West Point: An Intimate Picture of the National Military Academy and of the Life of the Cadet — John Shaqi
West Point: An Intimate Picture of the National Military Academy and of the Life of the CadetRichardson, Robert C. (Robert Charlwood)
History
West Point: An Intimate Picture of the National Military Academy and of the Life of the Cadet
Richardson, Robert C. (Robert Charlwood)
United States Military Academy
The interior of the Mess is quite beautiful, especially the main
dining-hall and reading-room, whose principal features are mantels
ornamented with small replicas of the figures of Day and Night, Morning
and Evening, that adorn the tomb of the Medicis in Florence. Both
Cullum Hall and the Mess were designed by the late Stanford White and
completed, the former in 1899 and the latter in 1903. The Mess is an
organized body incorporated under the laws of the State of New York as
the West Point Army Mess. It was started in 1841 by General McClellan.
There is no Mess in our Army that has had a continued existence for so
long a term as this Mess, and I have heard it stated that few English
or continental Messes are as old in the above sense.
The trip around the buildings brings us to the Library for which we all
entertain a genuine affection. The quiet and repose of its fine rooms
have an attraction for both officers and cadets that no other building
offers, so that it is usually filled with lovers of books, especially
on winter afternoons. Cadets, officers, enlisted men, women, and
children frequent the various rooms whenever an opportunity presents
itself. There is no greater pleasure, I believe, at West Point than to
draw a big leather armchair over in one corner of the library and there
forget the world in a good book.
Like so many of the buildings at West Point it was built of native
granite, and in the Gothic style of architecture. The present
building was erected in 1841 on the site of the old gun shed and
cost approximately $50,000. It was, however, entirely remodeled in
1900-1901. The Library was originally designed by a board of Army
officers and the style of architecture determined upon was used seven
years later in the present South Cadet Barracks. The dominant note
that these two buildings gave to the character of the structures at
West Point, determined the style of architecture in the comprehensive
rebuilding of the Academy that began in 1904.
The library proper was founded in 1812, and with the years has grown
until at the present time it contains 99,148 books. I am informed that
the 100,000 mark will be celebrated by the purchase of a memorable
volume. The Library may be said to be the oldest inhabitant of the
neighborhood, for all its former associates, the old Riding Hall, the
Cavalry Barracks, and the old Cadet Chapel are gone.
The latter building, however, has not permanently disappeared.
Sentiment against its demolition was so strong that an appropriation
was obtained to remove it to the cemetery to be used as a mortuary
chapel. Consequently in 1911 it was taken down, each stone marked,
and so carefully reconstructed that it is impossible to detect the
slightest change in its appearance. The tablets, and the painting of
“Peace and War” by the late Professor Weir have been preserved, but the
British flags have been removed to the Ordnance Museum.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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