Michigan Military Academy
Encyclopedia
The Michigan Military Academy, also known as the M.M.A., was an all-boys military
prep school
in Orchard Lake Village
, Oakland County
, Michigan
. It was founded in 1877 by Captain J. Sumner Rogers, and closed in 1908 due to bankruptcy
. Some journalists have referred to the school as the Second West Point
. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1982 as the Orchard Lake Schools Historic District.
who would later serve in the American Civil War
, purchased several acres of land and began to build his retirement home on the shores of Orchard Lake
. Most of the 90 acres (364,000 m²) he owned were used for agricultural
purposes, and he was slowly selling tracts of land for profit. The area was popular with tourists, so in 1871 Gen. Copeland converted his residence, a large, castle
-like home on the shores of Orchard Lake
, into the Orchard Lake Hotel. Business was good for a few years but development in the area forced many vacationers to seek seclusion farther north and the Panic of 1873
forced Copeland to find profit elsewhere. In 1877 Gen. Copeland sought to sell his home and the land around it. Captain J. Sumner Rogers (b. 1844), who was a professor of Military Science and Tactics at Detroit High School, had wanted to establish a creditable military prep school in the Detroit area
for some time. Seeing the opportunity at hand, Rogers bought the land with the help of some wealthy Detroiters, and later that year he established the Michigan Military Academy. He modeled the academy after West Point and its success was immediate.
, and many of the classes won National Drill Competitions.
On June 19, 1879, William Tecumseh Sherman
, General in Chief
of the U.S. Army, delivered a variant of his famous "War Is Hell" speech to the graduating class. A total of 10,000 people arrived to listen to Sherman's speech, and the press reported that it was the largest number of people ever to gather within the township's boundaries (at that time the village of Orchard Lake was part of West Bloomfield Township
). He said: "There is many a boy here today who looks upon war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell." (1)
businessmen. There were three levels of training at the school: Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry. The cadet
s wore gray and white uniforms, modeled after those that were worn at West Point. Students with musical abilities were encouraged to join the marching band
. All cadets were taught to use a .45 caliber
Springfield rifle, and the academy had an 8-inch siege mortar and Gatling gun
s at its disposal for military drills. There were a few accidents; in 1884, a cadet drowned during a training exercise in the lake. In 1889, another cadet drowned during a midnight swim.
The cadets had a busy schedule, even on weekends. Rogers and his staff allowed for holiday parties and arranged dances with nearby all-girls schools. Discipline was harsh and there were many athletic and extracurricular activities and the students were encouraged to participate. There were several hundred dropouts throughout the academy's history.
As Rogers extended the campus, he dug a network of tunnels to connect most of the buildings. In the event of an attack, the tunnels would provide easy access across campus. The tunnels also led to a large bomb shelter under the Engine House. The tunnels are now used for plumbing, electricity, ethernet
, and other utilities.
Added to this, during two days in December of the same year, students and teachers protested against mistreatment and unsatisfactory meals. Roger, who was terminally ill at the time, quickly fired several teachers who he blamed for instigating the complaints.
Rogers died in September 1901. Management of the school was left to Rogers' widowed wife, and a friend of Rogers' named Gen. Charles King assisted with disciplinary and militaristic duties. Enrollment declined sharply, and the academy was closed in 1908.
. The campus is also home to St. Mary's Preparatory
, and Madonna University
of Livonia, Michigan
holds some classes on the campus.
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
prep school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
in Orchard Lake Village
Orchard Lake Village, Michigan
Orchard Lake Village is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a small, exclusive suburb on the outskirts of Metro Detroit. The population was 2,375 at the 2010 census....
, Oakland County
Oakland County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census, there were 1,202,362 people, 471,115 households, and 315,175 families residing in the county. The population density as of the 2000 census was 1,369 people per square mile . There were 492,006 housing units at an average density of 564 per square mile...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. It was founded in 1877 by Captain J. Sumner Rogers, and closed in 1908 due to bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. Some journalists have referred to the school as the Second West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1982 as the Orchard Lake Schools Historic District.
