid is next poured
upon a filter. As neither sulphur nor carbon are dissolved
by water, the filtrate contains only niter. But it is not cer
tain that all the niter has been dissolved. Consequently,
fresh portions of boiling water are added from time to time
to the filter, until a drop of the filtrate, taken from the lower
extremity of the funnel, no longer colors the flame violet.
The filtrate is next placed in an evaporating-dish, the weight
of which has been previously determined. In order to find
the exact weight of the dish, it must be first cleaned and
rinsed with distilled water, and then dried by ignition. The
filtrate is evaporated in this dish over a water-bath. The
reason for evaporating it this way is, that if the heat were too
strong or too sudden, the niter might be decomposed. When
evaporated to dryness, it is ignited to incipient fusion to free

THE NA^AL AC AD EM \.

it completely from moisture. After having attained the tem
perature of the balance-room, the niter and dish are weighed.
The weight of the dish and niter, minus the weight of the
dish, is the weight of the niter. From this and the weight
of the powder, the per cent, of niter may bs determined :

Grama.

Weight of watch-glass and powder 10.3425

Weight of watch-glass 6.00 1 9

Weight of powder 4.3406

Weight of evaporating-dish and niter 65.3730

Weight of evaporating-dish 62.1875

Weight of niter 3-l855

3.1855x100

4.3406 =73-3S

Per cent, of niter, 73.38.

DETERMINATION OF THE MOISTURE.

A pair of watch-glasses of the same size are so placed as
to be pressed together rather tightly by a clamp, so that
when placed in position the two resemble a double convex
lens. After having been heated for a certain length of time
in an air-bath to drive off all the moisture, and then allowed
to cool, they are weighed. From 7 to 8 grams of powder are
next placed between the glasses, space being left at the edges
to allow free access to the air. The whole is next placed in
an air-bath, kept at a certain fixed temperature, and left for
24 hours. At the end of that time, it is supposed that all
the moisture will be driven off, and, after cooling, it is weighed.
The weight of the whole after heating, minus that before
heating, is the weight of the moisture. From this and the
weight of the powder, we compute the per cent, of moist
ure, as in the case of the niter:

NOTE F. APPENDIX.

Grams.

Weight of watch-glass + gunpowder ............ 38-5833

Weight of watch-glass ....................... 31.3346

Weight of gunpowder 7-2487

Weight of watch-glass + gunpowder before heat
ing- - - -.- 38-5833

Weight of watch-glass -f gunpowder heated 24
hours at 60° 38.5238

Weight of moisture -°595

595 x IOO _ tg0g per cent. of moisture.
7.2487

DETERMINATION OF THE CARBON.

The powder is weighed as in the preceding cases, and is
placed in a beaker-flask. Enough ammonium sulphydrate
(NH4) HS) is added to the powder to completely cover it.
The whole is next very gently heated over a water-bath, and
is then poured upon a weighed filter. The object of adding
the ammonium sulphydrate is to dissolve the sulphur. In
heating the liquid, care should be taken that the heating is
not too strong, as the sulphur is apt to collect and sink to the
bottom. Consequently, it is heated on a water-bath. In the
first determination of the carbon, in the present instance, a
result too large by 2 per cent, was obtained, perhaps owing
to the fact that the collected sulphur was poured upon a
filter, and remained with the carbon. The filter upon which
the liquid is poured is one whose weight is known. Suppos
ing all the sulphur to have been dissolved by the ammonium
sulphydrate, the residue on the filter contains carbon and
niter. Boiling water is therefore poured upon the filter until
niter is known not to be present.

The filter is next dried, first in an evaporating dish, and
then for twenty-four hours in an air-bath at 1 00° C. At the

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

end of that time it is allowed to cool, and is then weighed.
The weight of the filter and carbon, minus the weight of the
filter, is the weight of the carbon. From this and the weight
of the powder, it is easy to compute the per cent, of carbon:

Grams.

Weight of watch-glass -f gunpowder 1 1.6648

Weight of watch-glass 6.0096

Weight of gunpowder 5-6552

Weight of carbon -f- filter 1-314°

Weight of filter 4325

Weight of carbon 881 5

Per cent, of carbon, 15.5.

DETERMINATION OF THE SULPHUR.

Two or three grams of the powder are placed in a
beaker-flask, and covered with a small quantity of fuming
nitric acid. This" is heated gently over a water-bath, and
from time to time small quantities of potassium chlorate are
added. Both nitric acid and potassium chlorate are power
ful oxidizing agents, and through their joint agency all the
carbon and sulphur are oxidized ; the first to carbonic acid
(CO2), and the second to sulphuric acid (H2SO4). The
carbon dioxide, being a gas, goes off, while the sulphuric acid
combines with the potassium of the potassium chlorate and
the water resulting from the decomposition of the nitric acid.
During the first part of the operation nitrous fumes are given
off, and when these cease the flask becomes filled with a green
ish gas consisting of chlorine and the oxides thereof. When
the oxidation has been completed, the solution is perfectly
clear and of a yellowish-brown color. It is then transferred
to an evaporating-dish, which is placed upon the water-bath,
and chlorhydric acid is added. The object of this is to* de
compose the excess of potassium chlorate forming potassium

