The United States Military Academy (USMA) is an undergraduate college in West Point, New York with the mission of educating and commissioning officers for the United States Army. The academy was founded in 1802 and is the oldest of the United States' five service academies.^[1][2] It is also referred to as West Point (the name of the military base that the academy is a part of).^[1] The academy graduated its first cadet, Joseph Gardner Swift, in October 1802. Sports media refer to the academy as "Army" and the students as "Cadets"; this usage is officially endorsed.^[3] The football team is also known as "The Black Knights of the Hudson" and "The Black Knights".^[3][4][5] A small number of graduates each year choose the option of cross-commissioning into the United States Air Force, United States Navy, or the United States Marine Corps. Before the founding of the United States Air Force Academy in 1955, the academy was a major source of officers for the Air Force and its predecessors. Most cadets are admitted through the congressional appointment system.^[6][7] The curriculum emphasizes the sciences and engineering fields.^[8][9]

The list is drawn from graduates, non-graduate former cadets, current cadets, and faculty of the Military Academy. Notable graduates include 2 American Presidents, 4 additional heads of state, 20 astronauts, 76 Medal of Honor recipients (more than any other service academy or undergraduate institution),^[10] 70 Rhodes Scholars,^[11] and 3 Heisman Trophy winners. Among American universities, the academy is fourth on the list of total winners for Rhodes Scholarships, seventh for Marshall Scholarships and fourth on the list of Hertz Fellowships.^[12]

Academicians

"Class year" refers to the alumni's class year, which usually is the same year they graduated. However, in times of war, classes often graduate early. For example, there were two classes in 1943 – January 1943 and June 1943.

Academics

Note: "Class year" refers to the alumni's class year, which usually is the same year they graduated. However, in times of war, classes often graduate early.

Name Class year Notability References Horace Webster 1818 Lieutenant; mathematics professor at the Academy (1818–1825); professor of mathematics, professor of intellectual philosophy, and president at Geneva College (1828–1830, 1835–1836); president Free Academy of New York (1848–1869) [13] Dennis Hart Mahan 1824 Lieutenant; military theorist, educator, author, and engineer; founding member of National Academy of Sciences; father of American naval historian and theorist Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan; of his other four children, son Frederick August Mahan graduated from the Academy in 1867 [14] Alexander Dallas Bache 1825 Lieutenant; founding president of the National Academy of Sciences; member of the Scientific Lazzaroni and the Royal Society; professor of natural philosophy and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania (1828–1843) [15] Leonidas Polk 1827 Second lieutenant USA, lieutenant general in Confederate States Army; resigned his commission soon after graduating from the academy to enter Virginia Theological Seminary; founder of University of the South; killed in combat during the Battle of Marietta; Fort Polk named in his honor [16] Andrew A. Humphreys 1831 Major General; American Civil War; topographical and hydrological surveyor of the Mississippi River Delta; Chief of Engineers (1866–1875); an incorporator of the United States National Academy of Sciences [17] William Augustus Norton 1831 Lieutenant; Black Hawk War; professor of natural philosophy and civil engineering (1831–1883); member of the United States National Academy of Sciences [18] Benjamin Stoddert Ewell 1832 Colonel in Confederate States Army; professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Hampden-Sydney College (1839–1846); president of The College of William & Mary (1854–1888); brother Richard S. Ewell, class of 1840, was a lieutenant general in Confederate States Army [19] Francis Henney Smith 1833 Major General in Confederate States Army; first and longest-serving superintendent of Virginia Military Institute (1839–1889) [20] Montgomery C. Meigs 1836 Major General; Quartermaster General during American Civil War; river and civil engineer; early member of National Academy of Sciences; General Montgomery Meigs, class of 1967, is his descendant [21] William Gilham 1840 Colonel in Confederate States Army; Seminole War and Mexican–American War; professor at Virginia Military Institute; author of Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the United States, which was in use for over 145 years [22] Bushrod Johnson 1840 Major General in Confederate States Army; Seminole War and Mexican–American War; served with distinction in many key battles such as the Battle of Chickamauga and Siege of Petersburg; professor of philosophy, chemistry, and engineering; co-chancellor of the University of Nashville (1870–1875) [23] Josiah Gorgas 1841 Captain USA, brigadier general in Confederate States Army; Mexican–American War; chief of ordnance for the Confederacy; president of University of Alabama (1878-1883); son William C. Gorgas became Surgeon General of the United States Army [b][24] Henry L. Eustis 1842 Brigadier General; American Civil War; founded the Lawrence Scientific School, later the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences [25] Daniel Harvey Hill 1842 Lieutenant General in Confederate States Army; professor at Washington and Lee University and Davidson College; later the first president of the University of Arkansas (1877–1884) [26] Edmund Kirby Smith 1845 Major USA, General CSA; Mexican–American War; Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department; president of University of Nashville (1870-1875); professor of mathematics at Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee (1875-1893) [b][27][28] Stonewall Jackson 1846 Major in United States Army, lieutenant general in Confederate States Army; Mexican–American War; professor of natural and experimental philosophy and artillery at Virginia Military Institute (1851–1861); excelled in several battles during the American Civil War, including the First Battle of Bull Run where he received his nickname; accidentally shot by his own troops at the Battle of Chancellorsville and died of complications from pneumonia eight days later [29] Oliver Otis Howard 1854 Major General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions leading an attack at the Battle of Seven Pines despite wound which resulted in the loss of his right arm; led the campaign against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce tribe; founder of Howard University; Superintendent of the Academy (1881–1882) [b][30][31] George Washington Custis Lee 1854 First Lieutenant US Army, Major General CSA; graduated first in his class at the Academy; father Robert E. Lee, class of 1829, graduated second in his class; President, Washington and Lee University (1871–1897) [a][32] Stephen D. Lee 1854 First Lieutenant USA, Lieutenant General CSA; Seminole Wars, American Indian Wars; youngest Lieutenant General in the Confederate States Army; first president of Agricultural and Mechanical College of Mississippi (1880-1899) [b][33][34] Alexander S. Webb 1855 Major General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg for personal bravery and leadership repulsing Pickett's Charge; president of the City College of New York (1869–1902) [35][36] Winfield Scott Chaplin 1870 Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis (1891–1907); Dean of the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University; Faculty member at Maine State College, Imperial University in Tokyo, and Union College [37] John Wilson Ruckman 1883 Major General; a founder of the Journal of the United States Artillery; invented several artillery devices used during World War I; instructor at School of Submarine Defense [38] Dwight D. Eisenhower 1915 General of the Army; trained tank crews in Pennsylvania during World War I; World War II; commander of European Theater of Operations and Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (1942–1945); 1st Military Governor of American Occupation Zone in Germany (1945); President of Columbia University (1948–1950, 1952–1953); 1st Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1951–1952); 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) [39] Robert F. McDermott 1943 Brigadier General; World War II fighter pilot; executive of United Services Automobile Association (USAA); first Dean of Faculty at the United States Air Force Academy [40] Wesley Posvar 1946 Brigadier General in the Air Force; first US Air Force officer to be granted a Rhodes Scholarship; 15th chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh (1967–1991), where Posvar Hall is named in his honor [41] James R. Allen 1948 General in the Air Force; fighter pilot in Korean War and Vietnam War; superintendent of United States Air Force Academy (1974–1977) [42] Charles R. Hamm 1956 Lieutenant General in the Air Force; fighter pilot in Vietnam War; member of the Air Force air demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds (1964–1966); superintendent of United States Air Force Academy (1987–1991) [43] Robert Ivany 1970 Major General; Vietnam War and Gulf War veteran; former president of the U.S. Army War College (2001–2004); president of University of Saint Thomas (2004–present) [44] John Mearsheimer 1970 Served five years as an Air Force officer; political science professor at University of Chicago (1982–present), where he is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy; proponent of offensive realism [45]

