One March morning, though, Cadet Knowles arrived for inspection late and with his uniform in disarray. Sergeant Claggert berated him and placed him on report. Later that morning, the hapless cadet was hauled up before the ogre himself, Lt. Col. Bollingrame. The Commandant listened carefully to Sgt. Claggert's complaint, embellished by references to previous offences, and then said "Very well, let him ride the cannon for an hour. That ought to teach him how to behave as a soldier." Cadet Knowles shuddered. He had heard of that punishment.

   The cannon was a brass four-pounder, mounted on a wheeled carriage and used mainly as a signal gun and instrument of discipline. The barrel of the cannon ranged from slightly over five inches in diameter at the breech to four inches at the muzzle. If a man sat astride it anywhere, it would fit snugly into his crotch. Wesley was placed astride the cannon with his hands tied behind his back and his ankles tied together below the barrel. A rope around his waist secured him to the breech-plug knob so that he might not slide off the barrel.The limber of the gun carriage was tied by about ten feet of rope to the saddle of a spirited cavalry horse which Sergeant Claggert then mounted.

   Having chosen in his mind's eye the worst-rutted roads in the area, Sgt Claggert, putting his spurs to the horse's sides set out at a gallop. Every bumnp and every chuckhole caused the young cadet to bounce into the air until the rope on his ankles stopped him and drop back onto the barrel squarely onto his testicles or his crotch . Soon, Wesley was screaming in agony. His screams were music to Sgt. Claggert's ears. "You're ruining me," Wesley screamed. "Ain't hurtin' me none" said the Sergeant with a laugh. Actually, he delighted in the idea. In the aftermath of a neglected dose of the clap, Sergeant Claggert had been impotent for several years and both envied and resented the virility of the young cadets. The battering of Wesley Knowles' sexual organs went on and on. Gradually, his screams died down to sobs and moans and finally, he lapsed into unconsciousness.

   Sgt. Claggert checked his watch. "Only 25 minutes ; the Col. said an hour" he muttered aloud, so he continued jolting and jouncing over the rutted roads for another 35 minutes even though Wesley could no longer feel it. Upon their return to the Academy, Sgt. Claggert untied the limber of the gun carriage from his saddle and walked the horse back to the stable, leaving the unconscious cadet still astride the cannon barrel, resting on his mangled genitals. His breeches were soaked with semen and blood. Carefully, his friends cut the ropes and lifted Wesley off the cannon and carried him to the Infirmary.

   Dr. Prescott was shocked and furious but said nothing in front of the other cadets. When he removed Cadet Knowles' breeches and drawers, he found that the scrotum was shapeless. Palpation revealed a soft mass unrecognizable as having been testicles. The perineum was one continuous purple bruise and blood was trickling out of the meatus of Wesley's penis which was misshapen almost beyond recognition. Other cadets had suffered this brutal punishment and been grievously injured, but nothing like this !

   There was nothing to be done for the young cadet's testicles but to remove the mass of mangled tissue which had been a pair of testicles. Dr. Prescott decided that he could save the penis, but seriously doubted that it would serve any purpose but to pass water thereafter. Finding that the urethra was collapsed, Dr.

Prescott inserted a catheter to keep it open and drain the bladder. Palpation of the prostate gland, per rectum, revealed that it was broken into three pieces. Prostatectomy, however, advisable though it might have been was such a dangerous operation that Dr. Prescott decided not to perform it.

   Dr.Prescott had remonstrated with the Commandant about this punishment before and been met with bluster, strong language, and defiance. It was, he decided, time to go over Lt. Col. Bollingrame's head, to the Department of the Army and to Congressman Jake Knowles. That evening he wrote messages to both, citing the Commandant's barbaric and unconstitutional

punishment of the cadets. He did not post the letters from the Academy, but rode into town the next morning after his rounds and posted them from there.

   When Wesley Knowles regained consciousness, he asked the orderly to let him speak to Dr.Prescott. When Dr. Prescott came into the room, he asked in a weak voice "I'm ruined, aren't I ?" Dr. Prescott sighed and replied "Yes. You can never be a lover, a husband, or a father." "Was I in danger of dying at any time ?"  "Maybe."  "I wish I had. I'm no good for anything now."

"Can you keep something to yourself for a few days" asked Dr.Prescott? "Sure" replied Wesley. "I've written to both your father and to the Department of the Army. I've done all I can for you, but I'm going to make sure that this never happens to any other cadet ever again."

   Two days later, there was a knock on the door of Dr. Prescott's quarters. When he opened it, a large florid-faced man stood in the doorway. His features resembled those of Cadet Knowles. "Dr. Prescott ?" "Yes, Congressman Knowles, I presume." "Right"  "Come in" "How is my son ?"  "As I told you in the letter. He will never be a man." "Whom do you hold responsible for this outrage ?"  "The Commandant, Lt. Col. Bollingrame. Although Sergeant Claggert, an embittered resentful man, carried it out, Bollingrame gave the order."  "Where will I find the  Commandant ?"  "In the big building with the clock tower."

   Congressman Knowles had a reputation as a duellist and, obviously, had not yet ever lost a duel. He had killed men for far less grave injuries than this. He pushed his way into Lt. Col. Bollingrame's office without waiting to be introduced. "I'm Jake Knowles and I'm here to demand satisfaction for what you had done to my son."  "Officers aren't allowed to duel" replied the Commandant. "WRONG ! You aren't allowed to duel with Army personnel, but there's nothing forbidding you to duel with a civilian. You're a low-down, mean, dirty polecat, a coward and a poltroon. " With those words, Congressman Knowles stepped up to the Commandant's desk, leaned across it, and gave him a backhanded slap across the face which knocked him out of his chair. "Consider yourself challenged.. If you have any honor, which I seriously doubt, be prepared to defend it on the field of honor. Your choice of weapons, sir."  "Oh, pistols, of course" replied Lt. Col. Bollingrame, unintentionally accepting the challenge. "Tomorrow at dawn, then." 

   Next Congressman Knowles visited his son and had a long father-to-son talk with him. Lt. Col Bollingrame, already in a blue funk over having to fight a duel, not having fired a pistol in over ten years, received a letter from the Department of the Army informing him that the Judge Advocate General would arrive in the Academy in two days to investigate allegations of cruelty and misconduct.

   The duel was marred by a breach of ethics on the Commandant's part. On the count of "NINE !" he whirled and fired.....and missed. On the count of "TEN !" Congressman Knowles turned slowly, took careful aim and fired. Bollingrame turned just as Mr. Knowles fired and thus took a bullet which was aimed for his genitals on his right hip instead, shattering the joint and crippling the man for life. As the Commandant crumpled to the ground, never to walk again, Congressman Knowles said "Honor is satisfied."

   Dr. Prescott and Wesley Knowles testified at the Board of Inquiry which found Lt. Col. Bollingrame guilty of using cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Constitution of the United States, demoted him to Lieutenant and retired him on disability.