Joseph Gardner Swift Joseph Gardner Swift , the first graduate of the United States Military Academy , was born on 31 December 1783 on Nantucket Island , the son of Foster Swift and his wife , Deborah . At the age of six , he saw George Washington on Boston Common , an experience that made an indelible impression on him . Early Life and education . In 1792 , the Swifts moved to Taunton , Massachusetts , where Joseph became the student of Reverend Samuel Daggat , who prepared him to enter Harvard College . Swift had read accounts of the American Revolution in his father ’ s diary and heard stories from a family friend , Major General David Cobb . With Cobb ’ s advice and assistance , Swift was appointed by President John Adams on 12 May 1800 as a cadet of artillerists and engineers . He reported for duty a month later at Newport Harbor . In the summer of 1801 , Secretary of War Henry Dearborn notified the Army that President Thomas Jefferson had directed the establishment of a military academy at West Point , New York . Swift reported to the academy on 14 October 1801 . On 15 December 1801 , then - Major Jonathan Williams took command and several months later became the first Superintendent of the U . S . Military Academy . The Academy was established by law on 16 March 1802 . Swift progressed well and was considered by Williams to be the foremost cadet . After a thorough examination , Swift became the first graduate of the Academy on 12 October 1802 . Simeon Magruder Levy was the only other graduate in 1802 . 1802 - 1814 . Swift remained at West Point until 30 April 1804 , and in June of that year , became the superintending engineer of the construction of the defenses of the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina . In January 1805 he became the commander of Fort Johnson , North Carolina . Swift returned to West Point in 1807 and took command of the Academy in Williams ' absence . He remained there until 23 November of that year , when the Academy was closed for the winter vacation . Swift was promoted to Major in February 1808 and assigned to lead the defenses of the Eastern Department covering the New England coast . He was assigned with Joseph Gilbert Totten and Sylvanus Thayer , also graduates of West Point . Once again , Swift was assigned to his old station at the mouth of the Cape Fear River where he was charged with superintending and inspecting southern coast defenses until 1812 . In July 1812 , Williams resigned as Chief Engineer of the Army , and Swift , then a lieutenant colonel and the next senior Engineer in the Army , assumed command . His appointment as Colonel and Chief Engineer of the Army , to rank as such from 31 July 1812 , was unanimously confirmed in December 1812 . Pending his confirmation , Swift was ordered back to superintend the defenses of North Carolina . Before leaving Washington , he sent orders to Captain Alden Partridge , the senior Engineer officer at West Point , to open the Military Academy ( then practically defunct ) in the coming spring . Swift , upon becoming Chief Engineer of the Army and Superintendent of the United States Military Academy , was 30 years old . In March 1813 , Swift was called to Washington and consulted with the Secretary of War on the application of large appropriations for fortifications . He then reported to New York City to supervise the fortification process and act in his capacity as the Chief Engineer and Superintendent of the U . S . Military Academy . As Superintendent , he made frequent trips to West Point , and made plans for a new mess hall , academic building , and South Barracks . He also obtained authority to employ an acting chaplain to be Professor of Ethics , History , and Geography ; remodeled the functions of the academic staff ; and assumed the duties of the inspector of the institution to bar the assumption of authority claimed by Partridge as local commander . With the repairs of New York Harbor completed and fortifications against the British fleet in place , Swift requested orders for the field . He became the Chief Engineer of the Northern Army under Major General James Wilkinson . This took him to the ill - fated St . Lawrence Campaign but also won him a citation for gallantry in the battle of Chrysler ' s Farm . He was breveted a brigadier general on 19 February 1814 . The Secretary of War refused Swift further field service on the grounds that the coast defenses required his attention . Swift was sent to New York where , in conjunction with the Committee of Safety , he established plans for the development of the coasts of New York and Brooklyn and supervised the thousands of volunteers who worked on the project . The Corporation of New York voted him a Benefactor to the City as a result of these services . 1814 - 1818 . After completing the defenses of New York , Swift was called upon to form a new system of infantry tactics , to reduce the Army to a peacetime establishment , and later , with Colonel George Bomford , to rebuild the U . S . Capitol in Washington D . C . , which had been destroyed by the British in the War of 1812 . Shortly after the war , Congress authorized the President to employ Brigadier General Simon Bernard of the French Army , a distinguished engineer under Napoleon , as an assistant in the Corps of Engineers . He was placed at the head of the Board of Engineers while Swift became solely Superintendent of the Military Academy . Swift protested the admission of foreigners into the American military , who in the event of war might become enemies . However , Bernard stayed on the Board of Engineers until 1831 . As Superintendent , Swift recommended sending two Engineer officers to Europe to examine French and Dutch fortifications and to purchase books to form a library at West Point . It