Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Registers of Delinquencies, 1846-1850, 1854-1882: Finding Aid

History of Conduct and Discipline at the Naval Academy

Article 11 of the Rules and Regulations for the Government of the U.S. Naval School at Fort Severn, approved by the Secretary of the Navy August 28, 1846, required that the superintendent maintain a conduct roll available to the Board of Examiners. The conduct roll recorded all improprieties committed by midshipmen at the school, such as “neglect of duty, insubordination, disobedience of orders, inattention to studies, tardiness at recitations, breaking liberty, incorrect deportment at recitation, indecorous conduct at the mess-table or elsewhere, and irregularity at meal hours.” The superintendent reported all serious offenses to the Secretary of the Navy for his action. Academy regulations obligated both navy officers and civilians attached to the school to report all instances of violations of academy regulations. After the adoption of the reorganization plan of 1850 and the creation of the office of commandant of midshipmen, it became the responsibility of that officer to submit a daily conduct report to the superintendent, with assignment of demerits for individual delinquencies. Delinquencies and demerits appeared on the conduct roll only after the superintendent’s approval, and regulations restricted access to the conduct roll to the commandant of midshipmen and his assistants or other persons authorized by the superintendent. Academy regulations limited the number of demerits receivable by an individual midshipman during an academic year, and the academic board dropped those incurring more than allowed from the rolls as deficient in conduct. Assigned demerits served only as a record of misconduct, whereas the superintendent reviewed more serious delinquencies and imposed on the midshipman one of various classes of punishments prescribed in the regulations. Only the Secretary of the Navy could order dismissal. Starting in the academic year 1881-1882, Superintendent Francis M. Ramsay introduced a new conduct grade system that required recording both the academic and conduct records of midshipmen in the volumes. The new system classified midshipmen into conduct grades at the start of each academic month based on the number of demerits received and the course grades earned during the previous month, and attached certain privileges to each conduct grade. Beginning in 1909 the academy adopted a card system for maintaining the academic and conduct records of midshipmen.

Description of Contents

This entry contains registers of delinquencies against academy regulations committed by midshipmen, along with demerits and punishments received. The first volume of this series of manuscript registers is divided into the categories of offenses or delinquencies enumerated in article 11 of the Rules and Regulations. Under each category heading the date of the offense, name of the offender, and remarks, which sometimes include the regulation violated and the punishment received, are entered. The pages of other volumes of the entry generally are divided into columns documenting the date and description of the delinquency, name of reporting officer, manner in which the delinquency was disposed of or the number of demerits received, and remarks that usually contain the pleas of the midshipman or cadet. The number of demerits removed each month is also entered in the register.

Resignations, revocations of appointments, detachments, dismissals, and desertions are noted in most volumes of the series. In some volumes the conduct reports of midshipmen or cadets on summer practice cruises are also included. Beginning with volume 276 (1870-1871), cadet-engineer conduct records are entered in the registers in the same manner and immediately following the records of cadet-midshipmen.

The conduct records of fourth-class midshipmen quartered aboard the school ships Plymouth, Constitution, and Santee are contained in volumes 352, 356, 357, 359-362, 364, 366, 367, 369, and 371, which roughly cover the period 1859-1868.

When necessary, the conduct record of a midshipman or cadet is continued on a succeeding page of the same volume or on a page of a new volume, accompanied by a reference note. The words “liber” and “folio” are sometimes substituted for volume and page. Supplementary volumes are used to continue records requiring more than two volumes. Volumes 379 and 380, covering the academic year 1874-1875, are supplemented by volumes 397 and 399. Pages 1-81 of volume 397 (referred to as “small book”) contain continuations of records from both even and odd-numbered pages of volume 380. Supplementary volume 399 contains continuations from odd-numbered pages of volumes 379, 380, and 397. Volume 400 supplements volume 382 (1875-1876); volume 401 supplements volume 383 (1876-1877) and volume 402 supplements volumes 384 and 385 (1877-1878).

The conduct records of cadets entering the academy in 1879, 1880, and 1881 are continued in this series through the academic year 1881-1882, after which they are continued in entry 86. The conduct records of second- and third-class cadets for the academic year 1881-1882 are also duplicated in entry 86.

Arrangement

For the period October 1846 to February 1850 the volumes are arranged by type of offense, thereunder by academic year, and thereunder chronologically.

For the periods October 1854 to June 1855 and October 1867 to May 1882, the volumes are arranged by academic year, thereunder alphabetically by initial letter of surname, and thereunder chronologically.

For the intervening period October 1855 to May 1867, the volumes are arranged by academic year, thereunder by class or classes, and thereunder alphabetically by initial letter of surname.

