West Point New York

West Point Cadet Room

A spirit of a cadet is still trying to complete his schooling at West Point.

This 1830s’ Cadet roommate was too different and scary to keep the room open to living students.

west-point-army

DESCRIPTION

The United States Military Academy, known as West Point, is a four-year federal service academy in West Point, New York. It is part of the active Army Base of West Point. Recommended High School graduates who want to be Army Officers sign up for this four year program and live on the West Point Grounds.

The Cadet Program has been here since The United States Military Academy, was established since 1802; though it changed a lot throughout the era.

As of 2020, there are newer garrisons for new officer training cadets but the two oldest ones that were built in 1778 are the Plain Garrison and the West Point Garrison. They were used at first for regular troops assigned there at this West Point Fort.

The next oldest Garrison is Trophy Point, that was designed by Architect Stanford White and opened in 1897.

These three garrisons have been updated, remodeled and improved throughout their two hundred and forty three years of existence.

They are very much like college dorms, with a long hall on each floor, with individual room suites off the hallway. Probably, two-four cadets are in each room. There is a laundry facility and a common area on the first floor.

For married Army soldiers assigned to West Point Military base, there are residential homes on the base.

“Located along the scenic Hudson River and on-base at West Point, West Point Family Homes is a residential community offering a wide variety of rental homes in single-family, duplex, townhome and apartment styles, to active duty Army families assigned to West Point.”

HISTORY

The flat plain plateau of West Point, New York, has long been considered the most important strategic location since the Revolutionary War. Fortress West Point was built there during the Revolutionary War and was never captured by the British.

During the Revolutionary War, “Continental soldiers built forts, batteries and redoubts and extended a 150-ton iron chain across the Hudson to control river traffic.” Washington moved his headquarters there.

On Fortress West Point, The United States Military Academy was started by President Jefferson in 1802, to be devoted to teaching “the arts and sciences of warfare.”

The entire academy was located on the plain, and it was used for activities like drill, mounted calvary maneuvers and an encampment site for summer training.

Superintendent Colonel Sylvanus Thayer; (1817 to 1833), is considered to be the “father of the Military Academy.” He was the major force behind upgrading “academic standards, instilled military discipline and emphasized honorable conduct. Aware of our young nation’s need for engineers, Thayer made civil engineering the foundation of the curriculum.”

After the ending of the Civil War, other technical schools popped up, West Point decided to broaden “its curriculum beyond a strict civil engineering focus. Following the creation of Army post-graduate command and staff schools, the Military Academy came to be viewed as the first step in a continuing Army education.”

After World War One, the curriculum was changed again. Superintendent Douglas MacArthur diversified the curriculum, and stressed physical fitness as a goal, due to the “intense physical demands of the battlefield.”

During World War Two, West Point graduates were front and center in the skilled leadership that helped to win this war. Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley, Arnold, Clark, Patton, Stilwell and Wainwright excelled in their commissioned tasks.

After World War Two, again the winds of change blew through West Point Military Academy. “Sweeping revisions to the West Point curriculum resulting from the dramatic developments in science and technology, the increasing need to understand other cultures and the rising level of general education in the Army.”

In 1964, the Corps of Cadets was nearly doubled by President Johnson which resulted in a major expansion of structures and Cadet Garrisons.

In 1976, women were able sign up and enroll in the West Point Military Academy. They became a vital and integral part of West Point.

Currently, West Point cadets can major in “any one of more than a dozen fields, including a wide range of subjects from the sciences to the humanities.”

HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS

In the long history of West Point Military Academy, located in upper New York State, spirits have been spotted from time to time. Apparently, a spectral cadet is still here.

When young people are stopped by sudden death from completing a high priority goal, their spirits may come back to try to do so as a spirit.

Moravian College, PA (A student turned WW 1 soldier was killed in war, but that hasn’t stopped him from trying to earn credits to graduate).

Edgewood Plantation Bed and Breakfast, VA (Young Confederate soldiers who were killed in battle, still are on duty, determined to finish their watch).

West Point Cadet Garrison, NY (An 1830s’ cadet is still trying to earn credits to graduate from West Point, and is staying in his old room that is located either in The Plains Garrison or West Point Garrison).

MANIFESTATIONS

Unfortunately, there were already four living cadets in this Room 4714. No wonder there were issues between the living and the dead.

Spectral Cadet; Never too Late?

During the month of October of 1972, a total of four military cadets housed in this room saw the apparition of a soldier dressed in a 1830s cavalry uniform.

The apparition seemed luminous and shimmering, sporting a handlebar-mustache and carrying a musket rifle.

The ghost materialized out of the wall and a closet in room 4714.

On one occasion, a spirit form rose up from the middle of the floor. Once it ruffled the bathrobe of a cadet and on another occasion it turned on the shower.

More Weird Encounters

These cadets who stayed in this room had their own weird encounters as their living quarters was a bit crowded with another spectral cadet sharing their limited space.

“There is no doubt about it at all and the room grew unnaturally cold,” Cadet Captain Keith B. said.

Keith B. was the upperclassman who was assigned to stay with the freshman cadets who had reported this apparition.

No More Sharing

The hauntings continued until mid-November 1972, when the commanding officer had all the furniture removed from the room, and declared the room off-limits to the living.

This Spirit of an 1830s’ cadet can have the room to himself and doesn’t have to share it with the living cadets.

The cadets were moved to an unclaimed room with no resident spirits.

STILL HAUNTED?

Probably so, because the spirit wasn’t told to leave because a spectral cadet can’t continue in the program. It was decided to just leave him alone. The room is no longer used to house living cadets, only a ghost of a former cadet from the 1800s.

LOCATION

The Military Academy is located in New York State, near Manchester County. It may be possible to arrange a tour.

If you visit West Point, try to find the 47th Division Barracks of the 4th Regiment, which is the building that contains room 4714. Company G-4 is quartered there, and perhaps someone will help you find the way.

SOURCES INCLUDE

West Point Garrison and Community, Facebook
westpoint.edu

Our Haunted Paranormal Stories are Written by Julie Carr