The legal, institutional, moral, cultural, training, and leadership barriers preventing the use of U.S. military forces against U.S. citizens are far higher than most people can comprehend.
Anyone in the U.S. military who has ever been involved in a non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) from a collapsing foreign country, search and rescue operation, human assistance/disaster relief/mass casualty operation, or worked with a non-governmental organization (NGO) that involved U.S. citizens has first hand experience as to the lengths the U.S. military will go to protect the rights of the American citizens; even at great risk to themselves and the mission.
While I agree that the possibility of a military coup is extraordinarily remote; if any administration were to attempt to use the military against U.S. citizens, the en masse response of the U.S. military would be to refuse to obey an unlawful order and force the matter into the courts.
If the administration were then to attempt to press the matter by coercion or force AND the legislative and judicial branches failed to execute their constitutional responsibilities; one possible result would be a tailored, surgical response against key leaders.
In a Civil War, there are no “citizens, just your side vs their side.
Remember General Robert E. Lee ?
He was not alone:
This is a list of Confederate General Officers who were graduates of the United States Military Academy, with their Class and the order in which they were graduated.
There is also a brief list of those Confederate Generals who attended West Point, but did not graduate.
Graduates
Name Class
ADAMS, John 1846 (25)
ALEXANDER, Edward Porter 1857 (3)
ANDERSON, George Burgwyn 1852 (10)
ANDERSON, Joseph Reid 1836 (4)
ANDERSON, Richard Heron 1842 (40)
ANDERSON, Robert Houstoun 1857 (35)
BAKER, Laurence Simmons 1851 (42)
BARTON, Seth Maxwell 1849 (28)
BEALL, William Nelson Rector 1848 (30)
BEAUREGARD, Pierre Gustave Toutant 1838 (2)
BEE, Barnard Elliott 1845 (33)
BLANCHARD, Albert Gallatin 1829 (26)
BOGGS, William Robertson 1853 (4)
BOWEN, John Stevens 1853 (13)
BRAGG, Braxton 1837 (5)
BRYAN, Goode 1834 (25)
BUCKNER, Simon Bolivar 1844 (11)
BUFORD, Abraham 1841 (51)
CABELL, William Lewis 1850 (33)
CHAMBLISS, John Randolph Jr. 1853 (31)
CHILTON, Robert Hall 1837 (48)
COCKE, Philip St George 1832 (6)
COOPER, Samuel 1815 (36)
COSBY, George Blake 1852 (17)
CRITTENDEN, George Bibb 1832 (26)
CUMMING, Alfred 1849 (35)
DANIEL, Junius 1851 (33)
DAVIDSON, Henry Brevard 1853 (33)
DESHLER, James 1854 (7)
DONELSON, Daniel Smith 1825 (5)
DRAYTON, Thomas Fenwick 1828 (28)
DUNCAN, Johnson Kelly 1849 (5)
EARLY, Jubal Anderson 1837 (18)
ELZEY (JONES), Arnold 1837 (33)
EVANS, Nathan George 1848 (36)
EWELL, Richard Stoddert 1840 (13)
FERGUSON, Samuel Wragg 1857 (19)
FIELD, Charles William 1849 (27)
FORNEY, John Horace 1852 (22)
FRAZER, John Wesley 1849 (34)
FRENCH, Samuel Gibbs 1843 (14)
FROST, Daniel Marsh 1844 (4)
GARDNER, Franklin 1843 (17)
GARDNER, William Montgomery 1846 (55)
GARNETT, Richard Brooke 1841 (29)
GARNETT, Robert Seldon 1841 (27)
GATLIN, Richard Caswell 1832 (35)
GILMER, Jeremy Francis 1839 (4)
GORGAS, Josiah 1841 (6)
GRACIE, Archibald Jr. 1854 (14)
GRAYSON, John Breckinridge 1826 (22)
HARDEE, William Joseph 1838 (26)
HAWES, James Morrison 1845 (29)
HÉBERT, Louis 1845 (3)
HÉBERT, Paul Octave 1840 (1)
HELM, Benjamin Hardin 1851 (9)
HETH, Henry 1847 (38)
HILL, Ambrose Powell 1847 (15)
HILL, Daniel Harvey 1842 (28)
