Illinois Central Railroad Company,
Vice President's
Office, Chicago, Oct. 23, 1859.
My DEAR SIR: I
regret exceedingly that I have so long delayed replying to yours of the 30th,
ult. I hope this will reach you at Baton Rouge in time to serve your purposes,
and must beg you to consider my rather multifarious duties as my excuse for the
delay; in truth I was desirous of taking some little pains with my reply, and
it has been difficult for me to find the time.
I think with you that the blue frock coat, and felt hat with
a feather, with perhaps the Austrian undress cap, will be the most appropriate
uniform, the grey coatee is rather behind the age.
If the academy is in the Pine Barrens, it would seem that
the period from September 1 to June 20, with the two examinations you speak of,
would answer every purpose. It would be almost impossible to have an
encampment, I should suppose, yet you might in a very few days teach them how
to pitch tents, and the more important parts of camp duty, such as guard duty,
construction of field kitchens and ovens, huts for pioneers, etc.
You will find in Captain Marcy's new book The
Prairie Traveller a great deal of invaluable information in reference
to camps, taking care of animals, etc., on the prairies. I think you would find
it worth while, if not to make it a text book, to require or advise to students
to procure copies. It is a book they will read with great interest and profit —
it fills a vacuum of no little importance.
I think I have at home the plates belonging to the French “Instruction
pour l'enseignement de la Gymnastique.” This will give you all the
information you need as to the appliances required for a gymnasium. The title
is Instruction pour l'enseignement
de la Gymnastique dans les corps de
troupes et les etablissements militaire (Paris, I. Dumaine).
If my copy is lost I would advise you to import it. There is
also a very good little work published by Dumaine, called Extrait de I'Instruction pour l'enseignement de
la Gymnastique, etc., par le Capitaine C. d'Argy.
In addition to the regular instruction in the infantry and
artillery manuals, I would by all means have daily practice in the gymnasium,
or fencing with the foil and bayonet, and the same exercise at least half an
hour a day ought to be devoted to this.
With regard to the course of instruction necessary to lay
the foundation for a thorough knowledge of engineering, I do not think that the
general course at West Point can be materially improved upon. We have all felt
the want of practical instruction on certain points when we left West Point — e.g.
in the actual use of instruments, both surveying and astronomical, topography and
field sketches, railway engineering, etc. — but it is impossible to do
everything in a limited time, and I would suggest that you follow in the main
the West Point course, retrenching a little from some of the higher branches
and adding a little to the practical instruction.
I know of no complete work on the construction of railways,
it is thus far essentially a practical business. Collum and Holley's work on European
Railways contains some valuable information. Lardner on the Steam
Engine, Parbour on the Locomotive and Steam Engine, Collum on
the Locomotive are all useful. Borden's Formula for the Location and
Construction of Railroads, Haupt on Bridge construction, Moseley's Mechanical
Engineering, Edwin Clarke on the Brittania
and Conway Tubular Bridges, Arolis
series of Rudimentary treatise on Engineering, etc., are all of value.
I regret that I am rather pushed for time tonight, as I
would have liked to write more fully, but I start for St. Paul in the morning
and must do the best I can in a limited time. If I can give you any further
information it will afford me great pleasure to do so at any time. With my best
wishes for your success in Louisiana,
I am very truly
yours,
Geo. B. McCLELLAN.
SOURCE: Walter L. Fleming, Editor, General W.T.
Sherman as College President, p. 40-2
