Sylvanus Thayer; Father of Technology in the United States
West Point, NY: The Association of Graduates, United States Military Academy, 1958. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 10 inches by 7 inches, in stiff board binding. . v, [1], 24, [2] pages. Frontis illustration. Footnotes. Selected Bibliography. Papeclip impression inside front cover and on fep. Cover scuffed in the upper corner and has some wear and soiling. Rare in any condition. Colonel Dupuy served as news chief and acting director of public relations on the World War II staff of General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower and on the War Department General Staff in Washington just after the war. He was the author of more than 20 books on military history. It was Colonel Dupuy who broadcast to the world on June 6, 1944, the brief and longawaited statement: “Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.” He was present at the conclusion of the operations that began then, serving as a member of the official Supreme Headquarters party at the ratification of the German surrender in Berlin in May, 1945. Colonel Dupuy found time also to serve for five years as associate editor of The Army Navy Air Force Register and from 1963 to his death was a member of the board of directors and staff editor of the Historical Evaluation and Research Organization. He was survived by his son, Col. Trevor Nevitt Dupuy, co author of several of his father's books. Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer (June 9, 1785 – September 7, 1872) also known as "the Father of West Point" was an early superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point and an early advocate of engineering education in the United States. During the War of 1812, Thayer directed the fortification and defense of Norfolk, Virginia, and was promoted to major. In 1815, Thayer was provided $5,000 to travel to Europe, where he studied for two years at the French École Polytechnique. While traveling in Europe he amassed a collection of science and especially mathematics texts that now form a valuable collection for historians of mathematics. In 1817, President James Monroe ordered Thayer to West Point to become superintendent of the Military Academy following the resignation of Captain Alden Partridge. Under his stewardship, the Academy became the nation's first college of engineering. While at West Point Thayer established numerous traditions and policies which are still in use at West Point. These include the values of honor and responsibility, strict mental and physical discipline, the demerit system, summer encampment, high academic standards and the requirement that cadets maintain outstanding military bearing and appearance at all times. Many of the cadets who attended West Point during Thayer's tenure, held key leadership positions during the Mexican War and American Civil War. Colonel Thayer's time at West Point ended with his resignation in 1833, after a disagreement with President Andrew Jackson. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1834. Thayer returned to duty with the Army Corps of Engineers. Thayer spent the great majority of the next 30 years as the chief engineer for the Boston area. During this time he oversaw the construction of both Fort Warren and Fort Independence to defend Boston Harbor. Thayer's great engineering ability can be observed in both of the above-mentioned forts. Thayer retired from the Army on June 1, 1863 with the rank of colonel in the Corps of Engineers. As a result of Thayer's enduring legacy at the United States Military Academy, in 1869 a meeting took place in Braintree between Thayer and the West Point graduate and Civil War hero Brigadier General Robert Anderson. An outcome of Anderson's 1869 meeting with Thayer was the establishment of the Military Academy's Association of Graduates (AoG). In 1867, Thayer donated $40,000 to the trustees of Dartmouth College to create the Thayer School of Engineering. Condition: good.
Keywords: New York, West Point, US Military Academy, Sylvanus Thayer, Technology, Engineering, Superintendent, Hall of Fame, Military education, Military Officer, William Worth, Board of Visitors, Corps of Engineers, Dennis Hart Mahan, Ticknor, Robert Parrott
[Book #43094]
Price: $85.00