ALS Major General & Inspector Alexander Macomb To Lieut. Col. S. Thayer, Superintendent USMA -

1824. Very good overall. Letter addressed to Sylvanus Thayer, the "Father of West Point", with a list of the names of those invited to be examiners of the graduating class of West Point in 1824. A famous graduate of this Class was Robert P. Parrott, best known as the inventor of the "Parrott gun". The Parrott gun was a rifled cannon that gave the Union a marked advantage in the Civil War; it was developed while Parrott was superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, NY. Thayer (1785 - 1872), the recipient of this letter, was appointed superintendent of West Point in 1817 by President James Monroe; he resigned in 1833. He established many traditions still in place, including strict discipline, the summer encampment, the demerit system, and the requirement for high academic standards. Dated May 24, 1824, Engineer. Department Washington, and signed Alex.r Macomb. Copied by Zebina J. D. Kinsley, cadet USMA. Contemporary folds, few short closed tears at edges. 8 x 9 3/4"