Page "Henry Halleck" Paragraph 2

Halleck was born on a farm in Westernville, Oneida County, New York, third child of 14 of Joseph Halleck, a lieutenant who served in the War of 1812, and Catherine Wager Halleck.

Young Henry detested the thought of an agricultural life and ran away from home at an early age to be raised by an uncle, David Wager of Utica.

He attended Hudson Academy and Union College, then the United States Military Academy.

He became a favorite of military theorist Dennis Hart Mahan and was allowed to teach classes while still a cadet.

He graduated in 1839, third in his class of 31 cadets, as a second lieutenant of engineers.

After spending a few years improving the defenses of New York Harbor, he wrote a report for the United States Senate on seacoast defenses, Report on the Means of National Defence, which pleased General Winfield Scott, who rewarded Halleck with a trip to Europe in 1844 to study European fortifications and the French military.

Returning home a first lieutenant, Halleck gave a series of twelve lectures at the Lowell Institute in Boston that were subsequently published in 1846 as Elements of Military Art and Science.

His work, one of the first expressions of American military professionalism, was well received by his colleagues and was considered one of the definitive tactical treatises used by officers in the coming Civil War.

His scholarly pursuits earned him the ( later derogatory ) nickname " Old Brains.