West Point Trivia Test Number 13.

By John Ward, '64

Click on the the answer you believe to be correct. You'll immediately receive feedback on the correctness of your guess.
1. The following "creed" was published a few days before the graduation of what class?
"Shoot Straight, ride hard, dance well, and so live that you can look any man straight in the eye and tell him to go to hell."
A) June 1861

B) 1926

C) 1877

D) 1947
2. When was the first 100th Nite Show?
A)  1866

B)  1824

C)  1803

D)  1929
3. Which class had a "Class Song" which included the following verses (to the tune of the "Star Spangled Banner")?


O say do you hear on the flow'r scented gale
Those proud notes of music in harmony chiming
That re-echo from mountain o'er river and dale
The light step of soldiers in cadences timing
While in martial array our ranks we display
To welcome with proud hearts this glorious day
O say is it "home" that strikes our glad ears
And dear "Auld Lang Syne" which the past endears
There boys let us leave to the Plebes our old grey
And strait round in blue coats without much compunction
With a handsome moustache and in all things "Au fait"
We'll pass off with Citizens as learned "men of function"
With stout hearts we'll stand linked in one glorious band
Against every foe who dare invade our dear land
And with gladness we'll hail the day it befalls
Us to act out the motto "When our country calls"

A) 1898.

B) 1921

C) 1854

D) August 1917

4. What graduate, while a Cadet Captain his first class year, was reduced to the ranks when he refereed a fist fight between a plebe and a yearling - and was the only cadet caught by the Tacs when the assembly was broken up after 2 or 3 rounds?
A) Frank Borman (1950).

B) Douglas MacArthur (1903).

C) George A Custer (1861)

D) Hoel C Bishop (1873)
5. On February 5, 1871, classes commenced promptly at 8a.m. Why was the Corps unhappy with this fact
A) The Corps expected the day off because of a fire in barracks.

B) The normal hour for classes had until then been 9 a.m..

C) They expected classes to be suspended for several weeks because The Corps had been placed in quarantine due to a flu epidemic.

D) The Academy building had burned down but classes were not suspended but were held in the Chapel..
6. What made the author of the following poem remarkable among West Point graduates
FATE Your love is like a cool, dark glade Which mortal hopes can ne'er ascend -- A spot where dreams will never fade, Where life is love, and neither end Past mountain high and canyon deep My fate has led me o'er the trail It guides me where the way is steep And drives me on when I would fail

A) He became a full general and Commanding General US Army Europe..

B) He became Director of Radio Free Europe.

C) He was named a "Distinguished Graduate" of West Point

D) He was the first U. S. Officer killed in World War II.
7. During the Jackson administration, the Secretary of Warand the President often failed to support West Point on disciplinary matters.   What offense was Cadet H. Ariel Norris guilty of but had his punishment reduced by the War Department or President
A) Unauthorized serenade to a young lady on post..

B) 95 violations of regulations, including arson, absence from formation, refusal to obey orders, and unsoldierly conduct.

C) Absence from his tent (while he was surreptitiously plantinga tree in the middle of the Plain.)

D) Absence from formation 13 times in 21 days and refusal to attendclass or chapel..
8. Who made the following tribute to the Corps of Cade
"You have come from almost every part of the United States and (with a few exceptions) entire strangers to each other. You have lived together like members of the same family, like a band of brothers. . . . [P]ersevere in a line of Conduct so honorable to yourselves and show to the world that the members of the United States Military Academy are not more distinguished for Scientific acquirements than for correct deportment and the cultivation of filial and social affection of virtue and the discarding of every vice."

A) Douglas MacArthur (1903)

B) John M Schofield (1853)

C) Robert E Lee (1829).

D) Alden Partridge (1806).
9. Who addressed the following criticism to the Corps of Cadets?
"It is with the bitterest regret and mortification that the Commanding Officer states, that the Corps of Cadets exhibits at the present moment, a scene of riot and insubordination bordering on mutiny."
A) Maj. General (later General) William C. Westmoreland (Class of 1936).

B) President John Quincy Adams

C) Major (later Brig. Gen.) William Jenkins Worth

D) Col. Samuel E. Tillman (Class of 1869).
10. What was the "Cullum Hall Squad", to which many cadets belonged in the 1920's?
A) Those cadets who were not proficient in dancing and had to take extra lessons before hops at Cullum Hall..

B) A cadet club made up of those who volunteered to assist the Association of Graduates, then headquartered at Cullum Hall, in escorting reunion classesaround post..

C) The Junior Varsity Football Team, designed to develop players for the Varsity..

D) The Cadet Astronomy Club, which used the observatory on the roof of Cullum Hall.

Answer to Teaser from last time:
Oscar T Crosby (1882) resigned as a 1st Lieutenant after a little more than 5 years of service. He then became an industrial leader, managing the Railway Division of a major corporation. He explored Africa, Central Asia, and Borneo, being named a member of the Royal Geographical Society for his African expedition. He then was placed in charge of an international relief effort in war-torn Europe before becoming Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 1n 1917. He wrote books as diverse as "Tibet and Turkestan", "International War - Its Causes and Its Cure" and "Strikes - When to Strike and How to Strike", "The Electric Railway in Theory and Practice", and "Adam And Eve - A Probable Origin Of The Garden of Eden Tradition."

Teaser for next time:
What ex-cadet, while a cadet,
(1) was tried, convicted, and sentenced to dismissal for breaking limits, but reinstated;
(2) was tried, convicted, and sentenced to dismissal for drinking, but reinstated;
(3) was tried, convicted, and sentenced to dismissal a second time for drinking; but reinstated;
(4) set fire to a building near the barracks and disabled the fire pumps so it burned to the ground;
(5) was tried with 9 other cadets for refusing to testify at an inquiry about the fire, was convicted, and sentenced to dismissal, but reinstated;
(6) broke arrest and, with another cadet, set fire to another building on the plain, was tried, convicted, and sentenced to dismissal, but reinstated again;
(7) while waiting for the most recent dismissal to be reviewed, attempted to desert, was captured, tried, and sentenced to dismissal for the desertion, and again reinstated; and
(8) was tried for the first arson, convicted, and sentenced to dismissal and(finally!) had his dismissal approved?

This concludes Trivia Test No. 13. Thanks for participating.


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