NOTE F. APPENDIX. 319

chloride and the oxides of chlorine, which last, being gaseous,
pass off. Fresh portions of the chlorhydric acid are added
until these oxides are no longer formed, which is shown by
the fact that there is no effervescence when the acid is added.
The liquid is then evaporated to dryness, a fresh portion of
chlorhydric acid is added, and to the solution is added ba
rium chloride (BaCl2). This acts upon the sulphuric acid
and potassium sulphate, and barium sulphate is precipitated.
This barium sulphate contains all the sulphur of the original
powder. It is therefore separated from the liquid portion by
filtering through a filter the weight of whose ash is known.
The residue on the filter is thoroughly washed with water, in
order to remove all traces of barium and potassium chlorides.
The filter is next dried, placed in a small porcelain crucible,
and ignited until the substance in the crucible exists as a
white ash. The weight of this crucible is known. When the
ignition is completed, the crucible is allowed to cool, and is
then weighed. The weight of the crucible and ash, minus
the weight of the crucible and filter-ash, is the weight of the
barium sulphate.

Grams.

Weight of watch-glass -J- gunpowder 8.605 1

Weight of watch-glass , 6.0024

Weight of gunpowder 2.6027

Weight of capsule, filter-ash, and BaS O4 12.7568

WTeight of capsule 10.6465

Weight of filter-ash and BaS O4 2.1103

W7eight of filter-ash 0003

Weight of barium sulphate 2.1 100

eight of sulphur =-$— wei^

Per cent, of sulphur, n.i.

Weight of sulphur =A_ weight of BaS O4 = .28978 grams.

320

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS.

Niter 73-3%%

Moisture 81

Carbon . . 15.50

Sulphur ii. 10

Total 100.79%

The error is probably in the carbon, as some sulphur is
almost certain to separate and remain on the filter with the
carbon.

NOTE G. APPENDIX.

321

NOTE G.

Plan for a Naval School, as originally submitted by Commander
Buchanan.

[From the Original Document in the Navy Department, at Washington. ]

The Superintendent is to be appointed by the Secretary of
the Navy from the list of captains or commanders. The Su
perintendent will have the immediate government of the
institution, will be responsible for its management, direct all
academic duties, and command all professors and others con
nected with the school. He will frame a code of rules and
regulations for the internal government of the school, to be
submitted to the Secretary of the Navy for his approval.

Professors and instructors are to be selected from the list
of lieutenants, chaplains, professors, passed midshipmen, and
teachers in the Navy.

Professors, under the orders of the Superintendent, will
constitute a board for the transaction of business, will conduct
the examinations during the course, decide on the merits of
the midshipmen, report on the system of instruction, and
suggest any improvements or alterations which experience
may dictate.

Every applicant for admission to the school must be of
good moral character, not less than thirteen nor more than
sixteen years of age; be examined by the surgeon of the in
stitution to ascertain if he be free from all deformity, deafness,
nearness or other disease of sight, disease or infirmity of any
kind which would disqualify him from performing the active

3 2 2 THE A' A J'AL A CA DEM Y,

and arduous duties of a sea-life. He must be able to read
and write well, and be familiar with geography and arithmetic.
The academic board will examine him on these branches and
certify to his capacity for admission into the school.

When an acting midshipman receives his appointment he
is to be attached to the naval school, subject to the exigencies
of the service. At the expiration of one year, should his
conduct and proficiency meet with the approbation of the
Superintendent and Academic Board, he will be retained in
service and sent to sea. After performing sea-duty for six
months, and receiving a favorable report of his conduct
during that time from his commander, he will be entitled to a
warrant bearing the date of his acting appointment. Other
wise he will be dropped from the lists and returned to his
friends.

A midshipman after serving three years at sea, as now
required, and having received a short leave of absence, at the
discretion of the Department, to visit his friends, will report,
at its expiration, to the Naval School to pursue his course of
studies preparatory to his final examination. All midship
men on shore, not on leave, will be ordered to the Naval
School.

The course of studies will include English grammar and
composition, arithmetic, geography, and history, gunnery and
the use of steam, Spanish and French languages, and such
other branches desirable to the accomplishment of a naval
officer as circumstances may render practicable.

The professors will be required to keep records of all the
recitations, and report weekly to the Superintendent the prog
ress and relative merit of the students. From these weekly
reports the Superintendent will make quarterly reports to the
Secretary of the Navy.

NOTE G. APPENDIX. 323

Classes will be arranged according to the acquirements and
capacity of the midshipmen.

The final examination for promotion will embrace all the
branches taught at the school.

All midshipmen at the Naval School must provide them
selves with such books as are necessary to pursue their studies,
a quadrant, their uniform, and bedding.