Complete or partial name indices are available for the period 1856 to 1866.

Access and Use

Access

Access is unrestricted.

Copyright and Permission

Use of materials is unrestricted.

Other Finding Aid(s)

National Archives Catalog entry available electronically at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3033255.

Acquisition and Appraisal

Custodial History

RG 405 Records of the United States Naval Academy is the property of the National Archives and Records Administration. The materials are housed at the United States Naval Academy, William W. Jeffries Memorial Archives, an affiliated archive, as per a Memorandum of Agreement between the National Archives and Records Administration and the United States Naval Academy.

Related Materials

Location of Copies or Alternate Formats

The registers in this entry are reproduced in NARA Microfilm Publication M991:U.S. Naval Academy Registers of Delinquencies, 1846-1850, 1853-1882, and Academic and Conduct Records of Cadets, 1881-1908, 1846-1908. This microfilm publication is available for reference use upon request in the department.

Related Archival Material

Later conduct records are found in entry 86: “Academic and Conduct Record Registers, 1881-1908” (NAID: 3033293). Other conduct and disciplinary records related to this entry are found in entry 87: “Monthly Reports of Demerits, 1862-1873” (NAID: 3033302); and entry 88: “Registers of Serious Delinquencies, 1865-1882” (NAID: 3033315); entry 89: “Descriptions of General Conduct and Academic Standing of Midshipmen, 1865-1868” (NAID: 3033329); and entry 90: “Register of Punishments, 1868-1879” (NAID: 3033336). Copies of letters written by the superintendent and the secretary of the navy formally warning and reprimanding midshipmen for serious delinquencies annotated in these registers are found in entry 1: “Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1845-1865” (NAID: 2953622); entry 3: “Press Copies of Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1865-1911” (NAID: 2980540); entry 4: “Letters Sent by Superintendent George S. Blake, 1857-1865” (NAID: 2983376); and entry 6: “Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1881-1885” (NAID: 2983384). Copies of reports and proceedings of boards of investigation convened to investigate midshipman misconduct enumerated in these registers are found in folders entitled “midshipmen” in entry 25: “Letters Received by the Superintendent, 1843-1889” (NAID: 2990043); entry 75: “Letters and Reports Received by the Superintendent Relating to Individual Midshipmen, 1846-1888” (NAID: 3027224); entry 210: “Press Copies of Letters Sent and Reports Relating to Boards of Inquiry, 1874-1882” (NAID: 3190035); and entry 211: “Proceedings of Courts of Inquiry or Boards Appointed to Investigate Charges Against Midshipmen, 1866-1871, 1877-1878.” Orders, notices, and other directives pertaining to serious offenses documented in this entry are found in entry 45: “Orders of Superintendent Cornelius K. Stribling, 1850-1852” (NAID: 2990281); entry 46: “Orders of the Superintendent, 1851-1865” (NAID: 2990283); entry 47: “Orders for the Suspension of Acting Midshipmen, 1856-1862” (NAID: 2990285); entry 48: “Press Copies of Orders Issued by the Superintendent, 1865-1874, 1886-1888” (NAID: 2990289); and entry 49: “Orders of the Superintendent, 1874-1886” (NAID: 2990325).

Other transcripts and proceedings of boards convened to investigate midshipmen conduct, along with reports and correspondence of the superintendent, the secretary of the navy, and midshipmen and their parents pertaining to misconduct and resultant dismissals and reappointments are located at the National Archives’ RG 45 series: “Letters Received from the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, 1847-1884” (NAID: 1801239); and the Record Group 24 series: “Records Concerning Naval Cadets, 1862-1910” (NAID: 2524308).

Materials Cataloged Separately

No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.

Processing and Other Information

Preferred Citation

Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Registers of Delinquencies, 1846-1850, 1854-1882, RG 405.2.3 Entry 85

Special Collections & Archives Department

Nimitz Library

United States Naval Academy

Selected Bibliography

The following sources were consulted during preparation of the historical note:

Sweetman, Jack. The U.S. Naval Academy: An Illustrated History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute Press, 1979.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Samuel Limneos in March 2022. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in March 2022. Historical Sketch and Scope and Content Note adapted in part from Inventory of Records Group 405 by Geraldine N. Phillips and Aloha South, 1975.

Subject Headings

Name and Subject Terms

• Midshipmen -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States
• Midshipmen -- United States
• Naval education -- United States
• United States Naval Academy - Students
• United States Naval Academy -- Students – Discipline
• • United States Naval Academy -- History – 19th century

Genre Terms

• Registers (lists)