Guide to West Point, and the U.S. Military Academy
()
Read more from Various Various
Stitch, Craft, Create: Crochet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStitch, Craft, Create: Cross Stitch: 7 quick & easy cross stitch projects Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5One-Act Plays By Modern Authors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStitch, Craft, Create: Applique & Embroidery: 15 quick & easy applique and embroidery projects Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Witty Pieces by Witty People A collection of the funniest sayings, best jokes, laughable anecdotes, mirthful stories, etc., extant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Folk-Tales of the Magyars Collected by Kriza, Erdélyi, Pap, and Others Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Big Book of Nursery Rhymes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBest Castles - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales: The Essential Guide for Visiting and Enjoying Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStitch, Craft, Create: Knitting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBake Me I'm Yours ... Christmas: Over 20 delicious festive treats: cookies, cupcakes, brownies & more Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ancient Irish Poetry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stitch, Craft, Create: Papercraft: 13 quick & easy papercraft projects Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Stitch, Craft, Create: Beading Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBirds, Illustrated by Color Photography, Vol. 1, No. 6 June, 1897 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 1 "L" to "Lamellibranchia" Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A System of Operative Surgery, Volume IV (of 4) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chinese Poems Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIndex to Kindergarten Songs Including Singing Games and Folk Songs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Strand Magazine: Volume VII, Issue 37. January, 1894. An Illustrated Monthly Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEncyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 1 "Gichtel, Johann" to "Glory" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEncyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsColonial Records of Virginia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Make Me I'm Yours ... Sewing: 20 simple-to-make projects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYiddish Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEncyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 1 "Evangelical Church Conference" to "Fairbairn, Sir William" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Guide to West Point, and the U.S. Military Academy
Related ebooks
Guide to West Point, and the U.S. Military Academy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGuide to West Point, and the U.S. Military Academy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Continental Dragoon A Love Story of Philipse Manor-House in 1778 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemoirs of Henry Villard Journalist and Financier 1835 -1900 Vol. II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBattle of Fort George A paper read on March 14th, 1896 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of the Nineteenth Army Corps Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Trenches at Petersburg: Field Fortifications and Confederate Defeat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Peninsula Campaign 1862: McClellan and Lee Struggle for Richmond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Battle for Manhattan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Portsmouth Harbor's Military and Naval Heritage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Old Forts of the Northwest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoltroons and Patriots: A Popular Account of the War of 1812, Vol. II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPerrysburg:: Historic Architecture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistoric Photos of Puget Sound Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of Newburyport, Massachusetts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gulf and Inland Waters - The Navy in the Civil War III Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn and Out of Rebel Prisons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Picture of the Desolated States, and the Work of Restoration. 1865-1868 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHagerstown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWashington County Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Crimean War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Story of the First Trans-Continental Railroad Its Projectors, Construction and History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn and Out of Rebel Prisons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe "Twenty-Seventh" / A Regimental History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Frances Smith: Palace Steamer of the Upper Great Lakes, 1867-1896 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDerelicts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBraddock's Road Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFredericksburg and Its Many Points of Interest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for Guide to West Point, and the U.S. Military Academy
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Guide to West Point, and the U.S. Military Academy - Various Various
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Guide to West Point, and the U.S. Military Academy, by Various
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
Title: Guide to West Point, and the U.S. Military Academy
Author: Various
Contributor: Edward Carlisle Boynton
Release Date: March 18, 2012 [EBook #39188]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUIDE TO WEST POINT, AND THE ***
Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Library of Congress)
* * * * *
+—————————————————————————————-+ | Transcriber's Note: | | | | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For | | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | | | +—————————————————————————————-+
* * * * *
[Illustration: ARMSTRONG GUN FROM FORT FISHER.]
GUIDE
TO
WEST POINT,
AND THE
U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY.
WITH
MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS.
NEW YORK: D. VAN NOSTRAND, 192 BROADWAY. 1867.
GUIDE TO WEST POINT.
