After Thayer Until The War With Mexico
After the tenure of Thayer, the Academy faced challenges to its relevance as many new Western State congressmen saw it as a breeding ground for an elitist aristocratic Officer Corps. The War with Mexico, 1846–1848, changed the nation's perception of the Academy. Because of the Army's slow promotion system of the time, no graduate of the Academy had made General Officer rank at the start of the war. However, many junior and mid-level officer graduates proved themselves invaluable in battle. Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee first distinguished themselves in battle in Mexico. In all 452 of 523 West Point graduates who served in the war received battlefield promotions or awards for bravery.
Read more about this topic: History Of United States Military Academy
Famous quotes containing the words thayer, war and/or mexico:
“With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult, he made the game go on;”
—Ernest Lawrence Thayer (1863–1940)
“You went to meet the shell’s embrace of fire
On Vimy Ridge; and when you fell that day
The war seemed over more for you than me,
But now for me than you the other way.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“I think New Mexico was the greatest experience from the outside world that I have ever had.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)