A sloop of war or brig may be connected with the institu
tion as a school of practice in seamanship, evolutions, and
gunnery.

The board annually appointed under the regulations of the
Navy for the examination of midshipmen for promotion are
to inspect generally the management of the institution, and
report to the Secretary of the Navy on its condition and the
means of improving it.

7 HE NAVAL ACADEMY.

NOTE H.
Schedule of subjects represented by the books of the Library.

THEOLOGY.

1. Sacred writings, commentaries, criticism.

2 . Natural theology and the evidences of Christianity.

3. Miscellaneous theological works.

4. Ecclesiastical history.

MENTAL AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY.

1. Mental philosophy and logic.

2. Moral philosophy and education.

HISTORY.

1. General treatises and lectures on history, universal his
tory, chronology, &c.

2. Ancient history, antiquities, mythology, numismatics.

3. Continental Europe.

4. England, Ireland, Scotland.

5. Asia, Africa, Australia.

6. North and South America.

7. Naval and military history.

BIOGRAPHY

1. Collective biography.

2. British liography.

NOTE H. APPENDIX. 325

3. American biography.

4. Miscellaneous biography.

5. Naval and military biography.

GEOGRAPHY AND TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS.

1. Universal, descriptive, and historical geography, ethnog
raphy, &c.

2. Physical geography, geology, and meteorology.

3. Voyages, travels, geographical exploration and surveys.

4. Atlases, maps, &c

MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE AND ARTS.

1. Mathematics in general, including collected works, his
tories, dictionaries, journals, £c.

2. Arithmetic and algebra.

3. Geometry, trigonometry, descriptive and analytical
geometry, geometry of curves, &c.

4. Calculus of differential, integral, and other functions.

5. Mathematical tables and treatises on use of instruments-

6. Mensuration, surveying, engineering, <Scc.

7. Miscellaneous mathematical works.

ASTRONOMY AND GEODESY.

1. Histories and journals of astronomy.

2. General, physical, and practical astronomy.

3. Observations, observatories, and treatises on use of
instruments.

4. Ephemerides, catalogues, maps, and tables.

5. Cometography.

6. Miscellaneous astronomical works.

7. Geodesy, geodical operations, and cartography.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND ARTS.

i. Natural philosophy in general.

3 2 6 THE NA VAL A CADEM Y.

2. Mechanics, (including statics, dynamics, &c.)

3. Optics, acoustics.

4. Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism.

5. Chemistry and chemical arts.

6. Miscellaneous works.

NATURAL HISTORY.

1. Natural history in general.

2. Zoology, anatomy, physiology, botany.

3. Geology, mineralogy.

MILITARY SCIENCE AND ARTS.

1. Artillery, small-arms, pyrotechny.

2. Infantry-tactics, &c.

3. Military engineering, science of war, <Scc.

4. Military organization, laws, courts, statistics, &c.

5. Military dictionaries, journals, and miscellanies.

NAVAL SCIENCE AND ARTS.

1. Navigation, nautical astronomy, nautical surveying, ta
bles and treatises on use of instruments.

2. Maritime geography, hydrography.

3. Naval architecture, wood, iron, and composite ship
building, docks, and other constructions.

4. Seamanship, naval tactics, rigging, stowage, sail and
mast making, &c.

5. Steam-navigation, steam-engineering.

6. Naval ordnance, naval gunnery, torpedoes, ammuni
tion, &c.

7. Naval signals.

8. Naval organization, naval regulations, registers, laws
courts, statistics, &c.

9. Nautical dictionaries, journals, and miscellanies.

NOTE H. APPENDIX. 327

ARTS AND MANUFACTURES.

1. General and miscellaneous works.

2. Steam-engine and other machinery.

3. Civil engineering.

4. Civil architecture, drawing, painting, and sculpture.

LAW AND POLITICS.

1. Constitutional and international law, maritime, military,
and naval law, treatises on evidence, United States Supreme
Court decisions, law dictionaries, United States Statutes at
Large, United States Revised Statutes, British and American
admiralty decisions in prize cases, &c.

2. Political economy.

3. Government documents, executive and congressional,
reports, <Scc.

4. Miscellaneous works.

LITERATURE.

1. Grammar and language.

2. Dictionaries of .language.

3. Rhetoric and criticism.

4. Poetry and drama.

5. Fiction.

6. General literature, histories of literature, &c.

POLVGRAPHY.

1. Encyclopedias, dictionaries of the arts and sciences,
collected works, &c.

2. Proceedings, rep.orts, and transactions of academies and
societies.

3. Scientific, art, literary journals and magazines.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

i. American and foreign bibliography.

328

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

NOTE I.
List of officers holding seats at the Academic Board.

SUPERINTENDENTS.
Assumed command.

Sept. 3, 1845. Commander Franklin Buchanan.
Mar. 15, 1847. Commander George P. Upshur.
July i, 1850. Commander Cornelius K. Stribling.
Nov. i, 1853. Commander Louis M. Goldsborough.
Sept. 15, 1857. Captain George S. Blake.
Sept. 9, 1865. Rear- Admiral David D. Porter.
Dec. i, 1869. Commodore John L. Worden.
Sept. 22, 1874. Rear-Admiral C. R. P. Rodgers.

