but, of course, they knew nothing; then, as he himself had been a cadet,
he made the new-born yearlings fall in and told them that the outrage
had been committed by some of them, and that the guilty ones should be
punished. He then said that all who had not taken part in the disgraceful
affair could fall out and go to their quarters; the guilty ones trembled
in their shoes, but soon recovered, for not a man fell out. The night
was raw and chilly, but there the Lieutenant made us stand, first at
attention, then at parade rest and then at attention again. The innocent
were once more told to fall out, but not a man moved. We were then put
into the guard-house and several of us obtained permission to go to our
rooms for overcoats. Line was re-formed and B⸺ly directed to call the
roll. I was in my own room at this time and could see and hear what was
going on in the area. I knew that B⸺ly had not called the class roll for
months, so I staid in my room and listened to the roll-call, and when I
discovered that I was not reported absent I went to bed. Lieutenant M⸺l
then marched the yearlings out on the cavalry plain and drilled them at
double time for several hours. He stood still some times and marched the
class around him, and as he was not always near enough to distinguish
one yearling from another in the dark there were many blunders purposely
made in ranks, and this made him furious. After awhile Colonel B⸺k, the
Commandant, put in his appearance, and then the class behaved all right,
but it was kept at drill till near breakfast time. Before being dismissed
Colonel B⸺k told the innocent ones to fall out, but not a man left the
ranks. The class was then dismissed, and in a few minutes the battalion
was formed for breakfast, and, of course, I fell in then. Before marching
to the Mess Hall an order was published confining all members of the
fourth class, except one who was in the hospital, to the area of the
barracks until further orders. Some of the class had relatives and
friends at the Point, and the confinement was hard on them, because
cadets in confinement cannot see their friends for longer than half an
hour, and then only in the visitors’ room in the guard-house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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