Early history and establishment
In 1858, Joseph Tarr Copeland (b. May 6, 1813), a U.S. Army generalGeneral
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
who would later serve in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, purchased several acres of land and began to build his retirement home on the shores of Orchard Lake
Orchard Lake
Orchard Lake is a medium-sized inland lake, 795 acres . It has a 110 feet maximum depth and is in the city of Orchard Lake Village, Oakland County, in Michigan, USA. It is the second-largest lake in Oakland County after Cass Lake....
. Most of the 90 acres (364,000 m²) he owned were used for agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
purposes, and he was slowly selling tracts of land for profit. The area was popular with tourists, so in 1871 Gen. Copeland converted his residence, a large, castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
-like home on the shores of Orchard Lake
Orchard Lake
Orchard Lake is a medium-sized inland lake, 795 acres . It has a 110 feet maximum depth and is in the city of Orchard Lake Village, Oakland County, in Michigan, USA. It is the second-largest lake in Oakland County after Cass Lake....
, into the Orchard Lake Hotel. Business was good for a few years but development in the area forced many vacationers to seek seclusion farther north and the Panic of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
forced Copeland to find profit elsewhere. In 1877 Gen. Copeland sought to sell his home and the land around it. Captain J. Sumner Rogers (b. 1844), who was a professor of Military Science and Tactics at Detroit High School, had wanted to establish a creditable military prep school in the Detroit area
Metro Detroit
The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is the metropolitan area located in Southeast Michigan centered on the city of Detroit which shares an international border with Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit metropolitan area is the second largest U.S. metropolitan area...
for some time. Seeing the opportunity at hand, Rogers bought the land with the help of some wealthy Detroiters, and later that year he established the Michigan Military Academy. He modeled the academy after West Point and its success was immediate.
Peak years
Over the course of its 30-year history, the Michigan Military Academy had 2,558 enrollments and 458 graduates. The graduating class of 1893 played a prominent role in the World Columbian Exposition in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and many of the classes won National Drill Competitions.
On June 19, 1879, William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
, General in Chief
General of the Army
General of the Army is a military rank used in some countries to denote a senior military leader, usually a General in command of a nation's Army. It may also be the title given to a General who commands an Army in the field....
of the U.S. Army, delivered a variant of his famous "War Is Hell" speech to the graduating class. A total of 10,000 people arrived to listen to Sherman's speech, and the press reported that it was the largest number of people ever to gather within the township's boundaries (at that time the village of Orchard Lake was part of West Bloomfield Township
West Bloomfield Township, Michigan
West Bloomfield Charter Township is an affluent charter township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan, within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the township had a population of 64,690. As of 2008, West Bloomfield Township was ranked the 8th highest income city in the...
). He said: "There is many a boy here today who looks upon war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell." (1)
Student life
With a tuition of $500 per year in the 1800s, the M.M.A. attracted mostly sons of wealthy upper classUpper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
businessmen. There were three levels of training at the school: Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry. The cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
s wore gray and white uniforms, modeled after those that were worn at West Point. Students with musical abilities were encouraged to join the marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
. All cadets were taught to use a .45 caliber
Caliber
In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
Springfield rifle, and the academy had an 8-inch siege mortar and Gatling gun
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. It is well known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat...
s at its disposal for military drills. There were a few accidents; in 1884, a cadet drowned during a training exercise in the lake. In 1889, another cadet drowned during a midnight swim.
The cadets had a busy schedule, even on weekends. Rogers and his staff allowed for holiday parties and arranged dances with nearby all-girls schools. Discipline was harsh and there were many athletic and extracurricular activities and the students were encouraged to participate. There were several hundred dropouts throughout the academy's history.
Campus
There were a total of 19 buildings on the campus. The oldest building on the campus is Copeland's "castle", built in 1858, and it is still there today. The Academic Building (pictured above) was completed in 1890 and it was the center of academic life on campus. Additional buildings, all of which are still standing and used today, include a Riding Hall (1881), Cadets Barracks (1884), Engine House (1889), Gymnasium (1896). There were also several barns, and these and many other buildings were demolished, replaced, or destroyed by fire throughout the academy's short history.As Rogers extended the campus, he dug a network of tunnels to connect most of the buildings. In the event of an attack, the tunnels would provide easy access across campus. The tunnels also led to a large bomb shelter under the Engine House. The tunnels are now used for plumbing, electricity, ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
, and other utilities.
