Military Academy, United States

Establishment of the Military Academy

Early Americans were skeptical of the need for a profes-sional military school, fearing that it would perpetuate a mil-itary aristocracy and believing that state militias were adequate for defending the country. However, members of the Federalist Party, including George Washington, favored a stronger national army led by trained professionals. Many in this group had served in the Continental Army and wit-nessed occasions of poor performance by militias under fire. Ironically, the Federalists' archrival, Thomas Jefferson, ulti-mately authorized the school's creation, but set it up in a way that attempted to preserve republican values. Congress would regulate the size of the Academy and determine which individuals would receive appointments. Academy supporters also deflected criticism by emphasizing the school's engineering benefits rather than its war studies.

The Academy struggled during its early existence: too few instructors and an unclear curriculum and purpose. The War Department often reassigned its most capable officers and students to what it considered to be more important pri-orities. The school's status stabilized in the 1820s during the tenure of Sylvanus Thayer, its first notable superintendent. Thayer created a multitiered program that developed cadets academically, professionally, and morally. Although this struc-ture has been through many permutations, the Academy has followed this basic approach throughout its history. Thayer modeled a high standard of professional decorum, which became a trademark of Academy graduates. Through rigor-ous inspections, cadets learned to maintain an impeccable standard of military bearing. Officers on the Academy staff scrutinized cadets' conduct to ensure that it was honorable.

The strength of its academic program gave many gradu-ates the grounding to achieve distinguished careers with the Corps of Engineers; in turn, these graduates established the Academy's reputation as an elite engineering college. Thayer's protégé, Dennis Hart Mahan, helped to solidify the [Page 517]Academy's academic foundations. After graduating in 1824, Mahan taught cadets civil and military engineering virtually uninterrupted until 1871, except for four years spent study-ing abroad early in his career. Mahan's list of pupils included distinguished graduates like Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and William T. Sherman. Although he taught engi-neering, Mahan's courses included a traditional military emphasis with specific applications to combat.

Early Challenges and the Civil War

Academy graduates were gradually assigned to units at both eastern posts and on the frontier, but the Mexican War was the first genuine test of the school's training. Many future leaders in the Civil War, including Grant, Lee, and Jefferson Davis, had significant roles in the earlier conflict. The chal-lenges of leading a volunteer Army deep into Mexico were tremendous, but Academy graduates contributed to the Army's success with their skills in planning and organization. However, relationships between volunteers and Academy officers was often uneasy. Academy graduates looked upon their colleagues and troops as undisciplined, while volun-teers interpreted the graduates' attention to detail as mar-tinet behavior.

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