| Show ni 9 n LU eaf pa mon 0 01 f te MIN V vt all I 1 NA 40 paoa 7 N IPA 7 na A 1 W S A 71 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON naj does not usually think of the united states Milli military nry academy at west wes point as other than a mans world yet there have been several women who have had such a part in its history as to male make their ananies a part of the west point tradition the alic first ot of these was the th e woman wi man known to fame as captain etain molly in tile cemetery at west point st stan anasa dsa monument bearing a bronze tablet which shows in bas relief a stalwart woman standing behind a 11 cannon ramrod and in hand and below it Is this inscription in memory of margaret corbin a heroine of the revolution known as captain mollie 1751 1800 1600 who at the battle of fort washington new york when her husband john corbin corban was killed kept tits his field piece in fiction action until severely wounded and thereafter by act of congress received halt half the pay and allowance of A soldier in the service sho she lived died and wits was hurled burled on the hudson riverbank near the village now called highland falls in appreciation of her deeds for the cause of liberty and that her heroism may not be forgotten her dust was moved to this spot and the memorial erected hy by the national society of the daughters of the american revolution in new york state 1026 11 such Is the brief story which the tablet tells but there are other details worth recording until her death in 1800 she lived in a private homo home near west point supplies for tier her being sent direct from tho the secretary of war an interesting sidelight on that part of her career was revealed recently when capt walter 11 II wells intelligence and publicity officer at west point in digging through some of the old flies at the ne academy ademy came across the manuscript letters written by maj george ceorge fleming commander of the arsenal and ordnance and military storekeeper at west point to the honorable mal maj gen knox secretary of war on october 7 1780 fleming wrote to knox 1 I have sent another account of mrs airs swims solms for taking care of captain molly up tip to the of september and have removed her to another place ets as I 1 thought she was not so well treated us as she ought to be on july 8 1787 there was another letter which does not paint a very flattering portrait of the revolutionary her heroine olne it said 1 I have drawn three orders on you for the maintain ance of captain molly holly in favor of sir mr Dennl denniston ston one Is from january 10 19 to april 12 the other from april 13 to july 5 1780 inclusive which accounts were lodged in the war office last fall and are mrs swims the other Is from september 28 to july fi 5 1780 inclusive and will be delivered by mr denniston Dennl ston for mrs randall As molly holly Is such a disagreeable object to take care of find and I 1 promised to pay them every quarter I 1 have been obliged to borrow tile the money to pay the people it it can possibly be replaced I 1 should be very glad on april 21 1787 there was another letter with a curious touch of an eternal feminine lem something to aearl wear on that date fleming writes 1 I am informed by the woman that takes care of captain molly holly that she Is much in want of shifts if you think proper to order three or four I 1 should be glad two months later on june 12 he be wrote again to knox it if the shifts which you informed me should be made for captain molly are done I 1 should be glad to have them sent as she complains much for want of them whether or not captain molly ever got her shifts Is unknown for there Is no further reference to the matter nor does tier her name again appear in tile the records after in contrast to the militant spirit of captain molly both in war and in pence peace was tile the spirit of another woman whose name Is IH written high in tile the annals of west point she was miss bliss susan warner warace the daughter of a new york city attorney who upon retiring from practice in the metropolis made his home on constitution island in the hudson river opposite west point ile he was accompanied there by ills als two danili anna and susan and every sunday afternoon for years miss susan conducted ft a bible class for tho the cadets cabets at the military academy had she lived she would have found among tho the names of tile the general officers off leers in tho the world war many who lind had attended tier her classes A frail small who still clung to the poke bonnet and the silk dress of the civil war period sho she was rowed across front from tier her island home nod and ci tiled in a n military conveyance to the hall set apart for or tier her in ono one of the academic buildings slie she came to he be regarded as almost a part of tho teaching corej of the institution and on en her t U it Z V WN AN I 1 1 zil ny t k k I 1 I 1 t mrs louise regan began maker of chevrons che for west point cadet uniforms for 50 years 2 letter to general knox secretary of war from the tha military storekeeper at west point referring to an account for mrs randall taking care of captain molly twenty four weeks being from june 7 to november 21 1787 inclusive 3 miss anna warner sister of susan warner author of the wide wide world and sunday school teacher for west point cadets cabets 4 the monument to captain molly in the cemetery at west point 6 5 inscription on the captain molly bonu ment telling of her heroism in a revolutionary war battle 6 picture of cadet henry moore harrington framed in indian beadwork death site she was burled with military honors beside the cadet monument tnt in the west point cemetery iler her sister anna following tier her wishes gave constitution island to the united states gov erdmen ern men and their homo home there Is preserved as a memorial but miss susans connection with west point was not her only claim to fame under the pen name of elizabeth wetherell crell she wrote two books the wide wide world published in 1851 and queechy published in 1852 1832 which a wide popularity of the wide vide wide world it has fins been said that it was the most popular novel noel ever written by an american with the single exception of mrs famous story uncle tonis toms cabin it attracted as much attention in england as in america and it wits was translated into french gernian and swedish however miss susan was indifferent to this fame