In a small glass showcase built especially for the purpose, in the Academic Board room at the Naval Academy, is a brown, leather-covered, dog-eared volume which, in longhand entries, contains the early history of the Academy—from 1845-54. None but the very young scoff at tradition. It is inconceivable that one could browse through this record of the early struggles of our alma mater without feeling a stir of intense interest and gratitude to those men whose foresight and devotion to the service made the present great Academy possible. One who loves the institution will be interested in its history. All want to know when the 4.0 was born, who wrote the first regulation book and what was in it, who was the first commandant of midshipmen, the name of the first practice ship, and countless other things not common knowledge among the younger generation, but all of which are recorded or referred to in this old book.
In 1800, when the Secretary of War was seeking legislation for the establishment of what in 1802 came to be West Point, he included a “school of the navy” as one of the four subheads of his proposed Military Academy. This is doubtless the earliest record of an expressed need for a naval school. It is history that the West Point of 1802 included no nautical department.
From then until 1845, there was constant agitation for legislation authorizing a naval school, but the ears of Congress were consistently deaf.
Mr. George Bancroft, upon becoming Secretary of the Navy in 1845, inherited this deplorable situation along with the rest of his job. Himself an educator, he had a ready understanding of the Navy’s need. Remedial legislation had failed repeatedly, and he realized that whatever was to be accomplished had to be through other means than an appeal to Congress. Accordingly, on June 2, 1845, when a board of officers was ordered convened at the Philadelphia Naval Asylum, Mr. Bancroft broadened its precept to include a report concerning the advisability of establishing some sort of a school, as well as the usual report required from examining boards for the promotion of midshipmen.
His letter to the board was written in Washington on June 13, 1845.
Sir:
I desire the assistance of your board in maturing a more efficient system of instruction for the young naval officers. The opportunity which your present arduous and responsible duties as examiners of the school affords you of giving practical and useful advice leads me to solicit your co-operation by as full a communication of your opinion as is consistent with your convenience.
Fort Severn has been recommended to me as a more suitable 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 the midshipmen on shore to the school? What plan of studies is most advisable? I hope your board will find time, and be disposed to aid me by their suggestion * * * *
On June 25, 1845, the board made their report to the Secretary. They first discussed the proposed location at Fort Severn, and then, on the assumption that that or some other suitable location would be adopted, wrote:
It would be very desirable that a grade of naval cadets inferior to that of midshipman should be created by law, who should compose the primary classes of the Naval School, and from which all appointments of midshipmen should be made after the candidates for such appointment had passed through a stated course of elementary professional education. * * * * . These candidates should be appointed in the same manner as those at West Point and their pay, over which they should have no control, should be only sufficient to clothe and feed them. Twenty dollars per month would be adequate. * * * *. But whether a grade of naval cadets may or may not be created by law, a naval school such as it is proposed to recommend would operate equally to the advantage of the acting midshipmen as now appointed; the difference would lie only in the designation and pay of the existing and proposed grades. * * * *.
The report then considered what personnel would be needed, and went on to recommend that a practice ship be attached to the school. It then continues:
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 time to time be appointed to the Navy * * * * shall be required to enter the primary class. * * * * . First, after their appointments to the Navy, they should be required to remain two years attached to the primary school, at the expiration of which periods they may receive their warrants as midshipmen * * * *. From the primary school they should proceed as warranted midshipmen, to a sea-going ship, remaining at sea constantly for three years.
At the end of this first cruise they were to be attached to the practice ship for at least one year, when they were to be finally examined for a commission. It was then recommended that, as the system at West Point had operated most happily, the naval school be organized along similar lines. The next mention covered two points which throughout the years have kept all midshipmen wondering—the semi-annual examinations, and the Academic Board. This is the first reference to either. In referring to the examinations the report has this to say:
By making the final examinations of primary students extremely strict, both in regard to moral conduct and academic improvement, none but the meritorious will find their way into the Navy.
The board concludes its report by offering to serve on a further committee should the Secretary so desire.
Soon after this record was received in the Department, the Secretary visited Annapolis, presumably for the inspection of Fort Severn and its environs.
