Shortest tenure on record Colonel P.G.T. Beauregard assumed command of West Point and superintendency of the United States Military Academy on January 23, 1861.  He resigned on January 28, 1861, after his native Louisiana seceded.  Two days later, Colonel Richard Delafield, Beauregard’s predecessor and successor, sent this letter to Brigadier General Joseph G. Totten, about Beauregard’s resignation. Letter from Colonel Richard Delafield Regarding His Assumption of Command of the United States Military Academy at West Point After the Resignation of Colonel P. G. T. Beauregard, 01/30/1861 via DocsTeach
View Separately

Shortest tenure on record

Colonel P.G.T. Beauregard assumed command of West Point and superintendency of the United States Military Academy on January 23, 1861.  He resigned on January 28, 1861, after his native Louisiana seceded.  Two days later, Colonel Richard Delafield, Beauregard’s predecessor and successor, sent this letter to Brigadier General Joseph G. Totten, about Beauregard’s resignation.

Letter from Colonel Richard Delafield Regarding His Assumption of Command of the United States Military Academy at West Point After the Resignation of Colonel P. G. T. Beauregard, 01/30/1861

via DocsTeach

Army and Navy Battle for the First Time On November 29, 1890 the first Army-Navy football game was played at West Point.  The United States Naval Academy defeated the United States Military Academy 24-0.  (And by 1899 they were already talking smack.) Photograph of some of the action on the field during the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia, attended by the President and Mrs. Truman. 12/02/1950 In the 1950 game in this photo Navy upset undefeated Army by a score of 14-2.
Pop-upView Separately

Army and Navy Battle for the First Time

On November 29, 1890 the first Army-Navy football game was played at West Point.  The United States Naval Academy defeated the United States Military Academy 24-0.  (And by 1899 they were already talking smack.)

Photograph of some of the action on the field during the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia, attended by the President and Mrs. Truman. 12/02/1950

In the 1950 game in this photo Navy upset undefeated Army by a score of 14-2.

West Point The United States Army has maintained a presence at West Point on the Hudson River since the Revolutionary War. Defenses here prevented the British from dividing the New England States from the rest of the country along the line of the Hudson River. The second session of the first congress authorized the purchase of this land in 1790 for the defense of the nation. It later became home to the United States Military Academy. Act to Authorize Purchase of Land at West Point, 07/05/1790 via DocsTeach
Pop-upView Separately

West Point

The United States Army has maintained a presence at West Point on the Hudson River since the Revolutionary War. Defenses here prevented the British from dividing the New England States from the rest of the country along the line of the Hudson River. The second session of the first congress authorized the purchase of this land in 1790 for the defense of the nation. It later became home to the United States Military Academy.

Act to Authorize Purchase of Land at West Point, 07/05/1790

via DocsTeach

Born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, on March 21, 1856, Henry Ossian Flipper was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1873. Over the next four years he overcame harassment, isolation, and insults to become West Point’s first African American graduate and the first African American commissioned officer in the regular U.S. Army. Photograph of Lt. Henry O. Flipper, Photo by Kennedy, ca. 1877; Center for Legislative Archives; Records of the U.S. House of Representatives; National Archives and Records Administration (Reproduced with the permission of the U.S. House of Representatives)
Pop-upView Separately

Born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, on March 21, 1856, Henry Ossian Flipper was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1873. Over the next four years he overcame harassment, isolation, and insults to become West Point’s first African American graduate and the first African American commissioned officer in the regular U.S. Army.

Photograph of Lt. Henry O. Flipper, Photo by Kennedy, ca. 1877; Center for Legislative Archives; Records of the U.S. House of Representatives; National Archives and Records Administration (Reproduced with the permission of the U.S. House of Representatives)

Another ignominious chapter in Poe’s abortive military career, the Trial of Cadet Edgar Allen Poe:

Poe arrived at West Point in June 1830 and submitted himself to the rigors and regimens of the Academy. There were long days filled with study and military drills. The food was poor, the quarters crowded and spartan, and discipline rigid. Poe did well academically but was soon undone by continuing quarrels with his foster father and money problems. During his first term, he decided to leave West Point but could not resign without the consent of his foster father. When Allen did not consent, Poe set out to get himself court-martialed and dismissed. He neglected his studies and failed to report for parades, roll-calls, and guard duty. On January 28, 1831, he was court-martialed. These papers from the trial list charges against Cadet Poe: gross neglect of duty and absence from his “academical duties;” on March 6, 1831, he was dismissed from West Point by sentence of court-martial.

President Truman at the annual Army-Navy Game over the years.

So who are you cheering for - Army or Navy?

Talking Army-Navy Smack, circa 1899: via The Text Message » Go Army! Beat Navy! 2nd Lieutenant Robert C. Foy, 8th U.S. Infantry, sent a letter to Major John A. Johnson, Assistant Adjutant General, on November 14, 1899, in which he provides his own “unbiased” assessment of the teams from West Point and Annapolis.  After his salutation, he immediately jumped right in with his opinion declaring that “[a]fter having seen the game put up by the Navy at Annapolis on Saturday I cannot help but feel we can beat them on Dec. 2nd.”
Pop-upView Separately

Talking Army-Navy Smack, circa 1899:

via The Text Message » Go Army! Beat Navy!

2nd Lieutenant Robert C. Foy, 8th U.S. Infantry, sent a letter to Major John A. Johnson, Assistant Adjutant General, on November 14, 1899, in which he provides his own “unbiased” assessment of the teams from West Point and Annapolis.  After his salutation, he immediately jumped right in with his opinion declaring that

“[a]fter having seen the game put up by the Navy at Annapolis on Saturday I cannot help but feel we can beat them on Dec. 2nd.”

October 23, 1898 Letter from Lt. Henry O. Flipper to Representative John A. T. Hull

Born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, on March 21, 1856, Henry Ossian Flipper was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1873. Over the next four years he overcame harassment, isolation, and insults to become West Point’s first African American graduate and the first African American commissioned officer in the regular U.S. Army.

Later court-martialed and dishonorably discharged, Flipper fought to clear his name, and a bill was introduced in Congress on his behalf. To bolster his case, he sent Congressman John A. T. Hull, chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs, this letter displayed below along with a brief supporting the bill’s passage. Flipper’s letter to Hull is an eloquent statement asking Congress for “that justice which every American citizen has the right to ask.” Flipper died in 1940 without vindication, but he was posthumously granted an honorable discharge and Presidential pardon.

“…For the first time in history 61 female officers were among the rows of the ‘Long Gray Line.’ 05/28/1980” President Ford signed Public Law 94-106 on October 7, 1975, permitting women to attend military academies for the first time.
Pop-upView Separately

“…For the first time in history 61 female officers were among the rows of the ‘Long Gray Line.’ 05/28/1980”

President Ford signed Public Law 94-106 on October 7, 1975, permitting women to attend military academies for the first time.