for it Is recorded that she never liked tier her book the wide wide world perhaps she unconsciously anticipated the criticism that followed its publication A french critic marveled at americas reception of a n three volume novel devoted to the history of the moral progress of a girl of thirteen 11 an american critic described it as having little story not a semblance of melodrama and declared that its success was purely artistic it Is one of the literary traditions of new kew york that atiat after the readers for george 11 putnam had advised against it he was persuaded by its his mother who read the manuscript to publish it ung long before miss susan became the sunday school teacher leather for tile the cadets cabets there was another woman who had an important place in cadet life nt at the academy she was miss blanche berard who was postmaster there for half a century appointed by president polk in 1947 miss berard held field her position there until 1837 1897 and few of the cadets cabets perhaps perli aps realized that back of tier her pleasant smile ns as she passed out their mall to them there was the bitter memory of a tragedy in her life As a young girl miss berard was engaged to an officer attached to the academy one afternoon this officer rode tits his spirited horse of which lie he was very proud to tile the hobt office to demonstrate its good points hut but the horse became bec iroe frightened suddenly and threw the off killing him film so the woman postmaster remained miss fiss berard to the end of her lays days true to the memory of tier her first and a d only love nut but one big thrill come came to h her r in n tier her later life while on leave of absence from r n her duties at west point which she spent I 1 in E iu rope mils berard had the honor of beier pre to qun oilmen Tic victoria torlA or of england it Is an interesting coincidence that the wina 7 ent postmaster at west point Is a grandniece of miss alias bernrd berard and that there has also been tragedy in her life F for or she Is miss grace alleen aileen harrington and she la Is the daughter of bent henry moore harrington of 0 troop of the seventh cavalry who perished with gen george A custer atthe at the battle of the little nig big norn horn on june 25 1878 1876 and who was one of the three officers whose bodies were never found at least not identified after the battle not only Is the ignorance of her fathers fato fate one of the tragic incidents in the life of th the e woman who Is postmaster at west point where so BO many of custers Ou officers were once cadets cabets but there Is another tragic memory which she has carried through life a memory of her mother who suddenly disappeared several years after the ouster custer battle amnesia it would be called nowadays miss harrington says but at that time it was ascribed to grief and the uncertainty of what had bad happened to my father several times from indians that a lady dressed in black had been seen on the battlefield other reports came from indian territory we investigated all these rumors and finally after two years we found her in texas where a severe attack of pneumonia had served to bring back her memory so that she knew who she was but she was never able to give any account of her wanderings while she was gone or why she was there As miss fl arrington stands behind her desk in the post office amid the busy turmoil of mall mail distribution for the eadels cadets at the academy and an equal number of officers and regular soldiers she can look up to two pictures on the wall which serve as a link between the bloodstained battlefield of the little big horn in far on off montana and the peaceful banks of the hud son one of them Is a picture of her father in the regimentals of the seventh cavalry the uniform which he be wore on that fatal day in june more than half a century ago lago the other Is a picture of cadet henry moore harrington it Is enclosed in a frame made of bends beads and these beads were obtained by her mother from indians in dakota perhaps members of the very same tribe who overwhelmed ouster custer and harrington and all the other gallant off officers leers and troopers of the old seventh among the other west point traditions Is one of perfection in attire and one of the requirements for that perfection Is perfectly aligned and perfectly sewn chevrons che worn as the insignia by the officers and noncommissioned officers la in the corps of cadets cabets those ornate chev cher rons of gold lace black braid and broadcloth are very difficult to make since they require great skill and experience in the making but there Is a woman who has proved herself capable of the job for more than fifty years without a break mrs louise regan of highland falls N Y has made every chevron gold or gray worn by the west pointers she really started sewing them when she ehe was ten years old but her uninterrupted service with the cadet store of the academy began when she was eighteen and since 1879 all the corporals stripes and insignia from sergeants up to regimental commanders have come from her hands she Is past seventy years of age now and she has made stripes for many cadets cabets who are arc generals in the army today it Is difficult says harris P scott manager of the cadet store to turn the straight rolled gold lace into the curves necessary to make those long va Vs turned up without drawing or wrinkling the material rive five yards of r rid cold id lace ore are required require to make a pair of chevrons che for a regimental adjutant of the corps of cadets cabets there Is also the background of broadcloth with the silk striping between the gold lace this lace Is of real gold and Is imported from france it Is all hand labor and the material must most be worked in ciol coo weather as hand perspiration deadens it she works from january to june each year making chevrons che for the cadet officers tobo tobe to bo be in june after graduation mrs regan Is a widow and without children she was born in highland falls moving to yonkers upon her mar marriage ringe and then returned to tier her birthplace the cadet store has haa sent her 11 r the work wherever she was wag ifer her health la is splendid and though the work Is hard on tile the eyes she hopes to continue as the only maker of the splendid gold and gray and black cl cica ev ronn rona that lint grace the uniformed sleeve of the west pointer ter 90 0 by Ns Newa raper iclyn |