Shortly after this visit another board was appointed to consider the subject in detail. Among the members of this body was Commander Franklin Buchanan, U. S. Navy, destined to become the first Superintendent of the school. This board decided upon Annapolis as the place, and upon three of the Navy’s most experienced teachers as instructors—Lieutenant J. H. Ward, U. S. N., and Professors Chauvenet and Lockwood of the Naval Asylum. Later, in a letter to Commander Buchanan, the Secretary stated some of his own views on the school:
In carrying this design into effect it is my desire that all unnecessary expense be avoided, to create no place 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 officers 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 existing laws. Placed by their profession in connection with the world, visiting in their career of service every climate and leading people, the officers of the Navy, if they gain but opportunity for scientific instruction may make themselves distinguished for culture as they have been for gallant conduct * * * *
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 sobriety 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 arrangements as shall make of them an exemplary body of which the country may be proud. * * * * 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 good degree, the responsibility of a wise arrangement.
On August 14 Commander Buchanan ‘‘feeling sensibly the importance of the trust” replied to the Secretary, enclosing with his letter the first “Plan of the Naval School” which was no more nor less than the first regulation book. This was later modified somewhat, until on August 28, 1846, with the approval of the Secretary, it was printed as the official “Plan.” This pamphlet contains much of interest. Unfortunately, space is not available for its reproduction.
On August 15, 1845, Fort Severn was transferred to naval jurisdiction by general order. And on the same day Commander Buchanan assumed charge.
The original organization, as had been foreseen, was soon to prove its undesirability from an educational viewpoint; but none better could be had without Congressional action. Despite its faults, the plan was monumental if for no more than the expressed idea of educating officers for the Navy.
The first entry in the first journal of the first board is a letter from Commander Buchanan written at the Naval School on October 4:
You will convene as a board and arrange the classes of midshipmen attached to the naval school, decide upon the hours of recitation, the number of hours necessary to be applied to study, etc., * * *. The course of instruction will be comprised under the following heads: 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 will act as president of the board.
The board rendered the required report two days later, and, on the tenth of the month, the school was formally opened.
Fortunately the first Superintendent was a man of great courage and strength of character. A command is always the mirror of its commander. A weakling at the outset would have been a serious handicap to the infant institution. That the passing years have made small change in the worth of, the advice given in his opening address shows his vision and his understanding of the magnitude of the undertaking.
Those among you who have served several years in the navy know the value of wholesome law and regulation; and to you I look with confidence for assistance in impressing upon the minds of those youths who have lately entered the service the absolute necessity of obedience.
The Government in affording you an opportunity of acquiring an education, so important to the accomplishment of a naval officer, has bestowed upon you all an incalculable benefit
The regulations of the navy require you to pass through a severe ordeal before you can be promoted; you must undergo an examination on all the branches taught at the naval school before you are eligible for a Lieutenancy; your morals and general character are strictly inquired into. It is therefore 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 cherishing a wish to deserve and the hope of receiving the approbation of your country, you alone can render yourselves able to occupy with honor the high standing in. the Navy to which many of you are destined. * * * * 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 regulations 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 overlooking offenses against those laws, however painful it may be to him to enforce them. * * * *
It is at all times an unpleasant duty to a commander to be compelled to punish misconduct of his juniors; but as omission on his part to do his duty makes him as culpable 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.
Below is the personnel of the first Academic Staff—the name still used at the Academy.
Commander Franklin Buchanan, U. S. N.—Superintendent.
Lieutenant J. H. Ward, U. S. N.—Executive, and Instructor in Gunnery and Steam.
Surgeon J. A. Lockwood, U. S. N.—Instructor in Chemistry.
Chaplain G. Jones, U. S. N.—Instructor in English.
Professor H. H. Lockwood—Instructor in Natural Philosophy.
Professor W. Chauvenet—Instructor in Mathematics and Navigation.
Professor A. N. Girault—Instructor in French.
Passed Midshipman S. Marcy—Assistant Instructor in Mathematics.
In June, 1846, the first annual examination was held. In the first printed regulation book on file at the Academy—from the inscription apparently Commander Buchanan's personal copy— are found the “rules to govern examinations at the naval school.’’ These include provision for a system of weights and multiples not unlike those used today, for the section room mark being the basic mark, for the assignment of class standing to establish relative rank, for marking on a scale of ten, for what in effect was turning a midshipman back a class, and for the dropping of rejected midshipmen. As the record rather amusingly puts it:
An officer who shall be rejected will be dropped from the Navy list and returned to his friends.