Superintendents of the United States Military Academy

# Start End Name Class year Notability References 3 1812 1814 Joseph Gardner Swift 1802 Brigadier general; first graduate of the Academy; Chief of Engineers [a][17] 4 1814 1817 Alden Partridge 1806 Captain; served as Acting Superintendent and Professor of Engineering; his administration was regarded as unsatisfactory and negligent to duties; when Sylvanus Thayer was appointed, Partridge refused to relinquish command and was court-martialed; he was sentenced to be cashiered in November 1817, and resigned from the Army in April 1818 [a][46] 5 1817 1833 Sylvanus Thayer 1808 Brigadier general; "Father of West Point"; emphasized engineering; founded engineering schools; helped found the Academy's Association of Graduates; Sylvanus Thayer Award created by the Academy in his honor [a][47][48] 6 1833 1838 René Edward De Russy 1812 Brigadier general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][49] 7 1838 1845 Richard Delafield 1818 Major general; Chief of Engineers; American Civil War veteran; served as 7th, 11th, and 13th Superintendents [a][17] 8 1845 1852 Henry Brewerton 1819 Brigadier general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][50] 9 1852 1855 Robert E. Lee 1829 Colonel USA; graduated second in his class at the Academy, without demerits; son George Washington Custis Lee, class of 1854, graduated first in class; served in Confederate States Army ( 1861–1865); President, Washington and Lee University (1865–70) [a][51] 10 1855 1856 John Gross Barnard 1833 Major general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][52] 11 1856 1861 Richard Delafield 1818 Major general; Chief of Engineers; Union Army veteran; served as 7th, 11th, and 13th Superintendents [a][17] 12 1861 1861 Pierre Gustave Toutant (P.G.T.) Beauregard 1838 General CSA; military engineer; ordered the firing of shots at Fort Sumter, South Carolina that started the Civil War [a][53] 13 1861 1861 Richard Delafield 1818 Major general; Chief of Engineers; Union Army veteran; served as 7th, 11th, and 13th Superintendents [a][17] 14 1861 1864 Alexander Hamilton Bowman 1825 Lieutenant Colonel; military engineer; son Charles Stuart Bowman graduated from the Academy, class of 1860 [a][54] 15 1864 1864 Zealous Bates Tower 1841 Major general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][55] 16 1864 1866 George Washington Cullum 1833 Brigadier general; military engineer; wrote Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. in 1891 and developed the Cullum number system [a][56] 17 1866 1871 Thomas Gamble Pitcher 1845 Brigadier general; veteran of Battle of Harper's Ferry, Mexican–American War, and the Civil War [a][57] 18 1871 1876 Thomas H. Ruger 1854 Major general; military engineer and lawyer; veteran of Civil War; military engineer and lawyer; military Governor of Georgia (1868) [a][58] 19 1876 1881 John McAllister Schofield 1853 Lieutenant general; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions leading an attack at the Battle of Wilson's Creek; Superintendent of the Academy (1876–81); Commanding General of the United States Army (1888–95) [a][59] 20 1881 1882 Oliver Otis Howard 1854 Major general; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions leading an attack at the Battle of Seven Pines despite wound which resulted in the loss of his right arm; led the campaign against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce tribe; founder of Howard University [a][30] 21 1882 1887 Wesley Merritt 1860 Major general; veteran of the Civil War and Spanish–American War; first Military Governor of the Philippines [a][59] 22 1887 1889 John Parke 1849 Major general; military engineer; Union Army veteran [a][60] 23 1889 1893 John Moulder Wilson 1860 Brigadier general; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Malvern Hill though acutely ill; Chief of Engineers (1897–1901) [a][17] 24 1893 1898 Oswald Herbert Ernst 1864 Major general; military engineer; Union Army and Spanish–American War veteran [a][61] 25 1898 1906 Albert Leopold Mills 1879 Major general; recipient of the Medal of Honor for continuing to lead his men at the Battle of San Juan Hill despite being shot in the head and temporarily blinded; appointed Superintendent to West Point by President McKinley, which carried automatic promotion from First Lieutenant to Colonel [a][62][63] 26 1906 1910 Hugh L. Scott 1876 Major general; learned to speak many western Native American languages; Chief of Staff of the Army (1914–17) [a][64] 27 1910 1912 Thomas Henry Barry 1877 Major general; cavalry and infantry officer; veteran of Indian Wars, China Relief Expedition, and Philippine–American War [a][65] 28 1912 1916 Clarence Page Townsley 1881 Major general; coastal artillery officer; commanded 30th Infantry Division during World War I [a][66] 29 1916 1917 John Biddle 1881 Major general; military engineer; World War I veteran [a][67] 30 1917 1919 Samuel Escue Tillman 1869 Brigadier general; recalled from retirement during World War I to serve as superintendent; refused to add military aviation to the curriculum; instructor at the Academy for more than 30 years; author of numerous books on chemistry and geology [a][68] 31 1919 1922 Douglas MacArthur 1903 General of the Army, Field Marshal in the Philippine Army; United States occupation of Veracruz; Second Battle of the Marne, Battle of Saint-Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne Offensive during World War I; commander of the 42nd Infantry Division; established Honor Code, and intramural sports at the U.S. Military Academy; brigade commander in the Philippine Division; commander of the Philippine Department; Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1930–35); recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of Bataan, commander of the South West Pacific Area during World War II; Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers during the Occupation of Japan; Korean War; grandson of Wisconsin Governor Arthur MacArthur Sr.; son of Lieutenant General and Medal of Honor recipient Arthur MacArthur Jr. [a][69][70] 32 1922 1925 Fred Winchester Sladen 1890 Major general; Superintendent of Fort McHenry National Monument (1931–32) [a][71] 33 1926 1927 Merch Bradt Stewart 1896 Brigadier general; infantry officer; Spanish–American War veteran; commander 175th Infantry Brigade during World War I [a][72] 34 1927 1928 Edwin Baruch Winans 1891 Major general; instructor at military schools; commended for leadership of the 10th Cavalry Regiment [a][73] 35 1929 1932 William Ruthven Smith 1892 Major general; artillery and infantry officer; commanded 36th Infantry Division during World War I [a][74] 36 1932 1938 William Durward Connor 1897 Major general; awarded two Silver Stars; Commandant of Army War College [a] 37 1938 1940 Jay Leland Benedict 1904 Major general; artillery and staff officer; Army General Staff during World War II [a][75] 38 1940 1942 Robert L. Eichelberger 1909 General; American Expeditionary Force Siberia; commanded Eighth United States Army in World War II [a][76] 39 1942 1945 Francis Bowditch Wilby 1905 Major general; Chief of Staff of First United States Army (1939–41) [a][77] 40 1945 1949 Maxwell Davenport Taylor 1922 General; developed the phrasing of the Cadet Honor Code at the Academy; commander of 101st Airborne Division (1944–45); Chief of Staff of the Army (1955–59); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1962–64); United States Ambassador to South Vietnam (1964–65) [a][78] 41 1949 1951 Bryant Edward Moore August 1917 General; commanded 8th Infantry Division killed in a helicopter crash on 24 February 1951 while commanding the IX Corps during the Korean War [a][79] 42 1951 1954 Frederick Augustus Irving April 1917 Major general; commander 24th Infantry Division during World War II [a][80] 43 1954 1956 Blackshear M. Bryan 1922 Lieutenant general; commanded Prisoner of War Division for all the United States during World War II; commanded First United States Army (1957–60); his son, Blackshear M. Bryan Jr., class of 1954, was killed in Vietnam [a][81] 44 1956 1960 Garrison H. Davidson 1927 Lieutenant general; Academy football coach (1933–37); combat engineer during World War II and the Korean War; helped construct The Pentagon [a][82] 45 1960 1963 William Westmoreland 1936 General; Distinguished Eagle Scout; given the Pershing Sword for the most able cadet upon graduation from the Academy; commander 101st Airborne Division; commander Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (1964–68); Chief of Staff of the Army (1968–72) [a][83] 46 1963 1966 James Benjamin Lampert 1936 Lieutenant general; combat engineer during World War II; early pioneer of nuclear weapons and nuclear power, served as General Leslie Groves' executive officer as part of the Manhattan Project after World War II; his father, James G. B. Lampert, class of 1910 was killed in World War I [a][84] 47 1966 1969 Donald V. Bennett 1940 General; Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (1969–72); commander United States Army Pacific (1972–74) [a][85] 48 1969 1970 Samuel William Koster 1942 Major general but demoted to brigadier general and denied a promotion to lieutenant general for covering up the My Lai Massacre [a][86] 49 1970 1974 William Allen Knowlton January 1943 General; World War II and Vietnam War veteran; his daughter married General David Petraeus who was a cadet while Knowlton was Superintendent; Chief of Staff for United States European Command (1974–76) [a][87] 50 1974 1977 Sidney Bryan Berry 1948 Lieutenant general; Korean and Vietnam War veteran, wounded twice in Vietnam; Superintendent during the time women were first admitted to the Academy; Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Mississippi (1980–84) [a][88] 51 1977 1981 Andrew Jackson Goodpaster 1939 General; 8th Infantry Division (1961–62); Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (1969–74); Commander in Chief of the United States European Command (CINCEUR) (1969–74); retired then became Superintendent, then retired a second time [a][89] 52 1981 1986 Willard Warren Scott Jr. 1948 Lieutenant general; commander 25th Infantry Division (1976–78); commander V Corps (1980–81) [a][90] 53 1986 1991 Dave Richard Palmer 1956 Lieutenant general; military historian; instructor at the Academy and the Vietnamese National Military Academy [91] 54 1991 1996 Howard D. Graves 1961 Lieutenant general; Rhodes Scholar; military engineer; Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System (1999–2003) [92] 55 1996 2001 Daniel William Christman 1965 Lieutenant general; graduated first in his class in 1965; Senior Vice President for International Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; four-time recipient of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. [93] 56 2001 2006 William James Lennox Jr. 1971 Lieutenant general; artillery and staff officer; Deputy Commanding General Eighth United States Army; doctorate in literature from Princeton University [94] 57 2006 2010 Franklin Lee Hagenbeck 1971 Lieutenant general; commander 10th Mountain Division (2001–03) [95] 58 2010 2013 David H. Huntoon 1973 Lieutenant general; Director of the Army Staff; Former Commandant of the U.S. Army War College [96] 59 2013 2018 Robert L. Caslen 1975 Lieutenant general; chief of staff for Combined Joint Task Force-180 (CJTF-180) in Afghanistan from May through September 2002; Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation for Iraq [97] 60 2018 2022 Darryl A. Williams 1983 Lieutenant general; Managed U.S. response to the West African Ebola virus epidemic in 2016; Commander of NATO Allied Land Command (2016–2018); First black superintendent in the academy's history [98] 61 2022 Steven W. Gilland 1990 Lieutenant general; Academy's commandant of cadets (2017–2019), Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division (2019–2021) [99]

