Existing comment:
The Mexican War:
With the announcement of war with Mexico in May 1846, Superintendent Franklin Buchanan and 56 midshipmen volunteered for service. Buchanan's request, like that of most of the midshipmen, was turned down by the Secretary of the Navy. In the course of the war, ninety alumni would see service; one alumnus would die of disease. Four midshipmen would be killed in the line of duty. Their colleagues at the Naval Academy took up a collection to erect a monument, the first at the Academy, in their honor. |