How this rating was awarded remains a mystery. It is possible that Arnold’s impertinent remark to the chief cavalry officer concerning chewing tobacco only days prior to his West Point graduation had cost him S.Q. status. S.Q. required a certain amount of objective evaluation by academy faculty, and none had more influence in selecting cavalry officers than the chief cavalry officer himself. It is likely that after Arnold’s brash outburst, his S.Q. status—if he had earned it before—was summarily revoked.