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Plebes Along the Hudson The military academy at West Point has a historical tradition that is nothing short of revolutionary. By Gregory Crouch
Had Arnold’s plot succeeded, the history of the Revolution might have been profoundly changed, for at the time West Point was one of the young country’s most strategically important fortresses. George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, considered it “the key to the continent.” Today West Point plays another role in our country’s future by training leaders for the army and nation. Founded in 1802 to provide the United States with professional military expertise, West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States and has been training cadets for 196 years. The 4,000 members of the United States Corps of Cadets live in spartan barracks named for famous graduates—Lee, Pershing, Grant, Bradley, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Scott—while they study and train to become army officers. In the barracks, only seniors, known at West Point as “firsties,” can have rugs in their rooms and are allowed some liberties with their room decoration, but the other three classes—“cows” (juniors), “yearlings” (sophomores) and “plebes” (freshmen)—have cold tile floors, plain desks, bookshelves, a “rack” (bed) and “green girl” (much-beloved blanket), and a dresser in addition to the washstand, mirror, rifle-rack, and two closets built into the walls—all arranged according to the specifications laid out in the B.A.G. (Barracks Arrangement Guide).
The cadets’ heavy academic loads and the pressures of duty positions within the Corps, intramural sports, and the omnipresent military regime create a mountain of work and responsibilities for the young officers-in-training. The academy’s program is designed to be demanding, almost overwhelming, as a way to provide the United States with the military leaders she so sorely lacked during her struggle for independence. Survey the Hudson River from Trophy Point today and you can see why Washington felt the site was so important. For most of its course below Albany, the Hudson is wide enough for ships to navigate its waters safely without interference from either bank. But here in the Hudson Highlands, 45 miles above Manhattan, the waters of the great river pass through a narrow defile dominated on both sides by high hills. At West Point the river makes a sharp bend and is only about 500 yards wide. Here, it was possible to control the Hudson from the bluffs of West Point and Constitution Island on the other side of the river. Ships making their way upriver became vulnerable as they struggled through the complicated maneuvers necessary to pass West Point. They would often have to sail into the wind as they negotiated the bend, with the currents and tides making navigation unpredictable. If you didn’t have a navy, this was the best place to control the Hudson River. Despite the Highlands’ strategic importance, the United States made only inept moves to defend them between the declaration of war in May of 1775 and the end of 1777. Engineers, commissioners, and officers of marginal professional ability mismanaged the construction of defenses there, and haphazard American efforts squandered precious resources in an attempt to strengthen many scattered positions in the Highlands—except West Point. Britain knew that if she could seize control of the Hudson, she could dominate her rebellious American colonies politically, economically and militarily. British conquest of the Hudson would isolate the hotbeds of revolutionary sentiment in New England from the other colonies and stifle commerce and trade up, down, and across the Hudson. In one attempt to conquer the Hudson, General John Burgoyne headed south from Quebec in 1777 with plans to meet up in Albany with other British forces coming from the west and south. If successful, he would cut the colonies in half. When forces under Sir Henry Clinton, marching north to meet Burgoyne’s army, made a surprise attack on the Hudson Highlands on October 6, 1777, it struck the Americans like a thunderbolt. The British captured the Americans’ haphazard Highlands defenses and burned Kingston as they sailed upriver. Fortunately for the Americans, Clinton was too late to help Burgoyne. On October 7 Burgoyne was badly beaten at Saratoga in the Battle of Bemis Heights, an American victory spearheaded by the heroic actions of Benedict Arnold. Surrounded and outnumbered in the heart of the American wilderness, Burgoyne surrendered his army on October 17. Unable to hold the Hudson Highlands in the aftermath of the Saratoga debacle, Clinton leveled the defenses in the Highlands and retreated to New York City. His destructive work actually ended up helping the American cause. By erasing all the second-rate positions, Clinton gave the revolutionaries the opportunity to start over from scratch. With the help of a Frenchman, Lieutenant Colonel Louis de Radiére, and Polish military leader and statesman Thaddeus Kosciuszko, they built better defenses anchored at West Point.
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