Decius Wadsworth 1768-1821
Decius Wadsworth was appointed by George Washington to the Artillerists and Engineer Corps in 1794. He served in the Corps until 1800. In 1803-1805, he was acting Superintendent of the new U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was appointed to be the first Commissary General of Ordnance of the newly formed Army Ordnance Department just before the War of 1812. It was a very important job to acquire, supply and maintain all cannons, small arms, powder, ball and short for the Army. He established a system of uniformity in the armories and in the manufacture of munitions. In 1817, he developed a system of ciphers using a design from Thomas Jefferson. His cipher was used until the end of WWII; It is called Wadsworth’s Cipher. He remained the Chief of Ordnance until 1821.
George Ramsay USMA 1814 1802-1882
George entered West Point at the age of 12. Six years later, he graduated with the Class of 1820 and was assigned to several posts in New England as a field Artilleryman with one assignment with the Corps of Topographical Engineers. He commanded several arsenals and in the Mexican War. He was the Chief Ordnance Officer of the Army commanded by Major General Zachary Taylor. With the beginning of the Civil War, he rose from Captain to Colonel in two years after serving as a Captain for 26 years. He was commander of the Washington Arsenal and Chief of Ordnance. He was later Inspector of Arsenals until 1866. He served our country for 50 years, retiring from the Washington Arsenal in 1870.
Alexander Dyer USMA 1837 1815-1874
Alexander Dyer was born in Richmond Virginia, but when his family moved to Missouri, he secured an appointment to West Point from Missouri. He graduated sixth in his class right behind Braxton Bragg. He served gallantly during the Mexican-American War at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Rosales. He was initially in the field artillery, but quickly was assigned to ordnance duties at several Arsenals. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was in the midst of upgrading weapons production and was nominated by Abraham Lincoln as the Chief of Ordnance in early 1865. He spent 10 years at this position where he began purchasing a Gatling gun which was the first machine gun design. He was also the creator of the Dyer Shell, a 3-inch artillery projectile which was a principal artillery piece at the end of the Civil War. At the beginning of his tenure as Chief of Ordnance for the Union Army there was some concern that a native southerner wasn’t the right man in charge. He mollified his critics by his character, hard work, and innovation as the Chief of Ordnance. He was considered an exemplary officer worthy of emulation by all Army officers.
Stephen Vincent Benet USMA 1849 1827-1895
Born to a prominent family in Florida, Stephen was the first nominated to West Point from Florida which had only become a State three years before. He graduated in the Class of 1849 – third in his class. He was assigned to several Arsenals in the Northeast and in St. Louis before being sent to West Point to instruct cadets in law, ethics, history and geography. He returned to West Point in August 1861 to teach gunnery and ordnance. He spent the Civil War as the commandant of the Frankford (Philadelphia) Arsenal that employed 1000 workers serving as the major site for storage of weapon and artillery pieces, for repair of cavalry, infantry and artillery equipment and cleaning of small arms as well as production and testing of gunpowder and time fuses. At the time of the battle of Gettysburg, Benet’s arsenal provided tens of thousands of muskets and ammunition. The Gatling gun was first tested under Benet’s direction. He was appointed Chief of Ordnance in 1874. He retired after 42 years of service.
Colonel James Walker Benet USMA 1880 1857-1928
James Walker Benet graduated from West Point in 1880. First an artilleryman, he transferred to the Ordnance Corps in 1886. He served at various arsenals throughout the Country. He was the Commander of the Ordnance Training School. He was the father of three children, the Pulitzer Prize winning poet and editor, William Rose Benet, Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Stephen Vincent Benet (named for his grandfather above), and editor and biographer, Laura Benet.
Laurence Vincent Benet 1865-1948
Born at West Point in 1865, Laurence was an ensign in the Navy during the Spanish-American War and WWI but is best known for perfecting the Hotchkiss M1909 Benet-Mercie machine gun. In 1927, he presented to West Point a pair of flintlock pistols once owned and used by Napoleon I.