The West Point Register of Graduates & Former Cadets

Look-Up a Graduate in the Register      Update Your Register Entry

The West Point Register of Graduates & Former Cadets was WPAOG’s oldest publication, dating back to 1850, when the first Register was compiled by George W. Cullum, Class of 1833. It is an indispensable treasury of military history.  Search for individual entries recording the names, classes, and careers of every West Point graduate from 1802 to the present.

Search for an Individual Register Entry (you must be logged in and a Graduate, widow, or ex-cadet)

The Register of Graduates was a unique publication with roots that go back to 1846. At that time, as the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United States Military was approaching, a graduate of the Class of 1833 stationed at West Point, George W. Cullum, began to compile a listing of those who had attended the Military Academy. His first effort, published in 1850, was called a Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy from 1802 to January 1, 1850. Shortly afterward, he took ill, and then duties elsewhere and the Civil War took priority. Returning to West Point in 1864 as superintendent, he served until 1866, when he was assigned other duties.

In 1867, however, he was able to publish his Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from its establishment on March 16, 1802, to the Army Reorganization of 1866-67. The New York Times heralded it as a "contribution to the military history of the Nation so rich in invaluable data and so essential to the future historian or student of American history." The first volume covered the first 1,058 graduates through the Class of 1840, while the second volume ended with the 2,218th graduate in the Class of 1867. An additional volume followed, in 1879, updating the biographies of the earlier volumes and adding more recent graduates. This periodic updating continued, all financed by a generous bequest made by Brigadier General Cullum upon his death in 1892. Afterward, volumes appeared at regular ten-year intervals until the 1940-50 volume, when the bequest proved insufficient to sustain publication. This earlier Register is available online as a historical reference document at the U.S. Military Academy Library website: http://library.westpoint.edu/

In 1946, however, deeming it impractical to wait ten years to update the document, the West Point Alumni Foundation published its first annual Register of Graduates. In 1972, this effort was transferred to the Association of Graduates and by 2002, the Bicentennial of the founding of the Academy, the Register was made available online to graduates only.