'«»W^ ^'O^,^ 
 
 NTA 
 LITARJY 
 
   
 
 iMjnninr 
 
 ;; '^■<y 
 
 
 F^^^^ 
 
 
 |EjU>RIA'^OflSj 
 
 MlLlTAIxLV 
 M I S T O RY 
 
 iiiii 
 
 ifHniirjirt] 
 
 ithiillllllT' 
 
 .'IIHMItiMi!
 
 a/j^ ^;'*'
 
 BATTLE OF NEW .MAUKET 
 
 From the Mural Faintimg at the Institute by B. Wkst Clinedinst
 
 THE MILITARY HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Virginia Military Institute 
 
 FROM 
 
 1839 TO 1865 
 
 WITH APPENDIX, MAPS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 JENNINGS C. WISE, 
 
 Formerly Commandant of Cadets, Virginia Military Institute, 
 Colonel Engineers, Virginia Volunteers. 
 
 'There are some defeats more triumphant than victories." — Bacon. 
 "There are those that triumph in a losing cause." — Lowell. 
 
 LYNCHBURG, VA. 
 
 J. p. BELL COMPANY, INC. 
 1915
 
 Copyright, 1915 
 J. P. BELL CO., Inc.
 
 ^30 
 
 DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 THE NINETEEN CADETS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE 
 
 WHO 
 
 FELL IN ACTION, OR DIED IN THE MILITARY SERVICE OF THE 
 
 CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, DURING THE 
 
 WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 
 
 "To God, whichever way the battle rolls, 
 We, fighting to the end, commend our souls."
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. The Genesis of the Virginia Military Institute 24 
 
 II. Founding of the Second American School of 
 
 Arms 36 
 
 III. "The West Point of the South" and Major Gil- 
 ham 45 
 
 IV. The Coming of Jackson 63 
 
 V. In Time of Peace Prepare for War — Gilham and 
 
 Jackson 76 
 
 VI. Chair of Strategy Created — The Execution of 
 
 John Brown 99 
 
 VII. Military Preparation 114 
 
 VIII. "Draw the Sword and Throw Away the Scab- 
 bard" 126 
 
 IX. Union Sentiment — Mobilization- — The Corps of 
 Cadets Enters the Service of the Confeder- 
 acy — Camp Lee — "First Blood of the War". . 134 
 
 X. Jackson at Harper's Ferry and Manassas 158 
 
 XI. Cadets at Manassas — In Memoriam 165 
 
 XII. The West Point of the Confederacy 171 
 
 XIII. Winter of 1862 — Battle of McDowell 184 
 
 XIV. Back to Work Again — Chancellorsville — "The 
 Virginia Military Institute Will Be Heard 
 From To-Day" — The Burial of Jackson 211
 
 6 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XV. The Summer of 1863 — Averell's First Raid — A 
 
