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Military Schools History
From the beginning of the United States, the nation's leaders placed
great emphasis on the value of a military education. On May 16, 1776,
Col. Henry Knox, future secretary of war, wrote Congressman (and future
president) John Adams suggesting that a military school be established for educating young men in the military arts. Knox was well aware that government-run military school had become a feature of the military establishments of most European countries. In 1717 the Prussian Cadet Corps opened in Berlin to instruct officers; Russia followed suit in 1732; Britain established the Woolwich artillery school in 1741; and the French founded their L'Ecole Militaire in Paris in 175I. (5) In October 1776 the Continental Congress, prodded by Adams and Knox, appointed a committee of five members to bring in a plan of a national military school, though, in typical congressional fashion, the committee actually brought in no plan and no legislation was proposed. (Allardice)
Thousands of military school alumni made their mark in the West as well.
The last commander of the Army of Tennessee, Lt.- Gen. A. P. Stewart,
had taught for a year at WMI as part of his prewar career as a teacher.
Stewart, a West Pointer nicknamed "Old Straight" by the troops, had been
with that army from the onset of the war, leading a brigade, a division,
and a corps.
 After the war in Viet Nam, the military fell out of favor in the public opinion, and many military schools struggled to keep their doors open. Today, though, the trend has reversed, and military schools have regained their popularity as an effective educational option for many students. Military schools are not training for war. They're training for life. Just like any other boarding school, Hargrave is college prep. Ninety percent of our graduates go on to college and 7 percent go into the service." If you haven't considered military schools because you thought they were too, well, military, it's time to give them a look. These days, military schools are more an academic environment than a repository for juvenile delinquents. Military boarding schools deserve strong consideration as an alternative to a mediocre public school education.
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