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Show L, WhyWest Point Cadets M i ,:.x Benny flavcns. OfiUq i oenny iiavens. unuq l ' ' V. " ,M-r,4.it ' v ,.,, ,, 'tt. '",1. ' -s - V 3 v ---- . , : x - -- ? M 1? , PIiU ' I 'Wr V , t -1 : l: : ; "V" W . wvCJ::V'.;' ! : H : Vv Mn The famous old ballad has J 01 VO been sung for nearly) a century , - &f X"'1 ' fe, Me cadets of the United lf rMmMM States Military Academy. Its rM4irfm history makes good reading f WB iip MVSSi 4 We'll never fall to drink to her and Benny Havens, Oh! -rer - -yHO was Benny Havens? Ask the W Ilex' West Pointer you meet to r te" you sometnl1S about Benny gf Havens. Me knows and you'll ', T And tliut his eyes will kindle at Xl' the mention of the name, says the JrfJigC New York Sun. West Pointers for half a cen-,4tfS$SJ cen-,4tfS$SJ tury have told the story of Benny lyi,lf3&y Havens they have bled and - died with it on their lips. Wherever Duty called they went, their steps were never slow With Alma Mater on their lips, and "Benny Havens, U Oh!" "Benny Havens, Oh 1" Is the epic of West Point. It is a story in song, the story of West Pointers tond their sacrifices for duty, honor, West Point iintl country. -: This old academy of West Point, laid out on a rugged shelf overlooking the majestic sweep of the Hudson, has many prized traditions, unsullied, inalienable, in-alienable, but none more sacred to her sons than that of Benny Havens. Go to Cullum Memorial hall at West Point and read in imperishable letters let-ters of bronze the story of her sons. She has seen them march out of her sallyports singing "Benny Havens, Oh !" and seen them brought back while minute guns were echoing among the granite hills hat surround her. The history of West Point is-closely is-closely interwoven with that of our country ; West Pointers have written bright pages in the annals of the land. Their blnod has watered Western plains and Northern wilds of snow, Has stained Sierra's highest peaks, where piercing wind e'er blow; Has dvd deep red the Everglades, and deeper still, you know. The sacred Montezuma shades and walls of Mexico. Wherever duty 1ms summoned them West Pointers Point-ers have carried "Benny Havens, Oh 1" The story of Benny Havens is almost as old as that of the academy Itself. Many, many years ago, In 1824 to be precise, Benny Havens took up his residence on the southern border of what then constituted the post of West Point. Almost Immediately Im-mediately he and the cadets became friends. lie was a genial soul, generous, and of good company com-pany and an inimitable spinner of yarns, and he invariably plied his visitors with buckwheat cakes und maple sirup. Soon his refreshments acquired puch fame that cadets often slipped away from their duties and made their way to Benny's retreat, where they found oblivion for their disciplinary woes. Almost every night after taps saw half a dozen daring cadets, who should have been Id bed, gathered around Benny's bountiful table. Only for a short time did Benny's fare confine Itself to buckwheat cakes and maple sirup. Grog and wine were added to the menu, an addition whereby Benny's popularity Increased tenfold. About this time the West Point authorities, who had previously shut their eyes to Benny's Uberall-ties.decided Uberall-ties.decided that the time had come to declare a blockade ou Benny in so far as cadets were concerned, con-cerned, and consequently Benny's haven of delight became "off limits" for the future generals and punishment was meted out by those caught running run-ning the blockade. Jefferson Davis, afterward president of the Confederate states, had the distinction dis-tinction of being among the first batch of cadets fcourt-martialed for midnight revels at Benny Havens'. Benny was warned that his generosity to cadets was demoralizing to discipline and that unless he called a halt summary proceedings would result He was unable to refuse those few cadets who "ran it out" to his home and finally he was expelled from the post shortly after 1S29, taking up his abode at the base of a high cliff nenr the river's edge about a mile below West Point. Here he lived in a small frame house until his death in 1ST7 at the uge of ninety. He was buried in Union cemetery, about midway between Highland Falls and Fort .Montgomery on the West Point road. Many men who rose to fame after leaving SVest Med , r- IW2L 38? ff 3-1 GUARD HOOT?" JSZSJT ' fVZP?' "r """Sir ' I Point Grant, Fitzhugh Lee, Sherman, Ouster and others spent happy hours In Benny's retreat In 1838 Lieut. Lucius O'Brien of the Eighth United States infantry paid a visit to Cadet Ripley A. Arnold, who was then a first classman, Arnold introduced O'Brien to Benny Havens, a warm friendship at once springing up between the two. In the academy at this time were John Thomas Metcalfe, who after graduation studied medicine and became one of the foremost surgeons in the country, and Irvln McDowell, who commanded com-manded the Union forces at the first battle of Bull Run. Both Metcalfe and McDowell were great friends of Benny. Benny Havens, Lieutenant O'Brien, Metcalfe and Arnold together composed the origlnnl five verses of the song "Benny Havens, Oh 1" and set It to the tune of "The Wearing of the Green." An obituary notice of Doctor Metcalfe says: "He had an early taste for versifying, and with skill at the guitar and a good tenor voice, composed many a ditty to pass away the idle time. It was thus that