HOLMES, Theophilus Hunter 1829 (44)
HOOD, John Bell 1853 (44)
HUGER, Benjamin 1825 (8)
JACKSON, Thomas Jonathan 1846 (17)
JACKSON, William Hicks 1856 (38)
JOHNSON, Bushrod Rust 1840 (23)
JOHNSON, Edward 1838 (32)
JOHNSTON, Albert Sidney 1826 (8)
JOHNSTON, Joseph Eggleston 1829 (13)
JONES, David Rumph 1846 (41)
JONES, John Marshall 1841 (39)
JONES, Samuel 1841 (19)
JONES, William Edmondson 1848 (10)
JORDAN, Thomas 1840 (41)
LAWTON, Alexander Robert 1839 (13)
LEADBETTER, Danville 1836 (3)
LEE, Fitzhugh 1856 (45)
LEE, George Washington Custis 1854 (1)
LEE, Robert Edward 1829 (2)
LEE, Stephen Dill 1854 (17)
LOMAX, Lunsford Lindsay 1856 (21)
LONG, Armistead Lindsay 1850 (17)
LONGSTREET, James 1842 (54)
LOVELL, Mansfield 1842 (9)
LYON, Hylan Benton 1856 (19)
MACKALL, William Whann 1837 (8)
MAGRUDER, John Bankhead 1830 (15)
MAJOR, James Patrick 1856 (23)
MARMADUKE, John Sappington 1857 (30)
MARSHALL, Humphrey 1832 (42)
MARTIN, James Green 1840 (14)
MAURY, Dabney Herndon 1846 (37)
MAXEY, Samuel Bell 1846 (58)
MCCOWN, John Porter 1840 (10)
MCINTOSH, James McQueen 1849 (43)
MCLAWS, Lafayette 1842 (48)
MERCER, Hugh Weedon 1828 (3)
MOORE, John Creed 1849 (17)
MOUTON, Jean Jacques Alfred Alexander 1850 (38)
NICHOLLS, Francis Redding Tillou 1855 (12)
NORTHROP, Lucius Bellinger 1831 (22)
PEGRAM, John 1854 (10)
PEMBERTON, John Clifford 1837 (27)
PENDER, William Dorsey 1854 (19)
PENDLETON, William Nelson 1830 (5)
PICKETT, George Edward 1846 (59)
POLK, Leonidas 1827 (8)
RAINS, Gabriel James 1827 (13)
RAMSEUR, Stephen Dodson 1860 (14)
RANSOM, Robert Jr 1850 (18)
REYNOLDS, Alexander Welch 1838 (35)
RIPLEY, Roswell Sabine 1843 (7)
ROBERTSON, Beverly Holcombe 1849 (25)
RUGGLES, Daniel 1833 (34)
SEARS, Claudius Wistar 1841 (31)
SHOUP, Francis Asbury 1855 (15)
SIBLEY, Henry Hopkins 1838 (31)
SMITH, Edmund Kirby 1845 (25)
SMITH, Gustavus Woodson 1842 (8)
SMITH, James Argyle 1853 (45)
SMITH, Martin Luther 1842 (16)
SMITH, William Duncan 1846 (35)
STEELE, William 1840 (31)
STEUART, George Hume 1848 (37)
STEVENS, Walter Husted 1848 (4)
STEVENSON, Carter Littlepage 1838 (42)
STEWART, Alexander Peter 1842 (12)
STUART, James Ewell Brown 1854 (13)
THOMAS, Bryan Morel 1858 (22)
TILGHMAN, Lloyd 1836 (46)
TRAPIER, James Heyward 1838 (3)
TRIMBLE, Isaac Ridgeway 1822 (17)
VAN DORN, Earl 1842 (52)
VILLEPIGUE, John Bordenave 1854 (22)
WALKER, Henry Harrison 1853 (41)
WALKER, Lucius Marshall 1850 (15)
WALKER, William Henry Talbot 1837 (46)
WAYNE, Henry Constantine 1838 (14)
WHEELER, Joseph 1859 (19)
WHITING, William Henry Chase 1845 (1)
WILCOX, Cadmus Marcellus 1846 (54)
WINDER, Charles Sidney 1850 (22)
WINDER, John Henry 1820 (11)
WITHERS, Jones Mitchell 1835 (44)
Those who departed before graduation
Name Dates
ARMISTEAD, Lewis Addison Entered West Point 1834; resigned 1836.
DEARING, James Entered West Point 1858; resigned April 1861.
FRY, Birkett Davenport Entered West Point 1842; resigned 1843.
GOGGIN, James Monroe Entered West Point 1838; did not graduate.
HUMPHREYS, Benjamin Grubb Entered West Point 1825; dismissed 1826.
KELLY, John Herbert Entered West Point 1857; resigned 1860.
KIRKLAND, William Whedbee Entered West Point 1852; resigned 1855.
LIDDELL, St John Richardson Entered West Point 1833; dismissed 1835.
ROBERTSON, Felix Huston Entered West Point 1857; resigned January 1861.
ROSSER, Thomas Lafayette Entered West Point 1856; resigned April 1861.
STOVALL, Marcellus Augustus Entered West Point 1836; resigned 1837.
YOUNG, Pierce Manning Butler Entered West Point; resigned May 1861.