Letter from Ralph D. Epps to Colonel Asbury Coward, April 18, 1898
Title
Letter from Ralph D. Epps to Colonel Asbury Coward, April 18, 1898
Description
Letter from Ralph D. Epps to Colonel Asbury Coward concerning the Cadet Rebellion of 1898, also known as the Cantey Rebellion.
Creator
Source
CP8, Box 5, Folder 2
Publisher
The Citadel Archives & Museum
Date
Rights
Materials in The Citadel Archives & Museum Digital Collections are intended for educational and research use. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. For more information contact The Citadel Archives & Museum, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29409.
Relation
Asbury Coward Collection
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/565
Date Valid
Text
[Page 1]
Cokesbury S. C.
April 18. 98
Col. Coward
Dear Sir,
I have been talking up for the Citadel among the students here, and I think have almost persuaded two young men to try to enter next year.
They have the money and expect to go to college somewhere.
Will you please inform them how to make application etc., and give them any encouragement you may see fit? A letter from the head of a school will very often have great influence on a boy.
[Page 2]
The first boy is Jno. Deason. The other is Denson Boykin. Their P. O. will be Cokesbury until they go home the last of May.
We have some good material here we hope to send as [illegible] to the S. C. M. A. from several counties.
I believe the trouble at the Citadel has done her much good in this part of the State.
You have no idea Col. how low & mean some of those boys really were who were lately expelled. They never could have brought but shame upon the school even if they had been awarded diplomas. For heavens sake don’t take them back:
It is nothing short of contemptible
[Page 3]
in Mr. James Holmes or any one else to try to lay the blame on you or Lieut McDonald. The young men did not have the proper training at home. This they showed when they continued charging contrary to their oaths, wonder if they were then “preserving the honor & dignity of their alma mater.”
Of course these slurs towards you and Lieut McDonald are beneath your notice, considering the caliber of those who make them, but, still, they lead many astray.
The people here would like to hear from you in the “State” & “News & Courier” & Col, just give it to ‘em like you used to do us in Chapel.
But I didn’t intend to take this
[Page 4]
liberty. So I beg your pardon for so doing.
Very Respectfully
Ralph D. Epps
P. S.
When you get an new Catalog, will be glad to have you send me several at Epps S. C. (I will be there after first of June), as I can work for the Citadel while drumming for my school.
Cokesbury S. C.
April 18. 98
Col. Coward
Dear Sir,
I have been talking up for the Citadel among the students here, and I think have almost persuaded two young men to try to enter next year.
They have the money and expect to go to college somewhere.
Will you please inform them how to make application etc., and give them any encouragement you may see fit? A letter from the head of a school will very often have great influence on a boy.
[Page 2]
The first boy is Jno. Deason. The other is Denson Boykin. Their P. O. will be Cokesbury until they go home the last of May.
We have some good material here we hope to send as [illegible] to the S. C. M. A. from several counties.
I believe the trouble at the Citadel has done her much good in this part of the State.
You have no idea Col. how low & mean some of those boys really were who were lately expelled. They never could have brought but shame upon the school even if they had been awarded diplomas. For heavens sake don’t take them back:
It is nothing short of contemptible
[Page 3]
in Mr. James Holmes or any one else to try to lay the blame on you or Lieut McDonald. The young men did not have the proper training at home. This they showed when they continued charging contrary to their oaths, wonder if they were then “preserving the honor & dignity of their alma mater.”
Of course these slurs towards you and Lieut McDonald are beneath your notice, considering the caliber of those who make them, but, still, they lead many astray.
The people here would like to hear from you in the “State” & “News & Courier” & Col, just give it to ‘em like you used to do us in Chapel.
But I didn’t intend to take this
[Page 4]
liberty. So I beg your pardon for so doing.
Very Respectfully
Ralph D. Epps
P. S.
When you get an new Catalog, will be glad to have you send me several at Epps S. C. (I will be there after first of June), as I can work for the Citadel while drumming for my school.
Collection
Citation
Epps, Ralph D., “Letter from Ralph D. Epps to Colonel Asbury Coward, April 18, 1898,” The Citadel Archives Digital Collections, accessed April 25, 2024, https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/565.