This compilation is a great resource for the genealogist - a must have! The data collected is from the first 124 (of 242) reels of microfilm at the National Archives and the data is taken from personal handwritten applications from young men mailed directly to the US Secretary of War. There is much hidden genealogical information that is not shown in any other source. The applicants in many cases identified grandparents and great grandparents, many of the men being veterans of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The genealogical information for those males who applied and did not get into West Point is also available in this book. The United States Military Academy was established by law in 1802 with Congress authorizing the President to organize a Corps of Engineers that was to contain, in addition to the officers, ten cadets who were to receive a military education and who were to receive pay. The Corps was then stationed at West Point and constituted the Military Academy. This book includes applicants of some famous general officers of the Civil war, both Union and Confederate, including Abner Doubleday, William Tecumseh Sherman, Jubal Early, Carlos Buell, and George Armstrong Custer along with many others. The data includes the date they applied, where they were living, age and in some cases mentions relatives by name. 2002, 6x9, case-laminate, index, 410 pp