LIBERTY, March 17, 1843. HON. J. M. Porter, Secretary of War. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a communication of the 8th of March, informing me that the President has conferred upon me a conditional appointment of cadet in the service of the United States, and to inform you of my acceptance of the same. Very Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant, AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE. I hereby assent to the above acceptance by my son of his conditional appointment as a cadet, and he has my full permission to sign articles by which he will bind himself to serve the United States eight years, unless sooner discharged. EDGHILL BURNSIDE. The people of Liberty bade farewell to their young townsman with regret, for he had won their confidence, their respect, and their affection. The survivors of those days now allude to him with pride, and hold up his industrious habits, his good conduct, and his genial manners, for the emulation of young men who may be struggling to rise, by their own exertions, from penury to high and honorable positions. FORMATION OF LIFE FRIENDSHIPS DRILL AND DISCIPLINE EXAMINATIONS WR 66 FINAL EST POINT was a glorious laboratory for the transformation of an awkward country lad, fresh from his work-bench, into an officer and a gentleman." To young Burnside the military academy, with its surroundings, appeared like fairy land, and he was charmed with what he saw. There was the paradeground on which Washington witnessed battalion drills by that irascible tactician, Baron Steuben, and the romantic haunt of Kosciuszko still retained its picturesque beauty. Near by was Stony Point, the scene of Wayne's exploit, and on every hand were eloquent testimonials of the vigor of our soldiers and of the achievements of our armies. The class of 1847, which entered the military academy on the 1st of July, 1843, numbered fifty-three cadets, from every section of the United States. In that class, and other classes which immediately preceded and followed it, were a number who afterwards became famous, including Generals McClellan, Hancock, Parke, Pleasanton, Fitz John Porter, Hatch, Sackett, Granger, Russell, Pitcher, Foster, Reno, Stoneman, Gibbs, Frye, Gibbon, Griffin, Viele, De Russy, Duane, Michler, Tidball, Gilmore, Benet, Baird, and McKeever, of the Union army, with Generals T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson, Buckner, Bee, Rhett, Wilcox, Maxey, Pickett, Hill, Heth, Steuart, Withers, and Robinson, who espoused the Confederate cause. Then all were loyal, and life-lasting friendships were formed between cadets from the North and from the South, as they vied with each other in qualifying themselves for upholding the national glory. Cadet Burnside was assigned to a room in the old North Barrack, No. 8, and had as a room-mate Cadet Heth, of Virginia. They soon became the most devoted of friends, and not once during the four years of their joint occupancy of that room did a harsh word or cross look mar their friendship. Their beds were always side by side, and often in the still hours of night the young Indianian would leave his own, seek that of his Virginia comrade, and with his head pillowed on his shoulder, sleep the sleep of peaceful youth, to be aroused only by the morning gun, calling them to the duties of another day. The daily duties at the academy were varied and interesting, especially during the summer months, when, in addition to the severe studies of the class-rooms, the cadets. were practically exercised in the art of war. The encamp ment, with its sentinels, gave the effect of the tented field, with its drills, manœuvres, and discipline. There were the artillery drills, during which the athletic young men rattled the heavy field-pieces about like so many playthings, loading, firing, swabbing, attacking and repelling with as great a degree of accuracy, rapidity, precision, and skill as could be exhibited in actual warfare. At the cavalry exercises in the riding-school, feats of horsemanship were performed that made the lady spectators shudder with fright, and that rivaled in daring and skill some of the classical performances of the ancient circus. Then fortifications would be laid out, fascines would be made, and bridges would be built out into the river on pontoons, launched from their wagons. The art of war was exem plified. Cadet Burnside was, when he entered the academy, tall, erect, and compactly built, with same style of side whiskers which he wore through life. Mastering the drill, he became an animated automaton on parade, while his quick apprehension and retentive memory enabled him to master his studies with comparatively little effort. The professors liked him, although he was soon regarded as somewhat wild when off duty. Among his classmates he was a universal favorite. His quick perception of character, integrity of purpose, and the moral courage which prompted his action upon his convictions, enabled him to win the regard of those with whom he desired to associate, and treat others with cold civility. No cadet enjoyed a frolic more than he did, but his conscientious sense of duty often thwarted mischievous schemes, and such was his innate activity of mind, that it was difficult to hide anything from him. Cadet T. J. Jackson, of Virginia, afterwards known as Stonewall Jackson, was of a very different disposition. He was regarded by the other cadets as an awkward, eccentric hypochondriac, who often conceived the idea that he was threatened with a paralysis of the right arm, and he would move it up and down like a pump-handle a certain number of times, counting as he continued, and getting very angry if he was interrupted. |