Commandants of the United States Military Academy

# Start End Name Class year Notability References 1 1817 1818 George W. Gardiner  1814 Killed in Dade's Massacre (second in command of the force under Major Dade) [a] 3 1819 1820 John R. Bell  1812 [a] 5 1829 1833 Ethan Allen Hitchcock  1817 Union Major General [a] 7 1838 1842 Charles Ferguson Smith  1825 Union Major General [a] 8 1842 1845 John Addison Thomas  1833 [a] 9 1845 1852 Bradford Ripley Alden  1831 [a] 10 1852 1854 Robert S. Garnett  1841 Confederate Brigadier General; killed in the Battle of Corrick's Ford [a] 11 1854 1856 William H.T. Walker  1837 Confederate Major General; killed in the Battle of Atlanta [a] 12 1856 1860 William J. Hardee  1838 Confederate Lieutenant General [a] 13 1860 1861 John F. Reynolds  1841 Union Major General; killed in the Battle of Gettysburg [a] 14 1861 1861 Christopher C. Augur  1843 Union Major General [a] 15 1861 1862 Kenner Garrard  1851 Union Brigadier General [a] 16 1862 1864 Henry B. Clitz  1845 [a] 17 1864 1864 John C. Tidball  1848 [a] 18 1864 1870 Henry M. Black  1847 [a] 19 1870 1875 Emory Upton  1861 Union Brigadier General [a] 20 1875 1879 Thomas H. Neill  1847 Union Brigadier General [a] 21 1879 1882 Henry M. Lazelle  1855 [a] 22 1882 1888 Henry C. Hasbrouck  1861 [a] 23 1888 1892 Hamilton S. Hawkins  — Member of the class of 1856; did not graduate [a] 24 1892 1897 Samuel M. Mills  1865 [a] 25 1897 1901 Otto L. Hein  1870 [a] 26 1901 1905 Charles G. Treat  1882 [a] 27 1905 1909 Robert L. Howze  1888 Medal of Honor recipient [a] 28 1909 1911 Frederick W. Sibley  1874 [a] 29 1911 1914 Fred Winchester Sladen  1890 Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (1922-1926) [a] 30 1914 1916 Morton F. Smith  1895 [a] 31 1916 1918 Guy Vernor Henry  1898 Olympic bronze medallist [a] 32 1918 1919 Jens Bugge  1895 [a] 33 1919 1923 Robert M. Danford  1904 [a] 34 1923 1926 Merch B. Stewart  1896 Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (1926-1928) [a] 35 1926 1929 Campbell B. Hodges  1903 [a] 36 1929 1933 Robert C. Richardson Jr.  1904 [a] 37 1933 1936 Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.  1908 [a] 38 1936 1937 Dennis E. McCunniff  1913 [a] 39 1937 1941 Charles W. Ryder  1915 [a] 40 1941 1942 Frederick A. Irving  1917 Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (1951-1954) [a] 41 1942 1943 Philip E. Gallagher  1918 [a] 42 1943 1946 George B. Honnen  1920 [a] 43 1946 1948 Gerald J. Higgins  1934 [a] 44 1948 1951 Paul D. Harkins  1929 [a] 45 1951 1952 John K. Waters  1931 [a] 46 1952 1954 John H. Michaelis  1936 [a] 47 1954 1956 Edwin J. Messinger  1931 [a] 48 1956 1959 John L. Throckmorton  1935 [a] 49 1959 1961 Charles W. G. Rich  1935 [a] 50 1961 1963 Richard G. Stilwell  1938 [a] 51 1963 1965 Michael S. Davison  1939 [a] 52 1965 1967 Richard P. Scott  1941 [a] 53 1967 1969 Bernard W. Rogers  1943 [a] 54 1969 1972 Sam S. Walker  1946 [a] 55 1972 1975 Phillip R. Feir  1949 [a] 56 1975 1977 Walter F. Ulmer  1952 [a] 57 1977 1979 John C. Bard  1954 [a] 58 1979 1982 Joseph P. Franklin  1955 [a] 59 1982 1984 John H. Moellering  1959 [a] 60 1984 1987 Peter J. Boylan  1961 [a] 61 1987 1989 Fred A. Gorden  1962 [a] 62 1989 1992 David A. Bramlett  1964 [a] 63 1992 1994 Robert F. Foley  1963 Medal of Honor recipient [a] 64 1994 1995 Freddy E. McFarren  1966 [a] 65 1995 1997 Robert J. St. Onge Jr.  1969 [a] 66 1997 1999 John P. Abizaid  1973 [a] 67 1999 2002 Eric Olson  1972 [a] 68 2002 2004 Leo A. Brooks Jr.  1979 [a] 69 2004 2006 Curtis M. Scaparrotti  1978 [a] 70 2006 2008 Robert L. Caslen  1975 Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (2013-2018) [a] 71 2008 2009 Michael S. Linnington  1980 [a] 72 2009 2011 William E. Rapp  1984 [a] 73 2011 2012 Theodore D. Martin  1983 [a] 74 2012 2014 Richard Clarke  1984 [a] 75 2014 2016 John Thomson  1986 [a] 76 2016 2017 Diana Holland  1990 [a] 77 2017 2019 Steven Gilland  1990 Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (2022-present) [a] 78 2019 2021 Curtis Buzzard  1992 [a] 79 2021 present Mark Quander  1995 [a]

Top-ranking graduates

Astronauts

Name Class year Notability References Frank Borman 1950 Commanded Gemini 7 and Apollo 8, first to orbit Moon and to see far side of the Moon [100][101] Buzz Aldrin 1951 Pilot of Gemini 12 and Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11; 2nd person to walk on the Moon [102][103] Michael Collins 1952 Member of Gemini 10 crew and member of the Apollo 11 crew [104] Ed White 1952 Pilot of Gemini 4, died in the Apollo 1 fire; first American to perform a spacewalk [103][105] David Scott 1954 Pilot of Gemini 8, Command Module Pilot of Apollo 9, and Commander of Apollo 15, walked on the Moon [103][106] Richard Mullane 1967 Mission Specialist on STS-41-D, STS-27, and STS-36 [103][107] Sherwood C. Spring 1967 Astronaut William S. McArthur 1973 Mission Specialist on STS-58, STS-74, and STS-92; Commanded International Space Station Expedition 12 [103][108] Jeffrey N. Williams 1980 Mission Specialist on STS-101; Flight Engineer of ISS Expeditions 13 and 21, Commander of Expedition 22 Shane Kimbrough 1989 Mission Specialist with Space Shuttle; latest astronaut from West Point; former pilot of Apache helicopters [103][109] Anne McClain 2002 One of two most recent astronauts selected from West Point; former pilot of OH-58 Kiowa helicopters [103][110] Andrew Morgan 1998 One of two most recent astronauts selected from West Point; medical doctor [103][111]

Authors

This a new list that requires significant work to be remotely complete. New, accurate, contributions are welcome and needed.

Businesspeople

• Henry A. du Pont, class of 1861, President and general manager of Wilmington & Western Railroad (1879–1899)
• Robert E. Wood, class of 1900, chairman and CEO of Sears, Roebuck (1939–1954); responsible for shifting the company's focus from a mail-order catalog company to a department store retailer; started AllState Insurance as a subsidiary of Sears; served as the Quartermaster of the Army in World War I and as chief quartermaster during the construction of the Panama Canal
• William T. Seawell, class of 1941, chairman and CEO of Pan Am Airways (1971–1981)
• Robert F. McDermott, class of 1943, former chairman and CEO of United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
• John F. Donahue, class of 1946, founder and Chairman of Federated Investors ($400 billion asset management firm)
• Frank Borman, class of 1950, President of Eastern Airlines (1975–1986)
• Walter F. Ulmer, class of 1952, President and CEO of Center for Creative Leadership (1985–1994)
• Rand Araskog, class of 1953, President, chairman, and CEO of ITT Communications
• Dana G. Mead, class of 1957, chairman and CEO of Tenneco (1994–1999), Chairman of MIT Corporation (since 2003)
• Pete Dawkins, class of 1959, former chairman and CEO of Primerica Financial Services, Vice-chairman and EVP of Travelers Insurance, Vice Chairman of Bain and Company, Vice Chairman of Citi Global Wealth Management, currently Senior Partner at Flintlock Capital
• Fred Malek, class of 1959, founder and Chairman of Thayer Capital Partners, Chairman of Northwest Airlines
• Frank J. Caufield, co-founder of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
• Albert Dunlap, class of 1960, CEO of Scott Paper and Sunbeam
• Jim Kimsey, class of 1962, chairman and co-founder of AOL
• Daniel W. Christman, class of 1965, Superintendent of USMA, 1996–2001; Chairman of Ultralife Corporation, SVP of International Affairs for US Chamber of Commerce (since 2003)
• John B. Ritch III, class of 1965, chairman and co-founder of Calivita International (since 1992)
• William P. Foley II, class of 1967, former CEO and current Chairman of Fidelity National Information Services
• Marshall Larsen, class of 1970, chairman and CEO of Goodrich, Corporation (since 2003)
• Bob McDonald, class of 1975, CEO of Procter & Gamble
• Ken Hicks, class of 1974, President and CEO of Foot Locker, former President of JCPenney
• William Albrecht, class of 1974, President of Occidental Oil and Gas
• Vincent Viola, class of 1977, former Chairman of NYMEX (2001–2004), CEO of VirtuFinancial, owner and member of Chairman's Council of the New Jersey Nets
• Keith McLoughlin, class of 1978, President and CEO of Electrolux
• Alex Gorsky, class of 1982, CEO of Johnson & Johnson
• Mark Green, class of 1986, founder and former CEO of Align MD
• Anthony J. Guzzi, class of 1986, President and CEO of EMCOR Group, Inc., the world's largest specialty construction, facilities services, energy infrastructure provider and a Fortune 500 company
• David McCormick, class of 1987, CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds, from 2020 to 2022. Named president of FreeMarkets in 2001 and was named chief executive officer in 2002; he successfully sold FreeMarkets to Ariba in 2004 for approximately $500 million.
• Mark Clouse, class of 1990, President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company
• Anthony Noto, class of 1991, former CFO and COO of Twitter and current CEO of SoFi
• John Ham, class of 2000, Ustream Founder, CEO and Chairman
• Brad Hunstable, class of 2001, founder and President of Ustream.TV