Bankruptcy and post-peak years
In the early 1900s, the school went bankrupt. In 1900, a massive building project, with a total of nine buildings at a cost of $350,000, was assimilated by Rogers. Unable to pay off the huge sums of money owed for the new buildings, the academy quickly sank into debt.Added to this, during two days in December of the same year, students and teachers protested against mistreatment and unsatisfactory meals. Roger, who was terminally ill at the time, quickly fired several teachers who he blamed for instigating the complaints.
Rogers died in September 1901. Management of the school was left to Rogers' widowed wife, and a friend of Rogers' named Gen. Charles King assisted with disciplinary and militaristic duties. Enrollment declined sharply, and the academy was closed in 1908.
Notable attendees
- Edgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
, author of the TarzanTarzanTarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
novels, attended the Michigan Military Academy. Burroughs entered the academy in 1892 and was noted for his rebelliousness. After attending the Academy for only a short time, he left without notice on a train bound for ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. As punishment, he was sent back to the academy, where he graduated in 1895. He later spent a brief amount of time as an instructor at the Academy.http://www.tarzan.org/official_biography_part2.html - John C. Lodge attended the Academy for a short time, but dropped out before graduating, though he spoke fondly of it in his later years. He was the mayor of Detroit from 1923–1924 and 1927-1928. The John C. Lodge Freeway (M-10)M-10 (Michigan highway)M-10, is a state trunkline route in the US state of Michigan. The southernmost portion follows Jefferson Avenue in downtown Detroit, and the southern terminus is at the intersection of Jefferson and Randolph Street leading to the entrance to the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel...
in Detroit is named in his honor.
The Seminary and other schools
Two years after the Academy closed, in 1910, Fr. Joseph Dabrowski, the director of the Polish Seminary of Detroit, purchased the campus and moved his school there. The seminary has stayed there to this day. It is now called SS. Cyril and Methodius SeminarySS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary
SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary is a four-year private Polish seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan. The seminary, taking its name from Saints Cyril and Methodius, was founded in 1885 in Detroit, Michigan, to prepare candidates for the Roman Catholic priesthood primarily to serve Polish American...
. The campus is also home to St. Mary's Preparatory
St. Mary's Preparatory
St. Mary's Preparatory is a Catholic secondary school in Orchard Lake Village, Michigan.-Overview:St. Mary's was founded in 1885 on Detroit's east side by Rev. Joseph Dabrowski as a school for Polish-American boys to train for the priesthood...
, and Madonna University
Madonna University
Madonna University is a private, non-profit, Catholic university located in suburban Livonia, Michigan, on the western perimeter of metropolitan Detroit. Conducted by the Felician Sisters, it has extension campuses in Southwest Detroit, Orchard Lake, Michigan Madonna University is a private,...
of Livonia, Michigan
Livonia, Michigan
Livonia is a city in the northwest part of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Livonia is a very large suburb with an array of traditional neighborhoods connected to the metropolitan area by freeways. The population was 96,942 at the 2010 census, making it Michigan's 9th largest...
holds some classes on the campus.
See also
- Saint Mary's PreparatorySt. Mary's PreparatorySt. Mary's Preparatory is a Catholic secondary school in Orchard Lake Village, Michigan.-Overview:St. Mary's was founded in 1885 on Detroit's east side by Rev. Joseph Dabrowski as a school for Polish-American boys to train for the priesthood...
- Saint Mary's CollegeSaint Mary's College (Michigan)Saint Mary's College, also known as St. Mary's College of Madonna University, is a college located in Orchard Lake Village, Michigan. St. Mary's College shares its campus with St. Mary's Preparatory and SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary. It is located on the former site of the Michigan Military...
- SS. Cyril and Methodius SeminarySS. Cyril and Methodius SeminarySS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary is a four-year private Polish seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan. The seminary, taking its name from Saints Cyril and Methodius, was founded in 1885 in Detroit, Michigan, to prepare candidates for the Roman Catholic priesthood primarily to serve Polish American...