 New Session and New Arms 233 
 
 XVI. Gettysburg and the V. M. I. in Pickett's Charge 
 
 — Latimer, "The Boy Major" 244 
 
 XVII. The Fall and Winter of 1863 — Averell's Second 
 
 Raid — A Near Battle 252 
 
 XVIII. Averell's Third Raid — Cadets Called Out Again 
 
 — A Week of Severe Field Service 264 
 
 XIX. From the Sublime to the Ridiculous 276 
 
 XX. Breckinridge Orders Out the Corps — The March 
 
 Down the Valley 284 
 
 XXI. The Battle of New Market, May 15, 1864 303 
 
 XXII. The Charge of the Cadets 315 
 
 XXIII. Victory and Laurels — Richmond Again and Back 
 
 to Lexington 333 
 
 XXIV. Hunter's Raid — Destruction of the Institute — 
 
 In the Trenches at Lynchburg — Furloughed 352 
 
 XXV. Institute Reopened in Richmond — On the Lines 
 — The New Almshouse — In the Trenches 
 Again 381 
 
 XXVI. 1865 — In the Trenches Again — "Sauve Qui 
 
 Peut" 406 
 
 Appendix 421
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING 
 PAGE 
 
 Battle of New Market Frontispiece 
 
 The Arsenal in 1839 32 
 
 Colonel Claude Crozet 64 
 
 Colonel John Thomas Lewis Preston 96 
 
 Major-General Francis Henney Smith 128 
 
 Brigadier-General Thomas Hoomes Williamson 160 
 
 Major-General William H. Richardson 192 
 
 Colonel William Gilham 224 
 
 War Map 210 
 
 Major Thomas Jonathan Jackson 256 
 
 Virginia Military Institute 1853-1865 288 
 
 Major-General Raleigh E. Colston 320 
 
 Brigadier-General Scott Shipp 352 
 
 Major-General Robert Edward Rodes 384 
 
 A War-Time Cadet Officer 400 
 
 Barracks After Hunter's Raid 416
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Lexington, Va., April 1, 1914. 
 
 The preparation of this strictly military history of 
 the Virginia Military Institute has indeed been a work 
 of love, and the author hopes the story may possess for 
 others the absorbing interest it held for him. 
 
 This history may rightly be styled tradition sifted 
 out and reduced to fact, for it has been written from the 
 official registers, Superintendent's reports, proceedings 
 of the Board of Visitors, "Rebellion Records," original 
 field orders and correspondence, and other contempora- 
 neous records, and little has been accepted save upon 
 such authority, and nothing which has not passed the 
 critical eye of Brigadier-General Scott Shipp, Superin- 
 tendent-Emeritus, who has been closely connected with 
 the Institute since September, 1856, and who has seen 
 every class graduate except fifteen. 
 
 The "History of the Virginia Military Institute" by 
 General Francis H. Smith, recently published, is so 
 brief and incomplete that, while it afforded a valuable 
 outline, it did not even hint at many interesting and 
 valuable facts. It was but a preliminary draft to a 
 more complete work which, unfortunately. General 
 Smith did not live long enough to prepare. 
 
 With General Smith's history as an outline and Gen- 
 eral Shipp's guiding hand upon the author's pen, re- 
 sults were possible which might not otherwise have been 
 accomplished. But then there were two others who con- 
 tributed much of what is valuable in the work. Their 
 names need only be mentioned in order to apprise the 
 reader of the extent of their influence upon whatever 
 of accuracy the narrative may possess. Captain B. A. 
 Colonna, Cadet Captain of Company "D" in the Bat- 
 tle of New Market, and who served as a cadet in the 
 Corps, from July, 1860, until the destruction of the In- 
 stitute, possesses a fund of information unexcelled by 
 that of any living member of the War Corps. This he 
 placed at the disposal of the author. Colonel Joseph R.
 
 10 The Military History of 
 
 Anderson, Official Historiographer of the Institute, 
 personally checked every date and figure and made 
 many corrections and suggestions without which the 
 work would have been most defective. The author 
 is imable to adequately express his feeling of in- 
 debtedness to them both. In addition to his work of 
 revising the manuscript. Colonel Anderson contributed 
 much to the work in the form of statistical appendices 
 and other matter. 
 
 In the preparation of this work the author's thoughts 
 continually dwelt upon Schamyl, Scandeberg, Ver- 
 cingetorix, Kosciusczko, — and Lee, — the great heroes 
 of defeat, rather than upon the lustful Hannibals of 
 history. 
 
 "Courage and conscience devoted to a great cause are 
 the elements of heroism. Judged by conventional 
 standards, it may be fallible, but it is always entitled 
 to respect. The fame of the victor is secure, but at 
 times the halo around the brow of the champion who 
 bites the dust ere he reaches his goal shines with 
 transcendent luster. To portray the heroic deeds and 
 stature of such is, of course, the purpose of the author 
 of this volume." These words are borrowed from an 
 eminent scholar, and upon the cover of this book is 
 stamped the picture of Mercie's statue Gloria Victis, — 
 Victory gathering to her arms an heroic youth — which 
 statue stands before the Hotel de Ville of Paris. 
 
 A distinguished officer of the United States Army, 
 one who was formerly Commandant of Cadets of the 
 United States Military Academy, recently addressed 
 the Corps of Cadets at the Institute. He stated that 
 the reason military schools generally failed to attain 
 to the high standards of West Point is because they 
 pattern after the superficial things of the Academy, 
 losing sight of the moral factors and the traditions as 
 the elements upon which its greatness is based. He 
 was right. We can not borrow the souls of others, along 
 with their mode of living and style of dress. But if 
 past service, past glory, and noble traditions be ele-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 11 
 
 ments of lasting strength, then the future of the Vir- 
 ginia Mihtary Institute seems assured and no borrow- 
 ing is necessary. 
 
