West Point plays vital role

The 200th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was celebrated on March 16, yet few people understand the significance of the event.

The concept of a national military academy was suggested by George Washington, and later signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson in 1802. Washington had discovered the necessity of a well-trained, professional officer corps while leading American forces during the Revolution.

His own education  military and otherwise  was inadequate. He had fought in the earlier French and Indian War, but leading large units in the Revolution against the British Army, reputedly the best in the world, was new to him and to his officers. If they had any familiarity with the great captains of history  Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, etc.  it was haphazard at best.

It is not likely that they had studied tactical concepts such as the oblique order or double envelopment, or that they had a grasp of Alexander the Great’s river crossing at Hydaspes. They initially lacked the skill required to maintain the order and discipline necessary for them to simultaneously coordinate infantry, cavalry and artillery. Most of them lacked the engineering skills to build bridges, roads and fortifications. For these reasons the Revolution was nearly snuffed out at the beginning, and only Washington’s ability to keep the army together following defeat after defeat saved the cause until his men, and especially his officers, learned the art of war.

For these reasons, Washington understood that a national military academy was essential to the survival of the nation. It was a dangerous world. Britain, France and Spain all had interests in North America, and the new American republic was weaker than each of them.

The first test came with the War of 1812, but West Point graduates were too few and all in the lower ranks. So more than ever, it became obvious that professionalism was necessary. More and more talented young men were drawn to the academy. Jefferson Davis graduated in 1828. Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston graduated the following year. Lee became a military engineer and tamed the Mississippi River at St. Louis. But it was the 59-member Class of 1846 that shined, eventually producing 22 generals, including Confederates Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, George Pickett, and A.P. Hill, as well as Northerner George McClellan in the Civil War (1861-65).

However, it was the Mexican War (1846-48) that truly proved the importance of West Point to the nation. At the outbreak of hostilities, the standing army was small, and West Pointers were relied upon to turn civilian volunteers into an effective fighting force. Some of them, like Jefferson Davis, were by then civilians themselves, but they remembered their training. Davis performed exemplary service with his volunteers at the Battle of Buena Vista.

Robert E. Lee would have won the Congressional Medal of Honor had it then existed for his harrowing reconnaissance mission on the march to Mexico City.

George Pickett was first over the wall in the assault on Chapultepec, the citadel guarding the Mexican capital. Years later he would become even more famous for a certain charge at Gettysburg.

But anecdotes aside, West Pointers proved themselves capable of quickly molding an army out of civilians. They provided the leadership that won and tamed the West that inspired, trained and led the masses of men who fought on both sides in the Civil War.

It is a scenario that has been played out over and over again. They were not asked to agree with the politics or the causes. That was not their job. They were asked to lead troops in combat, to train the people who would defend the nation, to tame the rivers and build the bridges, roads and dams. And today West Pointers include women because the nation cannot afford to ignore more than half of its brainpower.

West Point alone did not build the nation, but could the nation we know today have been built without West Point?