COMMANDANTS OF MIDSHIPMEN.
Reported for dir.y.

Oct. i, 1845. Lieut. James Harm an Ward.

Sept. i, 1847. Lieut. Sidney Smith Lee.

July i, 1850. Lieut. Thomas T. Craven.

May 28, 1855. Lieut. Joseph F. Green.

Mar. 22, 1858. Commander Thomas T. Craven.

Sept. 2 1, 1860. Lieut. C. R. P. Rodgers.

Sept. 22, 1 86 1. Lieut. George W. Rodgers.

May 1 8, 1862. Lieut. Edward Simpson.

Aug. 3, 1863. Commander Thomas G. Corbin.

Sept. 23, 1863. Commander Donald McN. Fairfax.

Oct. u, 1865. Lieutenant-Commander Stephen B. Luce.t

Sept. 30, 1868. Capt. Napoleon B. Harrison.

NOTE I. APPENDIX.

329

Feb. i, 1870. Capt. Samuel P. Carter.

June 5, 1873. Commander K. Randolph Breese.

Oct. 31, 1874. Commander Edward Terry.

EXECUTIVE DUTY.

Detached,
resigned, or
Reported. transferred.

1863. Lieutenant-Commander C. C. Carpenter .... 1864

1864. Lieutenant-Commander Alfred Hopkins .... 1865

1865. Lieutenant-Commander James A. Greer 1866

1866. Lieutenant-Commander Oscar F. Stanton... 1867

1866. Lieutenant-Commander Bushrod B. Taylor.. 1867

1867. Lieutenant-Commander Thomas O. Selfridge. 1868

1868. Lieutenant-Commander Charles L. Franklin . 1870
1870. Lieutenant-Commander Henry L. Howison . 1871

DEPARTMENT OF SEAMANSHIP.

1850. Lieut. Thomas T. Craven, (commandant) . .. 1855

1855. Lieut. Joseph F. Green, (commandant) 1858

1858. Commander Thomas T. Craven, (comman
dant 1 860

1860. Lieut. William H. Parker , 1861

1 86 1. Lieutenant-Commander Joseph N. Miller . . . 1862

1862. Lieutenant-Commander Stephen B. Luce. . . . 1863

1863. Lieutenant-Commander Marshall C. Camp

bell 1865

1865. Lieutenant-Commander Robert F. R. Lewis. 1866

1866. Lieutenant-Commander Richard W. Meade . 1868

1868. Commander Joseph S. Skerrett 1872

1870. Lieutenant-Commander A. R. Yates 1871

1872. Commander Frederick V. McNair I^75

1875. Commander Henry L. Howison.

ORDNANCE, GUNNERY, AND STEAM.

1845. Lieut. James H. Ward 1 1847

330

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

Detached,
resigned, or
Reported. transferred.

ORDNANCE, GUNNERY, NATURAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHI
LOSOPHY.

1847. Prof. Henry H. Lockwood

GUNNERY AND INFANTRY TACTICS.

1850. Prof. Henry H. Lockwood ............... 1860

ORDNANCE AND GUNNERY.

1860. Lieut. Edward Simpson .................. 1861

1861. Lieutenant-Commander Stephen B. Luce ---- 1862

1862. Lieutenant-Commander E. O. Matthews. ... 1864

1864. Lieutenant-Commander C. C. Carpenter. ... 1865

1865. Lieutenant-Commander Francis M. Ramsay. 1866

1866. Lieutenant-Commander Montgomery Sicard. 1867

1867. Lieutenant-Commander E. O. Matthews — 1869

1869. Lieutenant-Commander Edward Terry ..... 1870

1870. Commander Augustus P. Cooke ........... I^>73-

1873. Commander Edward Terry ............... 1874

1874. Commander John A. Howell .............. l&7$

1875. Commander James O'Kane.

MATHEMATICS AND NAVIGATION.

1845. Prof. William Chauvenet .................. 1853

MATHEMATICS.

1853. Prof. John H. C. Coffin .................. 1859

1859. Prof. Joseph Winlock ............... ..... 1861

1861. Prof. John H. C. Coffin .................. 1864

1864. Prof. William Henry W7illcox .............. 1870

1870. Prof. Richard Somers Smith ............... 1873

1873. Prof. William Woodbury Hendrickson.

NOTE T. APPENDIX.

331

Detached,
resigned, or
Reported. transferred.

STEAM-ENGINEERING.

1865. Chief Engineer William W. W. Wood 1867

1867. Chief Engineer Thorn Williamson 1869

1869. Chief Engineer Henry L. Snyder 1873

1873. Chief Engineer Charles Henry Baker.

NAVIGATION AND NAUTICAL ASTRONOMY.

