The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina

The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly referred to simply as The Citadel, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is one of six United States senior military colleges. It has 18 academic departments divided into five schools offering 29 majors and 38 minors. The military program is made up of cadets pursuing bachelor's degrees who live on campus. The non-military programs offer 10 undergraduate degrees, 24 graduate degrees, as well as online/distance programs with 7 online graduate degrees, 3 online undergraduate degrees and 3 certificate programs.

The Citadel traces its origins to a series of arsenals constructed by the state of South Carolina in the 1820s; founded by an act of the state legislature in 1842 as the South Carolina Military Academy it originally consisted of the Citadel Academy in Charleston and the Arsenal Academy in Columbia. The Arsenal was burned by General Sherman's forces during the American Civil War and never reopened. The Citadel Academy was occupied by Union troops in 1865 and reopened as an educational institution in 1882. During the Civil War, the SCMA Corps of Cadets was organized into a military unit known as the Battalion of State Cadets which took part in nine engagements. In January 1861, Citadel Academy cadets manning a battery on Morris Island fired the first shots of the conflict when they shelled the Union steamship Star of the West which was attempting to resupply Fort Sumter. In December 1864, the cadet battalion made up more than a third of a Confederate force that defended a strategic rail line during the Battle of Tulifinny, the only occasion when the entire student body of a U.S. college fought in combat; The Citadel was awarded 9 battle streamers for service in the Civil War and is one of only 5 American colleges to receive a battle streamer for its students participation in wartime service.

The Citadel sits on a 300-acre (120 ha) tract of land on the Ashley River just to the northwest of downtown Charleston. There are 27 buildings grouped around a 10-acre (4.0 ha) grass parade ground. The buildings around the parade ground include ten classroom buildings, an administration building, five barracks, mess hall, a student activities building, chapel, library, a yacht club, a marksmanship center, a field house, faculty housing area and various support facilities including a laundry, cadet store, tailor shop and power plant. The campus is bounded on the west by the Ashley River, to the north by the Wagener Terrace neighborhood, to the east by Hampton Park and the Hampton Park Terrace neighborhood, and to the South by the Westside Neighborhood.