Engineers

Name Class year Notability References John Williams Gunnison 1837 Captain; topographical engineer; supervised one of the Pacific Railroad surveys in 1853; Gunnison, Colorado and Gunnison, Utah are named in his honor [118][119] Gouverneur K. Warren 1850 Major General; commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg for the defense of Little Round Top, Chief of Engineers of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War; participated in topographical and railroad explorations of the Mississippi River and trans-Mississippi West [120]: 554–555  Orlando Metcalfe Poe 1856 Brigadier General; American Civil War; lighthouse, harbor, and river engineer; responsible for much of the early lighthouse construction on the Great Lakes; built the Poe Lock of the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; Poe Reef Light in Lake Huron is named in his honor [121] John Moulder Wilson 1860 Brigadier General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Malvern Hill though acutely ill; Superintendent of the Academy (1889–1893); Chief of Engineers (1897–1901) [17][35] George Washington Goethals 1880 Major General; chief engineer of the Panama Canal; Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (1914–1917) [122] Hiram Martin Chittenden 1884 Brigadier General; Hiram M. Chittenden was the designer and engineer in charge of designing the Roosevelt Arch, various bridges, and road system in Yellowstone National Park. Additionally, was the lead engineer of the Ballad Locks (AKA Chittenden Locks) in Seattle Washington. The Chittenden Memorial Bridge in Yellowstone is named in his honor. [123] [124] [125] [126] [127] [128] [129] Lunsford E. Oliver 1913 Major General; initiated the research that led to the development of the steel treadway bridge; Commander of 5th Armored Division during World War II [130] Brehon B. Somervell 1914 general in the United States Army and Commanding General of the Army Service Forces in World War II. From 1936 to 1940 Somervell was head of the Works Progress Administration in New York City, where he was responsible for a series of Great Depression relief works, including the construction of LaGuardia Airport. Led the construction of Pentagon. Hugh John Casey 1918 Major General; chief engineer of South West Pacific theatre of World War II in World War II; initial designer of The Pentagon [131] Leslie Groves 1918 Lieutenant General. United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project, a top secret research project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II.

Government

Heads of state

Name Class year Notability References Jefferson Davis 1828 Mexican–American War veteran; U.S. Representative from Mississippi (1845–1846); U.S. Senator from Mississippi (1847–1851); United States Secretary of War (1853–1857); President of the Confederate States of America (1861–1865) [132] Ulysses S. Grant 1843 General of the Army of the United States; Mexican–American War; Siege of Vicksburg, Battle of Chattanooga, Siege of Petersburg, accepted Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House; 18th President of the United States (1869–1877) [b][133] Dwight D. Eisenhower 1915 General of the Army; trained tank crews in Pennsylvania during World War I; World War II; commander of European Theater of Operations and Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (1942–1945); 1st Military Governor of American Occupation Zone in Germany (1945); President of Columbia University (1948–1950, 1952–1953); 1st Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1951–1952); 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) [134] Anastasio Somoza Debayle 1946 General; Head of the Nicaraguan National Guard (1947–1967); President of Nicaragua (1967–1972; 1974–1979) [135] Fidel V. Ramos 1950 General; Korean War and Vietnam War veteran; Chief of the Philippine Constabulary (1970–1986); Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (1986–1988); Secretary of National Defense (1988–1991); President of the Philippines (1992–1998) [136] José María Figueres 1979 Entered Costa Rican government service after graduating from the Academy; Minister of Foreign Trade (1986–1988); Minister of Agriculture (1988–1990); President of Costa Rica (1994–1998) [137]

Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency

• Hoyt Vandenberg, class of 1923, DCI 10 June 1946 – 1 May 1947
• David Petraeus, class of 1974, DCIA 6 September 2011 – 9 November 2012
• Mike Pompeo, class of 1986, DCIA 23 January 2017 – 26 April 2018 (became United States Secretary of State)

Cabinet members

• Andrew J. Donelson, class of 1820, President's Secretary (1829–1837)
• Jefferson Davis, class of 1828, United States Secretary of War (1853–1857)
• Montgomery Blair, class of 1835, United States Postmaster General (1861–1864)
• William Tecumseh Sherman, class of 1840, United States Secretary of War (1869)
• Gustavus Woodson Smith, class of 1842, Confederate States Secretary of War (1862)
• John Schofield, class of 1853, United States Secretary of War (1868–1869)
• Marshall Carter, class of 1931, Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (1962–1965) and Director of the National Security Agency (1965–1969)
• Rafael M. Ileto, class of 1943, Philippine Secretary of National Defense (1986–1988)
• Brent Scowcroft, class of 1947, National Security Advisor (1974–1977, 1989–1993)
• Alexander Haig, class of 1947, United States Secretary of State (1981–1982)
• Fidel V. Ramos, class of 1950, Philippines Secretary of National Defense (1988–1991)
• John Block, class of 1957, United States Secretary of Agriculture (1981–1986)
• Jim Nicholson, class of 1961, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2005–2007)
• Barry McCaffrey, class of 1964, US Drug Czar (1996–2001)
• Eric K. Shinseki, class of 1965, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2009–2014)
• James Peake, class of 1966, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2007–2009)
• Robert Alan McDonald, class of 1975, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2014–2017)^[138]
• Mike Pompeo, class of 1986, United States Secretary of State (2018–2021), former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2017–2018)
• Mark Esper, class of 1986, 27th United States Secretary of Defense (2019–2020), former 23rd United States Secretary of the Army (2017–2019)
• Lloyd Austin, class of 1975, 28th United States Secretary of Defense (2021–present)

Ambassadors

Name Class year Notability References Alexander Lawton 1839 Brigadier General CSA; graduated from Harvard Law School, class of 1842; seriously wounded at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862 and served as the Confederacy's second Quartermaster General for the remainder of the war; became president of the American Bar Association in 1882; served as minister to Austria-Hungary (1887–1889) [b][139] James Longstreet 1842 Major USA, Lieutenant General CSA; Mexican–American War; excelled in several battles during the American Civil War, including the Second Battle of Bull Run and Battle of Antietam; severely wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness; ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (1897–1904) [b][120]: 353  William Rosecrans 1842 Major General; commander Army of the Cumberland, Battle of Stones River, Tullahoma Campaign, Battle of Chickamauga; U.S. Minister to Mexico (1868–1969); U.S. Representative from California (1881–1885); Register of the Treasury (1885–1893) [b][140] Horace Porter 1860 Brigadier general; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Chickamauga; Ambassador to France (1897–1905) [b][141][142] Maxwell Davenport Taylor 1922 General; instituted the Cadet Honor Code at the Academy; commander of 101st Airborne Division (1944–1945); Chief of Staff of the Army (1955–1959); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1962–1964); United States Ambassador to South Vietnam (1964–1965) [a][78] Jerrold M. North 1954 Ambassador; Career Foreign Service Officer; served in the Army before entering the Department of State. As a member of the US diplomatic corps, Jerry served overseas in Europe, Africa and the Far East and was the first US ambassador to Djibouti, (1980–1982); Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA, as Foreign Affairs Advisor (1982–1984); Department of State, as Director of Employee Performance (1984–1985) [a][143][144]

• Andrew J. Donelson, class of 1820, Chargé d'affaires of the United States to the Republic of Texas (1845), U.S. Minister to Prussia (1846–49), U.S. vice presidential candidate (1856)
• Rufus King, class of 1833, U.S. Minister to the Papal States (1863–1867)
• William Woods Averell, class of 1855, U.S. Consul General to British North America (1866–1869)
• Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, class of 1856, U.S. Minister to Chile, 1866–70, 1881
• Frederick Dent Grant, class of 1871, U.S. Minister to Austro-Hungarian Empire (1890–1893)
• James Maurice Gavin, class of 1929, U.S. Ambassador to France (1961–62)
• John Eisenhower, class of 1944, U.S. Ambassador to Belgium (1969–1971)
• David Manker Abshire, class of 1951, U.S. Ambassador to NATO (1983–1987)
• John Galvin, class of 1954, U.S. Ambassador to Bosnian Peace Negotiations^[145]
• Jim Nicholson, class of 1961, U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican (2001–2005)
• John B. Ritch III, class of 1965, U.S. Ambassador to United Nations International Organizations in Vienna (1993–2001)
• Robert M. Kimmitt, class of 1969, U.S. Ambassador to Germany (1991–1993)
• William B. Taylor Jr., class of 1969, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2006–2009, 2019–2020)
• Karl Eikenberry, class of 1973, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (2009–2011)
• Matthew Klimow, class of 1974, U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan (2019–present), acting State Department Inspector General (2020)

Governors (civil)

Name Class year Notability References Paul Octave Hébert 1840 Colonel USA, brigadier general in Confederate States Army; Mexican–American War; Governor of Louisiana (1853–1856); served at the Siege of Vicksburg and in Texas [b][146] Simon Bolivar Buckner 1844 Captain USA, Lieutenant General CSA; Mexican–American War; Battle of Fort Donelson, Battle of Perryville, Battle of Chickamauga; Governor of Kentucky (1887–1891) [b][147] Dabney H. Maury 1846 Lieutenant colonel USA, Major General CSA; son of Naval officer John Minor Maury; Mexican–American War, cavalry officer in Oregon and Texas; Battle of Pea Ridge, Battle of Corinth, Siege of Vicksburg; United States Ambassador to Colombia (1887–1889) [b][148] Fitzhugh Lee 1856 Second Lieutenant USA, Major General CSA; American Indian Wars; First Battle of Bull Run, Battle of Antietam, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Opequon, led the last charge of the Confederates on 9 April 1865 at Farmville, Virginia; Governor of Virginia (1886–1890) [b][120]: 341  John S. Marmaduke 1857 Second Lieutenant US Army, Major General CSA; Utah War; Battle of Shiloh, Battle of Cape Girardeau, Red River Campaign, mortally wounded fellow Confederate general and West Point graduate Lucius M. Walker in a duel; Governor of Missouri (1885–1887) [b][149] Guy Vernor Henry 1861 Brigadier General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions repulsing an enemy attack at the Battle of Cold Harbor; son Major General Guy Vernor Henry Jr. is an Academy alumnus, class of 1894; Governor of Puerto Rico (1898–1899) [b][30][150] George Washington Goethals 1880 Major General; chief engineer of the Panama Canal; Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (1914–1917) [122] Julian Larcombe Schley 1903 Major General; World War I; topographic and civil engineer; Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (1926–1932); Chief of Engineers (1937–1941) [17]

