West Point Cemetery

West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery in the eastern United States, on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Revolutionary War soldiers and early West Point inhabitants long before 1817, when it was officially designated as a military cemetery.

West Point Cemetery
Old section in January 2009
Details
Established1817,[1] 203 years ago
Location
U.S. Military Academy
West Point, New York
CountryUnited States
Coordinates41.398°N 73.967°W / 41.398; -73.967
TypeMilitary
Owned byU.S. Military Academy
West 
Point
Location in the United States
West 
Point
Location in New York

Northwest of the cadet area, it was known as "German Flats" before its formal designation as the official cemetery in 1817.[2] Until that time several small burial plots scattered in mid-post also served as places of interment. The graves from these plots and the remains subsequently found during building excavations were removed to the new site.

An improved road to the cemetery was constructed in 1840, and the caretaker's cottage was erected in 1872.[1] The cemetery is home to several monuments, including the Dade Monument, Cadet Monument, Custer Monument, Wood's Monument, and Margaret Corbin Monument.

Notable interments

The cemetery includes interments of many notable people:[3]

Old Cadet Chapel at the entrance to the cemetery
Caretaker's Cottage
  • Major General Wesley Merritt, Civil War veteran, Military Governor of the Philippines
  • Major General Bryant Edward Moore, Korea IX corps, World War II 8th inf div "Timberwolves" and Pacific
  • General Alexander M. Patch, commander of U.S. Seventh Army
  • 2nd Lieutenant Emily J. T. Perez, KIA IRAQ – 2006, NCAA Award of Valor – 2008.
  • Colonel Russell Potter "Red" Reeder, Jr., World War II veteran and author.
  • Major General Thomas H. Ruger, Civil War veteran, United States Military Academy Superintendent
  • Major General Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, the first superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.
  • General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., commander of coalition forces in the Gulf War.
  • Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, longest serving American general (1813–1861), commanded the U.S. Army from 1841 to 1861.
  • Major General George Sykes, Civil War commander.
  • Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer, known as "The Father of the U.S. Military Academy" for the strict regimens implemented at his direction
  • Brigadier General John T. Thompson, inventor of the Thompson submachine gun
  • Brigadier General George H. Torney, Surgeon General of the United States Army
  • Ensign Dominick Trant, a native of Cork, Ireland and a soldier in the Ninth Massachusetts Regiment in the Continental Army, died at West Point in 1782. His grave is the oldest in the cemetery.
  • Colonel Theodore S. Westhusing, highest-ranking officer to die in Iraq War – 2005, "Multi-national Security Transition Command – Iraq".
  • General William Westmoreland, Army Chief of Staff, Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy, Commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam from 1964–1968.
  • Lieutenant Colonel Ed White, first American to make a spacewalk, killed in the Apollo 1 fire on 27 January 1967.
  • Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Eleazer D. Wood, first West Point Graduate to die in battle. Actually a cenotaph; arguable whether he is actually buried there.[4]
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See also

References
  1. "The West Point Cemetery". usma.edu. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  2. Lange, Robie (1984). Historic Structures Inventory United States Military Academy West Point, NY Vol 2. Washington, DC: National Park Service. p. 39.
  3. "West Point Cemetery" (PDF). United States Military Academy. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  4. "Eleazer D. Wood • Cullum's Register • 17". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
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