1853. Prof. William Chauvenet I^59

1859. Prof. John H. C. Coffin 1865

ASTRONOMY, NAVIGATION, AND SURVEYING.

1865. Lieutenant-Commander Robert L. Phythian. 1870

1870. Lieutenant-Commander John A. Howell 1871

1871. Lieutenant-Commander S. Dana Greene — . 1873
1873. Lieutenant-Commander Alexander H. McCor-

mick I875

1875. Commander John A. Howell.

NATURAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY.

1845. Prof- Henry H. Lockwood 1850

1850. Prof. William Fenn Hopkins 1859

1859. Prof. Augustus W. Smith 1866

1866. Prof. Henry H. Lockwood 1869

1869. Lieutenant-Commander William T. Sampson. 1871

1871. Lieutenant-Commander George P. Ryan,... 1872

PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY.

1872. Lieutenant-Commander George P. Ryan .... 1873

1873. Prof. John M. Rice 1874.

1875. Commander William T. Sampson.

CHEMISTRY.

1845. Surgeon J.ohn A. Lockwood

332

THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

Detached,
resigned, or
Reported. transferred-

APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND MECHANICS.

1876. Prof. John M. Rice.

ENGLISH STUDIES.

1845. Chaplain George Jones ................... 1850

ETHICS AND ENGLISH STUDIES.

1850. Prof. Joseph E. Nourse .................. J865

1865. Lieutenant-Commander Joseph N. Miller ... 1867

1867. Lieutenant-Commander John S. Barnes ..... 1868

1868. Lieutenant-Commander F. B. Blake ........ 1869

1869. Lieutenant-Commander Thomas L. Swann .. 1871
1871. Lieutenant-Commander A. R. Yates ........ x^73

ENGLISH STUDIES, HISTORY, AND LAW.

1873. Prof. James R. Soley.

MODERN LANGUAGES.

1845. Prof. A. N. Girault ...................... 1853

1873. Commander W. S. Schley ................. 1876

1876. Prof. Lucien F. Prud'homme.

FRENCH.

1853. Prof. A. N. Girault ......... ............. 1866

1866. Prof. L. V. Dovilliers .................... 187'!

1871. Commander E. Y. McCauley ............. T^73

SPANISH.
1853. Prof. E. A. Roget ....................... 1873

DRAWING.

1853. Prof. E. Seager ....... ...................

1867. Lieutenant-Commander Montgomery Sicard . 1868

NOTE I. APPENDIX. 333

Detached,
resigned, or
Reported. transferred.

1868. Lieutenant-Commander E. P. Lull 1871

1871. Commander Frederick V. McNair 1872

1872. Lieutenant-Commander Gouverneur K. Has-

well 1873

1873. Prof. Richard S. Smith.

IN CHARGE OF SCHOOL-SHIPS.

1860. Lieut. George W. Rodgers 1861

1 86 1. Lieutenant-Commander E. P. Lull 1863

1862. Lieutenant-Commander R. L. Phythian 1864

1863. Lieut. Henry M. Blue 1864

1864. Lieutenant-Commander P. C. Johnson 1866

1867. Lieutenant-Commander George Dewey 1870

3 34 THE NA l'AL A CA DEM * '

NOTE J.

Supplementary notices,

Commander GEORGE P. UPSHUR, the second Superintend
ent of the Naval School, entered the service April 23, 1818.
He was a native of Virginia. His administration of the
school extended from March, 1847, to July, 1850, when he
was relieved by Commander Stribling, at the re-organization
of the institution. He had a large share in bringing about
the change, being one of the members of the board of 1849
to which was intrusted the revision of the regulations. Com
mander Upshur went from the school to a command in the
Mediterranean squadron. He died November 3, 1852, on
board the sloop of war Levant, at Spezia.

Captain GEORGE W. RODGERS was a son of Captain George
W. Rodgers, of Maryland, a distinguished naval officer of the
war of 1812, and a nephew, through his mother, of Com
modore Oliver H. Perry. He was attached to the Naval
Academy in i86o-'62, at first in charge of the school-ship
and afterward as commandant of midshipmen. The organi
zation of the school-ship system, during the period when the
quarters were insufficient for all the cadets, was mainly due
to his judicious efforts. He commanded the Constitution
when the war broke out, and brought her with the midship
men to Newport. In 1862, he was detached from the
Academy and entered into active service. During the attacks
upon Charleston in 1863, ne served as fleet-captain of Admi-

NOTE J. APPENDIX. 335

ral Dahlgren's squadron, and later, in command of the
monitor Catskill. It was while commanding this vessel, in a
gallant attack on Fort Wagner, that he was killed, August
17, 1863. Admiral Dahlgren refers to his death in his report
of the engagement : " The close and confidential relation
which the duties of fleet-captain necessarily occasion, im
pressed me deeply with the loss of Captain Rodgers. Brave,
intelligent, and highly capable, devoted to his duty and to
the flag under which he passed his life, the country cannot
afford to lose such men ; of a kind and generous nature, he
was always prompt to give relief when he could."