• Robert Francis Withers Allston, class of 1821, Governor of South Carolina (1856–58)
• David Wallace, class of 1821, Governor of Indiana (1837–1840)
• Robert Milligan McLane, class of 1837, Governor of Maryland (1884–85)
• Isaac Ingalls Stevens, class of 1839, Governor of Washington Territory (1853–1857)
• George Stoneman, class of 1846, Governor of California (1883–1887)
• George B. McClellan, class of 1846, Governor of New Jersey (1878–81)
• Ambrose Burnside, class of 1847, Governor of Rhode Island (1866–69)
• Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls, class of 1855, Governor of Louisiana (1877–80, 88–92)
• William H. Upham, class of 1866, Governor of Wisconsin (1895–1897)
• Alexander Oswald Brodie, class of 1870, Governor of Arizona Territory (1902–05)
• Charles H. Martin, class of 1887, Governor of Oregon (1935–39)
• Chester Harding, class of 1889, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1917–21)
• Jay Johnson Morrow, class of 1891, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1921–24)
• Meriwether L. Walker, class of 1893, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1924–28)
• Harry Burgess, class of 1895, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1928–32)
• Clarence S. Ridley, class of 1905, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1936–40)
• Glen E. Edgerton, class of 1908, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1940–44)
• Joseph C. Mehaffey, class of 1911, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1944–48)
• Francis K. Newcomer, class of 1913, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1948–52)
• John S. Seybold, class of 1920, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1952–56)
• William E. Potter, class of 1933, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1956–60)
• William A. Carter, class of 1930, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1960–62)
• Robert John Fleming, class of 1928, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1962–67)
• David Stuart Parker, class of 1940, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1971–75)
• Harold Parfitt, class of 1943, Governor of Panama Canal Zone (1975–79)
• Warren E. Hearnes, class of 1946, Governor of Missouri (1965–1973)
• Dave Heineman, class of 1970, Governor of Nebraska (2005–2015)
• John Bel Edwards, class of 1988, Governor of Louisiana (2016–present)

Governors (military)

Name Class year Notability References Thomas H. Ruger 1854 Major General; military engineer and lawyer; veteran of Civil War; military engineer and lawyer; military Governor of Georgia (1868); Superintendent of the Academy (1871–1876) [a][151] Wesley Merritt 1860 Major General; veteran of the Civil War and Spanish–American War; first Military Governor of the Philippines [a][120]: 472–473  Adelbert Ames 1861 Major General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his continuing a fierce fight though severely wounded in his right thigh at First Battle of Bull Run; Governor of Mississippi (1868–1870) and (1874–1876); United States Senator from Mississippi (1870–1874) [b][152][153] Dwight D. Eisenhower 1915 General of the Army; trained tank crews in Pennsylvania during World War I; World War II; commander of European Theater of Operations and Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (1942–1945); 1st Military Governor of American Occupation Zone in Germany (1945); President of Columbia University (1948–1950, 1952–1953); 34th President of the United States (1953–1961); 1st Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1951–1952) [134] Paul Caraway 1929 High Commissioner of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (1961–1964) [154]

• Thomas Childs, class of 1814, military governor of Puebla, Mexico
• John H. Martindale, class of 1835, military Governor of Washington, D.C.
• Rufus Saxton, class of 1849, military governor of the Department of the South
• Fitzhugh Lee, class of 1856, military governor of Havana, Cuba
• Philip Sheridan, class of 1853, military governor of the Fifth Military District
• Douglas MacArthur, class of 1903, military governor of Japan
• George S. Patton, class of 1909, military governor of Bavaria
• Joseph T. McNarney, class of 1915, military governor of U.S. Occupation Zone, Germany
• Matthew Ridgway, class of 1917, military governor of Japan
• Lucius D. Clay, class of 1918, military Governor in West Germany noted for Berlin Airlift

Legislators

Name Class year Notability References Jefferson Davis 1828 Mexican–American War veteran; U.S. Representative from Mississippi (1845–1846); U.S. Senator from Mississippi (1847–1851); United States Secretary of War (1853–1857); president of the Confederate States of America (1861–1865) [132] Humphrey Marshall 1832 Second Lieutenant USA, Brigadier General CSA; Mexican–American War veteran with Kentucky militia; U.S. Representative from Kentucky (1849–1852), (1855–1859); resigned from the Confederate Army in June 1863; member of Second Confederate Congress [b][155] William Rosecrans 1842 Major General; commander Army of the Cumberland, Battle of Stones River, Tullahoma Campaign, Battle of Chickamauga; U.S. Minister to Mexico (1868–1969); U.S. Representative from California (1881–1885); Register of the Treasury (1885–1893) [b][140] Samuel B. Maxey 1846 First Lieutenant USA, Major General CSA; Mexican–American War; Battle of Shiloh, Siege of Port Hudson; United States Senator from Texas (1875–1887) [b][156] George B. McClellan 1846 Major General; developed the McClellan Saddle; organized the Army of the Potomac after the Union forces were defeated at First Battle of Bull Run, Peninsula Campaign, Battle of Antietam; son George B. McClellan Jr. served as United States Representative from New York (1895–1903) and as Mayor of New York City (1904–1909) [b][157] Adelbert Ames 1861 Major General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his continuing a fierce fight though severely wounded in his right thigh at First Battle of Bull Run; Governor of Mississippi (1868–1870) and (1874–1876); United States Senator from Mississippi (1870–1874) [b][30][153] Henry A. du Pont 1861 Lieutenant Colonel; recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions repulsing an enemy attack at the Battle of Cedar Creek; United States Senator from Delaware (1906–1917) [b][30][158]

• Daniel Azro Ashley Buck, class of 1808, U.S. Representative (1823–1825, 1827–1829), Vermont
• Daniel Tunern, class of 1814, U.S. Representative, North Carolina (1827–1829)
• James Monroe, class of 1815, U.S. Representative (1839–1841), New York
• George Wurtz Hughes, class of 1827, U.S. Representative (1859–1861), Maryland
• Jefferson Davis, class of 1828, U.S. Representative (1845–1846) and Senator (1847–1853, elected but not seated 1875), Mississippi
• Alexander C.M. Pennington, class of 1828, represented New Jersey's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives 1853–1857^[159]
• Joseph E. Johnston, class of 1829, U.S. Representative, Virginia
• Henry Bell Van Rensselaer, class of 1831, U.S. Representative, New York
• Robert Milligan McLane, class of 1837, U.S. Representative, Maryland
• John B. S. Todd, class of 1837, U.S. Congressman, Dakota Territory (1861–1863, 1864–1865)
• James Madison Leach, class of 1838, U.S. Representative, North Carolina
• Isaac Ingalls Stevens, class of 1839, U.S. Representative, Washington Territory
• Egbert Ludoricus Viele, class of 1847, U.S. Representative, New York
• Ambrose Burnside, class of 1847, U.S. Senator, Rhode Island (1875–1881)
• Henry Warner Slocum, class of 1852, U.S. Representative, New York (1869–1873, 1883–1884)
• Henry A. du Pont, class of 1861, U.S. Senator, Delaware (1895–1896, 1906–1917)
• Joseph Wheeler, class of 1859, U.S. Representative, Alabama (1881–1882, 1883, 1885–1900)
• Frank Obadiah Briggs, class of 1872, U.S. Senator, New Jersey
• Jesse Matlack Baker, class of 1873, Pennsylvania State Representative (1889-1892) and State Senator (1893-1897)
• Lawrence D. Tyson, class of 1883, U.S. Senator, Tennessee (1925–1929)
• Bertram Tracy Clayton, class of 1886, U.S. Representative, New York (1899–1901)
• Charles Henry Martin, class of 1887, U.S. Representative, Oregon
• Butler Ames, class of 1894, U.S. Representative, Massachusetts
• Frank Kowalski, class of 1930, U.S. Representative from Connecticut
• Nile Soik, class of 1945, member of the Wisconsin State Legislature^[160]
• Howard Hollis Callaway, class of 1949, U.S. Representative, Georgia
• John Michael Murphy, class of 1950, U.S. Representative, New York
• Adam Benjamin Jr., class of 1958, U.S. Representative, Indiana (1977–82)
• Jack Reed, class of 1971, U.S. Representative (1991–1997), U.S. Senator (1997- ), Rhode Island
• John Shimkus, class of 1980, U.S. Representative, Illinois (1997– 2021)
• Geoff Davis, class of 1981, U.S. Representative, Kentucky (2004– 2012)
• Mike Pompeo, class of 1986, U.S. Representative, Kansas (2011–2017)
• Mark Green, class of 1986, U.S. Representative, Tennessee (2019– )
• Brett Guthrie, class of 1987, U.S. Representative, Kentucky (2009– )
• Warren Davidson, class of 1995, U.S. Representative, Ohio (2016– )
• Steve Watkins, class of 1999, U.S. Representative, Kansas (2018– )
• Pat Ryan, class of 2004, U.S. Representative, New York (2022– )
• John James, class of 2004, U.S. Representative, Michigan (2023–)
• Wesley Hunt, class of 2004, U.S. Representative, Texas (2023–)

