’Treason is Treason’: Civil War Memory at West Point, 1861–1902

The United States Military Academy educated the most successful and iconic Confederate generals. How did West Point reconcile the memory of Confederate graduates who, while famed for their martial prowess, fought against the U.S. Army? In the Gilded Age, West Point neither forgot nor forgave Confederate graduates for fighting against the U.S. Army. The memory of wartime chaos, Congressional criticism, and Confederate graduates’ betrayal left the Military Academy feeling defensive. This defensiveness led West Point to create a series of written and stone memorials, mainly in the 1890s, highlighting West Point’s role in saving the Union. All of the memorials excluded Confederate graduates.