562 
PLACES OP MILITARY INTEREST IN THE UNITED STATES. 
river steamers are most luxuriously fitted, and the scenery is very fine 
all the way. The College buildings, including the cadets* rooms, 
studies and dining-hall should be seen; the hall is a fine room with a 
very handsome timber ceiling, and the walls are hung with portraits of 
American officers, educated at West Point, who died during the war 
of 1862-65. Sunday is, perhaps, the most suitable day for a visit, as 
the Church Parade affords a certain opportunity of seeing all the 
cadets together. Divine Service is held in the Chapel of the Academy, 
the prayers and form of worship being almost identical with those of 
the Church of England. The cadets full dress looks extremely neat, it 
consists of a bluish coloured coatee, of a pattern of George the Third’s 
period, a white linen collar being allowed to appear above the coat 
collar, as with our serge jackets. The behaviour of the cadets in 
Chapel, their smartness when falling in on the conclusion of service and 
other small details, shew at a glance the very strict discipline which is 
maintained at the Academy. 
The Chapel contains some very interesting monuments, but to see 
British Regimental Colours hanging on its walls as trophies captured 
from English troops during the American War of Independence, is in¬ 
deed a shock to an Englishman. Besides the Academy itself, the old 
earthworks and the fort are of much interest. West Point was held 
by the rebel army as their most important post on the Hudson, as it 
always represented a base for action against New York. The old fort 
is now used as the cadets drill battery; and on the ramparts, directly 
overlooking the Hudson, has been erected a monument to Koscuisko the 
Pole, who, before devoting himself to the cause of his countrymen, 
served as Chief Engineer of Washington’s Army. 
Anyone staying in Washington should not fail to go to Fort Myer. 
This post, as it is termed in the phraseology of the United States Army, 
is about four miles from the city, and as a cavalry station is the second 
in importance in the States. The electric railway can be taken as far 
as the bridge crossing the Potomac, and from there a wagonette can be 
hired to the Fort. All matters of interest will be shewn, but, if 
possible, the men should be seen in the riding school. This building 
is one of the finest of its kind, being about 350 feet long by 120 wide, 
in fact it becomes a winter drill-hall and in wet weather is always used 
as such. 
The United States Cavalry present a very different appearance from 
what we look for in a smart cavalry service ; there is a complete ab¬ 
sence of any outward form of smartness, but at riding and all kinds of 
equitation work, the men are very good; the riding bare-back and 
without reins is unsurpassed in any army, while the leaping of a high 
bar under the same conditions is a severe test of the training through 
which the men have passed. The horses are all thoroughly schooled, 
out of forty horses from a troop which was in the riding school at 
the time of my visit, every horse, but one, lay down on a given 
signal and remained perfectly quiet on the ground till the signal to rise 
was given by the officer in charge of the ride. There is much to be 
seen in the stables and general management of the horses, and a great 
deal of practical knowledge is to be gained from the peculiarities of the 
saddlery and equipment. 
