"West Point Bicentennial"
A Pictorial History of the First Two Hundred Years of the United States Military Academy
Preface | 1776-1817 | 1817-1833 | 1833-1848 | 1848-1865 | 1865-1890 | 1890-1919 | 1919-1939 | 1939-1950 | 1950-1970 | 1970-1980 | 1980-2002 | Bicentennial and Beyond

"The Early Years"

1776-1817

The desire for an institution that would combine academic and military education to produce leaders of character to serve the nation was present almost from the very birth of the nation, but it took nearly two generations before that goal was fully realized. West Point first came to prominence during the American Revolution, when strategic fortifications were constructed to block British advances up the Hudson River. Fortress West Point, constructed under the guidance of the Polish engineer and patriot Thaddeus Kosciuzsko, maintained American control over this "key to the American continent" during most of the war. During the war, John Adams and Henry Knox proposed creating an institution to teach "the whole theory of the art of war," but Congress failed to act. At the end of the war, leaders such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Baron von Steuben added their voices to those earlier advocates for a military school system, but again to no avail. The American fear of a strong peacetime, standing army, that might threaten the republic, would limit not only the size of the Army but would also prevent the initial establishment of a military academy as well. Indeed, at one point, only months after the signing of the Peace of Paris ending the Revolutionary War, the Army was temporarily reduced from 700 men to 80. Even in an Army of that size, however, 55 soldiers were stationed to guard military supplies at the critical fortress at West Point.

An important step toward the establishment of the military academy occurred in 1794, when tensions with Britain led Congress to establish a Corps of Artillerists and Engineers with up to 32 "cadets," headquartered at West Point due to its strategic location and military supplies, to oversee the construction of coastal fortifications. Nevertheless, the appointment of French veterans Louis de Tousard and Stephen Rochefontaine to command the corps demonstrated that the United States lacked competent engineers to direct the program. Frequent duels and even a possible arson underscored the lack of discipline among both officers and cadets. Schedules for classes and training were established, but intermittent funding and personal jealousies hamstrung the corps. Officers and cadets came and went, continually disrupting the fledgling efforts to teach mathematics (a mixture of elementary algebra, geometry and surveying) and engineering (the design of fortifications, roads and bridges). Most of the limited training that did occur was in gunnery, making the post a basic course for artillerymen.

This state of affairs persisted despite repeated proposals by Washington, Hamilton and President John Adams for a more comprehensive program of studies. Yet, their influence gradually had an effect, and the artillery training became more orderly by 1800. Firm legislative sanction finally occurred in the Act of 16 March 1802, signed by President Jefferson, which separated the engineers and artillery and authorized a corps of engineers with a total of seven officers and ten cadets and provided that they constitute a "military academy" at West Point. Interpretations of President Thomas Jefferson’s intent vary, and the evidence is inconclusive. He made have hoped to foster a "national university" for scientific research and may have wanted to use the academy as a way to commission officers who might be more loyal to democratic government, at a time when most officers had come from more conservative backgrounds. (The violent partisanship of the 1790s had led to fears of civil war, and Jefferson was not sure of the loyalty of those officers commissioned by his predecessors.) Indeed, Jefferson probably hoped that his Military Academy would serve both purposes--providing needed technical education and an officer corps more representative of the entire nation. Whatever his intent, the act of March 16, 1802 laid the foundation for an institution that would go beyond mere technical training to combine general education and professional development. Joseph G. Swift and Simon M. Levy, graduated on October 12, 1802. Although Levy passed away only five years after graduating, Swift went on to compile a notable record, serving as the U.S. Army’s Chief Engineer from 1812 to 1818 and the superintendent from 1812-1814.

The first commanding officer, or superintendent, Jonathan Williams, the grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin, was a nationally known scientist without military experience. He hoped to foster a spirit of scientific inquiry, a willingness [among cadets] to continue their studies after graduation, and a comprehension of the broad horizon of their profession. These objectives are not unlike today’s academic program goals. Williams, however, faced an array of problems while serving as Superintendent. The buildings and accommodations were limited. An 1803 law authorized civilian teachers of drawing and French to complement instruction already provided in mathematics, drawing and fortifications, but funding remained uncertain. There were no standard procedures for making appointments to or graduating from the academy, so cadets ranged in age from ten to thirty-seven, most came from the Northeast, and their attendance varied from six months to six years, often with extensive intermissions. Williams repeatedly suggested moving the Military Academy to New York City or Washington, D.C., or establishing a second academy, to bring more attention and funding to the institution. In the end, wracked by cadet resistance to attending class, personal disputes and threats of violence among cadets, officers, soldiers, and civilians, and ultimately by Williams' own resignations when not given the commands he desired, the Military Academy was barely functioning at all by 1812. Indeed, only a single cadet and a single instructor were present at that time, and only 89 cadets had graduated from West Point.

