"Something must be done, and that something was quickly
accomplished. They saved the army and the dignity of the
horse marines by sacrificing the cadet. To do so, some
tangible cause must be alleged, and a deficiency in
'philosophy' was hit upon.
"In vain did Smith appeal to the Secretary of War for
an opportunity to be re-examined; in vain did he ask
permission to go back and join the class below--all
appeals were in vain. 'Gentlemen,' says the secretary,
'I don't wish to be misquoted as saying that I can't
give Mr. Smith a re-examination, for I say I won't do
it.' The victim of the army has since published a three-
column card in Fred Douglass's paper, in which he says
he was dropped for politico-military reasons, and in
the course of which he makes an almost unanswerable case
for himself, but the Radicals have dropped him in his
hour of necessity, and he must submit."
(From the New York Sun.)
CADET SMITH'S EXPULSION.
"James W. Smith, the first colored cadet appointed to
the Military Academy of West Point, was dismissed
after the June examination, having failed to pass an
examination in some other studies. Recently the Sun
received letters from South Carolina charging that the
prejudices of the officers of the Academy led to the
dismissal; and to ascertain the truth a Sun reporter
went to West Point to investigate the matter.
Pages:
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371