WEST POINT OFFICERS AND THE REBELLION.
[To THE EDITOR Or THY .SPECTATOR.”) Six.,—In the concluding notice of Lord Lyons, Lord Cromer states that the early defeats of the Federal armies " were largely due to the fact that the majority of the officers trained at West Point were Southerners." Lord Cromer's statement is in a familiar form and is one that is widely believed. As a matter of fact, nut one-fourth of the officers of the United States Army resigned in 1861 to join the Confederacy. Before the actual commencement of hostilities there were 741 officers in the service, and of this number there were eight dismissed and took no part on either side; nine resigned and took no part on either side; 168, or 221 per cent., resigned and joined in the rebellion ; 556, or 75 per cent., remained in the service. From Bull Run to Appomattox the army of the Potomao was under the command of officers trained at West Point, as were the commanders of the western armies.—I am,
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