590 
UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT. 
“battalion ” of four troops. There is no Riding-Master at the Academy, 
equitation being taught by the Captain-Instructor above referred to, 
who is, of course, a cavalry officer. 
In artillery matters they are behind at West Point, and their arma¬ 
ment is inferior, but there is a splendid artillery range at the barrack 
gates, so to speak, extending for miles up the Hudson, which at this 
part is very wide. There are three batteries for the use of the cadets— 
the Coast Battery, the Siege Battery, and the Field Battery. The 
Coast Battery is situated on the river side, and is armed with two 
15-inch S.B. guns, three 8-inch R.M.L. guns, and one 13-inch mortar; 
no two guns are mounted on the same kind of carriage, and all the car¬ 
riages are experimental. The Siege Battery is placed on the edge of 
“ the plain,” also bearing up the river, and is armed with six 30-pr. 
R.M.L. guns (Parrot's), three 8-inch mortars, and three 10-inch mortars. 
The guns in both these batteries are said to be old and dangerous, and 
one of them recently exploded. The Board of Visitors says “they are a 
peril and, but for that, would be a joke.” The Captain-Instructor of 
Ordnance and Gunnery explains that “although obsolete they are the 
best the country can now supply,” and adds that a new R.B.L. steel 
armament has been promised (including a 12-inch R.B.L. ( mortar/ 
whatever that may be). A Maxim machine gun and Hotchkiss Q.F. 
gun have been applied for. The Field Battery consists of six 3-inch 
R.M.L. guns, teamed by 48 horses supplied from the cavalry detach¬ 
ment, and driven by the enlisted men of the same. This arrangement, 
as has already been stated, is not considered satisfactory from either an 
artillery or cavalry point of view. The horses having been bought for 
the cavalry are unsuited for artillery work, and using them for the one 
arm (it is said) spoils them for the other; the harness does not fit, and 
the cavalry troopers are uninstructed in driving. The guns are 
obsolete, and the whole battery is described as a “ make-shift,” which 
can never be an efficient means of instruction for the cadets. A new 
battery of six 3*2-inch R.B.L. steel guns has been promised. It is 
proposed to have a Field Battery of the regular army quartered at 
West Point. No artillery drill is carried out in the winter. Speaking 
of artillery generally, the Lieutenant-Instructor of Artillery says “that 
cadets leave the Academy conspicuously deficient in this branch is 
inevitable under the prevailing system.” From the termination of the 
examinations, about the middle of June, until the end of August, every 
year, the cadets live in camp on “ the plain,” and are engaged in out¬ 
door military duties and practical instruction. 
System op Instruction. 
We now turn to the theoretical instruction of the cadets and their 
studies indoors. The academic year begins after the camp is broken 
up on 1st September, and continues until the 1st June following. The 
cadets are arranged in four classes, corresponding with the four years 
of study, the first year cadets constituting the 4th Class, and the fourth 
year cadets the 1st, or Graduating Class. The average number in each 
class is 66. The classes are divided into small sections, having an aver¬ 
age of a dozen cadets in each. There is an Instructor to each section, 
