Military Academy: Difference between revisions

In 1835, during the Army's first year of the [[Second Seminole War]], they had only three generals: [[Winfield Scott]], [[Edmund P. Gaines]], and [[Thomas S. Jesup]].{{sfnp|Mahon|1967|p=117}} The Army's remaining fourteen generals "held their rank by [[brevet (military)|brevet]] only,"{{sfnp|Mahon|1967|p=118}} and none of them were West Point graduates. Nearly the only way to obtain a commission up to 1835, was through the academy, "which created loud complaint", and added to the "Jacksonian Democracy...a deep desire to get rid of the Academy, where, Jacksonians were sure, an aristocratic tradition was being bred."{{sfnp|Mahon|1967|p=118}}

The [[Mexican–American War]] brought the academy to prominence as graduates proved themselves in battle for the first time. Future [[United States Civil War|Civil War]] commanders [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and [[Robert E. Lee]], who also later became the superintendent of the academy, first distinguished themselves in battle in Mexico.<ref name="grantlee">{{cite web |url=http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1833.asp |title=Challenges and Validation|work=USMA Bicentennial|publisher=United States Military Academy|access-date=16 December 2008|archive-date=12 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012175449/https://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1833.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfnp|Crackel|2002|p=120}} In all, 452 of 523 graduates who served in the war received battlefield promotions or awards for bravery.<ref name="grantlee"/>{{sfnp|Simpson|1982|p=46}} The school experienced a rapid modernization during the 1850s, often romanticized by the graduates who led both sides of the Civil War as the "end of the Old West Point era."<ref name="Mexican War">{{cite web |url=http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1848.asp|title=Mid-Century Time of Trial|work=USMA Bicentennial|publisher=United States Military Academy|access-date=20 December 2008|archive-date=27 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527195822/http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/1848.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> New barracks brought better heat and [[gas lighting]], while new ordnance and tactics training incorporated new rifle and [[musket]] technology and accommodated transportation advances created by the steam engine.<ref name="Mexican War"/>{{sfnp|Simpson|1982|pp=48–49}} With the outbreak of the Civil War, West Point graduates filled the [[general officer]] ranks of the rapidly expanding [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] armies.{{sfnp|Crackel|2002|p=135}} 294 graduates served as general officers for the Union, and 151 served as general officers for the Confederacy.<ref name="Mexican War"/> Of all living graduates at the time of the war, 105&nbsp;(10%) were killed, and another 151&nbsp;(15%) were wounded.<ref name="Mexican War"/> Nearly every general officer of note from either army during the Civil War was a graduate of West Point, and a West Point graduate commanded the forces of one or both sides in every one of the 60 major battles of the war.<ref name="Mexican War"/>{{sfnp|Crackel|2002|p=135}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usma.edu/wphistory/sitepages/notable%20graduates.aspx |title=Notable USMA Graduates: Did You Know?|publisher=United States Military Academy|access-date=14 July 2014}}</ref>