 Yes. There is something deeper than external evi- 
 dences. It is the soul that must be garbed and drilled, 
 and disciplined, and taught to follow the colors ; to obey 
 and to expunge from itself the false and the impure 
 things of life. 
 
 Riichel said the soul of the Prussian army was its 
 officers. That the spirit of the corps of officers bespeaks 
 the spirit of the whole army is claimed by Von der Goltz 
 to be but a repetition of what is universally observed in 
 political life: "So long," says he, "as the educated, the 
 leading classes maintain their efficiency, the people also 
 will be stout and capable." It was this idea upon which 
 JNIajor Howze dwelt when he pointed out that the pri- 
 mary reason of the greatness of West Point was that 
 the soul and, therefore, the spirit of the cadet officer 
 there was high and pure. 
 
 West Point is older by nearly two score years than 
 the Institute, but even the great American School of 
 Arms is no richer in tradition than the V. M. I., whose 
 soul is chastened like that of West Point by the know- 
 ledge of all those who have ventured forth upon the field 
 of duty from its sally-ports. Here, the most thoughtless 
 cadet, as he paces back and forth upon his post in the 
 still hours of the night, peoples our sacred precincts 
 with spectres from the corps of yesterday, and silently, 
 reverently, renders each a salute while passing. 
 
 Youth is inherently careless and not prone to senti- 
 mentalism. Yet, down deep in his heart every cadet 
 knows, however much he may seek to cover it up, that 
 silent voices appeal to him here, and that out on the 
 parade ground, trodden in the long ago by heroes un- 
 numbered, he is called upon to pass two inspections — 
 one the inspection of his conscience. And so, let the 
 cadets of to-day rejoice that they find here that which 
 makes it unnecessary to borrow aught except the forms 
 of the soldier, for as long as our exalted traditions pro-
 
 12 The Military History of 
 
 vide us with inspectors for the soul of the corps, the sub- 
 stance as well as the form of the soldier is assured. May 
 the day never come when the cadet is so callous, so dull, 
 that he can not in his mind transport the Jackson stand- 
 ing before our arch to the field of Manassas, and see 
 him there among the very guns which now surround his 
 bronze figure. May the day never come when the figure 
 of Washington before our sally-port fails to speak to 
 the sentinel on his lonely beat, or when the figure of 
 Virginia mourning the loss of those whose remains she 
 guards fails to inspire us with prideful joy at the sacri- 
 fice of those lives. May the hour never come when for 
 the whole corps, as well as for its officers, the perform- 
 ance of duty has but the one selfish object of passing 
 gain, without that higher appeal to conscience in its dis- 
 charge. 
 
 The action of the Corps of Cadets in the battle of 
 New Market, while, undoubtedly, its most brilliant 
 military exploit, was by no means the only active field 
 service in which the cadets engaged during the War 
 between the States ; but it has overshadowed their other 
 deeds to such an extent that most of them had been al- 
 most forgotten, even by the participants. It was to 
 save these to history, and to record the great influence 
 which Virginia's School of Arms bore upon the military 
 career of the Confederate States of America, that this 
 work was undertaken. 
 
 So much has been written of New Market that it 
 might at first seem superfluous to attempt to add more 
 to the general knowledge of the event. For two rea- 
 sons, however, it was necessary to do so; first, because 
 such a work as this would be incomplete without a full 
 account of the battle, especially of the part played 
 therein by the cadets; and second, because a work pur- 
 porting to be a final one on that chapter of the history of 
 the Virginia Military Institute is so far from con- 
 clusive, and so characterized by lack of military per- 
 ception on the part of its author, that it can not be al- 
 lowed to stand without a protest. That protest, how-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 13 
 
 ever, shall be one of reason and logic; animus shall not 
 enter into our criticisms. 
 
