The United States Military Academy at West Point
is the oldest continuously occupied military facility in our nation’s history.
Of course, anything that old just has
to host a few resident poltergeists, doesn’t it?
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| West Academic Building at the U. S. Military Academy |
The Continental Army first occupied West Point,
New York on the 27th of January, 1778. Home to seventy-four Medal of
Honor recipients, the academy has a legendary place in the military history of
the United States. The defenses where designed by the Polish engineer and
combat hero, Tadeusz Kosciuszko. The Point is situated on the high ground above
an “S” curve of the mighty Hudson River. This strategic location prevented the
British fleet from sailing upriver and cutting the colonies in half during the
colonial period. General Benedict Arnold’s act of treason was an attempt to
turn this facility over to the British. West Point became the US Army’s academy
of engineering and artillery in March of 1802
.
Civil War commanders Robert E Lee and Ulysses S.
Grant are former alumni of this prestigious academy as are Douglas MacArthur,
George S. Patton and Dwight D. Eisenhower, just to name a few. Yes, indeed,
West Point has seen its fair share of history and apparently, left some of it
behind.
