REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION OF CADETS INTO THE MILITARY ACADEMY – SEPTEMBER 16, 1861

REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION OF CADETS INTO THE MILITARY ACADEMY – SEPTEMBER 16, 1861

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Offered here is a scarce four-page printed circular issued by the War Department on September 16, 1861, setting out the rules for gaining admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Printed in the first months of the Civil War and bearing the printed name of Simon Cameron, Lincoln's first Secretary of War, it offers a fascinating look at how the nation selected and trained the young men who would become its officers.

The circular explains that applications were to be made by letter to the Secretary of War, with each Congressional and Territorial district, and the District of Columbia, entitled to one cadet on the nomination of its member of Congress, plus no more than ten appointments "at large" each year. Applicants had to state their precise age and the number of their Congressional district, and the circular warns that, as a general rule, no one would be appointed who had a brother educated at the institution. Cadet pay was $30 per month, "considered ample, with proper economy, for his support."

Under "Qualifications," candidates had to be over sixteen and under twenty-one, at least five feet tall, able to read and write well, and able to perform the ground rules of arithmetic with facility and accuracy. A detailed list of fourteen disqualifying physical conditions follows, ranging from impaired vision and deafness to loss of teeth, impediment of speech, flat feet, and old ulcers "likely to break out afresh."

The remaining pages lay out a synopsis of the full four-year course of study by class, department, and textbook, including mathematics, French, Spanish, drawing, chemistry, natural philosophy, infantry and artillery tactics, ethics and military law, and Mahan's celebrated works on civil and military engineering and field fortification. Of special interest to the cavalry collector, every year of the curriculum includes practical instruction in cavalry exercise, the third year includes extracts from McClellan's Military Commission to Europe, and the final year adds Cavalry Tactics for United States Service and Youatt on the Horse.

A period handwritten notation at the top of the first page reads, "The appts for last year were made about 2 weeks ago," suggesting this copy was sent in reply to an inquiry from a hopeful applicant or his family.

Condition: Four pages on a single folded sheet. Original fold lines, with scattered foxing and some light staining, heaviest on the final page. Text is clean, bright, and fully legible. A wonderful early-war West Point document that displays beautifully.  [cm][ph:m]

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