Fifty-one miles above New York, on the west bank of the Hudson river, in the midst of scenery of the most picturesque and impressive character, and on a bold shelving plateau, formed by the crossing of a range of the Alleghany Mountains, which here assume almost Alpine proportions, is a name dear to every lover of his country—a name replete with memories of the struggle for Independence, and clustering with historic associations.
WEST POINT, the property of the United States by purchase, possesses a primary interest from its military importance during the period of the American Revolution, and a secondary one from its being the seat of the National Military Academy. The creative hand of natural beauty—the romance of war—the distinguished career of those who have gone forth from this locality in the defense of American Liberty, and the spectacle presented by those preparing for future public usefulness, have united to inspire the visitor with emotions unlike those excited at any place of popular resort within the limits of the United States.
Ninety years ago, when West Point possessed no attraction beyond that presented by similar adjoining wild and uncultivated woodland tracts in the Highlands, a band of Commissioners, appointed by the Provincial Congress of the Colony of New York, instituted an undertaking which first imparted a public interest to this favored spot. The war for American Independence was in progress, and then, as now, the Hudson river afforded the principal channel of communication between the theatre of the strife and the country lying northward to Canada and the west.
Nor was its importance thus limited. As a strategic line, separating the New England Colonies from the more productive region south-west of them, the control of the Hudson became, early in the war, one of the principal objects toward which the attention of the military authorities directing the contending parties was attracted.
Between abrupt and lofty mountains above West Point, the gorge through which the river flows, yet bearing its ancient name of Wey Gat, or Wind Gate, is partially obstructed at its lower entrance, by a long and narrow island, once named Martelaer's Rock, but now known as Constitution Island. In pursuance of their instructions, made with singular lack of judgment, upon this island the Commissioners landed, and under the direction of an engineer, appointed by the Colony, a work named Fort Constitution was commenced in August, 1775, and completed at a heavy expense, designed to defend, with a powerful armament of artillery, the approach up the river. Thus unfortunately located, and easily destroyed by an overlooking battery at West Point, or by a land approach on the east side of the river, the fort was abandoned and fired on the first appearance of a British force, on the 8th of October, 1777, immediately following the assault and capture by Sir Henry Clinton, of Forts Montgomery and Clinton, four miles below.
Notwithstanding this early recognition of the necessity for obstructing and controling the Hudson, no attempt was made to occupy West Point until after the urgent recommendations of Washington, Governor Clinton and Lord Stirling—the latter of whom had thoroughly examined and reported upon the immediate necessity for defending this most important point.
Operations were commenced by a brigade of Continental troops, under the command of General Parsons, on January 20, 1778, and before June in the same year, the work yet preserved, was thrown up on the north-east angle of the plateau, and named FORT ARNOLD. To cover the work, early in April, a body of Massachusetts troops, under Colonel Rufus Putnam, began to erect a fort constructed of earth and logs, on Mount Independence, overlooking the plain, which was named, in honor of their commander, FORT PUTNAM. The old fort yet in existence, bearing the same name, is a relic built, for the most part, in 1794. Forts Webb and Wyllis, lying to the south and named after regimental commanders, were commenced at the same time with Fort Putnam, and were designed to protect West Point from an approach southward by land. All these operations were conducted under the direction of Major-General McDougall, commanding in the Highlands; and in 1779, they were further strengthened and improved, while additional works were thrown up known as redoubts Nos. 1, 2 and 3, covering the Eagle Valley road to the west; redoubt No. 4, on Rocky Hill, in rear of Fort Putnam, and redoubts Nos. 5, 6 and 7, on Constitution Island, by Kosciuszko as the engineer, acting under the general direction of Washington, whose headquarters were established at West Point during a portion of the same year.
The works known as the North and South redoubts, in rear of Garrison's Station, were erected to defend the land approach on the east side of the river.
An interesting letter and accompanying map, from Kosciuszko, relating to these works, is here published for the first time:
"WEST POINT, 25TH APRIL, 1779.
"SIR: I send you a ruff map