The granting of a ten-day leave period at Christmas, which the present Superintendent has revived, was in effect from the opening of the naval school until 1849 when it was reduced to two days.
In 1846 Secretary Bancroft wrote:
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.
His successor wrote in similar vein and directed that no midshipman be allowed to visit a “tavern, hotel, or eating house” without permission. The instructions of the examining board of June, 1846, directed that any midshipman having unpaid debts “should be considered as having failed to pass.” History is merely repeating, for an earnest campaign against the incurring of debts by midshipmen is still being conducted. Among other satisfactory but less important results, the three banks of Annapolis have gone on record in writing against the lending of money to midshipmen. No longer can a first classman, about to graduate, look to these banks for funds with which to liquidate his graduation debts. It is a logical deduction that with the closing of this source of funds there will be less credit given the midshipmen by firms engaging in that sort of business.
On October 5, 1846, Commander Buchanan issued an order to the board which indicates that a year of experience had shown room for improvement in his original plan:
Gentlemen:
The time is fast approaching when a large number of midshipmen will assemble here to pursue their studies; and as the experience of the last year’s instruction convinces me that the program of studies can be changed advantageously to the midshipmen and the service, you are directed to convene on Monday the fifth instant for the purpose.
Natural Philosophy is an important branch of education to make an accomplished naval officer; but as the school was established with a view to make useful, practical officers first, I wish that branch confined principally to Mechanics, and illustrated as far as possible by experiments.
Practical Navigation and the use of nautical instruments I wish taught the junior class at the commencement of the course; the principles can be taught them later.
It is very important that the English branches should receive due consideration * * * *
There is an analogy in the statement of the present mission of the Academy that “fundamentals” shall be taught, and that graduates ought to have “practical rather than academic minds." These expressions differ only in terminology from Commander Buchanan’s ideas. His opinion has weathered the storm of time and many administrations.
It was also in 1846 that the board resolved that:
No midshipman shall address any professor upon the subject of his marks except with permission of the Superintendent.
This resolution has struggled along in various forms from regulation book to regulation book, and as a matter of fact has been only recently a subjects for discussion.
The earliest of the plans required an examination at midyear. Through all the passing years, with only a few exceptions as during the recent war, the semi-annual examinations have continued to awe the midshipmen. The present year finds both the semi-annual and the annual examinations abolished in an endeavor to relieve some of the congestion of an overcrowded curriculum. This change gains some forty per cent of time for advanced work. It will not make the course less difficult—perhaps the contrary.
In the plan of August 28, 1846, it is stated that:
Classes will be arranged according to the acquirements and capacity of the midshipmen.
It is interesting that sectioning classes has been adopted for this year (1923). Sectioning seems the answer to the axiom that the speed of the fleet is that of the slowest ship.
In the minutes of February, 1847, it was resolved, to invite the President and professors of St. John’s College * * * to attend the examinations.
On October 25, 1923, the Superintendent represented the Naval Academy at the inauguration of the new President of old St. John’s.
Later in the year 1847, the board met to submit the first compilation of marks and class standings which appears in the journal. The record goes on to say:
that every individual’s knowledge in each branch has been judged by combining proficiency exhibited during the examination with the opinion of his instructors based on their daily experience * * * *.
The combining of examination marks with the daily “opinion of his instructors” is today standard practice.
These same minutes explain the weights of the various subjects as:
expressing the degree of labor devoted to the Subjects respectively, and in their comparative importance in an elementary education.
Mathematics, French, and English were set at three each. Chemistry was assigned a weight of one. Using these weights, a class of twelve acting midshipmen was arranged according to their final multiples. Thus, our first merit roll. It differs only in size and detail from those of today.
The first suspension of the usual routine for what was no doubt called “An-week” is mentioned on June 21, 1847, when Commander Upshur, who had relieved Commander Buchanan, wrote:
I am officially informed that the examination of midshipmen for promotion will be commenced on Monday next * * *. You will therefore * * * suspend the usual routine of lectures and other academic pursuits.
The minutes of June 21, 1847, are the first to mention any one as being deficient. On that date, one Fitzhugh was found “deficient in all branches.”
On July 5 of this same year there is the first mention of the length of time set aside for the semi-annual examinations. The five hours mentioned have been assigned for the purpose ever since.