Lieut. SAMUEL MARCY was a son of Hon. William L.
Marcy, of New York, Secretary of War under President Polk,
and Secretary of State under President Pierce. He entered
the Navy in 1838. In 1845 he was attached to the Naval
School as assistant instructor in mathematics, being at that
time a passed midshipman. He also assisted Lieutenant
Ward in the performance of executive duty. He was de
tached in 1847, and between that time and 1861 he was
twice connected with the Academy for considerable periods.
He served with distinction during the first year of the war,
and died January 29, 1862, from injuries received while firing
a boat-howitzer at a blockade-runner in the Southeast Pass
of the Mississippi River.

Prof. WILLIAM HENRY WILLCOX was born October 19,
1823. He entered the service as a midshipman January 30,
1841. He was ordered to the Academy as instructor under
Commander Goldsborough, but resigned his commission as
lieutenant June 19, 1857, and was soon afterward appointed
an assistant professor of mathematics. He was commissioned
professor of mathematics, June 3, 1858. In the summer of
1864, the department of mathematics, which had been since
1861 united with that of navigation, was made once more

336 THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

independent, and Professor Willcox was placed at the head.
He remained in charge until the time of his death, August
20, 1870. He showed great skill in the management of his
department, and devoted himself to the best interests of the
Academy with a singleness of purpose seldom equaled.

He received the degree of A. M. from Yale College in
1870.

ERE AT A.

Page 146, line 13. Fcr " fire-tell," read "fire-bill."

Page 189, after line 23. Insert: " Text-lccTis of Cac'et Mie'stifnen.—
Bourne's Handbook of the Steam-Engine ; King's Practical Notes on the
Steam-Engine."

Pages 189 and 190. NOTE. — In cases where practical instruction is given,
in the Department of Steam-Engineering, part of the time otherwise devoted
to study is occupied with practical exercises.

Page 190, line 8. Insert: "King's Practical Notes on the Steam-Engine;
Willis's Principles of Mechanism; Zeuner's Valve Gear."

Page 331, after line 1. Insert:
"1867. Chief Engineer Eben Hoyt 186T."

(Coal Wharf

INDEX.

Page.

Academic board 67, 71, 94, 140

organization 139

staff 100, 139

year 141

Academy, removal of 106

under Bureau of Navigation in

Acts increasing Navy . 10

Adams, J. Q., messages of 19, 21, 22

Adjutant 143

Admission, age at 98, 163

cadet-engineers 162

cadet-midshipmen 161

qualifications for 103, 151, 152

candidates for 98

examination for 92

deposit at 161

statistics of examination for . 164-169

Age of candidates 103

Alert, flag of 219

Alexis, present of Grand Duke 178

Ammunition, samples of 185

Amusements 149, 150

Anchors 178

Annapolis, choice of 50

Antietam 1 75

Apartment-houses 130

Apparatus, astronomical 192

gunnery .'..'. 183

physical 199

seamanship 171

steam-engineering 188

338 INDEX.

Page.

Appellation of cadets 112

Appointment, letter of, 1845 72

Appropriation, for improvements 82

Arithmetic 152, 153

Arms, photographs of 185

samples of 184

Armstrong gun 229

Artillery, field 179

Assistant to executive officer 99

Astronomy, course in 191

Asylum, school at Naval 38

Attendance 78

irregularity of 86

Averages, change in computing 113

Bainbridge, Captain 221

Ball 150

Bancroft, G 42,43,50,51,83

Barney's action 230

Barry's commission 230

Base ball 149

Battle of Tripoli 230

Bell, Japanese 222

Berceau, flag 22 1

Beresford, flag 220

Biddle, James 221

Bigelow, Commander 97

Bill for improvement of Navy, 1826 21

for education of officers 14

relative to naval schools 25

pay of instructors 26

Bladen, Governor 133

Blake, Commodore 102, 104, 106, 108

Blake Row 131

Blakeley, Captain ., 221

Blakeley gun 229

Boat clubs 149

Boat exercise 172, 182

INDEX.

339

Page.

Boundaries 115

Bourne on Engines 190

Bowditch's Navigator 191

Bowling alley 125

Boxer, flag 219

Brady's kedge-anchor 170

Branch, Secretary, reports

Brass guns taken at Vera Cruz 229

Breese, Capt. S. L 97

Buchanan, Commander... 50, 54, 59,62,65,85,97, 115

Buchanan house 131

Burrows, Captain ...... .. 219

Butler. General * 105, 106

Cadet-engineers, admission of 162

midshipmen, admission of 161

officers 143

organization 142

Cadets, age of 163

appointment of 45

pay of * 45, 146

two classes of 141

quarters ....130, 145

Calculus 185

Candidates for admission 98, 103, 154, 153

Card catalogue 136

Chapel 129

Chaplain 140

duties of 8, 9, 26

Chauncey, Commodore 220

Chauvenet, Professor 38,62,86, loo, 102, 190

Chemical laboratory - 132

Chippewa, flag 220

Chubb, flag 220

Coffin, Professor loo, 190, 192

Columbus, figure-head 223

Commandant of cadets 139, 171, 181

Competitive examinations 155

340 INDEX.

Page.

