Friday, November 30, 2007

Teacher and mentor

Brian Downey had a great entry on Delos B. Sackett over at Behind Antietam on the Web on Tuesday. As always, Brian's post added that little something extra that makes the reader remember the post and the person.

As I was reading the entry, I noticed that Sackett was an Assistant Instructor of Cavalry Tactics at West Point from 1850-1855. I was curious about which future cavalry leaders he might have influenced, so I pulled out the trusty Cullum files and checked to see who went through the academy during this period who later became a cavalry officer.

The list includes six cavalry leaders who reached brevet Major General. Eugene A. Carr, Kenner Garrard and David S. Stanley for those interested in the western theater; August Kautz, David McM. Gregg and William W. Averell for those eastern theater afficionados among us. Among other significant leaders listed at this time (the classes were mandatory) was one Philip H. Sheridan.

It's of course impossible to gauge Sackett's influence on which branch the cadets under his tutelage chose during the period that he was at West Point, but I thought it interesting.

1 comment:

Brian Downey said...

More cool stuff, thanks Don. Plenty of fascinating and interconnected stories here, no doubt.