The original regulation book provided that “the Superintendent will frame a code of rules for the internal government . . .” There has been no change in this rule. Article 10 is the father of study hours, for it says that “during the hours appropriated to study the midshipmen are directed to confine themselves to their; rooms for that purpose, and are not permitted to lounge or promenade about the grounds of the institution.” Article II states that a “conduct roll will be kept by the Superintendent ... to embrace all improprieties committed at the school—such as neglect of duty, insubordination, .... All serious offences will be reported to the Secretary of the Navy . . . There has been no change in this procedure. Article 14 confined midshipmen to the academic limits for punishment, which still is done. Article 14 invented the first Midshipman-in- charge-of-room, although it called him “Superintendent-of-room.” Room-mates shifted this detail weekly as at present. The prohibitions as to changing rooms without authority, introducing intoxicating liquors into the reservation, cooking in rooms, and having meals there, originated in 1846 and today are unchanged.
One interesting clause that has not found need of duplication says that “chewing tobacco in the mess and recitation rooms is positively prohibited.”
The midshipman officer of the day (now, of the watch) first appeared in article 22 of the 1846 “Plan”; although in those days he was virtually officer of the deck with much authority.
Last year there were some cases of carelessness in signing the hop liberty book. As far back as 1846 the liberty book was to be “regarded as an official record, exhibiting faithfully each officer’s return to the institution.”
The department of Marine Engineering and Naval Construction, at present the largest of the departments, had a rather humble beginning in those days of sailing ships. Steam was first an appendage of gunnery and the marks for the two were combined. In the minutes of October 11, 1847, covering a meeting “for the purpose of taking measures for the reopening of the school” among other resolutions is one that in the “opinion of this board instruction in the nature and the use of steam may properly be included in the course on Chemistry and it is therefore respectfully suggested to the Superintendent that the courses and steam be assigned to the same instructor.”
The minutes mentioned next above are the first not signed by Lieutenant Ward, as President. Professor Chauvenet, whose name is so interlocked with the early history of the Academy, was elected as the second President and was re-elected each year until 1850, when the new plan which made the Superintendent President, ex-officio, became effective.
International Law makes its first appearance in 1847 when it was decided that “a lecture * * * on International Law is to be delivered once in two weeks in the place of a lecture on Chemistry or Steam.”
On November 6, 1847, it was resolved that “candidates for admission at the school shall hereafter be examined by the board, three members thereof forming a quorum” and on November 10 the first candidate under this system, a Mr. Jones, was found “not qualified.”
By 1848 the weights of the subjects had been changed to three for Navigation and Mathematics, and two each for French, Mechanics and Astronomy, and Gunnery and Steam. The aggregate “of the products thus obtained is taken as the index of academic standing.”
As early as 1848 the board met to consider the evils attending the method of entering the naval school. The major evil is given as “the candidates come dropping in through the whole year.” At short intervals also come orders detaching them, sometimes singly, sometimes in bodies of three or four.” A committee was appointed late in the year to recommend changes in the method of admission.
The subject of the right requirements for entrance is still, and will continue to be, both vital and active.
The committee of 1848 referred to above presented a plan which was adopted December 20, 1848, and which two members of the board were appointed to carry to Washington. This plan, in brief, provided for the abolition of the junior class and the grade of acting midshipman, and for the instituting of a “body of lads to be called Cadet Midshipmen,” who, after two years, would be eligible for enrollment in the Navy as midshipmen, and who would not be available for sea service before that time. These cadets were to be admitted only once each year, in October, instead of at random, and their pay was, to be that of cadets at West Point. Apparently the trip to Washington was blocked by the Superintendent, for, on December 22, 1848, he ordered the board to consider remedies for the present unsatisfactory methods of admission. The board’s report to him was in substance as stated above. The Superintendent ordered the board to reconvene to modify its recommendations to agree more fully with his own ideas, if they saw fit to do so. These, and several other changes were recommended to the Secretary during the next two years, but he was making haste slowly. One group of the older officers thought that the midshipmen had to get the sea habit by getting to sea while very young, which of course would not obtain were they to go to school first. Because of these diverse opinions the Secretary chose to delay action to await the crystallization of sentiment one way or the other. If legislation were secured and later proved to be wrong its revocation could be secured only with difficulty.
