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25-672: In the mid-19th century the body of water that is now the Lake Worth Lagoon was a freshwater lake. This had been named Lake Worth in honor of William J. Worth , commander of the Eighth Infantry Regiment in the Second Seminole War . There were no rivers or streams flowing into the lake; all of the flow into the lake was by ground seepage from the Everglades to the west. The only outflow from

50-597: A head when Scott refused to allow Worth to modify the attack and the battle caused the 1st Division severe casualties, much to Worth's dismay. Worth later renamed his son Winfield Scott to William. He next led his division against the San Cosme Gate at Mexico City. When U.S. forces entered Mexico City, Worth personally climbed to the roof of the National Palace and took down the Mexican flag replacing it with

75-723: A request to improve the inlet in 1912. In 1915 the Florida Legislature chartered the Lake Worth Inlet District (which later became the Port of Palm Beach District). The site of the original Lang's Inlet was chosen for the new inlet, which was completed in 1917. The old inlet at the Black Rocks was still open. A community of fishermen from the Bahamas had settled on the barrier island just north of

100-697: A suitable monument for General Worth. The monument was designed and built by James G. Batterson in 1857. On November 25, 1857, Worth's remains were reinterred in the 51-foot granite monument on Worth Square on a traffic island between Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 25th Street in New York City 's borough of Manhattan . The Worth Monument is the second oldest monument in New York. The monument's central decorative bands are inscribed with battle sites significant in Worth's career and attached to its front

125-456: Is a bronze equestrian relief of Worth. Each spike of the cast-iron fence surrounding the memorial is topped with a plumed helmet, reflective of the plumed helmet Worth is shown wearing in the memorial. The American painter Thomas Hart Benton depicted the obelisk in New York, Early Twenties . The north side fence was removed around 1940 to accommodate an above-ground utility shed which services

150-437: Is to dishonor both himself and the object of his ill-advised favor. What will be thought of him who exacts of his friends that which disgraces him? Look at him who winks at and overlooks offences in one, which he causes to be punished in another, and contrast him with the inflexible soldier who does his duty faithfully, notwithstanding it occasionally wars with his private feelings. The conduct of one will be venerated and emulated,

175-670: The Battle of Monterrey in September 1846, for which he was later brevetted to major general. In 1847, Worth was transferred to his old friend Winfield Scott's army and placed in command of the 1st Division. He took part in the siege of Veracruz and engaged in the Battles of Cerro Gordo , Contreras , and Churubusco . In Mexico City , Scott ordered Worth to seize the Mexican works at the Molino del Rey . Worth and Scott's friendship came to

200-481: The Black Rocks would provide some protection for the inlet. The point chosen on the barrier island was only about 300 feet wide, but the beach dune ridge was 20 feet high and covered by heavy growth. All of the work was done with axes, shovels, hoes and wheelbarrows. It took 20 men several weeks to dig the new inlet. The new inlet served its intended purpose well. The inlet tended to migrate south, however, with

225-820: The Stars and Stripes . For his service at the Battle of Chapultepec , the United States Congress awarded him with a sword of honor. In 1847, Worth became an Original Member of the Aztec Club of 1847 and was admitted as an honorary member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati . In 1848, Worth was approached by a group of Cuban Freemasons known as the Havana Club, composed of sugar plantation owners and aristocrats, who advocated

250-684: The War of 1812 , the Seminole Wars , and the Mexican–American War . Worth was commissioned as a first lieutenant in March 1813, serving as an aide to (then brigadier general) Winfield Scott during the war, and developing a friendship with him. He later named his son Winfield Scott Worth. He distinguished himself at the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane during the Niagara campaign . In

275-409: The army appointed as commander. In 1825, the office was designated as commandant of cadets . William J. Worth was the first officer to bear the title, though he had assumed the office several years previously, following three earlier battalion commanding officers. Referring to the office in his work on Commandant Emory Upton , academy professor Peter Michie wrote: "His example should be that of

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300-422: The jetties . In 1967 the inlet was dredged to a depth of 35 feet, which has been maintained since then. A sand transfer plant pumps sand from the north side of the inlet to the south side in order to maintain the natural flow of sand southward along the coast. William J. Worth Seminole Wars Mexican–American War William Jenkins Worth (March 1, 1794 – May 7, 1849) was an American officer during

