The last stage of his first long journey was ac-
complished just at the end of the month, and he was
at West Point. It was nearly the middle of June
(1839) before he was called up for examination, and
he was almost astonished by the result. He had
dealt better by his books than he had supposed dur-
ing all his dull and plodding terms at school and
during his troubled weeks of preparation, and now
he passed his ordeal easily, and was duly admitted
as a cadet.
CHAPTER III.
The First Camp. — Methods of Study. — A New Am-
bition. — General Scott. — A Grand Vacation Time.
— Graduated from West Point. — The New Uni-
form.
GETTING into the national military school at West
Point is an achievement of some difficulty, but may
be and is accomplished by many boys who do not
afterward succeed in keeping up with their classes
to the end of the course. All the circumstances
favor good health, and not many cadets break down
for physical reasons, the more especially because
only sound bodies as well as good minds can pass
the threshold. The scholarship and other require-
ments, however, from grade to grade, are rigid,
though not unreasonable, and it is very easy for a
careless or dull fellow to drop out of his class at one
fence or another.
Young Grant had almost no idea that he would
be able to surmount all the obstacles between him
and actual graduation, and had no thought of re-
maining in the army afterward.
The cadets go into camp in summer, and the
youngster from Georgetown, Ohio, spent the hot
days of June, July, and August with the rest. He
found camp-life dreary and all but unendurable.