Composition, English 204, 208

Conduct, weight given to . 93

report 145, 148

Confiance, flag 220

Conner, Commodore 97

Constitution, figure-head — . 224

Constitution of United States 209

Cooke, Commander 181, 182

Corean arms 229

flags 222

Cost of instruction, 1844 39

Course .67, 89, 91, 98, 113, 170

Craven, Commander 93, 97, 103

Cruise practice 92,142,172,216

Cyane, flag of 220

Dahlgren, Lieutenant 86, 1 79

Daily routine .... . ., 143

Dale 171

Dancing 150

Debts 81

Decatur „ 7, 221

Deeds 114, 120, 122

Delaware, figure-head 224

Demerits ^ , 148

Departments ., 170

Descriptive geometry 186

Detroit, flag 220

Deviation of compass ^-- --, 191

Dickerson, Secretary 26

Dining-room 150

Discipline 61,65, 148

Divine service , .„ 144

Dovilliers, Professor 210

Drawing, department of ., --98> 211

Drawing-room 187

Drills -- *43

Duff, Simon 126, 133

INDEX. 341

Page.
Dulany .................................. ................ 114, 135

Dupont, Commodore ..................... . ................. 105

Dusenbury, Captain ........................................ 128

Eddis's letters ............................................. 134

Eden, Governor .......................................... 133, 134

Eldridge, Capt. O .......................................... 107

Elective course ....... „- ..................................... 186

Engineering, department of ............... . ...... . ........... 187

English ................................................... 202

Epervier .................................................. 220

Estidio .................................................... 221

Ethics, department of ....................................... 202

Examination, annual ....................................... 77

board of, 1845 ...... . .......................... 42

final .......................................... 98

for admission ................................ 151, 162

for promotion ............................... 78, 97, 99

questions .................................... 152

exhibitions ....................... . ............. 1 50

F.
Faculty ................................................... 87, 140

Failure at examination ...................................... 80

P'encing ...... . ....................................... _____ 125, I^o '

Figure-heads ............................................. 223, 224

Figure of lion ............................................. 228

Field fortification ........................................... 1 8 1

Fire organization .......................... « ................ 146

Flags ..................................................... 219

Foot-ball .................. ____ • ............................ 149

Fort Severn ................................. 44, 58, 60, 114, 126, 179

Franklin, figure-head ....................................... 223

French, course in .......................................... 210

department of ...................................... 98, 209

P'rolic, flag ................................................ 220

342 INDEX.

Pafc.

Geography, questions in 153, 154

Girault, Professor 62, 209

Goldsborough, Commander 102, 117

Governor street 115

Governor's house 132, 133

Graduation 98, 99

Grammar . - 154

Grammars studied 206

Green, Lieut. J. F 180

Grounds 114, 122

G uerriere, flag 220

Gunnery Iy8

Gunnery-room 129

Gun's crew 142

Gymnasium 125

II.

Heads of departments 140

Heat and light, course in 198

Hicks, Governor 106

History, course in 205

Hopkins, Professor 94, 100, 194

Hospital 129, 130, 144

Howitzers 179

Hull, Captain 220

Hunter, flag • 220

Improvements and new buildings no, 112

Infantry tactics 181,182

Instructions to board of 1845 43

Insurgente, flag 221

Iroivclads, models 1 78

J-

Java, flag 221

Jeffers, Lieutenant i ^g

Jennings, Edmund 133

INDEX.

343

Johnson, Prof. VV. W 100

Jones, Capt. J 220

Chaplain, George 94, 128, 202

Commodore T. A. C 42, 85

Secretary, report of 1 1

Jurisdiction, act ceding . 1 1 6

K.
Kearney, Commodore L 77

Laboratory 130, 132, 197, 198,200

Land, purchase of 117, 1 18, 119

Langley, Professor 101

Lavallette, Captain 42

Law, international 209

Lawrence, flag of. 219

Lawrence, Capt. J 22 1

Leave 1 50

Lee, Lieutenant 93

Levant, flag • 220

Library 135

Little, Captain 221

Livingstone, resolution of 18

Lockwood, Professor 38, 62, 94, 1 79, 194

Surgeon 62

Luce, Lieutenant-Commander S. B 1 70, 1 73

Macauley, Captain 77

Macedonian, figure-head - 224

flag 221

lion 228

sloop of war 181

Magnetic phenomena 199

Marcy, Samuel 62 and note J

Marks 147

Marvin, Master J. U 180

Maryland legislature, resolutions of 20

Mason, J. Y 83

344 INDEX.

Page.