325-454: The Black Rocks, and they periodically cleared the channel when it silted up. A storm closed the inlet at the Black Rocks in 1919, and the fishermen, who were squatting on the island, were forced off by its owners and moved to Riviera (now Riviera Beach ). The new Lake Worth Inlet was improved several times over the next decade. The federal government assumed responsibility for the inlet in 1935, and continued to widen and deepen it and build up

350-669: The Lower Manhattan district of New York City was named in his honor. List of United States Military Academy alumni (Commandants of Cadets) The Commandant of Cadets is the ranking officer in charge of the Corps of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York . The commandant is head of the Department of Tactics and, under the superintendent is responsible for

375-705: The Spanish in Cuba. Worth accepted the offer, but before the plot could be concluded, he was transferred by the War Department to Texas. Worth was in command of the Department of Texas when he died in 1849 in San Antonio of cholera . Worth's remains were originally deposited in Green-Wood Cemetery where they sat unburied for four years. In January 1855, a committee was established to design

400-427: The administration, discipline, and military training of cadets at the academy. A model for all cadets, the commandant is an academy graduate of impeccable character and bearing who has demonstrated accomplishment in both academic excellence and active military service in the field. During the superintendency of Sylvanus Thayer , the corps of cadets was organized into a battalion of two companies with an officer of

425-435: The current wearing away at the southern bank and depositing sand on the northern bank. By 1886 the inlet had migrated about a mile south of the Black Rocks, and closed up during a storm. An inlet was again dug through just south of the Black Rocks. In 1893 Henry Flagler , who would complete construction of his Florida East Coast Railway to West Palm Beach in 1894, had the inlet enlarged. The federal government turned down

450-432: The ideal soldier, officer, and gentleman. He should cultivate soldierly honor among the cadets until it attains vigorous growth. He should rebuke with severity the first tendency to prevarication or dishonesty in word or act. With a system of divided responsibility, which ultimately rests on one or two comrades, he should control all by strict and increasing exactions. To make his government successful he should be endowed with

475-469: The lake down to sea level. The limited inflow of ocean water through the inlet and continued seepage of fresh water from the Everglades kept the lake from becoming more than mildly brackish . The inlet tended to silt up, and had to be dug out again every few months. In 1877 the settlers around the lake decided to dig a new inlet at a point about a mile north of Lang's Inlet where a rock formation called

500-609: The lake was through a swamp that became the Lake Worth Creek as it approached the Loxahatchee River and Jupiter Inlet . In 1866 travelers reported that fresh water was pouring out of the lake into the ocean at a point about ten miles south of the Jupiter Inlet. One report is that a settler named Lang had dug the channel to open an inlet, and it was known as Lang's Inlet for a while. This cut drained

525-528: The latter battle, he was seriously wounded by grapeshot in the thigh. He was not expected to survive, but after a year's confinement, he emerged with the breveted rank of Major—though he would remain lame for the rest of his life. Also as a brevet Major Worth uttered his most famous words that are now inscribed in West Point's "Bugle Notes", a book of knowledge all cadets must know by heart. They are as follows: But an officer on duty knows no one—to be partial

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550-508: The other detested as a satire upon soldiership and honor. After the war he was Commandant of Cadets at West Point and would rise to the rank of colonel in 1838 when he was put in command of the newly created Eighth Infantry Regiment. Using his own tactics he successfully prosecuted the Second Seminole War in Florida and was made a brevet brigadier general in 1842. Eventually, he convinced Secretary of War John C. Spencer to allow

575-549: The overthrow of the Spanish colonial government in Cuba. The Havana Club sent a college professor Ambrosio José Gonzales to entreat Worth to lead an invasion of Cuba. Knowing Worth was also a Freemason, Gonzales greeted the war hero with the Masonic secret handshake, and subsequently offered him three million dollars to lead an invasion force of five thousand American veterans of the Mexican-American War against

600-504: The remaining Indians in the territory to confine themselves to an unofficial reservation in southwest Florida, and declared an official end to the war in August of that year. When the Mexican–American War began, Worth was serving under Zachary Taylor in Texas and negotiated the surrender of the Mexican city of Matamoros . He next commanded the 2nd Regular Division, Army of Occupation at

625-841: The water supply system pipes beneath the monument. The cities of Fort Worth and Lake Worth in Texas, the villages of Worth in Illinois and Worthville in Kentucky, and the Worth Counties in Georgia , Missouri , and Iowa are all named in his honor. In Florida the Lake Worth Lagoon , the city of Lake Worth Beach , and Worth Avenue in Palm Beach are also named after him. Additionally, Worth Street in

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