History of the United States Military Academy

The history of the United States Military Academy can be traced to fortifications constructed on the West Point of the Hudson River during the American Revolutionary War in 1778.

Following the war, President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation establishing the United States Military Academy (USMA) on the site in 1802.

[2] George Washington considered West Point to be the most important military position in America,[3] stationing his headquarters there in the summer and fall of 1779.

It was as commander of the fortifications at West Point that Benedict Arnold committed his infamous act of treason when he attempted to sell the fort to the British.

American military failures in frontier-fighting such as the Battle of the Wabash and the Quasi-War with France motivated Congress to authorize president John Adams to improve the instruction at West Point, but little resulted due to a lack of qualified instructors.

[17] Despite his earlier misgivings, when Jefferson became president, he called for and signed legislation establishing a "Corps of Engineers" which "shall be stationed at West Point and constitute a Military Academy" on 16 March 1802.

[18] Jefferson wanted a "national university" that focused on science and engineering and was looking for an American with a strong scientific background to command the academy.

[16] The impending War of 1812 caused Congress to authorize a more formal system of education at the academy, and increased the size of the Corps of Cadets to 250.

[20] 1811 graduate George Ronan, assigned to duty at Fort Dearborn on the American frontier, was killed in the War of 1812 and became the first member of the Corps of Cadets to die in combat.

For the first half century, USMA graduates were largely responsible for the construction of the bulk of the nation's initial railway lines, bridges, harbors and roads.

During his tenure, the Corps of Cadets thrived and due to the small size of the Regular Army during this period of American history, USMA became the predominant source of commissioned officers.

[27] After the tenure of Thayer, the academy faced challenges to its relevance as many new Western State congressmen saw it as a breeding ground for an elitist aristocratic Officer Corps.

Because of the Army's slow promotion system of the time, no graduate of the academy had made general officer rank at the start of the war.

In 1857, West Point began the current process of admitting candidates nominated by the members of the United States Congress, one for each congressional district.

New barracks brought better heat and gas lighting, while new ordnance and tactics training incorporated new rifle and musket technology and advancement such as the steam engine.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, West Point graduates filled the general officer ranks of the rapidly expanding Confederate and Union armies.

[29] The years immediately following the American Civil War were a difficult time for the academy as it struggled to admit and reintegrate cadets from former Confederate states.

Despite the low graduation rate, the admittance of African-American cadets at all to West Point was unusual and progressive for the country as a whole during this time.

As the "Gilded Age" saw a blossoming of liberal arts education in the private sector, West Point struggled to adapt and change its engineering-heavy curriculum to match the times.

Goethals would gain notoriety as the chief engineer of the Panama Canal and Pershing would become famous for chasing the famed Pancho Villa on the Mexican border and for leading American Forces during World War I.

The Army-Navy football rivalry was born the decade before in 1890 with a victory by Navy at West Point, followed with Army's avenging that loss in Annapolis the following year.

[34] He began the process of having instructors study at civilian institutions prior to serving at West Point and he provided more liberal leave and pass opportunities to the upper classes.

It was also just prior to World War II that the academy expanded the reservation boundaries, growing to the nearly 15,000 acres (61 km2) that it comprises today.

In 1943, summer training was formally moved from the Plain to the new area recently acquired southwest of main post, which would later become Camp Buckner.

In 1955, the Hollywood motion picture The Long Gray Line, based upon another book by Colonel Reeder and his sister, was completed, and the CBS dramatic series The West Point Story aired on television.

Colonel Russell "Red" Reeder, Class of 1926, wrote several popular novels about fictional West Point cadets which first appeared in 1955.

[39] To date [May 2018] five females have been appointed as the first captain: Kristen Baker in 1989, Grace H. Chung in 2004, Stephanie Hightower in 2006, Lindsey Danilak in 2014, and Simone Askew in 2018.

[41] The first female West Point alumna to attain flag (general officer) rank was Rebecca Halstead, class of 1981.

[42][43] Despite its reputation for resisting change, West Point was an early adopter of the use of the Internet, authorizing full access to all cadets free of charge in their barracks room in 1996.

From 1990 to 1994 West Point granted a total of 59 master's degrees as part of the Eisenhower Scholar Program for new tactical officers.