On page 55 of the Journal is a diagram showing the board's interpretation of the marking scale. From 0 to 2 was “bad,” 4 was the upper limit of indifference, 5, 6, and 7 were “good,” 8 to 10 were “very good.” The subject familiarly and slangily known as “grease” had been known for several years prior to 1921 as “Military Character.” In casting around for a term more appropriate, for use in a naval service, the term “aptitude for the service” was hit upon, and adopted. Apparently the wheel is still revolving, for that is identically what it was first called.
In 1849 Secretary Preston felt that it was time to go ahead with the re-organization of the school. Accordingly he appointed a board to consider the plan submitted by the Academic Board, as mentioned above. The regulations which resulted from the report of this special board became effective July 1, 1850. There is a copy at the Naval Academy. At this same time Commander Stribling became Superintendent. The salient points of the new plan were as follows: The name of the school was changed to U. S. Naval Academy; it was placed under the general supervision of the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography except that for disciplinary matters the Superintendent was to deal directly with the Secretary of the Navy. The Superintendent retained immediate charge. The Executive Officer was henceforth to be known as the Commandant of Midshipmen, and was also to be instructor in naval tactics and practical seamanship. The Superintendent was to be, ex-officio, President of the Academic Board. The duties of the board were delineated. There were to be no more admissions at random. Examinations of candidates were to be held each year, October 1-5 only. Candidates upon admission became acting midshipmen and remained two years at the Academy before going to sea. After three years at sea the midshipmen were to return to the Academy for the two final years of the course. The satisfactory completion of it established eligibility to be examined for a commission. Semi-annual and annual examinations were provided. In October of each year a board of visitors headed by the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance was to inspect the Academy. Conduct had equal weight with mathematics in the determination of class standing. Many of the restrictions on a midshipman’s life in force today were required by the report of this board in 1850.
It was also in 1850 that Commander T. T. Craven became the first commandant of midshipmen.
On July 1, the Academic Board was convened with a Superintendent sitting as its President for the first time. This is the present practice. Professor Chauvenet, who had served so faithfully, was appointed secretary. The time schedule approved then, is the first providing for four classes. It employs the nomenclature at present used (first class, etc.). A footnote by Professor Chauvenet says that:
In the above program it was understood that after the June examinations the classes would be embarked on the practice ship until the subsequent first of October and the subjects are accordingly distributed upon the supposition that the Academic courses are comprised between October 1 and June 1.
Thus, the first Academic year and the first Practice Cruise!
As has been said, the Naval Academy is this year again sectioning classes according to relative standing. In the old days the idea seems to have been carried farther, for, on July 20, 1850, the minutes observe that, “it is not expected that every member of the class will study the whole of each treatise, but the more difficult parts of a subject will be given only to the most proficient. The lower sections of a class will not study the calculus at all * * * but all these subjects are embraced in the list submitted in order to be prepared to give each student the most thorough instruction he may be competent, to receive.” Among other books on this list of Professor Chauvenet’s was Bowditch’s Practical Navigator which has just now been supplanted by Navigation and the Useful Tables. Navigation was prepared at the Academy last year. In this old list are books by Professors Chauvenet and Girault. The practice of using books written by local personnel seems to have plenty of background.
An entry of much interest appears in the minutes of July 20-30, 1850. “The board then took into consideration the scale upon which recitations are hereafter to be marked. It was the unanimous opinion of the board that the scale from ten to zero was too wide. After discussing the merits of the scale from five to zero and of one from four to zero the subject was postponed for further consideration.” And on July 30, “The consideration of-the scale of merit was resumed and the following scale was adopted: Very Good 4, Good 3, Indifferent 2, Bad 1, Very Bad 0.”
The bilgers appear in the minutes of October 17, 1850, when the department directed the Academic Board to decide the status of two midshipmen who had been dropped and readmitted. The board decided that these midshipmen should be considered as fourth classmen and not third classmen. That remains the present policy.
On December 4, 1850, it again appears that all was not well with the infant institution, for the Superintendent then stated to the assembled board that “the object of this meeting is to take into consideration the present condition of the Naval Academy and the effect upon the system produced by the recent orders of the Secretary of the Navy by which a number of acting midshipmen have been detached before the time prescribed by the regulations, this action in effect being a virtual abrogation of the regulations by the Navy Department * * * .” On motion the Superintendent then appointed a committee “to draw up a suitable report to the Secretary of the Navy setting forth the views of the board.”
