The Fortress

In 1727, after his elevation to be a British duke, Matthew West created a military university in Charles Town, South Carolina Colony. His goal was to produce well-rounded, knowledgeable, professional military officers. He wanted a university where young men could study “history, tactics, strategy, different types of warfare, drill, marksmanship, seamanship, artillery, engineering, technology, philosophy, diplomacy, languages, human nature, law, the management of men at war, and all related subjects.” It was to be a fortress of applied learning.

West donated a large sum of money to found the university and ships so the cadets could practice their seamanship. Over time, he also loaned them ships from his personal war fleet that he had created for his various private ventures when Britain was at war with Spain, France, or other powers. Thus, in the chapter called Engineering a New Tomorrow, Prince José mentions they will be taking the duke’s private yacht to Brazil, with that yacht being a 120-gun first-rate ship-of-the-line.

West ran the fortress as its commandant for the next fifty years until he faked his death at the end of the American Revolutionary War.

After the West Era, the new commandant was one of his grandsons-in-law, Baron von Münchhausen. He ran it for the next thirty years until his death. He was followed by a retired general and President of the United States, who also happened to be an Angel, who ran it for the next thirty-four years until his death. The commandant was usually an important and famous military figure willing to devote his later years to the education of young men. The appointment was usually given to an older individual, often in his mid-fifties, and was considered a life appointment.

There was also a vice commandant, a position created by Matthew West in 1777 when he already knew that he would have to be changing his identity soon, even if he did not yet know the means. The vice commandant was always an Angel. The vice commandant was responsible for the special training of Angels at the Fortress and would host the Round Table Social Club dinners that Matthew West had started. The vice commandant was usually a younger man, usually in his twenties, and would generally stay for no more than ten years. The first was Matthew Zechariah West (I97), the Angel Briares. He was nineteen when appointed, and was very convenient, since he could always keep a copy of himself there at the Fortress. The second vice commandant was Henry Cabot West (I3042), the Angel Sors. He served until 1794.

Sons of important families, especially those with military traditions, often went to the Fortress. Matthew West started the tradition of using his influence to attract young royalty and nobility from Europe to the Fortress. Once the school gained a reputation for producing superior field marshals, anyone who could afford to get his son in did so, whatever the cost. After the American Revolutionary War, other military universities opened in competition to the Fortress, but it was still seen as the premier institution.