 The battle of New Market should be the cause of 
 little contention, for in the brilliant victory which Breck- 
 inridge won May 15, 1864, there was glory enough for 
 all participants. Yet, as is always the case when actors 
 on different parts of a battlefield undertake to set forth 
 the conduct of the whole action, and the parts played 
 by the various commands, assertions are made incon- 
 sistent with the facts, which invariably lead to denials, 
 charges, and countercharges. 
 
 The student of war expects such results, for he well 
 knows — and especially if he be a soldier himself — that 
 armies are no longer marshaled in solid phalanx by a 
 single leader who maneuvers the mass as if it were on 
 parade. The battlefield is seldom of such character 
 that even the commanding general may see, or even 
 know, at every instant where his various miits are 
 posted, and those units while themselves pieces in the 
 game are generally quite ignorant of their relative 
 situations with respect to the enemy and the various 
 parts of the army of which they form an integral part. 
 Every such unit has its own particular sphere of action. 
 A hill, a thicket, may be the curtain which obscures its 
 location or its movements, and, so, when a participant 
 undertakes to record more than his own actions, he 
 generally does so mider a great disadvantage. 
 
 Two brigades or regiments, screened from the view, 
 and perhaps entirely ignorant of the relative positions 
 of the other, assail a certain portion of the enemy's line. 
 The enemy feels at once the pressure of both and re- 
 tires. Each of the attacking units, unconscious of their 
 joint effect, attributes the flight of the enemy to its 
 own prowess. Here, at once, arises a contention made 
 in perfect good faith. Neither contestant is willing to 
 surrender beliefs honestly entertained, and based on 
 what was actually seen, yet from different viewpoints. 
 And so controversy arises and continues where all are 
 right and all are wrong. The historian who expects to
 
 14 The Milhary History of 
 
 find a general concurrence of views among the partici- 
 pants in a battle expressed in their official reports, will be 
 invariably disappointed, and if he be a military critic 
 of experience he will not expect it, for detacliments of 
 a command, though cooperating as a whole, perform 
 detached functions, and therefore, as we have seen, ac- 
 quire a detached knowledge of what actually occurred 
 on the field of battle. 
 
 New Market has proved no exception to the rule, 
 and the writer is unable to understand why the honest 
 statements of honest men have not been accepted as 
 true with respect to local acts, and why their assertions 
 as to the general conduct of the battle have not been 
 taken for what they were worth. It is easy to dis- 
 tinguish statements based on first-hand knowledge from 
 those founded on hearsay and report. 
 
 In order to silence the controversy which arose over 
 New Market by reconciling the various accounts of the 
 battle, the task of writing an authentic history of the 
 battle was by common consent, some years ago, assigned 
 to Captain Henry A. Wise, senior tactical officer of the 
 Corps of Cadets, who commanded the Battalion, after 
 the Commandant was disabled. Captain Wise's in- 
 dustry led to the collection of a great mass of material; 
 but his modesty induced him to surrender the work of 
 putting it into shape to Professor Edward Raymond 
 Turner, of Johns Hopkins University, since become 
 Professor of European History at the University of 
 Michigan. 
 
 While Professor Turner is a scholar of merit, he is, 
 unfortmiately, not a soldier by training; and he ap- 
 proached the undertaking turned over to him in a con- 
 fused state of mind, believing that the very natural lack 
 of accord between his witnesses argued against the value 
 of their testimony. Furthermore, impressed at the out- 
 set with the belief that the feat of arms claimed for the 
 Corps of Cadets was impossible, he expended much of 
 his energy in endeavoring to prove it so; and, while 
 he rendered a great service in presenting the collected
 
 The Vieginia Military Institute 15 
 
 evidence of the participants, his conclusions are ob- 
 viously a compromise, and so mixed and at variance 
 with his facts and own assertions, that they are not to 
 be seriously accepted. 
 
 With a full recognition of the unprejudiced temper 
 of Dr. Turner, his remarkable lack of bias, his ever- 
 apparent desire to do justice to those concerned, and 
 his pleasant, dignified style and scholarly attainments, 
 it is difficult to sustain his findings in the premises with 
 respect to the value of the service rendered by the Corps 
 of Cadets. 
 