On December, 18, 1850, we find the board adopting the report of the committee in the form of proposed legislation. The most interesting features of this proposed bill were that:
Naval cadets between fourteen and sixteen years of age were to be appointed by the Secretary for instruction at the Naval Academy and were not to be warranted midshipmen until after being examined at the Academy. (This would prevent students being ordered to sea before the completion of the course.) All appointments as midshipmen were to thereafter be made from the list of graduates of the Academy in the order of merit as determined by the board. The number of cadets was not to exceed twice the number of Congressional districts. The Superintendent was to have the rank and pay of a Post-Captain on sea duty. (This is probably where giving sea pay to a Superintendent started. It has remained in effect until the passage of the present pay bill, which removed this perquisite.) There is also a provision for a Secretary of the Naval Academy. It recommended that a practice vessel be kept at the Naval Academy. (Operations this year hoped to fit out two armored cruisers especially as practice ships, and to be retained for the purpose beginning with 1924, but the cost, presumably, was found prohibitive.)
In forwarding this letter to the Department in December, 1850, the Superintendent said :
By the regulations for the government of the Naval Academy now in force it is made the duty of the Academic Board to report from time to time on the system of studies and instruction, proposing any improvement therein which experience may suggest. In accordance therewith the Board considering it their duty at this juncture respectfully offer their views upon certain points in which the operation of the system requires some modification.
From the foundation of the institution in 1845 the Academic Board has been uniformly of the opinion that the appointment of Midshipmen or Acting Midshipmen as pupils was inconsistent with the maintenance of a uniform system of instruction because of their liability to be drafted for sea service. It was obvious that, if the Midshipmen were to be taught only for short and uncertain periods * * * * no connected course of instruction would be possible * * * *. This result was realized during the last five years and the Board did not fail to represent the evil and to suggest the only remedy which seemed entirely satisfactory; to wit, the creation by law of a corps of naval cadets who should, at least to a certain extent, be educated before being appointed Midshipmen * * * *. Mr. Preston assured the Board that the Academic terms should be punctually observed by the Department and that there should be no difficulty in that respect * * * *. But immediately upon the adoption of the regulations and at several subsequent periods it was found that the condition could not be complied with.
The letter then discusses the undesirability of admitting midshipmen at random and goes on to say:
The obvious remedy for this is to connect the two courses and to complete the theoretical education of the midshipman before sending him to sea * * * *. Regardless of conditions it is very desirable that the Academy should be directly established by Congress and its leading features possess the sanction of law.
A description of the proposed bill is then begun:
The delay in the reception of his warrant will secure to the Midshipman that age and maturity which it is necessary he shall have to command others and at the same time will not carry him beyond that age at which sea influences stamp those peculiar habits which are held essential.
The reason for placing the Academy under a Bureau Chief was, to relieve the Secretary from details, the delegation of which to a Bureau would, from the greater permanency of its Chief Secure uniformity of action in respect to the Academy.
Referring to the recommendation for a practice ship, the letter reads,
this refers to a measure which has been recommended by every naval board that has had the subject of naval education under consideration.
Commander Stribling signed the letter.
Another change in the marking system appears on December 30, 1850, when the board resolved that “henceforth the weekly averages be extended to tenths and that no decimals be used in the daily notes.”
It is common talk with each generation of officers that the Navy is going to the dogs and that midshipmen do not study “as they used to in the old days.” The following table leads one to believe that this point of view shows ultra conservatism so far as any new thought is concerned. The names are omitted from this copy for obvious reasons, but there is sufficient data shown to indicate the board's opinion of the midshipmen deficient at the semi-annual examinations in 1851.
Name | Class | Branch in which Deficient | Habits of Study | Aptitude | General Deportment |
| 2 | Geometry | Not Studious | Fair | Pretty Good |
| 2 | Geometry & French | Not Studious | Little | Good |
| 4 | Arithmetic | Rather Studious | Uncertain | Good |
| 4 | Geography & Grammar | Idle | Fair | Trifling |
| 4 | Arithmetic, Geography & Grammar | Studious | Uncertain | Good |
| 4 | Arithmetic & Grammar | Not Studious | Little | Good |
| 4 | Arithmetic & Geography | Idle | Not Much | Rad |
| 4 | Arithmetic, Geography & Grammar | Very Studious | None | Very Good |
| 4 | Arithmetic, Geography & Grammar | Idle | Little | Bad |
| 4 | Arithmetic, Geography & Grammar | Idle | Moderate | Very Bad |
It would be very interesting to know why the only man on the list to be awarded a “very studious” had no aptitude for the service.
