Show 1 asb jr J r afi benny haven I 1 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON from nevada s hoary ridges roin stormy coasts of maine from lava beds and yellow stone the story never waned whenever duty called they went their steps were never slow with alma mater on their lips and benny havens oh when this life a troubled ea Is 0 er and our last battle a through it god permits us mortals there his blest domain to view then we shall see in glory crowned in proud row toe friends we ve known and loved so well at benny havens ob HAT officer of the united states army from the merest shave tall up to a general with four stars on his shoulders has not heard tant verse and for a brief moment been carried hick to alma mater the unit ed states military acad emy at west polut N Y for one of the most picturesque tur esque and beloved tra of eliat famous mil gitary school where bradl alon Is so strong centers around the name of benny havens who was benny havens one of americas famous generals a graduate of whom westpoint Is proud A beloved teacher at the academy well hardly I 1 sometime prior to 1832 benny havens came to west point and oc caled a one story cottage a short als tance west of where the old cadet hos altal now the nurses quarters stands what his ancestry was or where he came from no one seems to know but after all those things are relatively unimportant tor the beginnings of a tradition are frequently wrapped in a mist of obscurity but a tradition Is none the less dear on that account in the early days of benny s residence at the post he sold to the cabets cadets ale cakes and elder and in the winter buckwheat cabes and cider flip later on the cider lip became ale flip and later something a bit stronger was added to his bill of fare it was this something which led to benny s undoing for he was expelled from the reservation by this time benny had become so attached to the corps of cabets cadets and the cabets cadets had become so attached to benny that neither could think of allowing this expulsion to mean his retirement to he obscurity from which he bad come so he set up his little chop just off the post in what later became known as the house by the niver a mecca to which so miny of west points famous sons mada frequent even if forbidden pilgrimages for slipping out of bounds to the hos potable fireside of benny havens where food and drink could be illegal ly obtained contrary to the rules and regulations which have always char the and order of this severe academy was one of the of tenses for which a cadet could be skinned today they call it I 1 e reported for one of the miny breaches of regulations for instance take the case of cadet armstrong ouster of ohio along about the year 1801 uster himself has recorded my offenses of Tenses against ina and order were not great in but chui they lucked in magnitude they made up in number the forbidden locality of benny possessed stronger attractions than the study and demonstration of n problem in luclle if you go to est point to day jou can find in an old sheepskin bound volume the record of custers skin sheet bearing the list of of tenses for which cadet custer was reported in all there are separate skins with a total of demerit and many of them are for partaking of benny 3 hospitality since a cadet Is allowed demerits before he Is dismissed custer had only 23 more to go when he was so he came very nearly being denied his chance for fame and america came very nearly losing one of her most brilliant cavalry officers but if benny havens had a part in this it was by no means a unique case many an other officer who later became famous could testify to a number of skins because they simply could not resist benny pitcher the charm of benny havens copl benny havens character was many sided kind to children invariably courteous to women so reads a sketch in bugle notes the handbook of the united states corps of cabets cadets or the bible as it Is called at west point he was possessed of a terrible and ungovernable temper there was an indefinable Bonn tiling about his personality that bound his friends to him by inseparable ties virtues and qualities were his which helped to shape the lives of and give guidance to as they rose to lifes les many whose mines are now engraved on the bagts of history tor instance was a certain cadet named adgar gllnn poe during alie short sany 1 that erratic in at the academy he avns als missed after being there about six months poe frequently visited ben nys place of business while it was still on the reservation and became de doted to him the future poet often remarked that benny was the sole congenial soul in the eutlee god for place benny lived to the ripe old age ot eighty eight years taps were sounded for him on may 29 1877 and now he sleeps in the highland union aeme tary on the banks of the river be loved so well but west point Is rich in memories of benny havens it you go there today they will show you the pitcher from which he served hla famous elder flip but most of all hla fame Is preserved in the song which has been carried literally around the world by west pointers that song was composed early in his career it was written about 1833 when luclus 0 arlen of maryland a lieutenant in the infantry was visiting a friend alley A arnold then a first classman together they spent many a congenial evening at benny s place and so the story goes 0 arlen and hla friends composed a poem about benny and set it to the tune of the wearing of the green it ly became popular at west holni and for the next quarter of a century one of the first things a plebe did was to learn to sing benny havens oh I 1 during the summer days of 1865 when daiy diy after day the steamers bearing home the veterans of the civil war passed bennas bennys little cottage on the banks of the hudson the hands would strike up one tune and benny would hear hundreds of voices joining in the come fill your glasses fellows ana baand up in a row to sentimentally we re for to KO in the army there a sobriety promotion B very blow so we 11 sine our of benny haven obi chokus ohl benny havens ohl ohl benny havens ohl we 11 sins our of benny havens ohl to our kind old alma mater our rockbound home we 11 cast many a fond life sea we roam until on our last battle field the light of heaven shall klow well never fall to drink to jand benny haens obi may the army be augmented may pron atlon be less slow may our country in the hour of need be ready for tue foe may we and a soldier place beneath a soldiers blow with room enough beside our craves for blenny havens ohl |