The four-year program at West Point when Lee arrived in 1825 began with two years of intensive study in mathematics—algebra, geometry, trigonometry, plus calculus for more advanced students—along with French (the language in which the leading texts in military fortification and related subjects were written), followed by two years of topographic drawing, physics, engineering, chemistry, metallurgy. The engineering instruction by Lee’s time covered roads, tunnels, inland navigation, artificial harbors, and railroad construction.