There is a policy now fin effect not to bring “bilgers” back to the Academy during fourth class summer. There appears to be an analogy in the following entry in the journal, of June 9, 1851, referring to a recommendation that five midshipmen be dismissed. “In this connection the board would observe that the influence of the Midshipmen has been very injurious to the Acting Midshipmen, and that unless they can be made to feel the importance of diligently applying themselves to their studies, and of a strict observance of the regulations much cannot be expected from those just entering upon their career in the Navy.”
In July, 1851, the Superintendent again wrote the Secretary urging the immediate establishment of the four-year course (continuous), and early passage of the bill mentioned above. This seems to have made a favorable impression, for the Secretary referred the changes recommended to the Board of Examiners of that year, together with the proposed regulations as suggested by the Academic Board. The Board of Examiners made minor modifications in the plan, and, as revised, it was then approved by the Secretary, Mr. Graham. These papers are the basis of the Naval Academy as it is today.
One of the modifications inserted then, only later to be revoked, was the one providing that no candidate or midshipman who had failed could have another trial.
The first practice cruise was made in 1851 in the John Hancock. Commander Stribling, in writing to the Secretary, refers to the successful nature of the cruise:
The practicability of giving thorough instruction in seamanship on board the practice ship during the four years in which the students would be in connection with the Academy is now no longer a subject of speculation, but has been fully proved even by the short experimental service on board the John Hancock, where, although under conditions somewhat unfavorable it became apparent to everyone that no actual service as a Midshipman on board a man-of-war could possibly be so efficacious in training the young officer.
In the minutes of January 10, 1852, is found the first reference to what is now the most talked-of thing at the Naval Academy— the 2.50. A resolution of that date reads:
that those Acting Midshipmen of the fourth class whose averages for any week do not exceed 2.5 in both Mathematics and English studies which they are now pursuing shall, during the evening study hours of the week following, prepare their lessons in one of the recitation rooms under the superintendence of an officer detailed by the Superintendent * * * *
In the report of a committee of January 19, 1853 on “relative weights, or maximum numbers attainable in the several branches taught at the U. S. Naval Academy and in Conduct” it is noted that, whereas the greatest weight assigned to any study was 350 for first class seamanship, first class conduct carried a weight of 500. One who would stand at the top had certainly to behave in those days. The maximum aggregate for first class year was 2,850. On April 23, 1853, the board changed the maximum to 1,000, and scaled down the other weights in proportion. On May 7, the complete table was revised, but the maximum of 1,000 was unchanged. The board reduced the conduct weight to 100, saying, “experience having shown that the weight assigned to conduct it too great, the board has disregarded it . . . .”
On May 17, 1853, the board—the Superintendent having left the chair—took action of a rather unusual nature in a military service, by writing the Secretary of the Navy a letter requesting the retention of the Superintendent, due for detachment. I quote only a part in the interest of brevity.
May 17, 1853.
Sir:
The Academic Board having heard with deep regret that preparatory arrangements have been made for relieving our present respected and efficient Superintendent, before the first of October next, desire very respectfully to ask your attention to some considerations, which, they earnestly hope may induce you to change your intentions on that subject.
The office of Superintendent of this Institution is one of great importance. As the Academy must, in future years determine the character and tone of the whole Naval Service, so the Institution itself receives in no small degree its tone and character from the Superintendent for the time being. It is then, obviously, of the highest importance, that this officer should be selected with great care and with the most scrupulous reference to his peculiar fitness for this very responsible station. No sentiment of personal regard, no solicitations of friends, no consideration of political expediency, ought to have the least weight in determining the choice; still less ought this Academy to be considered as merely one of the Shore Stations, to which, as to a Navy Yard each officer may claim to be ordered, in his turn.
The duties of the Superintendent are delicate, responsible and laborious in a high degree. They are, moreover, so entirely different from every other duty to which a Naval Officer can be liable, that no degree of experience in the ordinary service can avail him greatly in the office of Superintendent.
The Board hope, Sir, that the views they have taken the liberty of presenting, may be patiently considered and, that you may see fit, upon a revision of the matter, to reverse your intention of changing the Superintendent of the Academy.