Mayors

• William Lewis Cabell, class of 1850, Mayor of Dallas, Texas (1874–76, 1877–79, 1883–85)
• Frank Fischl, class of 1951, Mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania (1978–1982)^[162]
• Robert M. Isaac, class of 1951, Mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado (1979–1997)
• Matthew Collier, class of 1979, Mayor of Flint, Michigan (1988–1992)
• Maria Vedder Lowe, class of 1998, Mayor of St. Pete Beach, Florida (2014–2016)^[163]
• Adrian Perkins, class of 2008, Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana (2018–2022)

Jurists

• John Archibald Campbell, ex-class of 1830, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1853-1861)
• Montgomery Blair, class of 1835, attorney for Dred Scott in landmark 1857 Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford, United States Postmaster General (1861–1864)
• Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls, class of 1855, Chief Justice Louisiana Supreme Court (1892–1911)
• Richard Whitehead Young, class of 1882, Philippines Supreme Court Justice (1899–1901)
• Richard D. Cudahy, class of 1948, Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1979-2015)
• Malcolm Jones Howard, class of 1962, Judge, United States District Court Eastern District of North Carolina (1987–2005)
• Mike Bowers, class of 1963, Georgia's longest-serving Attorney General (1981–1997)
• Eugene R. Sullivan, class of 1964, Chief Judge United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (1986–2002)
• Rhesa Barksdale, class of 1966, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1990–2009)
• Roy Moore, class of 1969, Chief Justice Alabama Supreme Court (2001–2003, 2013–2017)
• Bruce E. Kasold, class of 1973, Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (2003-2016)

Law enforcement and intelligence figures

• Fitz John Porter, class of 1845, New York City Police Commissioner
• William Farrar Smith, class of 1845, New York City Police Commissioner
• Frederick Dent Grant, class of 1871, New York City Police Commissioner
• Douglas I. McKay, class of 1905, New York City Police Commissioner
• Norman Schwarzkopf Sr., class of 1917
• Alva Revista Fitch, class of 1930
• Barry McCaffrey class of 1964, Drug Czar during Clinton Administration
• Donald B. Smith class of 1969, New York State Sheriff Association President, Putnam County Sheriff 2002–2018
• Keith B. Alexander class of 1974, Head of the National Security Agency, General – Commander of Cyber Command
• Lon Horiuchi, class of 1976

Literary figures and actors

• Henry Martyn Robert, class of 1857, author of Robert's Rules of Order
• William James Roe, class of 1867, author of satirical and metaphysical works, poet and artist
• John Wilson Ruckman, class of 1883, first editor of Journal of U.S. Artillery, author of numerous technical articles on gunnery
• Herbert H. Sargent, class of 1883, author of Napoleon Bonaparte's First Campaign, The Campaign of Marengo and The Campaign of Santiago de Cuba
• Cornelis DeWitt Willcox, class of 1885
• Col. Mark M. Boatner III, class of June 1943, author of Civil War Dictionary, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution
• Hal Moore, class of 1945, author of We Were Soldiers Once...And Young
• James Salter, class of 1945, prolific author, selected to the Academy of Arts and Letters
• Bill McWilliams, class of 1955, author of A Return To Glory
• Gus Lee, ex-class of 1966, honorary member of the class of 1970, author of China Boy, Chasing Hepburn
• Lucian Truscott IV, class of 1969, journalist and author of Dress Grey
• Brian Haig, class of 1975, novelist
• James Carafano, class of 1977, author of Winning the Long War
• Mark Valley, class of 1987, TV and movie actor
• Col. Gregory D. Gadson, class of 1989, movie actor
• Paula Broadwell, class of 1995, author

Military figures

Medal of Honor recipients

Civil War

Name Class year Notability References John Cleveland Robinson 1839 ex Left the Academy after three years but joined the Army one year later; Major General in the American Civil War; awarded the MOH for valor in action in 1864 near Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia; Lieutenant Governor of New York (1873–1874); served two terms as the president of the Grand Army of the Republic [b][35][165] John Porter Hatch 1845 Major General; fought in the Mexican War where he was breveted twice for bravery in battle; awarded the MOH for bravery at the Battle of South Mountain during the Maryland Campaign where he was wounded and had two mounts shot from underneath him; later served on the western frontier; retired to New York City and was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1893 [b][30][166] Orlando B. Willcox 1847 Major General; awarded the MOH in 1895 for gallantry at the First Battle of Bull Run where he was captured; later released as part of a prisoner exchange and served in the Virginia and North Carolina theaters at the end of the war [b][35][167] Absalom Baird 1849 Major General; attended Washington & Jefferson College before graduating from West Point; earned fame for actions at the Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Jonesborough; received the MOH in 1896 for his actions at Jonesborough; later received the French Légion d'honneur [b][30][168] Rufus Saxton 1849 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for his defense at the Battle of Harpers Ferry; participated in the Pacific Railroad surveys in 1853; early abolitionist [b][35][169] Eugene Asa Carr 1850 Major General; recipient of the MOH for his defensive though wounded several times at the Battle of Pea Ridge [b][30][120]: 164–165  Charles Henry Tompkins 1851 ex Dropped out of the Academy after two years for unspecified reasons; Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for twice charging through the enemy's lines on 1 July 1861 near Fairfax, Virginia, making him the first Union officer of the Civil War to receive the Medal of Honor [b][35][170] David S. Stanley 1852 Major General; recipient of the MOH for his actions organizing a counterattack at the Second Battle of Franklin, commander of the IV Corps [b][35][169] John Schofield 1853 Lieutenant General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions leading an attack at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Atlanta Campaign, Battle of Franklin, Battle of Nashville, Battle of Wyse Fork; commander of the Army of the Frontier, division commander in the XIV Corps; United States Secretary of War (1868–1869); Superintendent of the Academy (1876–1881); Commanding General of the United States Army (1888–1895); Military Governor of Virginia [b][35][120]: 472–473  Oliver Duff Greene 1853 Major; recipient of the MOH for his actions at the Battle of Antietam [b][30][171] Zenas Bliss 1854 Major General; recipient of the MOH for his actions at the Battle of Fredericksburg; formed the first unit of Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts [b][30][172] Oliver Otis Howard 1854 Major General; recipient of the MOH for his actions leading an attack at the Battle of Seven Pines despite wound which resulted in the loss of his right arm; led the campaign against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce tribe; founder of Howard University; Superintendent of the Academy (1881–1882) [b][30][31] Alexander S. Webb 1855 Major General; recipient of the MOH for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg for personal bravery and leadership repulsing Pickett's Charge; president of the City College of New York (1869–1902) [b][35][36] Abraham Arnold 1859 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for leading a cavalry charge against superior forces [b][30][173] Horace Porter 1860 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for his actions at the Battle of Chickamauga; United States Ambassador to France (1897–1905) [b][35][142] John Moulder Wilson 1860 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for his actions at the Battle of Malvern Hill despite acute illness; Superintendent of the Academy (1889–1893); Chief of Engineers (1897–1901) [b][35][174] Adelbert Ames 1861 (May) Major General; recipient of the MOH for his continuing a fierce fight though severely wounded in his right thigh at First Battle of Bull Run; Governor of Mississippi (1868–1870) and (1874–1876); United States Senator from Mississippi (1870–1874) [b][30][153] Eugene B. Beaumont 1861 (May) Lieutenant Colonel; recipient of the MOH for two separate actions at the Harpeth River in Tennessee and the Battle of Selma in Alabama [b][30][175] Samuel Nicholl Benjamin 1861 (May) Major; recipient of the MOH for actions as an artillery officer [b][30][176] Henry A. du Pont 1861 (May) Lieutenant Colonel; recipient of the MOH for actions repulsing an enemy attack at the Battle of Cedar Creek; United States Senator from Delaware (1906–1917) [b][30][158] Guy Vernor Henry 1861 (May) Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for actions repulsing an enemy attack at the Battle of Cold Harbor; son Major General Guy Vernor Henry Jr. is an Academy alumnus, class of 1894; Governor of Puerto Rico (1898–1899) [b][30][150] Alonzo Cushing 1861 (June) First Lieutenant; posthumous recipient of the MOH for actions at Cemetery Ridge during the Battle of Gettysburg; his medal was not awarded until over 150 years after his death George Lewis Gillespie Jr. 1862 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for carrying dispatches under withering fire at the Battle of Cold Harbor; Chief of Engineers (1901–1904) [b][30][174] William Sully Beebe 1863 Major; recipient of the MOH for actions during an assault on a fortified position [b][30][177] William Henry Harrison Benyaurd 1863 Lieutenant Colonel; recipient of the MOH for actions during reconnaissance and rallying his troops [b][30][178] John Gregory Bourke 1869 Captain at time of retirement, Private at the time of the Medal of Honor action; recipient of the MOH for gallantry in action at the Battle of Stones River, Tennessee; prolific diarist and author focusing on the Old West [b][30][164]