The increasing likelihood of war with Britain, however, led Congress, in April 1812, to pass a law that established the legal foundations for the academy as an instrument for training and educating officers for all branches of the Army. The act provided that entering cadets be between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one, be "well versed in reading, writing and arithmetic," and that they be organized into cadet companies with cadet officers and noncommissioned officers. The act also authorized a total of up to 250 cadets and provided for commissioning them in all of the branches of the Army, rather than only in engineering and artillery. This law later made it possible for the Army to rely almost completely on West Point for new officers. By 1860, three-fourths of the Army's commissioned officers were academy graduates.

With numerous officers called away to combat in the War of 1812, the academy continued on a limited basis during this period. There was much to be done before the institution could reach its potential. Indeed, Congress did not appropriate funds for the Military Academy in 1815, and Chief Engineer Joseph Swift was forced to resort to personal connections to secure a $65,000 loan to sustain operations.

Despite its many early problems, the academy's early graduates were highly successful, directing the nation's fortification efforts before and during the War of 1812. Nine graduates were killed in action or mortally wounded during that war. (Eleazer Wood, Class of 1806, was commemorated in a monument in 1818, the first such monument at West Point.) Historian Henry Adams applauded both their military success and their impact on American society as a whole: "The West Point Academy may be said to have decided, next to the navy, the result of the war…During the critical campaign of 1814, the West Point engineers doubled the capacity of the little American army for resistance, and introduced a new and scientific character into American life." Though somewhat exaggerated, Adams' judgment was reaffirmed by the success of these graduates during the decades following the war. Whatever contributions Williams and the haphazard academy training had made to their knowledge and motivation, these graduates formed the foundation of the Corps of Engineers for the next half-century, supplying the chiefs of engineers through 1863. They were the principal designers of American coastal fortifications throughout this period, heading the implementation of the nation's first program of strategic defense planning. Others headed the ordnance department during the 1820s and 1830s and were the topographical engineers who facilitated the exploration of the American West during the 1840s and 1850s. Twelve of the 89 graduates served for more than thirty years, and six served until the Civil War, providing essential administrative continuity and experience during the formative years of the Army's professional development.

After the war, Swift oversaw the creation of a four-year course of instruction, initiated in 1816, as well as the institution of regular examinations twice a year, and teaching through direct instructor-cadet interactions rather than by formal lectures. Yet he resisted a series of suggestions from the secretary of war that he go to West Point to take direct command as superintendent, leaving the academy in the hands of Captain Alden Partridge, an excellent drillmaster, who saw the school primarily as an institution for military training. Partridge oversaw the construction of a mess hall, academic building and two new barracks. He was popular among cadets, whom he led in simulations of Napoleonic battles on the Plain, but he got along poorly with fellow officers and the civilian faculty. He imposed a much stricter discipline, including the first steps toward an honor code, and began to entrust some cadets with additional responsibilities. Yet micromanagement, demeaning punishments and charges of nepotism and financial irregularity undercut these reforms.

Academic progress was equally irregular. Partridge sometimes promoted and graduated his favorites without regard to their academic performance, yet no cadets were graduated in 1816. Partridge continually resisted suggestions for change. Ultimately, President James Monroe chose Major Sylvanus Thayer, an 1808 graduate who had gone to Europe for a two-year tour of military schools and installations, to take over the academy’s leadership in 1817. Though initially reluctant, Thayer moved quickly to assert control and begin reform. Partridge, who undermined every principle of discipline by seeking cadet support and attempted to regain his command by force, was court-martialed for mutiny and dismissed from the Army. He went on, however, to found Norwich Academy (now Norwich University), still a commissioning source today, and to criticize West Point in a series of pamphlets. Despite Partridge's laudable emphasis on professional training, his arbitrary, capricious approach depended too much on personal discretion and popularity to successfully inculcate the uniformity, equitable treatment and discipline necessary for the responsible performance of duty.