The Hudson eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 284 pages of information about The Hudson.

The Hudson eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 284 pages of information about The Hudson.

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Among the fair and lovely Highlands of the Hudson, shut in by deep green heights and ruined forts, hemmed in all round with memories of Washington, there could be no more appropriate ground for the military school of America.

    Charles Dickens.

* * *

=The Cadet Chapel=, immediately north of the Administration Building, was erected in 1834.  The chapel contains many valuable trophies of the Revolutionary and Mexican wars, including three Hessian and two British flags that were once the property of Washington.  The walls have many memorial tablets and a famous “blank” of Arnold.  Here also are several cannon surrendered at Saratoga, October 17, 1777.

=The Administration Building= was completed in 1871.

=The Library= adjoins the Cadet Chapel on the east, built of native granite in 1841, costing about $15,000.  In 1900 the building was entirely reconstructed of fire-proof material by appropriation of $80,000.  The exterior walls of the original building entered into the remodeled structure.  The Library, founded in 1812, has about 50,000 volumes.

=The Gymnasium= adjoins the Barracks on the west, erected of native granite, costing $90,000.

=Memorial Hall=, plainly seen from the Hudson, completed in 1899, is of Ionic architecture.  The building cost $268,000, a legacy bequeathed by Gen. George W. Cullum, built of Milford granite for army trophies of busts, paintings and memorials.  The bronze statute of Gen. John Sedgwick in the northwest angle of the plain was dedicated in 1868.  The fine cenotaph of Italian marble was erected in 1885.  It stands immediately in front of Memorial Hall.

=Kosciusko’s Monument= was erected in 1828.  It stands in the northeast angle of Fort Clinton.

=The Chain-Battery= walk runs from Kosciusko’s Garden northward to Light House Point, near which was the battery that defended the chain across the river in the Revolution.  The scene is of great beauty and has been known for many years by the name of “Flirtation Walk.”

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  Where Kosciusko dreamed and proud scenes bring
  To mind the stormy days when Liberty
  Was cradled at West Point—­the Highlands’ key.

  Kenneth Bruce.

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[Illustration:  BATTLE MONUMENT, WEST POINT]

=The Battle Monument=, on Trophy Point, is the most beautiful on the reservation—­a column of victory in memory of 2,230 officers and soldiers of the regular army of the United States who were killed or died of wounds received in the war of the Rebellion.  It is a monolith of polished granite surmounted by a figure of Fame.  The shaft is 46 feet in length, 5 feet in diameter, and said to be the largest piece of polished stone in the world.  The cost of the work was $66,000.  The site was dedicated June 15, 1864.  The monument was dedicated in 1897.  The address was by Justice Brewer.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Hudson from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.