Indian Wars

Name Class year Notability References Edward Settle Godfrey 1867 Brigadier General; a Private during the Civil War before attending West Point; received the MOH for leading his men against Chief Joseph despite being severely wounded; led two platoons of Medal of Honor men at the burial of the Unknown Soldier from World War I [b][179][180] William Preble Hall 1868 Brigadier General; received the MOH for leading a small group to rescue an officer surrounded by 35 enemy; distinguished marksman with rifle and revolver [b][179][181] Robert Goldthwaite Carter 1870 First Lieutenant; an enlisted soldier during the Civil War before attending West Point; received the MOH for repulsing the charge of a large hostile Indian force near the Brazos River in 1871 [b][179][182] John Brown Kerr 1870 Brigadier General; received the MOH for actions against Brule Sioux along the White River, South Dakota [b][179][183] Edward John McClernand 1870 Brigadier General; received the MOH for actions at Bear Paw Mountain, Montana in 1877 against Chief Joseph's tribe [b][179][184] Charles Varnum 1872 Colonel; commander of the scouts for George Armstrong Custer in the Little Bighorn Campaign during the Black Hills War; recipient of the MOH for his actions in a conflict following the Battle of Wounded Knee [b][179][185] Frank West 1872 Colonel; recipient of the MOH for rallying his men against a fortified position at the Battle of Big Dry Wash, Arizona, for which three other men also received the Medal of Honor: Thomas Cruse, George H. Morgan, and Charles Taylor [b][179][186] William Harding Carter 1873 Major General; recipient of the MOH for rescuing two soldiers under heavy fire during the Comanche Campaign [b][179][187] Marion Perry Maus 1874 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for actions while commander of Apache scouts in the capture of Geronimo [b][179][188] Ernest Albert Garlington 1876 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for gallantry at the Battle of Wounded Knee [b][179][189] John Chowning Gresham 1876 Colonel; recipient of the MOH for gallantry at the Battle of Wounded Knee [b][179][190] Oscar Fitzalan Long 1876 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for leadership under heavy fire at Bear Paw Mountain, Montana [b][179][191] Matthias W. Day 1877 Colonel; recipient of the MOH for rescuing a wounded soldier under heavy fire after being ordered to retreat; member of the 9th Cavalry Regiment of the Buffalo Soldiers [b][179][192] Robert Temple Emmet 1877 Colonel; recipient of the MOH for holding off 200 enemies with only himself and five men despite being surrounded; member of the 9th Cavalry Regiment of the Buffalo Soldiers [b][179][193] Wilber Elliott Wilder 1877 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for rescuing a wounded soldier under heavy fire; key figure in negotiating the surrender of the Apache chief Geronimo [b][179][194] Lloyd Milton Brett 1879 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for fearless exposure in cutting off the enemy's pony herd at O'Fallon's Creek, Montana, which greatly crippled their ability to fight [b][179][195] Thomas Cruse 1879 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for holding off the enemy, which enabled the rescue of wounded soldier at the Battle of Big Dry Wash, Arizona, for which three other men also received the Medal of Honor: Frank West, George H. Morgan, and Charles Taylor [b][179][196] George Ritter Burnett 1880 First Lieutenant; recipient of the MOH for rescuing stranded men under heavy enemy fire; one of his men, Augustus Walley, also received the Medal of Honor for this action, both members of the 9th Cavalry Regiment of the Buffalo Soldiers [a][b][179] George Horace Morgan 1880 Colonel; recipient of the MOH for steadfastly holding his line against the enemy at the Battle of Big Dry Wash, Arizona, for which three other men also received the Medal of Honor: Thomas Cruse, Frank West, and Charles Taylor [b][179][197] Powhatan Henry Clarke 1884 First Lieutenant; recipient of the MOH for saving a wounded man under heavy fire; later drowned while rescuing another man [b][179][198] Robert Lee Howze 1888 Major General; recipient of the MOH for bravery in action; once threatened to dismiss an entire class of plebes (freshmen) from the Academy for hazing; presided over the court-martial of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell [b][179][199]

Spanish–American War

Name Class year Notability References Albert Leopold Mills 1879 Major General; recipient of the MOH for continuing to lead his men at the Battle of San Juan Hill despite being shot in the head and temporarily blinded; Superintendent of the Academy (1898–1906) [b][200][201] John W. Heard 1883 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for repulsing an attack by a larger force while his unit was unloading supplies from a river boat [b][62][202] Charles DuVal Roberts 1897 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for assisting a wounded man under heavy fire [b][62][203] Ira Clinton Welborn 1898 Colonel; recipient of the MOH for assisting a wounded man under heavy fire [b][62][204]

Philippine–American War

Name Class year Notability References William Edward Birkhimer 1870 Brigadier General; awarded the MOH for taking control of a bridge by charging and routing 300 of the enemy with 12 men [b][205][206] James Parker 1876 Major General; awarded the MOH for leadership of his men by repulsing a nighttime attack by a much larger enemy force [b][205] James Franklin Bell 1878 Major General; began his career with the 9th Cavalry Regiment, a black unit; awarded the MOH for attacking seven enemy soldiers alone [b][205] John Alexander Logan Jr. 1887 ex Major; awarded the MOH for actions while leading his small unit in an attack against a much larger enemy force [b][205][207] Hugh J. McGrath 1880 Captain; awarded the MOH for actions against the enemy at a cave [b][205] William Hampden Sage 1882 Captain; awarded the MOH for swimming the San Juan River in the face of the enemy's fire and drove him from his entrenchment [b][205] Louis Joseph Van Schaick 1900 ex Colonel; awarded the MOH for cavalry actions against hostile forces in a canyon [b][205] Arthur Harrison Wilson 1904 Colonel; awarded the MOH for actions against hostile Moros [b][205] John Thomas Kennedy 1908 Brigadier General; awarded the MOH for actions against the enemy at a cave [b][205]

Boxer Rebellion

Mexican Campaign (Veracruz)

Name Class year Notability References Eli Thompson Fryer 1901 ex Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for actions as a Marine company commander during the occupation of Veracruz [b][210][211]

World War I

World War II

Name Class year Notability References Douglas MacArthur 1903 General of the Army, Field Marshal in the Philippine Army; United States occupation of Veracruz; Second Battle of the Marne, Battle of Saint-Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne Offensive during World War I; commander of the 42nd Infantry Division; Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (1919–1922); brigade commander in the Philippine Division; commander of the Philippine Department; Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1930–1935); recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of Bataan, commander of the South West Pacific Area during World War II; Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers during the Occupation of Japan; Korean War; grandson of Wisconsin Governor Arthur MacArthur Sr.; son of lieutenant general and Medal of Honor recipient Arthur MacArthur Jr. [b][214][215] Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV 1906 General; recipient of the MOH for defense of te Bataan and Corregidor; also noted for leadership while a prisoner of war (POW); present on board USS Missouri (BB-63) for the surrender of Japan; returned to the Philippines to accept surrender of the local Japanese commander; his father, Robert Powell Page Wainwright, was member of the Academy class of 1875 [b][216] William H. Wilbur 1912 Brigadier General; recipient of the MOH for actions during the Allied landings in North Africa while attempting to negotiate a cease fire and leading combat actions against hostile forces [b][216][217] Junius Wallace Jones 1913 Major General; Air Inspector for the Army Air Forces, and later, the first Inspector General of the Air Force [218] Demas T. Craw 1924 Colonel, United States Army Air Forces; posthumous recipient of the MOH for ground actions during the Allied landings in North Africa while attempting to negotiate a cease fire [b][219][220] Leon William Johnson 1926 General, United States Army Air Corps and United States Air Force; recipient of the MOH for actions in aerial combat during the raid on the Ploesti, Romania oilfields [b][221][222] Frederick Walker Castle 1930 Brigadier General, United States Army Air Forces; posthumous recipient of the MOH for actions in aerial combat while leading a bombing mission over Belgium [b][219][223] Robert G. Cole 1939 Lieutenant Colonel; 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division; recipient of the MOH for leading his battalion in a bayonet charge at Carentan, France, during the Battle of Normandy; later killed in Best, Netherlands [b][219][224] Leon Vance 1939 Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army Air Corps; recipient of the MOH for actions in saving his bomber crew though he was severely wounded; Vance Air Force Base in his hometown of Enid, Oklahoma, is named in his honor [b][216][225] Alexander R. Nininger 1941 Second Lieutenant; recipient of the MOH for actions in Bataan, Philippines while a member of the Philippine Scouts, continued an attack even though wounded three times; first Army soldier awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II; First Division of Cadet Barracks at West Point is named in his honor [b][69] Michael J. Daly 1945 ex Captain; dropped out of the Academy after one year to enlist so he could fight in World War II; received a battlefield commission; awarded the MOH for assaulting several enemy positions [b][219][226]

Korea

Vietnam

Name Class year Notability References William A. Jones III 1945 Colonel, United States Air Force; recipient of the MOH for actions while helping rescue a downed pilot [b][231][232] Andre Lucas 1954 Lieutenant Colonel; recipient of the MOH for repulsing a much larger force over a 23-day period [b][231][233] Roger Donlon 1959 ex Dropped out of the Academy for personal reasons; Captain, later Colonel; recipient of the MOH for repulsing a much larger force [b][231][234] Humbert Roque Versace 1959 Captain; recipient of the MOH for his resistance to Viet Cong indoctrination efforts while a prisoner of war (POW); his struggle was chronicled in length by fellow POW Nick Rowe in the book Five Years to Freedom [b][235][236] James A. Gardner 1965 ex Did not graduate; First Lieutenant; recipient of the MOH for actions leading his platoon in the relief of a company that was engaged with a larger enemy force [b][231] Frank S. Reasoner 1962 First Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps; recipient of the MOH for actions leading reconnaissance patrol against a larger force and trying to save a wounded man [b][235][237] Robert F. Foley 1963 Captain, later Lieutenant General; recipient of the MOH for actions on 11 November 1966 for rallying his unit in the face of superior enemy numbers and personally destroying three enemy strongpoints; West Point Commandant of Cadets (1992–1994); later president of Marion Military Institute; currently the director of the Army Emergency Relief Program [b][231] Paul William Bucha 1965 Captain; recipient of the MOH for actions leading his unit against a larger enemy for in Bình Dương Province, Vietnam; foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign [b][231][238]

