[1] Patton was a prominent cavalryman during the early 20th century and was a founding father of the US Army's Tank Corps, seeing action in World War I and commanding a tank brigade.

After a swift drive across France after the Normandy invasion, his forces made a famous relief of the trapped American forces in the siege of Bastogne during the German Ardennes counteroffensive.

The statue was originally dedicated in 1950 by Patton's widow Beatrice and faced the old Cadet Library.

[4] In the monument's previous position, Patton faced the old Cadet Library.

It was often joked that the statue was positioned facing the library with binoculars in the officer's hands so that he might find the building which he neglected to visit as a cadet.