On March 16, 1802, the Military Academy at West Point was founded. Poised above the Hudson River, 50 miles north of New York City, West Point was first established as Fort Arnold, in 1778. The site was selected because of the unusual S-curve in the Hudson River below. Military engineer Tadeusz Kościuszko organized the fort’s defenses. The fort was a key defense designed to prevent British warships from sailing up the Hudson River and into New York’s interior. General George Washington considered West Point to be the most strategic location in America. Fortifications built there served as Washington’s headquarters in the summer and fall of 1779.