1. West
By Fady Makram and Amr Ibrahim
Point
2 June 2009 1
2. Origins of West Point
• West Point was considered one of the most
important strategic places in America.
• General George Washington told Thaddeus
Kosciuszko to design its fortifications.
• West Point is the oldest continuously occupied
military post in America.
• Fortress West Point was never captured by the
British.
3.
4. • It started off with a strict civil engineering
curriculum.
• George Washington proposed that it should
focus on the arts and sciences of military
warfare.
• 20 years later, President Thomas Jefferson
signed legislation establishing USMA in 1802.
• He made sure that West Point students were of
a democratic society.
5. Reasons for its Existence
• West Point was designed to reduce America’s reliance on
engineers and artillerists during times of war.
• “A Peace Establishment for the United States of America may in my
opinion . . . [include] Academies, one or more for the Instruction of the Art
Military; particularly those Branches of it which respect Engineering and
Artillery, which are highly essential, and the knowledge of which is most
difficult to obtain.”
—George Washington, “Sentiments on a Peace Establishment,” May
1783
• The Academy was also created because the US was, at nature,
a nation of war.
6. • Soon, its graduates began to command armies on both
sides of the Civil War.
• General Robert E. Lee of the South was one of its
graduates.
• General Ulysses S. Grant of the North was also a
graduate of West Point.
• Colonel Sylvanus Thayer upgraded its academic
standards.
• He also instilled military discipline and honorable
conduct.
8. Early Years of West Point
• The Mexican-American War brought the
academy fame when its graduates proved
themselves in battle for the first time.
• Civil War commanders Ulysses S. Grant and
Robert E. Lee proved themselves in the
Mexican War.
10. Modernization
• During the Colonial period, West Point was going
through rapid modernization.
• Better heat and gas lighting was developed because of
new barracks.
• New training methods and tactics incorporated new
rifle and musket technology and advances such as the
steam engine.
11. West Point’s Role in the Civil War
• With the outbreak of the Civil War, West Point
graduates filled the general officer ranks of the
rapidly expanding Union and confederate
armies.
• 294 graduates served as general officers for the
Union, and 151 served as general officers for
the Confederacy.
• Nearly every general officer of note from
either army during the Civil War was a
graduate of West Point.
