Ethan Allen Hitchcock, West Point (American National Biography)

Hitchcock's nonconformist nature affected his military career. In 1827 he refused to take part in a court of inquiry at the Military Academy, maintaining that the court had overstepped an accepted interpretation of military law. For this he was dismissed from the faculty and ordered to duty at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Captain Hitchcock appealed to President John Quincy Adams. A subsequent investigation upheld Hitchcock's original assertion, and in 1829 he was reinstated at the academy, this time as commandant of cadets. Hitchcock, however, found disfavor with President Andrew Jackson over the issues of discipline and political interference. Hitchcock would allege that his promotion to major was withheld several years as a result of his stand.