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mourners, as Christopher’s father had been a member of his Secret Service security detail whilst he was President. Fatal accidents at West Point, as at military training centres elsewhere, are thankfully rare, but not unprecedented.
Our hosts and guides at West Point were the official West Point Command Historian, Lt Col () Sherman Fleek and Major Derek Brown. Although a serving US Army Aviation officer and helicopter pilot, Major Brown was then on a posting at West Point as a lecturer in the Eng- lish and Philosophy Department. Our visit came about as a result of a tour of Sandhurst in June 2018 by Major Brown and a party of his English and Philosophy students who were in the UK on a ‘Shakespeare tour’. I was their Sandhurst Trust Volunteer Guide for the day, and I was invited to West Point for a reciprocal visit should I ever be in that part of the US. So, whilst visiting rela- tives who live in New York, I took
Hudson formed a significant part. Also, control of the river by the British meant dividing the colo- nies to the east and west of it, particularly cutting off the patriot hub of New England to the east. The American Continental Army constructed several forts at the ‘choke point’ (the narrow- est part of the River with two remarkably sharp turns) on the river around the West Point butte, but these were captured and destroyed by the British sailing up from New York (which the Brit- ish controlled for most of the War) in 1777. In 1778, to prevent further incursions by river, the Americans constructed the Great Chain across the river and began to fortify West Point itself, although units of militia had been camped there since 1775. The last successful attempt by the British to invade the Hudson Highlands was in 1779, although their advances were subse- quently overturned by troops stationed at West Point. General Washington was impressed by
up that offer! Very many thanks to Sherman and Derek for their time and hospitality.
History of West Point
The history of West Point as a
military facility dates back to the
American Revolutionary War (1775
– 1783), when American patriots
in thirteen colonies defeated the
British, gaining their independence
and establishing the United States of America. It is the oldest continually operating Army post in the United States. Both sides considered the Hudson River to be strategically vital. The Hud- son River is 315 miles long running from north to south, originating in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York, and draining into the Atlantic Ocean at New York Harbour. The river is named after Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch East India Company, who explored it in 1609, and after whom Canada’s Hudson Bay is also named. At its southern end the river forms the political boundary between New York and New Jersey. The Hudson River gained particular fame in 2009 when Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sul- lenberger successfully landed US Airways flight 1549 on the river off Manhattan on 15th January that year, shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport, without a single loss of life, when both his engines on his Airbus A320 failed after hitting a flock of geese!
The British were keen to control the water route between Canada and New York, of which the
that action and, being aware of its strategic importance, transferred his headquarters to West Point until the end of that year.
The Revolutionary War history of West Point is not complete with- out mention of Benedict Arnold, a byword in America for treason and betrayal! Arnold was a distinguished general in the American Continen- tal Army, and a hero of the Battle
of Saratoga (1777), a major American victory over the British. By 1780, Arnold was Com- mandant of the West Point post and becoming disenchanted with the American cause, for rea- sons which have never been fully established, although much conjectured. He plotted with the British to hand over vital information regarding the defences of West Point, by now a major for- tification. Although Arnold handed over the infor- mation to his British contact, Major John André, it was never received by the British. André was caught in possession of the information by Patriot militia, and subsequently tried and hanged as a spy. Arnold escaped and subsequently went on to fight for the British before eventually dying in London in 1801.
History of the USMA
The Academy traces its roots to 1801 when, shortly after his inauguration, President Thomas Jefferson directed that plans be set in motion to establish the United States Military Acad- emy at West Point. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of his-
The Revolutionary War history of
West Point is not complete without mention of Benedict Arnold...
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