was also hoped that one of them would replace him as Superintendent . Swift also secured a loan from Jacob Barker , a rich Quaker merchant , because no government appropriations were available . Swift saved the institution from abandonment when he personally arranged a $ 65 , 000 loan at 7 % interest . For some time , Swift remained in local command at West Point , and in January 1817 , proceeded to Washington to present his grievances to President James Madison . This resulted in Swift ’ s resuming his position in Washington at the head of the Corps of Engineers and leaving Bernard without any military control . Swift accompanied newly elected President James Monroe on his trip to examine the northern states and during the seven - week excursion was able to study the battlefields of the American Revolution and the War of 1812 , as well as inspect arsenals , Navy yards and fortifications , and study the capacity of the country for defense . He also examined institutions of learning , particularly the Military Academy , in which Monroe was very interested . At the time of this visit to West Point , it was decided that Partridge would be replaced by then - Major Sylvanus Thayer , who became Superintendent of the Academy on 28 July 1817 . The Presidential tour continued to Maine , and Swift and a joint board of Army and Navy officers examined fortifications from Penobscot , Maine , to Connecticut . He also traveled to the Chesapeake Bay area and chose a site for a Navy yard at Norfolk , Virginia . In 1818 , just before leaving the military , Swift ’ s main duties were in Virginia . He studied the northern tributaries of the $ 3 and made his last inspection of the Military Academy in September 1818 . He was engaged with Governeur Kemble and four others in establishing the West Point Foundry at Cold Spring - on - the - Hudson . After contemplating civilian life for more than two years , he submitted his resignation on 12 November 1818 , reserving all his rights as a brevet brigadier general in the Army , to be called into service in the event of war . He maintained this status until his death . Soon after he left the Army , Swift was asked by the Corps of Engineers to sit for a portrait in his honor . The portrait , painted by Sully , was hung in the Library at the Academy upon its completion and hangs there today . 1818 - 1832 . The day after his resignation , Swift accepted the surveyorship of the Port of New York . As a civil engineer , he soon became involved in various important projects . In 1819 , he was consulted on the feasibility of banking and draining the Newark Flats . In 1820 he was appointed by the Legislature of New Jersey to superintend the plan to open the Morris Canal improvement . In 1822 he was one of the three Commissioners to regulate the streets and drainage of the eastern part of the City of New York . In 1825 , he was appointed as a commissioner to determine the capacity of the Bronx and Croton Rivers to supply New York City with pure water . Unfortunately , Swift ’ s office duties and other interests did not prevent him from venturing into the business dealings of Wall Street . In 1825 , he was elected vice president of a life and trust insurance company . The company failed , and all of its members were indicted for a conspiracy to defraud the state . Swift was acquitted but suffered the loss of all of his property . Deprived of the means to support his family , Swift decided to move to a small farm belonging to his wife in Haywood County , Tennessee , where he built a small cabin and began growing cotton . Finding the title to his plantation defective and his children suffering from the weather , Swift returned to New York . He returned to civil engineering and the following year took charge of the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad in Maryland . In March 1829 , he became the superintendent of the harbor improvements on Lake Ontario and held this position for sixteen years . While the lake works were suspended in the winter of 1829 , Swift took charge of the construction of the railroad from New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain , five miles long through a dense swamp considered impassable , which could neither be drained nor piled . This was one of the pioneer railroads of the south , and it is believed the first in America upon which iron edge rails were used . In 1832 , Swift succeeded Benjamin Wright as Chief Engineer of the New York and Harlem Railroad , but interference from the Board of Directors caused him to resign . 1832 - 1865 . Swift moved to Geneva , New York , and Hobart College elected him Professor of Engineering and Statistics . Though he declined this honor , he accepted the membership offered to him in the Society of Statistics of Paris , France , and took a great interest in statistical and educational matters . In 1833 , Swift was asked to present his views on how far the West Point system of discipline and instruction could be adapted to a university to be established in the City of New York . In 1834 , he proposed a plan to Governor William L . Marcy for normal schools and advised the school system to secure the services of Professor Horace Webster as Superintendent of the Free Academy , which later became the College of the City of New York . Marriage and family . Swift married Louisa Margaret Walker , the daughter of James and M . M . Walker , on 6 June 1805 in North Carolina . They had at least six children . Death . Swift died on 23 July 1865 in Geneva , aged eighty - two , and was buried in Washington Street Cemetery in Geneva next to his wife , who had died in Geneva on 15 November 1855 . Six of their children are also buried there : Also buried there are three of their daughters - in - law and one of their grandsons .