The Cliff and the Bucket
Thaddeus Kosciuszko was born on February 12, 1746, and as a child he played next to a large rock formation in his native homeland of Poland. There is speculation that he chose the almost inaccessible cliff for his garden at West Point because it reminded him of his childhood play area on his father’s property. The location of the garden at West Point was not easy to access, but provided privacy for the young engineer for “rest and repose.” He made a round bed of rocks to contain flowers that reminded him of Poland. In order to get soil to the garden for the plantings he had to drop it down from a pail above the cliffside you see today. Although West Point during the American Revolution was highly remote and considered “the end of the world” by the soldiers assigned there (and thought of the same way on occasion by today’s cadets), it was a bustling garrison with over 1000 soldiers working to build the fortification system that Washington considered the “key of America.” The remoteness of West Point’s location on the Hudson River contributed to the steady stream of commanders who led the efforts at the garrison from 1775 - 1783. By 1780, Colonel Kosciuszko had completed the planning and almost all the construction on the fortifications and was eager to join the Southern Campaign to participate as Chief Engineer. He was happy to leave West Point’s remote location, but one wonders about his feelings about leaving his garden where he had built a fountain with “jets and cascades” and had spent many happy hours. It is probable that he could not imagine the garden surviving for almost 240 years and being a place of “rest and repose” for cadets well into the future. He was always a strong supporter of the need for America to have a military academy like the ones he had studied at in Poland and France. He left West Point and never returned after August of 1780. In 1802, the United States Military Academy was approved and established at West Point and his garden had survived. Joseph Swift, the first cadet to graduate, found it and restored it and it continues to serve as one important part of his legacy to America.
Monday, October 14, 2013