"Arms and the Boy"

2/14/2011

The legendary General Leigh Gignilliat, Superintendent of Culver Military Academy in the early 1900s wrote a book entitled "Arms and the Boy" (published in 1913).  Some of the General's words are timeless and incredibly appropriate even today.

"Military training... may awake some dormant faculty that the boy was not fully conscious of, and it does quicken the sluggish and lazy."

"If he becomes a cadet officer, he must learn that merely to command is insufficient, he must serve the best interest of those under him; must make some personal sacrifices of time and pleasure in order to do so."

"There are over-indulgent parents and spoiled children in every generation, but there are also in this generation many thoughtful and earnest parents who find themselves, in the face of modern conditions, powerless to train and safeguard their children as they would during that period of greatest danger, from 14 to 20."

"Quite apart from the boy of bad character, however, is the average American boy who is notably lacking in respect for authority; and the son of the wealthy and well-to-do for whom life has been too easy; and the only boy (in the family) of whom there are many, and around whom the home circle has revolved until he has become selfish and self-centered.  There is to be considered also the fact that a time comes in the life of every normal boy when he chafes under home discipline and when others can deal with him more effectively than his parents."

If any are interested in purchasing the book, I suspect that it may be out of print.  However, I am sure that it can be ordered from the bookstore at Culver Military Academy.  Moreover, I would be glad to lend my copy.