MovieChat Forums > They Died with Their Boots On (1942) Discussion > Did the southern cadets walk out?

Did the southern cadets walk out?

posted 16 years ago by dodrade
5 replies | jump to latest

I realise this film plays fast and loose with the facts, but were the southern cadets really allowed to simply march out of west point and into the confederate army at the start of the civil war as portrayed?

[–] mike-foxton4 16 years ago

If I recall correctly, an announcement was made declaring that anyone who felt unable to pledge his loyalty to the United States i e The North, was free to leave.
Whether this actually happened in real life I do not know, but that's what happened in the film.

"I'll trouble you for your sabre, Captain".

[–] ATG6 (3000) 4 years ago

Half the graduating class left West Point to join the Confederate army. They were fighting for their home states and promoted much faster than they would have been in the Union Army.

[–] PeterD-5 16 years ago

This article deals rather extensively with the subject; Southern cadets were indeed apparently allowed to resign from the academy at the start of the conflict:

http://www.historynet.com/americas-civil-war-comes-to-west-point.htm

[–] magolding 13 years ago

Serving US Army Officers are allowed to resign if they have served long enough to satisfy their commitment to serve a specified time after being commissioned. At the start of the Civil War, officers from second lieutenants up to Colonel Robert E. Lee and Brigadier General David "Traitor" Twiggs were allowed to resign from the army despite the expectation that most of them would probably fight for the Rebellion.

So naturally nobody would have considered it legal to force the Southern Cadets to complete their military education and then force them to serve in the US army, or even to detain them in the North against their will. Sensible, but not legal.

[–] magolding-94772 7 years ago

As I wrote before:

In real life not only were southern cadets allowed to resign, but southern born officers were allowed to resign if they had completed their required years of service - commissioned officers were required to serve for a few years.

High ranking officers who resigned and joined the Rebels included Colonel and Adjutant General Samuel Cooper, Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, Brigadier General and Quartermaster General Joseph E. Johnston, Brigadier General David E. "Traitor" Twiggs, and of course Robert E. Lee.

Fortunately such leading southern born officers as Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs, General Winfield Scott, and General George Thomas remained loyal.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, 296 U.S. Army officers of various grades resigned. Of these, 239 joined the Confederate Army in 1861 and 31 joined after 1861. Of these Confederate officers from the U.S. Army, 184 were United States Military Academy graduates. The other active U.S. Army 809 officers, 640 of whom were West Point graduates, remained with the Union

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Civil_War_generals