HISTORY
The land occupied by the old part of the reservation
belonged to the British crown. The first settlement probably dates from 1723,
when a royal grant was made to Charles Congreve. Another portion of the
reservation was patented to John Moore in 1747. Although
On
In the Fall of 1790, under the Command of Josiah
Harmar, the small force of soldiers were defeated by the Miami Indians in the
The Buffalo Soldiers were never attached or assigned
to the First Battalion, First Infantry, but they provided enlisted support to
the Corps of Cadets. The Buffalo Soldiers ' assets were later partially
absorbed by the 1802d Special Regiment, and subsequently absorbed by the First
Battalion, First Infantry. The present day Headquarters and Headquarters
Company and enlisted barracks of the 1st of the 1st were built for and utilized
by the Buffalo Soldiers. Following is a brief history of their conception until
their assignment to the
It was originally founded as a school for the U.S.
Corps of Engineers on
At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, both the
colonists and the British had recognized the importance of gaining possession
of the Hudson River valley, and West Point became the strategic key to its
defense. General George Washington established his headquarters there in 1779.
In 1780 Major General Benedict Arnold, who was then in command at West Point,
attempted to betray it to the British; but his treason was discovered and he
fled to the enemy.
The founding of an American military school had been proposed
by General Henry Knox in 1776, and Washington and Alexander Hamilton had
repeatedly urged adoption of the plan, but it was not until March 16, 1802,
that Congress passed the act establishing the United States Military Academy at
West Point. The academy opened on July 4, 1802.
Before 1812 it was conducted as an apprentice school
for military engineers and, in effect, as the first U.S. school of engineering.
During its early years, however, the institution suffered from lack of proper
organization and discipline. An act of Congress of April 29, 1812, reorganized
the academy and increased the authorized strength of the corps of cadets to
250, expanded the staff of the academy, and established a four-year curriculum.
This legislative goal was not effective until the superintendency of Colonel
Sylvanus Thayer (1817-33), who had been sent to Europe to study military
schools there. Thayer became known as the "father of the military
academy" because of his lasting influence upon the West Point physical
plant, the library, the curriculum, and the pedagogical method, assumed the
superintendency, and reorganized the academy so effectively that the
fundamental features of its instruction and discipline remained essentially the
same at the time of World War II. In 1952 the Military academy observed the
sesquicentennial of its founding.
Under Thayer's leadership the academy produced
military technicians whose skills were adaptable to meet the civil-engineering
needs for the program of internal improvement that accompanied America's
westward expansion. An act of Congress of July 13, 1866, allowed the selection
of a military academy superintendent from branches of the Army other than the
Corps of Engineers.
Following the Civil War, the all-black 9th and 10th
Cavalry Regiments were created by the Army Reorganization Act of 1866. Their
early service was on the Western frontier. During their 24 years of service on
the frontier, the Buffalo Soldiers, as they came to be known by the Indians in
reference to the soldiers' coarse black hair and dark skin, similar to that of
the Buffalo, fought more than 125 engagements. The tribes they fought were the
Apache, Comanche, Ute, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Shoeshone, Bannock, Kickapoo, Lipan,
Mescalero, Blackfoot, and Sioux Indians. The 9th Cavalry participated in the
last major Indian war against the Sioux in 1890 and the 10th served in the
Spanish-American War.
In 1907, a detachment of the 9th Cavalry was assigned
to West Point to support Cadet riding instruction and mounted drill, which was
conducted on the ground now called Buffalo Soldier Field, formerly known as the
Cavalry Plain. In addition to giving riding instruction, the black soldiers
performed guard duty for the post, harvested ice from Lusk Reservoir, provided
labor details, and served as orderlies. In 1931, the USMA Cavalry Detachment
was replaced by the 2nd Squadron, 10 Cavalry, which remained at West Point
until its deactivation in 1946.
Under the act of congress approved June 3, 1942, the
authorized strength of the corps of cadets was set at 2,496 cadets, appointed
as follows: 8 from each state at large (senatorial); 4 from each congressional
district; 4 from each territory (Hawaii and Alaska) ; 6 from the District of
Columbia; 4 from Puerto Rico; 2 from the Canal Zone; 172 from the United States
at large; and 180 from among the enlisted men of the regular and reserve
components of the army and the air force. An act of congress approved June 30,
1950, provided that, when on the date of admission of a new class the total
number of cadets was below the strength authorized, the secretary of the army
might bring the corps of cadets to full strength by appointing qualified
alternates and candidates recommended by the academic board. In addition to the
2,496 mentioned above, the secretary of the army was authorized to permit no
more than four Filipinos, to be designated by the president of the Republic of
the Philippines, to receive instruction at the United States Military academy.
The president of the United States was authorized to permit no more than 20
persons from Latin-American republics or Canada to receive instruction at the
academy. These foreign cadets, however, would not be entitled by reason of
their graduation to appointment in the United States armed forces.
West Point has trained most of the great American
military commanders since the first half of the 19th century. Among its
graduates have been Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Robert E. Lee, Thomas
("Stonewall") Jackson, Jefferson Davis, John J. Pershing, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Omar Bradley, and George Patton.
ADMISSIONS
The academy is under the immediate supervision and
control of the Department of the Army, exercised through the superintendent, in
whom is vested the immediate military command of the academy and the military
post. The goal of the educational program is to instruct and train the corps of
cadets so that each graduate will have the qualities and attributes essential
to continued development through a lifetime career as an officer in the Army.
The four-year course of college-level education and training leads to a
Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as second lieutenant in the Army.
The curriculum is balanced between mathematics and basic and engineering
sciences (60%), the humanities and social sciences, military science, and
physical education (40%). Cadets must be at least 17 years of age but not yet
22, as well as unmarried, at the time of their appointment. They must have a
high-school education or its equivalent and must take three types of
examinations: medical, mental and physical aptitude before admission.
Enrollment is 4,417.
The great majority of appointments to the academy are
made by
Upon admission to the Military academy, each cadet
takes an oath of allegiance and agrees to serve in the armed forces of the
The normal course at the Military academy is four
years. The academic year lasts from August to May, inclusive. During the months
of June, July and August, each class receives one month's leave. The remaining
two months are devoted to military training. All cadets receive the same
military training and pursue the same academic course. The third class (sophomores)
receives extensive field training at the training areas on the academy
reservation. The second and first classes (juniors and seniors) obtain
supplementary instruction at other Army training centers. The second class also
takes part in joint amphibious maneuvers with the midshipmen from the
POINTS OF INTEREST
Some of the buildings of special interest are: the
Cadet chapel; the riding hall, one of the largest in the world; the
administration building, unusual for the fact that its 160-ft. tower is of
solid masonry construction without a steel frame; Cullum Memorial hall,
patterned after the second Erechtheum; central barracks and the old Cadet
chapel, rich in associations with famous graduates; the Ordnance museum,
containing an interesting collection of weapons, models and trophies; and the
library, which contains many rare manuscripts, engravings and sketches.
In addition to the buildings of the Military academy
there are several monuments, the most prominent of which is
There are also seven old revolutionary redoubts in the
hills behind the academy and three forts-Forts
Buffalo Soldier Field was named in honor of the men of
the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiments. The plaque dedicating the Field is
mounted at the corner of Thayer and Mills Intersection, and depicts the history
the two units. On