commissioned and the entering class was sworn in. The graduation date was moved up to June 15 starting in 1861. Many of the cadets who attended West Point during Thayer's tenure held key leadership positions during the Mexican War and American Civil War. Later career Colonel Thayer's time at West Point ended with his resignation in 1833, after a disagreement with President Andrew Jackson. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1834. Thayer returned to duty with the Army Corps of Engineers. Thayer spent the great majority of the next 30 years as the chief engineer for the Boston area. During this time he oversaw the construction of both Fort Warren and Fort Independence to defend Boston Harbor. Thayer's great engineering ability can be observed in both of the above-mentioned forts. He was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1838. Thayer was a member of the Board of Engineers for Coast Defenses, April 2, 1833 to December 21, 1857, and was President of the Board from Dec. 7, 1838. He temporarily commanded of the Corps of Engineers from December 21, 1857 to December 22, 1858, while its commander, Colonel Joseph G. Totten, was on a leave of absence. In December 1858 Thayer was placed on an extended sick leave of absence. He did not play an active role in the American Civil War. In August 1861, Fort Thayer, an earthwork fort part of the Civil War Defenses of Washington, DC, was built and named in his honor. Thayer retired from the Army on June 1, 1863 with the rank of colonel in the Corps of Engineers. He was retired under the first act regulating the retirement of Army officers which required the retirement of any officer with more than 45 years of service. Death and legacy In 1869, as a result of Thayer's enduring legacy at the United States Military Academy, a meeting took place in Braintree between Thayer and the West Point graduate and Civil War hero Brigadier General Robert Anderson. An outcome of Anderson's 1869 meeting with Thayer was the establishment of the Military Academy's Association of Graduates (AoG). In 1867, Thayer donated $40,000 to the trustees of Dartmouth College to create the Thayer School of Engineering. Thayer personally located and recommended USMA graduate Lieutenant Robert Fletcher to Dartmouth president Asa Dodge Smith. Fletcher became the