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Trophy Point

Hudson Valley, New York geography stubsUnited States Military Academy
View from Trophy Point, West Point NY, at dawn in the summertime
View from Trophy Point, West Point NY, at dawn in the summertime

Trophy Point is a scenic overlook of the Hudson River Valley located at West Point, New York. It has been the subject of numerous works of art since the early 19th century. Trophy Point is the location of Battle Monument, one of the largest columns of granite in the world. Designed by architect Stanford White and dedicated in 1897, Trophy Point was formerly the site of West Point graduation ceremonies before the class sizes became larger in the mid-twentieth century. Trophy Point gets its name from the numerous displayed pieces of captured artillery spanning from the Revolutionary War to the Spanish–American War. From the 1840s to the 1930s it was the site of the Siege Battery where cadets learned artillery.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Trophy Point (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Trophy Point
Washington Road,

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Wikipedia: Trophy PointContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 41.394722222222 ° E -73.956944444444 °
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Battle Monument

Washington Road
10996
New York, United States
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View from Trophy Point, West Point NY, at dawn in the summertime
View from Trophy Point, West Point NY, at dawn in the summertime
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United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River with a scenic view, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. It is the oldest of the five American service academies and educates cadets for commissioning into the United States Army. The academy was founded in 1802, one year after President Thomas Jefferson directed that plans be set in motion to establish it. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campus's Norman-style buildings are constructed from gray and black granite. The campus is a popular tourist destination, with a visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army. Candidates for admission must apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress. Other nomination sources include the president and vice president. Students are officers-in-training and are referred to as "cadets" or collectively as the "United States Corps of Cadets" (USCC). The Army fully funds tuition for cadets in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation. About 1,300 cadets enter the academy each July, with about 1,000 cadets graduating. The academic program grants a Bachelor of Science degree with a curriculum that grades cadets' performance upon a broad academic program, military leadership performance, and mandatory participation in competitive athletics. Cadets are required to adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states that "a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do." The academy bases a cadet's leadership experience as a development of all four pillars of performance: academics, character, physical, and military. Most graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army. Foreign cadets are commissioned into the armies of their home countries. Since 1959, cadets have also been eligible for an interservice commission in one of the other armed services provided that they meet that service's eligibility standards. A small number of cadets do this. The academy's traditions have influenced other institutions because of its age and unique mission. It was the first American college to have an accredited civil engineering program and the first to have class rings, and its technical curriculum became a model for engineering schools. West Point's student body has a unique rank structure and lexicon. All cadets reside on campus and dine together en masse on weekdays for lunch. The academy fields 15 men's and nine women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports teams. Cadets compete in one sport every fall, winter, and spring season at the intramural, club, or intercollegiate level. Its football team was a national power in the early and mid-20th century, winning three national championships. Among the country's public institutions, the academy is the top producer of Marshall and Rhodes scholars. Its alumni and students are collectively referred to as "The Long Gray Line," the former include: U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ulysses S. Grant; Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy; Confederate general Robert E. Lee; American poet Edgar Allen Poe; U.S. general George Patton; presidents of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the Philippines; and 76 Medal of Honor recipients.

Patton Monument (West Point)
Patton Monument (West Point)

General George S. Patton, Jr. (Patton Monument) is a bronze statue of George S. Patton, Jr., by James Earle Fraser. It is located at the United States Military Academy.Patton was a prominent cavalryman during the early 20th century and was a founding father of the US Army's Tank Corps, seeing action in World War I and commanding a tank brigade. He achieved his greatest fame as during World War II. He commanded armored forces in North Africa after Operation Torch, then commanded the Seventh Army for the invasion of Sicily. But his greatest fame came as commander of the United States Third Army. After a swift drive across France after the Normandy invasion, his forces made a famous relief of the trapped American forces in the siege of Bastogne during the German Ardennes counteroffensive. The statue was originally dedicated in 1950 by Patton's widow Beatrice and faced the old Cadet Library. It was briefly placed in storage for the construction of the new library, Jefferson Hall, in 2004. The monument was then rededicated in 2009 in a temporary location near Eisenhower Monument where it remained for the next three years while renovations were completed on the Cadet Library and Bartlett Hall.Other examples of the statue are at the Charles River Esplanade, Hatch Memorial Shell, Boston, Massachusetts, and at the General Patton Memorial Museum Ettelbruck, Luxembourg.In the monument's previous position, Patton faced the old Cadet Library. It was often joked that the statue was positioned facing the library with binoculars in the officer's hands so that he might find the building which he neglected to visit as a cadet.