Cadets of the United States Military Academy parade on the Champs-Elysées for French Bastille and Federation Day* parade, 14 July 2002, in Paris.

In the same parade were cadets from the two main French military schools, both of which have associations with the US Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York.

Ecole Polytechnique, now located south of Paris, at the commune of Palaiseau. The school was founded in Paris in 1794 under the name of ‘Ecole centrale des travaux publics' [Central School of Public Works], received its name actually in 1795. It was changed in to a military school under Napoléon Bonaparte in 1804. During the superintendency of Sylvanus Thayer (1817-1833), West Point was fashioned after the model of Ecole Polytechnique and initially relied heavily on French military instruction and text books from this institution.

Ecole Polytechnique website is athttp://www.polytechnique.fr.

Saint-Cyr military academy had once been near Versailles, but is now located at Coëtquidan, near the commune of Guer (Morbihan [56], Bretagne). The school was founded by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1802 -- same year as was USMA at West Point on the Hudson River. The 'Saint Cyriens' attended the USMA June 2002 ceremonies, and the US cadets are marching in the graduation parade at St Cyr in July 2002.

Saint-Cyrienne website is at http://www.saint-cyr.org.

Images on this page were obtained with the assistance of the West Point Sociey of Paris, and from their website at http://www.west-point.org/society/wps-paris/intro.htm

*It may surprise many Americans that 'Bastille Day' is more correctly titled 'Bastille and Federation Day'. On July 14 1790, in Paris, there was held a huge Reconciliation event, called 'Fête de la Fédération', where the main character was La Fayette, then at his zenith. When a National Day was decided in 1880, explicit reference was made to 'Fête de la Federation 14 juillet 1790'.

This page is sponsored by The Expédition Particulière Commemorative Cantonment Society.