Hugh T. Reed

Born in 1850 and later known as Col. Hugh T. Reed, he was an American soldier and author whose career linked military service with military education. Records for his books identify him as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and later as Inspector General of Indiana, showing how closely his writing grew out of professional experience.

He is best remembered for Cadet Life at West Point, an illustrated account of life at the United States Military Academy that draws on his own time there as a member of the West Point class of 1873. He also wrote and compiled other military works, including Signal Tactics and Elements of Military Science and Tactics, aimed at officers, enlisted men, and military students.

Late in life, Reed published Recollections of Col. Hugh T. Reed (1934), a memoir that suggests a lifelong habit of preserving and explaining the world he knew. He died in 1934, leaving behind books that blend personal memory, instruction, and a close-up view of American military life.