Except for the class of 1915 (“the class the stars fell on”), no other group graduating from West Point has been as glorified as the Class of 1846.
Graduating just as the Mexican-American War began, this band of brothers ultimately fought shoulder-to-shoulder (and in some cases, face-to-face) in three momentous wars: the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the Third Seminole War (1855-1858), and, of course, the American Civil War (1861-1865).
During the “War Between the States” (as it was then called), the Class of ‘46’s most glorious engagement, 22 West Point graduates rose to the rank of general. 12 commanded Union troops, including George B. McClellan and George Stoneman, and 10 commanded Confederate troops, including Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Ambrose “A. P.” Powell Hill.
Ultimately, 53 of the 59 graduates of the Class of ‘46 fought in these wars, with four losing their lives in Mexico, two fighting Native American tribes in the West, and four during the American Civil War.
But that doesn’t begin to tell the complete story of the men and accomplishments of this extraordinary class, or the military institution that produced them.
History, Qualification, Curriculum
West Point, the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, was initially established as a fort during the American Revolutionary War.
Aspiring candidates were required to apply directly to the Academy for admission, then be formally nominated, usually by a member of Congress, but in a few cases, by the President or Vice President himself.
West Point was intended to provide basic military training for soldiers, readying them for battle. Beginning in 1794, in addition to learning field maneuvers, weaponry use, and basics of hand-to-hand combat, cadets underwent artillery training and engineering studies.
But it wasn’t until 1800, during the “undeclared” Quasi-War between the United States and the French First Republic (fought in the Caribbean and along the US East Coast between 1798 and 1800), that Founding Father Alexander Hamilton laid out formal plans for the establishment of a bona fide military academy at West Point, New York, introducing “A Bill for Establishing a Military Academy” in the House of Representatives.
In 1801, shortly after Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration as President, Jefferson ordered the construction and establishment of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Commencing operations on July 4, 1802, the Academy produced its first official graduate, Joseph Gardner Swift, three months later.
General Sylvanus Thayer
By 1817, West Point had had two superintendents, Joseph Gardner Swift and Captain Alden Partridge. At that time, President James Monroe ordered Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer to take charge.
Seizing the opportunity to build the most efficient fighting force in the world, Thayer set out to revamp the Academy’s curriculum to rival that of any superior university or military institution in the world.
Inspired by the curriculum implemented by the French Republican faction at the École Polytechnique, where Thayer studied for two years, West Point became America’s first college of engineering.
Among Thayer’s many reforms was the establishment of a standard four-year curriculum with cadets organized into four classes, as well as many traditions and policies still in use today, including: the “demerit system,” insistence on the highest possible academic standards, personal ethics valuing honor and responsibility, strict physical and mental discipline, and requirement that cadets maintain outstanding military appearance and decorum at all times—in both military and public settings.
By 1835, the only way to receive a military commission was to have attended the Academy.
During the Second Seminole War, for example, a conflict that took place in Florida from 1835 to 1842 between the US and groups of Native Americans and former slaves collectively known as Seminoles, only three generals (Winfield Scott, Edmund P. Gaines, and Thomas S. Jesup) were commissioned officers. The US Army’s remaining 14 generals held their rank by brevet (honorary) only, and none were “West Point” graduates.
Many of the cadets who attended the “Point” during Thayer’s tenure went on to hold key leadership positions in both the Mexican War and the American Civil War.
The Class of 1846: By the Numbers
Originally numbering 122, the West Point Class of 1846 ultimately graduated 59 men. 30 were dismissed early due to physical and mental issues, and others resigned when they realized they couldn’t measure up. And when it was all said and done, a considerable number of those men left indelible marks at the Academy, in some cases, indicative of the mark they would leave in history.
While the cadet who graduated first in the class, Charles Seaforth Stewart, would never make it higher than the rank of colonel during the American Civil War, second-ranked George B. McClellan would rise to the lofty position of major general in the Union Army. The now-famous field general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, who had no formal education prior to entering West Point, yet graduated 17th in the class, rose to the powerful position of lieutenant general in the Confederate Army.
Although many historians today believe that McClellan and Jackson represent the best of the best of the Class of ‘46 (the better student, ironically, proving the poorer leader), several others demonstrated brilliance while attending the Academy that may have translated to fame had it not been for twists of fate.
Note: As destiny would have it, McClellan and Jackson met on opposite banks of the Antietam River at what would prove to be the bloodiest single-day battle in American history.
The Roster
In all, these names constitute what the annals of American history often refer to as the “Most illustrious class in the Academy’s history” (listed according to their class ranking at graduation):
1-10: Charles Seaforth Stewart, George B. McClellan, Charles E. Blunt, John G. Foster, Edmund Hardcastle, Francis T. Bryan, George H. Derby, Jesse L. Reno, Clarendon J. Wilson, Thomas M. Whedbee.
11-20: Edmund Hayes, Edward C. Boynton, Darius Nash Couch, Henry B. Sears, William Dutton, John A. Brown, Thomas J. Jackson, Albert L. Magilton, Truman Seymour, Colville J. Minor.
21-30: Charles C. Gilbert, Marcus D. L. Simpson, Rufus J. Bacon, Hamilton L. Shields, John Adams, Richard H. Rush, Henry A. Ehninger, Thomas F. Castor, Orren Chapman, Alexander P. Rodgers.
31-40: Oliver H. P. Taylor, Samuel D. Sturgis, George Stoneman, James Oakes, William D. Smith, George F. Evans, Dabney H. Maury, Innis N. Palmer, James Stuart, Parmenas T. Turnley.