Mathematics 102, 185

Mayo, Captain 42, 77

McCauley, Capt. E. Y 210

McClure, Professor .. 38

McDonough, Captain 220

McDowell, Hall 133

McHenry, James n

McKean, Commander 5°

McKeever, Captain 77

Mechanics, department of — - 20 1

Mess 150

Mexican armor 229

flags 222

Mezoura, flag of 221

Midshipmen, appointment of 7, 36

Miller, Commander J. N _ 101

Models, gunnery 183

seamanship 171, 175

steam 188

Modern languages 209, 21 1

Monitor practice 183,

Mortar practice 1 83

Name changed to Naval Academy 90

Natural philosophy 194

Naval school 56, 6 1, 62, 63

schools 24

tactics 1 73

Navy Department, establishment of 7

opposition to 13

New quarters 132

Newport, removal to 107, 108

Nicholson house . 131

Nomination of candidates IS1

Nourse, Professor 94, 202

Number of cadets at opening ,72

in 1875 i'*1

INDEX.

345

Page.

( )bservatory 1 30

Officer in charge 145

O'Hara house * 131

Old mess-hall 129

Opening of school 61, 63

Ordnance and gunnery. 178, 181, 183

Organization 66

final 98

Osborne, Prof. G. A IOO

Paulding, J. K 31

Pay and accounts 146

Paymaster's office 130

Peacock, flag 221

Penguin, flag 221

Perry, Commodore M. C.. 42, 77> 222

O. H 219, 220

Photographer's building 132

Physical examination 151

Physics and chemistry 1 94, 1 96

Phythian, Commander R. L 190

Pinkney lot ^ 132

Plan of Naval School 56

Polyconic projections 192

Poole, Mr 136

Porter, Admiral .. 1 08

Capt. D 219

Portraits in library 229

Practical exercises, seamanship 1 73

Practice-cruises 92, 97, 142, 172, 126

ship 46, 99

Preparation of candidates 154

Preston, W. B 89

Professors of mathematics 26, 27, 33, 37, 39, 40, 41

Promotion, examinations for 73

Prose versions 204, 207

Punctuation 204

346

INDEX.

Page.

Punishments i48

Purser '. 99

Pyrotechny 99

Q-

Qualifications for admission 103, 152

Quarters, change in 103

Rank of professors 37

Read, Commodore 42

Recitations 147

Recitation-hall 129

Recreation 143

Regulations of Navy of 1802

Relics and trophies 218

Religious service 144

Removal of Academy 106, 107

Reorganization of Academy 9°. 97

Report board of examiners, 1845 44

Committee on Naval Affairs 233, 239

of Secretary Bancroft 74

of Secretary Dickerson 237

Reserved pay 147

Resolutions of naval officers in 1836 . . .- 27

Rhetoric 208

Rice, Prof. J. M 196, 201

Rodgers, Rear-Admiral C. R. P 107, 1 12

Capt. G. W 105 and note J

Roget, Professor 210

Rules for government of Naval School, 1846 241

Sampson, Commander W. T 195

Schley, Commander W. S 210

Schoolmasters 8, n, 26

Schools, naval 24, 25

Scott, Lieutenant 105, no, 1 1^,.! 18

Seager, Professor 211

ItYDEX. 347

Page.

Seamanship 128, 170

Secession, effects of 104

Secretary of the Navy, visit of 129

Sections 147

Selfridge, Commander T. O 101

Senate bill for five naval schools 34

Senator Bayard's bill 3^

Senior aid 139

Sharpe, Governor 133

Ship-building 1 74

Shubrick, Commodore 222

Sick-list 144

Signal-guns captured from Shenandoah 229

Signals 1 72

Simpson, Lieut. E., Treatise on Ordnance 180

Smith, Prof. A. W 100, 194

Prof. R. S 211

Southard, S. L 14, 15, 1922, 31

Spanish 98,210

Specimens of the work of cadets 246

Spelling 154

St. Lawrence, flag 221

Staff, academic 100, 139

Stations of professors 40, 41

Steam, introduction of. 32

Steam-building 132

Steam-engineering 187

Stewart, Commodore 36

Store 130, 136

Stribling, Commander C. K 89, 97, 102, 1 1 7

Summary of course 212

Superintendent k 139

Superintendents of floors 146

Swimming 149

Text- books, astronomy . 91

ordnance 1 79

seamanship 170

steam-engineering 187

348 INDEX.

Page.

Themes 204, 208, 209

Thompson, Secretary 14

Tilton, Capt. McL 222

Totten's Naval Text-Book 1 70

Traveling expenses 162

Treasurer 99

Truxtun 221

U.
Upshur, A. P 32, 34

Commander G. P 85, 89, 117, 128

V.
Vincennes, memorial of officers of. 36

Ward, Lieut. J. H 38,63,69,80, 128, 178, 187

Warrington 50, 220

West Point, advantages of 35

appointment of naval officers from HjiJ

laws of, to be adopted 48

White, Prof. C. J ioo, 191

Windmill Point 124

Winlock, Professor ioo

Wood, Chief Engineer W. W. W 188

Woodbury, Secretary 25

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