First Lieutenant Conrad Byloff, Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Smythe and Sergeants Ed Reed and Charles Rose of Company C, Sixth Illinois Volunteers, went to Lombard College on a morning in early May 1899. They were in search of Carl Sandburg.

 

United States Representative George W. Prince, who lived in Galesburg, had informed the Company C officers that he could appoint an individual to West Point. He asked the officers to select the person they considered the best candidate from among those in the unit.

 

On May 12^th, Sandburg received a letter, stating he was conditionally selected for appointment to the Academy. He was to report to West Point, New York, for examination on June 6^th. That meant that he had three weeks to prepare.

 

It was very flattering to be selected by the officers of Company C, but he had never thought about a career in the military. Still, to be picked from a group of about ninety men was an honor.

 

Sandburg packed his grip and took the train to Chicago and then another to New York. He sat in the wicker chairs of the smoking car with his pipe and enjoyed the passing scenery. He realized that he had never thought about being a military officer, especially after his experience in the Spanish-American War.

 

At the Academy Sandburg was pronounced physically fit and spent several days in a large room with the other candidates taking the written tests. In the evenings he watched the cadets drill on the parade ground. It was an impressive sight.

 

One day an upperclassman knocked at the door of Sandburg's room. He said he was from Minnesota and had Swedish antecedents. He offered to help him if it was needed. Sandburg thanked him and appreciated the offer.

 

On June 13^th, August Sandburg received a letter from the Academy stating his son had been found deficient in examinations for mathematics and grammar. For his son, who wanted to become a writer, it was a particular disappointment. In light of his subsequent career, the latter result was especially ironic.

 

On his return journey Sandburg visited the New York state capital in Albany and Niagara Falls. When he arrived in Galesburg he made the appropriate apologies to the officers of Company C. Then he put on his uniform and returned to his job at the Prairie Street fire station. For the rest of the summer he arose at 4:30 in the morning to go to his other job as handyman at the Union Hotel. He took the clinkers from the boilers, started the hard coal fire for the chef and turned the crank for the ice cream making machine, among other duties.

 

 Later in the summer he quit the handyman job and stated soliciting ads for The Lombard Review. He also created the advertisements for several local businesses. He recalled in his autobiography, Ever the Winds of Chance, he was able to keep track of the payments for ads without any trouble, even though he had failed the Academy mathematics examination.