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Chapter 2:
The regular army.
A regular standing army, with its discipline and successive grades, placed in the midst of a society so fluctuating and so jealous of everything which does not emanate directly from the elective power, must have occupied a singular and difficult position.
It did not succumb before the numerous attacks of which it was the object, but that position gave it an original character, and developed in the highest degree an
esprit de corps among its members.
We must enter into some details concerning its organization, which had changed but little since its creation, and which served as a model to that of the volunteer army, whose campaigns we shall have to narrate.
The West Point Academy has exercised a powerful influence upon the character of the
American army.
Situated on the wooded banks of the
Hudson, upon a picturesque site, where interesting historical associations cluster around an important military post, the cradle of the family of
regulars is in striking contrast with all its surroundings.
At the foot of that peaceful retreat, where military traditions are religiously cherished, the great river which waters New York presents a moving panorama of active industry.
By a remarkable exception in that country of perpetual changes, the academy, from its foundation to the period of which we speak, has preserved its early regulations and statutes, and the pupils still wear the gray coat with narrow black lace on the facings which was adopted for the use of the first engineer-cadets in 1802.
The system of admission is also in contrast with the equalizing customs of the country.
It is founded entirely upon favor, and it is only since the war that a
