Show aa A AN RIM AWN so ell IN 01 p j K P N wa 4 benny havens haven by ELMO SCOTT WATSON fr from nevadas aln hoary ridges from stormy coasts of 0 maine from lava dads heds and yellow stone af the story never waved waned whenever duty called they went their steps were never slow alow with alma mater hater on their lips 1 and denny benny havens II avena oh 11 when this lifes troubled tea sea to la oer and our last battles batt lea through if go d permits us mortals there his bis blest bleat domain to view then w we kahall fiB hall see in glory crowned 1 in celestial y rp raw j f 1 the I 1 friends weve a known and lav loved a so eo well at ai denny benny hav belis behs ohl oh I 1 HAT the united states army from the mer est eaf shave tall up to a general with four faur stars on his shoulders tins has not hoard heard lk 41 that verso verse nna for a brief carried back to alma mater the united states military acad emy at west point N Y for one of the most picturesque tur esque and beloved traditions of that famous military school where tradition t Is so BO enneis around the name of denny benny avem Jl i who was benny havens one of americas famous h a graduate of whom west point Is proud A beloved teacher at the academy well hardly I 1 sometime prior to 1832 denny benny havens came to west point and oc tilled a one story cottage a short distance west of where the old cadet hos hoa PRO now the nurses quarters stands what his ancestry was or where lie he came from no one seems to know but after all those things are relatively for the begaw beginnings aings of a tradition wrapped in a mist inist of obscurity but a tradition Is none the less daar dear on that account in the early days of residence fat at the post hesford he sord d to t 0 the ibe cadets cabets ale takes cakes and cider and in the winter buckwheat cakes and elder flip filp later on the cider flip became rile ale tip flip and belll later something a bit stronger was added to his bill of fare it was this something which led to bennys bennas undoing for or he be was expelled from the reservation by this time benny had bad become so BO attached to the corps of cadets cabets and the cadets cabets had become so go attached to benny that neither could think of allowing oils to mean mahn hla Ls retirement to the p obscurity from whIch he be had come sto so he set up hl little shop just off VO li repost post in what later ater became known as tile the house by the river a mecca to which so many of west points famous sons sona made frequent even if forbidden pilgrimages for slipping out of bounds to the hos bos pliable fireside of benny havens where food and drink could be illegally obtained contrary to the rules and regulations which have always characterized the dignity and order of this severe academy was one of the offenses for which could le be skinned today they all it ed 1 L e reported dufor fo one of gf ae many breaches of re regulations ip lations for instance jake ake ie the I 1 ca case se of cader 1 armstrong custer of ohio along about the year 1801 1841 custer caster himself has recorded my offenses against law and order were not great in enormity but u i lacked in magnitude the they Y mode made up in number the forbidden locality of benny havens possessed stronger attractions than the study and demonstration of a problem in euclid if you go to west pol point nt today you can find in an old sheepskin bound volume the record of custers Ou skin shin sheet bearing tile the list 1 tenses for which cadet custer wn wil reported in nil all there are 43 se separate pate skins with a total of demerlis demerits and of them are for partaking of bennas bennys hospitality since a cadet Is allowed demerits before 0 he is dismissed ouster custer find only 23 more to go when he ac was graduated bohe e came very nearly being chance for fame and Atia america erica came very nearly losing one of her most brilliant cavalry off officers leers but if benny havens had a part in tills this it was by no means a unique case many another officer who later became famous could testify to a number of slin skins because they simply could not resist kt 2 dennys pitcher the charm ot of benny Il havens avenAl hoppl taluy benny havens character wits was many sided kind to children invariably courteous to women so eo reads a sketch in bugle notes the handbook of the united states corps of cadets cabets ur r the plebes glebes bible as it ts is called at west point he was possessed of a terrible and ungovernable temper there was an something thing about his personality that bound his friends to him by inseparable ti ties es virtues and qualities were ills his rt alch helped yelped to shape the lives of and abd give uni guidance dance to as they rose to lifes pinnacles many whose names are arenow now on engraved graved on the pages of history for instance there was a certain cadet named edgar allan poe during n the short stay ot fit that erratic individual at the academy lie he was waa dismissed after being there about six mont months lis poe frequently vis cited ben befi nys place lace 0 t business s while it was stift on the end ano became dl de voted him blin dihe the future poet often demart fed alvra toe sole the foy 1 1 placa denny lived to the ripe old age of eighty eishi year s traps were bounded for b hlin I 1 m emay 29 1877 and naw now lie he sleep sla sirl the Highland union reme tary on the banks of the river he loved so well but west point Is rich in me memories of denny benny havens if you go there today they will show you the pitcher fr frani which he his famous elder opi lip I 1 abt 0 most josf of all hla fame Is preserved in the song which has been carried literally around the tha world by west T pointers that sofig song was composed early in ills his career it was written about 1838 when lucius obrien of maryland a lieutenant in tile the eighth infantry was visiting a 8 friend riley A arnold arnod then a birst classman to together they spent ninny many a congenial evening at Berin yr 1 I lace aci and so the story goes Obrion md wid hla his mends composed a poem plein about benny and set it to the tune of the Vearl ng of the green it ely became popular at west bohi and for the next quarter of a century one of tile the first things a plebe did was to learn to sing bins anny havens oh ob T I 1 during the summer days of when day after day tile the steamers hearing bearing home the veterans of the civil war passed sed bennys bennas little cottage on the banks of we the hudson the hands bands would strike up one tune and benny would hear hundreds of voices joining in the singing of come nil fill your glasses ela asea fellows fel lowa an and a stand up in a row to si nginr s were going for to so go in the army theres there sobriety promos tlona very clow so will well sing elm our of benny ll havn avens obi clonus phi denny benny havens ohl ohl benny nency havens ohl we well 11 sing sine our of dinny havens ohl oh I 1 to our kind old alma water mater tur our r rock k bound Ilig bland biome lome awell cast many a fond regret an a oer lifes sea eca jeroam we roani roam until on our last battle field the of heaven shall kloye well never fall to drink to her ia and nd benny abl CHORUS r may the army armyde be augmented may pro motion be leea leas slow blow may our country in the hour of ned deed bo be ready for the too foe may we find a soldiers eold lera resting tiac beneath a sold foldier eol dier lees blow with rou roun in 1 enouch n ough beside out our craves for L renny e n ny leave havens 3 ohl |