 Haupt (whose first name was sometimes spelled Hermann) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 26, 1817, the son of Jacob and Anna Margaretta Wiall Haupt.Jacob, a merchant, died when Herman was 12 years old, leaving Anna to support three sons and two daughters.Herman worked part-time to pay his school tuition, then in 1831 was appointed to the United States Military Academy at the age of 14 by President Andrew Jackson.