In the minutes of October 26, 1853, we find Professor Chauvenet taking his seat as Professor of Astronomy and Navigation, while Professor Coffin took his seat as Professor of Pure Mathematics. This founding of the department of Navigation was brought about because there had come to be too many midshipmen at the Naval Academy for one department to teach both pure and applied mathematics.
The board’s efforts to retain the Superintendent seem to have been of no avail, for on November 1, 1853, Commander Stribling was relieved by Commander Goldsborough, whom the Department apparently went to much trouble to have sent here. In turning over the command, Commander Stribling made a short address to the officers and midshipmen assembled in the Lyceum. Those parts which are addressed to his relief and to the student body are extremely pertinent and show how little the Academy has changed basically since his time.
Gentlemen, You are assembled today to witness my surrender of the command of the Naval Academy to Commander Goldsborough, who has been appointed to Succeed me. Before doing so I desire to make a few remarks. To you, young gentlemen, I desire to make a few observations. Some of you have been students at the Academy for more than two years and in that time witnessed many changes in your classmates. Halt of the class who entered the Academy in 1851 are no longer here. Can there be any doubt as to the cause of this? I suppose not. You will all say “the idle and the vicious have been sent off.” With such a warning before you, are you all doing your best to avoid a like fate? I fear not. Young gentlemen, you occupy a very important position. For the education of the officers who are to hereafter command our navy this institution was established and you are the first who have enjoyed its benefits. How great would be the disgrace if you should leave this institution without having derived all the benefit which was expected from the opportunity for improvement you have enjoyed. Your own honor, that of your families, this institution, all call upon you to apply yourselves diligently to your studies and to conduct yourselves with propriety, that you may leave the Academy with honor, thoroughly furnished for your profession and ready to enter upon its duties with zeal and intelligence. Young Gentlemen! you are now the representatives of your respective states here, and your friends at home are watching your progress with no little anxiety. Hereafter you will be the representatives of the nation in all parts of the earth. Should not these considerations stimulate you to exert every faculty that the honor of your state and nation may through you be increased and perpetuated? I trust it will be. * * * *.
To you, Sir, who are appointed to succeed me in the government of the Academy, permit me to say that you enter upon your duties here under peculiar circumstances. The Government thought proper to order you here from an important command on foreign service to take command of this institution. No similar case has occurred within my recollection.
Sir; The duties you have to perform are * * * * no less than the preparing and sending out the future commanders of our fleets and ships. The eyes of the Navy and of the Country are upon you and the Academy. I trust that with the able assistance of those around you, these expectations will not be disappointed; and that in future years we may point to the graduates of the Academy as the brightest ornaments of our profession.
Gentlemen, My official connection with the Naval Academy is closed. Not so my solicitude for its prosperity, this can only terminate with my life. Wherever I may be and whatever may be my future employment, I shall ever feel a deep interest in your prosperity and the Institution with which you are connected. I now bid you all an affectionate farewell. May God bless and prosper you all, and through you, this institution.
The minutes of February, 1854, say:
In no case has the board reported a deficiency at this February examination in the fourth class where final action might in their opinion, be judiciously deferred until the June examinations.
This thought has survived the test of time, for only recently someone said that February is a cold month and midshipmen may well be dealt with somewhat leniently at mid-year.
It was also in 1854 that it became necessary to invent a diploma of some sort; for it was then that the first class graduated under the new system. A sample of what the board was pleased to call a Certificate of Graduation is entered on the minutes for March 11.
The entries in this, the first of all the journals, end on June 20, 1854, with a prosaic discussion concerning the selection of a suitable textbook in Natural Philosophy.
This one journal witnessed the founding of the Academy, carried it through the various transitional stages up to the basic plan used today, and bears the merit roll of the first class to graduate from the Academy. The many ideas of its earlier pages, still basically in use, prove that the Navy is, as has been charged upon occasion, ultra-conservative, or that our predecessors were thoughtful men of vision who builded well. The latter is the more probable, and surely the more pleasant thought. After all, human nature is human nature whenever it may be. The boy of today is the man of tomorrow. Midshipmen come and midshipmen go, but the psychology of human nature is unchanged.
At any rate, the record of the achievements of those early groups of thinking men makes a volume of consuming interest.