he wrote the celebrated song 'Benny Havens, Oh !' " It is not what would be called good poetry. Some of It is crude. Today there are about 50 verses, almost all of which were composed before Benny's death in 1877. Class after class added a verse. In the waning years of Benny's life almost every night the cadets sang them through, crowding round Benny, with glasses full, while their host led them with his fiddle and his low clear barytone. This fiddle, by the way, Is still in possession of an old citizen of Highland Falls. Come, fill your glasses, fellows, and stand up In a row. To singing sentimentally we're going for to go. In the army there's sobriety, promotion's very slow. So we'll sing our reminiscences of Benny Havens, Oh! Soon came along the Mexican war to furnish Inspiration In-spiration to the cadet poets. Several verses were added to the poem In commemoration of the deeds of those whose gallantry carried the American Amer-ican flag from Vera Cruz to the heights of Chapul-tepec, Chapul-tepec, overlooking Montezuma's ancient capital. Two of these are: Here's a health to General Taylor, -whose rough and ready blow Struck terror to the rancheros of braggart Mexico May his country ne'er forget his deeds and ne'er forget for-get to show ' She holds him worthy of a place at Benny Havens, Oh! To the "venl, vldl, vlcl!" man to Scott, the greatest hero, Fill the goblet to the brim, let no one shrinking go. May life's cares on his honored head fall light as Makes of snow And his iair fame be ever great at Benny Havens, Oh! The civil wnr saw stressful times at the Point and the cadets turned thlr attention to sterner things than poetry. The ranks of the corps were thinned by the loss of the Southerners, who went home to take up the cause of their respective states. Many of those from the North and South, who had been friends of Benny, fell on the field of glory Manassas, Antletam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and a hundred other plaees were stained with the blood of West Poln'ers. There was little gayety at Benny's during the stern four years, for Benny was getting old and the almost dally news of the loss of his former friends on the battlefield robbed him of bis old-time old-time lightheadedness. Some of the verses of the poem which were written writ-ten just after the war are lost. There seems to be only the following Intact: To the army's brave commanders let now tour gl&ssej flow. We'll drink to Grant and Sherman and to the subfl also; To Thomas, Meade and Sheridan (these come In apropos), apro-pos), We'll toast them all with goblets full at Benny Havens, Ha-vens, Oh! Early In 1866 Gen. Wlnfleld Scott died. For him this verse appeared: Another star has faded, we miss Its brilliant glow, For the veteran Scott has ceased to be a soldier here below; And the country which he honored now feels a heartfelt heart-felt woe As we toast his name in reverence at Benny HavenB, Oh! During the last year of Benny's life came the stunning news that Custer and his men had fought their last fight. James E. Porter, Harrington and others, lieutenants and West Pointers all, perished with that gallant band. Not until Benny had died did these verses appear In memory of Custer and his command : In silence lift your glasses; a meteor flashes out So swift to death brave Custer; amid the battle's shout Death called and, crowned, he went to Join the friends of long ago, To the land of Peace, where now he dwells with Benny Havens, Oh! We'll drop a tear for Harrington and his comrades, Custer's braves Who fell with none to see the deeds that glorified their graves; May their memory live forever with their glories present pres-ent glow, They've nobly earned the right to dwell with Benny Havens, Oh! Some of the other verses are fraught with the magic spirit of West Point that spirit that is best summed up in the words, "Duty, Honor, Country, West Point," which are part of the motto of the academy. Nowadays at West Point every cadet memorizes the first three verses of "Benny Havens, Oh !" The first has already been given ; the other two are as follows : To our kind old Alma Mater, our rock-bound Highland home. May we cast back many a fond regret as o'er life s sea we roam ; Until on our last battlefield the lights of heaven shall glow We'll never fall to drink to her and Benny Havens, Oh! May the army be augmented, promotion be less slow. May our country In the hour of need be ready for the foe; May we find a soldier's resting place beneath a soldier's sol-dier's blow. With room enough beside our graves for Benny Havens, Ha-vens, Oh! Wherever duty has led them West Pointers have sung "Benny Havens, Oh !" Since Benny's death these verses have appeared In commemoration of-the of-the deeds of West Pointers In all parts of this country : Their blood has watered Western plains and Northern winds of snow; Has stained Sierra's highest peaks, where piercing winds e'er blow; Has dyed deep red the Everglades, and deeper still, you know, The sacred Montezuma shades and walls of Mexico. From Nevada's hoary ridges, from stormy coast of Maine, From lava beds and Yellowstone the story never waned; Wtierever duty called they went their steps were never slow With Alma Mater on their lips and "Benny Havens, Oh! It Is the old, old story of West Point and they who know H well love best to tell it It will nevei die; it Is as firmly fixed in the highlands of the Hudson as the academy itself. |