Mexican–American War combatants

Name Class year Notability References Joseph Gilbert Totten 1805 Major General; War of 1812, Mexican–American War, American Civil War; military and lighthouse engineer; Chief of Engineers (1838–1864) [17] Samuel Ringgold 1818 Major; Mexican–American War veteran; developed several artillery innovations; first U.S. officer to fall in the Mexican–American War, perishing from wounds inflicted during the Battle of Palo Alto [239] Joseph K. Mansfield 1822 Major General; Mexican–American War and American Civil War; civil engineer; mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam [120]: 363, 850  Jefferson Davis 1828 Mexican–American War veteran; U.S. Representative from Mississippi (1845–1846); U.S. Senator from Mississippi (1847–1851); United States Secretary of War (1853–1857); president of the Confederate States of America (1861–1865) [132] John B. Magruder 1830 Major USA, major general CSA, major general in Imperial Mexican Army; Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War veteran; noted for deceptive delaying tactics [240] Charles Smith Hamilton 1843 Major General; Mexican–American War and American Civil War veteran; wounded in the Battle of Molino del Rey; division commander during the Battle of Yorktown [241]

American Civil War combatants

Confederate States Army generals

Name Class year Notability References Samuel Cooper 1815 Colonel USA, Adjutant General, 1852–1861; Adjutant and Inspector General General in the Confederate Army, 1861–1865, Highest-ranking General, CSA [242] Albert Sidney Johnston 1826 Colonel USA, general in the Republic of Texas, general in the Confederate States Army; graduated eighth in his class, commander of US forces in the Utah War, killed at the Battle of Shiloh Robert E. Lee 1829 Colonel USA, General CSA; graduated second in his class without demerits; father of George Washington Custis Lee, class of 1854; Commander, Army of Northern Virginia (1862–1865); General-in-Chief, Confederate States Army (1865); President, Washington and Lee University (1865–1870) [a][b][243] John B. Magruder 1830 Major in United States Army, major general in Confederate States Army, major general in Imperial Mexican Army; Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War veteran [b][240] James Longstreet 1842 Major in United States Army, lieutenant general in Confederate States Army;Mexican–American War; excelled in several battles during the American Civil War, including the Second Battle of Bull Run and Battle of Antietam; severely wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness [b][120]: 353  Stonewall Jackson 1846 Major in United States Army, lieutenant general in Confederate States Army; Mexican–American War; professor of natural and experimental philosophy and artillery at Virginia Military Institute (1851–1861); excelled in several battles during the American Civil War, including the First Battle of Bull Run where he received his nickname; accidentally shot by his own troops at the Battle of Chancellorsville and died of complications eight days later [b][120]: 316, 517  George Pickett 1846 Captain USA, major general in the Confederate States Army; graduated last in his class, leader of Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg John Bell Hood 1853 Second Lieutenant USA, General CSA; offered a post as instructor at the Academy, but declined due to the impending war; brilliant commander in the field but less effective as a general J.E.B. Stuart 1854 Captain in United States Army, major general in Confederate States Army; American Indian Wars; excelled in several battles during the American Civil War, including the Peninsula Campaign and Maryland Campaign [b][244]

Union Army generals

Name Class year Notability References Joseph K. Mansfield 1822 Major General; Mexican–American War; civil engineer; mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam; Fort Mansfield, a coastal artillery installation in Westerly, Rhode Island named in his honor [b][120]: 363, 850  George Meade 1835 Major General; civil and lighthouse engineer; Second Seminole War, Mexican–American War; Battle of Antietam, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Chancellorsville, Appomattox Campaign, defeated Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg, commander Army of the Potomac (1863–1865); Fort George G. Meade in Maryland, home of the National Security Agency named in his honor [b][120]: 384–385, 701–702  William Tecumseh Sherman 1840 Major General; treated the demerit system at West Point with disdain, which lowered his class standing from fourth to sixth; Battle of Shiloh, Vicksburg Campaign, Chattanooga Campaign, Atlanta Campaign, Carolinas Campaign, led the brutal Savannah Campaign (March to the Sea) from Atlanta to Savannah that demoralized the South; Commanding General of the United States Army (1869–1883) [b][245] Schuyler Hamilton 1841 He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in November 1861 and served as a staff officer in the Department of the Missouri. At the Battle of Island Number Ten, Hamilton led the 2nd Division in the Army of the Mississippi. He was transferred to command the 3rd Division throughout much of the Siege of Corinth. Toward the close of that campaign Hamilton was elevated to command the Right Wing of the Army of the Mississippi, consisting of the 3rd and 4th Divisions. In September 1862, he was selected for promotion to major general but this promotion was never confirmed. Grandson of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton [246] Ulysses S. Grant 1843 General of the Army of the United States; Mexican–American War; Siege of Vicksburg, Battle of Chattanooga, Siege of Petersburg, accepted Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House; 18th President of the United States (1869–1877) [b][133] Winfield Scott Hancock 1844 Major General; Mexican–American War; Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of the Wilderness, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, led the Army of the Potomac; Democratic Party nominee for President (1880) [b][247] George B. McClellan 1846 Major General; developed the McClellan Saddle; organized the Army of the Potomac after the Union forces were defeated at First Battle of Bull Run, Peninsula Campaign, Battle of Antietam; son George B. McClellan Jr. served as United States Representative from New York (1895–1903) and as Mayor of New York City (1904–1909) [b][157] Philip Sheridan 1853 General; Battle of Chattanooga, Overland Campaign, Valley Campaigns of 1864, used scorched earth tactics in the Shenandoah Valley and forced Lee's surrender in the Appomattox Campaign; American Indian Wars [b][248] Robert O. Tyler 1857 General; Peninsula Campaign, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Battle of Cold Harbor [b][249] George Armstrong Custer 1861 Major General; Battle of Antietam, Battle of Chancellorsville, leader of a charge at the Battle of Gettysburg that broke the back of the Confederate resistance; Battle of the Wilderness, Siege of Petersburg; Battle of the Washita, died at Battle of the Little Bighorn [b][250]

Indian Wars combatants and Buffalo Soldiers

• John Hanks Alexander, class of 1887
• Walker Keith Armistead, class of 1803
• John W. Barlow, class of 1861
• John T. Barnett, class of 1878
• Robert C. Buchanan, class of 1830
• Edward Canby, class of 1839
• Elias Chandler, class of 1880
• Philip St. George Cooke, class of 1827
• George Crook, class of 1852
• George Armstrong Custer, class of 1861
• John Wynn Davidson, class of 1845
• Henry Ossian Flipper, class of 1877
• James W. Forsyth, class of 1856
• Robert S. Garnett, class of 1841
• John Gibbon, class of 1847
• Oliver O. Howard, class of 1854
• Robert Lee Howze, class of 1888
• Charles King, class of 1866
• Thomas J. Lewis, class of 1875
• Gustavus Loomis, class of 1811
• Ranald S. Mackenzie, class of 1862
• Randolph B. Marcy, class of 1832
• Wesley Merritt, class of 1860
• George H. Morgan, class of 1880
• Edward Ord, class of 1839
• John J. Pershing, class of 1886
• John Pope (military officer), class of 1842
• Marcus Reno, class of 1857
• William Tecumseh Sherman, class of 1840
• Philip Sheridan, class of 1853
• Samuel D. Sturgis, class of 1846
• George Wright, class of 1822
• Charles Young, class of 1889

Spanish–American War and Philippine Insurrection combatants

• Stanley Dunbar Embick, class of 1899
• Frederick Dent Grant, class of 1871
• William G. Haan, class of 1889
• Hamilton S. Hawkins, class of 1855
• Guy Henry, class of 1898
• Lucius Roy Holbrook, class of 1896
• Willard Ames Holbrook, class of 1885
• Robert Lee Howze, class of 1888
• Richard L. Hoxie, class of 1868
• Jacob Ford Kent, class of 1861
• Charles King, class of 1866
• Fitzhugh Lee, class of 1856
• Manus MacCloskey, class of 1898
• Wesley Merritt, class of 1860
• Eben Swift, class of 1876
• Charles Symmonds, class of 1888
• Joseph Wheeler, class of 1859
• James H. Wilson, class of 1860
• John Moulder Wilson, class of 1860

Pancho Villa Expedition combatants

World War I combatants

Name Class year Notability References Tasker H. Bliss 1875 General; Spanish–American War; division commander in Philippine–American War; Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1917–1918); American representative Supreme War Council [252] Hunter Liggett 1879 Lieutenant General; Indian Wars; Spanish–American War; Philippine–American War; in 1914 predicted that an invasion of the Philippines would occur through Lingayen Gulf, which occurred twice in World War II; division and corps commander in World War I [251] Mason Patrick 1886 Major General; commander of 1st Engineers in France (1917–1918); Chief of U.S. Air Service (1918); Chief of U.S. Air Corps (1926–1927) [262] John J. Pershing 1886 General of the Armies; Spanish–American War; Philippine–American War; Moro Rebellion; commander of 8th Regiment in the Pancho Villa Expedition; led the American Expeditionary Force in World War I [253] John L. Hines 1891 Major General; Spanish–American War; Philippine–American War; Pancho Villa Expedition; brigade and division commander in World War I; Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1924–1926) [254] George Van Horn Moseley 1899 Major General. Famously controversial after retirement from the Army for anti-semitic and anti-immigrant views. Adna R. Chaffee Jr. 1902 Called the "Father of the Armored Force" for his role in developing the U.S. Army's tank forces. The M24 Chaffee light tank is named after him. Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, near Fort Smith, Arkansas, is named in his honor. [263] Luis R. Esteves 1915 Major General; second Hispanic graduate of the Academy; Pancho Villa Expedition; mayor and judge of Polvo, Mexico; commander of the 23rd Battalion, which was composed of Puerto Ricans and stationed in Panama during World War I; commander of 92nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team during World War II; founder of the Puerto Rico National Guard [161]

World War II combatants