41-50: David R. Jones, Alfred Gibbs, George H. Gordon, Frederic Myers, DeLancey Floyd-Jones, John D. Wilkins, Joseph N. G. Whistler, Thomas Easley, Nelson H. Davis, Thomas R. McConnell.
51-59: Matthew R. Stevenson, George S. Humphreys, William H. Tyler, Cadmus M. Wilcox, William M. Gardner, Edmund Russell, Archibald B. Botts, Samuel Bell Maxey, and George E. Pickett.
Note: Of these 59 men, four would die within three years of graduation (Whedbee, Minor, Bacon, Humphreys), and seven would die on the battlefield in various wars (Reno, Jackson, Rodgers, Stuart, Easley, Russell, and Botts). Bacon took his own life, as classmate Truman Seymour described it, “Cut his throat in a fit of derangement—brought on by brain fever.”
Waiting for Action
Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point left the halls of academia as brevet second lieutenants. And like prior and subsequent graduating classes, the Class of 1846 had to wait for openings in the “regular” U.S. Army, when they would receive military appointments.
In the so-called “Old Army,” promotion only occurred when someone resigned their commission or died. But with war in Mexico now seemingly inevitable, promotions were expected to come quickly as more field officers would be needed to command the troops. But where, exactly, they would be assigned was largely a matter of class ranking.
It went without saying that only the best and brightest would be recommended for the top echelon: the Topographical Engineers. Stewart, McClellan, Blunt, and Foster were clear candidates for this sanctified hierarchy, as well as Hardcastle, Bryan, Derby, and Reno.
It also went without saying that those with lower standing would be offered commissions in Ordinances—followed by Artillery, Infantry, Mounted Rifles, and Dragoons. Ninth-ranked Clarendon J. Wilson, through 27th-ranked Henry A. Ehninger (which included Jackson), qualified for these branches, but only after spots became available.
Twenty-eighth-ranked Thomas F. Castor–down to 69th-ranked George E. Pickett–were limited to the branches requiring “more nerve than brains,” the Artillery, Infantry, Mounted Rifles, and Dragoons. Jackson had set his sights on the Artillery upon arrival.
As the 59 graduates went their separate ways at the steamboat landing at the Academy, the war with Mexico was already a month underway, and could be heard echoing in many of their minds. They assured each other that they would soon share in the glory they would surely find there.
Little could they imagine that the real glory of their lifetimes was some 15 years away and would change the lives of many of their graduating class as no “West Point” class in history.
The Mexican–American War brought the United States Military Academy to prominence as 53 of the 59 graduates proved themselves in battle for the first time.
Note: Future Civil War commanders Ulysses S. Grant (Class of ‘43) and Robert E. Lee (Class of ‘29), who would later become the superintendent of the Academy, first distinguished themselves in battle in Mexico as well.
The American Civil War (
While it is commonly known that the American Civil War divided countless families, forcing brother to fight against brother, uncle against nephew, and even father against son, it is less considered that regarding the graduates of “West Point,” many of those who became celebrated officers, choosing to wear either the “blue” or the “gray,” had become comrades and even best friends at the Academy.
But with the official declaration of civil war, West Point graduates quickly filled the general officer ranks of both the Union and Confederate armies; 294 graduates serving as officers for the Union, 151 as officers for the Confederacy. In the final tally, 12 rose to the Union Army’s high command, while 10 held similar positions in the Confederate Army. They were:
Union
Darius N. Couch (Major General), John G. Foster (Major General), John Gibbon* (Major General), Alfred Gibbs (Brigadier General), Charles Champion Gilbert (Brigadier General), George H. Gordon (Major General), George B. McClellan (Major General), James Oakes (Brigadier General), Innis Newton Palmer (Brigadier General), Jesse L. Reno (Major General), Truman Seymour (Major General), George Stoneman (Major General), and Samuel D. Sturgis (Major General).
Note: Originally part of the Class of ‘46, John Gibbon didn’t graduate until 1847 due to disciplinary issues.
Confederacy
John Adams (Brigadier General), Birkett D. Fry (Brigadier General), William M. Gardner (Brigadier General), Ambrose “A. P.” Powell Hill (Lieutenant General), Thomas “Stonewall” J. Jackson (Lieutenant General), David R. Jones (Major General), Dabney H. Maury (Major General), Samuel B. Maxey (Major General), George E. Pickett (Major General), and Cadmus M. Wilcox (Major General).
In the end, nearly every officer of note from either side of the American Civil War was a graduate of “West Point,” and a “West Pointer” was in command of one or both forces in every one of the 60 major battles fought.
Because the Class of ‘46 played such a prominent role in the American Civil War (involved in every significant battle), it’s sometimes easy to over-look that a total of 977 West Point graduates from Classes 1833-1861 were active when the American Civil War began, and that of these men, 259 ultimately chose to join the Confederacy, 638, the Union.
In all, 95 “West Point” grads were killed in the American Civil War, and at least 141 were wounded.
Ironically, perhaps, despite their involvement in 60 major battles, it wasn’t the Class of 1846 that sustained the most significant number of casualties, but rather the Class of 1854–of which almost half were killed or wounded in battle. These statistics speak to the extraordinary leadership, tactical prowess, and, in many cases, pure determination to be victorious that the Class of ‘46 brought to the War.
While the North certainly defeated the South in the American Civil War, it can rarely be said that one side overpowered, outmaneuvered, or outfought the other in battles involving the Class of ‘46, because in reality, they were essentially equally matched by natural design.
Although West Point remains among the premier military training grounds in the world and continues to prepare both young men and women for key military positions wherever there is a US military presence, the Class of 1846 still uniquely shines to this day.
