Some critics of the West Point graduates claim the academy created a class of separate elite officers who made sure they protected each other in terms of the wars they fought in.One serious but untrue criticism was that the General in Chief Winfield Scott made sure that the graduates from his home state of Virginia were promoted faster and that he leaned towards the Southern graduates. This was well before the outbreak of the US Civil War.
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Prior to the US Civil War, generals Stonewall Jackson and George B. McClellan graduated from the USMA, West Point in the same year. They would face each others armies during the early campaigns of the US Civil War.
West Point Academy
Most U.S. generals graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. This prestigious institution has produced many of the nation's military leaders since its founding in 1802. Additionally, other military academies, such as the United States Naval Academy and the United States Air Force Academy, also contribute to the ranks of generals, but West Point remains the most prominent.
Lee and Grant both graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY; They both served in the Mexican-American War; They were both Commanding Generals of their respective armies in the Civil War, and they were respectful of each other in the surrender officially ending the Civil War.
West Point the United States Military Academy.
Ulysses S. Grant
Confederate Major General George E. Pickett graduated from West Point in 1846. Two of his famous classmates in the US Civil War were generals George B. McClellan and Lieutenant General Stonewall Jackson. Neither of them served at the Battle of Gettysburg, where unfortunately Pickett's name became well known due to the infamous charge he led on the last day of the Gettysburg battle in 1863.
uysless grant the civil war general of the union
Confederate General William Whann Mackall graduated from West Point in 1837. He was ranked 8th among the graduating cadets in his of 50. Mackall saw most of his service in the US Civil War in the Western Theater. Perhaps his most famous battle was at Chickamauga. He served under generals Braxton Bragg and Joseph Johnston.
Because Joe Johnston and Robert E. Lee outclassed any of the Union commanding Generals up to that point.
Union General Samuel Davis Sturgis graduated from West Point in 1846. Among his graduating class of 59 cadets, Sturgis ranked 32nd. As an aside, Sturgis graduated with well known generals such as Stonewall Jackson and George Edward Pickett.At one point General Sturgis was in charge of the military force that protected Washington DC.