Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Descriptions of General Conduct and Academic Standing of Midshipmen, 1865-1868: 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 describing the general conduct and academic standing of midshipmen. Each register consists of bound printed forms documenting the name and age of the midshipman, congressional district from which appointed, admission examination information, and marks for general conduct and aptitude for study and the naval service. A remarks column records testimonials to the midshipman’s character and ability provided by various persons including primary school educators and clergy. Generally, the registers only record conduct and academic information for the midshipman’s first two years at the academy. For those midshipmen admitted in 1867 and 1868, the registers only document academic and conduct information for their first year at the academy.

The registers record names of naval apprentices and cadet-engineers after those of midshipmen for each academic year. The naval apprentice system, reinstituted by the Navy Department in 1864, permitted men selected for training as apprentices to apply for admission to the academy. The academy only admitted a limited number, usually not more than 10, each year. The naval apprentice system trained enlisted men in such subjects as practical seamanship, gunnery, sail making, and keeping of seaman's accounts in order to prepare them for service as warrant and petty officers, seamen, and gunners.

Arrangement

Arranged in two sequences. Arranged by academic year and thereunder alphabetically by midshipman surname for the academic year 1865-1866. Arranged chronologically by date of admission for the academic years 1866-1868.

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/3033329.

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

Related Archival Material

Registers documenting the complete conduct and academic histories of midshipmen mentioned in this entry are found in entry 85: “Register of Delinquencies, 1846-1850, 1854-1882” (NAID: 3033255). Other conduct and disciplinary records related to this entry are found in entry 87: “Monthly Reports of Demerits, 1862-1873” (NAID: 3033302); entry 88: “Registers of Serious Delinquencies, 1865-1882” (NAID: 3033315); entry 90: “Register of Punishments, 1868-1879” (NAID: 3033336); and entry 96: “Monthly Reports of Relative Class Standing, Marks, and Demerits, 1855-1907” (NAID: 3039649). 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 3: “Press Copies of Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1865-1911” (NAID: 2980540); and entry 4: “Letters Sent by Superintendent George S. Blake, 1857-1865” (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); and entry 75: “Letters and Reports Received by the Superintendent Relating to Individual Midshipmen, 1846-1888” (NAID: 3027224). Orders, notices, and other directives pertaining to serious offenses documented in this entry are found in entry 46: “Orders of the Superintendent, 1851-1865” (NAID: 2990283); entry 47: “Orders for the Suspension of Acting Midshipmen, 1856-1862” (NAID: 2990285); and entry 48: “Press Copies of Orders Issued by the Superintendent, 1865-1874, 1886-1888” (NAID: 2990289).

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’ Record Group 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: Descriptions of General Conduct and Academic Standing of Midshipmen, 1865-1868, RG 405.2.3 Entry 89

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 May 2022. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in May 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
• • United States Naval Academy -- History – 20th century

Genre Terms

• Registers (lists)