Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States (New York) Vol. 8, No. 32 (December 1887) to Vol. 14, No. 66 (November-December 1893)

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Vol. 8, No. 32 (December 1887) to Vol. 14, No. 66 (November-December 1893), comprising the thirty-four quarterly and bi-monthly issues bound in ten volumes of brown leather and cloth. Octavos. Bindings VG, with edge wear. Contents near fine. This set bears the name O. M. Carter, the original owner, on the bottom of each spine. This was Oberlin M. Carter, the celebrated and much-maligned US Army engineer who was court-martialed in one of the most famous trials in U.S. Army history. The Military Service Institution of the United States was a voluntary organization initiated by Generals W. T. Sherman and Philip Sheridan for the mutual improvement of officers of the Army. The Institution was founded in 1878, held its first meeting in 1879, and published the first issue of the Journal in 1880. The Journal s editorial purpose was to disseminate the most advanced studies on the science and art of war and to promote solidarity among officers in far-flung posts. Each issue featured essays on the latest thinking, innovations, and inventions on the science and art of war, republication of important addresses, book reviews, correspondence, obituaries, and news of the Institution. The Journal was published for nearly forty years, but it, like the Institution itself, did not long survive its founders, folding, somewhat ironically, during World War I. Carter, appointed to West Point by President Grant, graduated first in the class of 1880, just before G. W. Goethals, of Panama Canal fame. In 1895 he was charged with improving the navigability of the harbor at Savannah Georgia. He changed the depth and course of the Savannah River to allow unprecedented import and export of goods. President McKinley then appointed him U.S. military attache to the Court of St. James.  In 1897, the army summoned him back to Savannah to face charges that he and two civilian conspirators had defrauded the federal government of millions of dollars by fixing the bidding process upon which the corps of engineers awarded contracts. Found guilty at the longest court-martial in the history of the army, Carter was sentenced to a fine of $5,000, loss of his rank, and imprisonment for five years at hard labor. Carter said in 1900, "I am entirely innocent, and I shall not rest until my innocence, proven at my military inquisition, is officially proclaimed. It was proven that not one dollar of public funds was ever misappropriated nor misapplied by me, and that the government was never defrauded through me in any manner whatever." He spent the remainder of his life (he died in 1944) trying to clear his name, but in this he failed. Modern historians disagree about his case. Seller Inventory # ABE-1654688065483

Bibliographic Details

Title: Journal of the Military Service Institution ...
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good