 A quotation from the preface of the book will indi- 
 cate the nature of the case: 
 
 "The battle of New Market, though one of the smaller engage- 
 ments of the Civil War, possessed certain striking features which 
 made it such an attractive subject that it has been described by 
 numerous writers. Moreover, the part taken by the cadets was so 
 brilliant and unique that tales of their exploits, from the very day 
 of the battle, were given wide circulation. To tliose in a position 
 to know, however, it was evident that no satisfactory account had 
 been written; for, notwithstanding that General Sigel, General 
 Imboden and others had given versions, their work was obviously 
 semi-popular and incomplete ; while everything relating to the 
 cadets was more or less a matter of rumor and controversy, 
 exaggerated assertions being made by their partisans and sweeping 
 denials by those who opposed them." 
 
 In order to show that more logical conclusions than 
 those of Professor Turner — conclusions entirely con- 
 sistent with the facts, as well as with the accounts of the 
 battle previously written — may be drawn, before enter- 
 ing upon the account of the battle, the writer will en- 
 deavor to dispel the confusion which Professor Turner 
 has only increased. Some of the more important re- 
 sults of his study, he says, may be summed up as 
 follows : 
 
 "There was no such disparity of numbers of the opposing forces 
 as has been often stated ; Sigel had about 6,000 men in the battle ; 
 Breckinridge about 4,500. 
 
 "The Federal Army was defeated because of the slow, faltering, 
 and clumsy strategy of its commander, and through a lack of hearty 
 cooperation on the part of the different commands.
 
 16 The Military History of 
 
 "The Confederate triumph was owing to superb and brilliant 
 movements of Imboden and Breckinridge who showed themselves 
 no unworthy successors of Stonewall Jackson, and to the resolute 
 bravery of the veteran Confederate troops. 
 
 "The decisive factors on May 16th were the storming of the 
 Federal position on the right, the excellent handling of the Con- 
 federate artillery, the defeat of the Federal cavalry, and the 
 desperate charges made by the Confederate center." 
 
 The author then goes on to say : 
 
 "Any assertion that the cadets won the battle of New Market, 
 or stemmed a Confederate rout, are popular exaggerations which 
 have tended to discredit what they actually did. 
 
 "There is no doubt that they held the gap in the Confederate 
 line, fought wondrously well, and by their example stimulated the 
 adjoining regiments to make the decisive charge." (The italics are 
 the author's.) 
 
 One who has not critically studied the evidence upon 
 which these conclusions are based — and, fortunately 
 for all, that evidence is frankly and fully given by the 
 author — would be justified in awarding to the cadets the 
 honor of having played a very minor role in the battle 
 of New Market. First, Dr. Turner declares the "res- 
 olute bravery of the veteran Confederate troops" 
 (which necessarily excludes the cadets who were not 
 veterans) to have been one of the decisive factors in 
 the Confederate success. Later, he gives the "desperate 
 charges made by the Confederate center," as a decisive 
 factor. The cadets were in these charges, according to 
 his own statements. Does he mean by the use of the 
 word ''veteran'" to exclude the cadets? No; he should 
 have omitted that word. His final conclusions are 
 mixed and misleading; and the proof that this is so 
 is to ])e found in the following excerpt from a review 
 which appeared over the initials "H. W." in the Army 
 and Navy Journal of Jime 29, 1912, the reviewer evi- 
 dently having blindly followed the poorest portion of 
 the author's work, or the summary of his conclusions: 
 
 " 'Facts are stubborn things,' as the historian speedily found out, 
 and while great credit must be conceded to the cadets of the
 
 The Vieginia Military Institute 17 
 
 Virginia Military Institute, the facts of history do not give them all 
 the credit assumed for them by many writers on the subject. It 
 would seem that the credit which is due the cadets on that occasion 
 is the high example set by the boys composing the Battalion, who, 
 for the first time, faced the dangers of battle, on that momentous 
 day of May 15, 1864." 
 
 Compare this with the author's preface, and we at 
 once recoffnize the handiwork of the ordinary reviewer 
 who reads the preface, glances over the chapter-head- 
 ings, picks out an important date or two, writes a few 
 commonplace lines, and adds one more good book to his 
 library. 
 
 Dr. Turner has established the fact that the cadets 
 (originally in reserve) were first absorbed in the sup- 
 port, gradually to become involved in the firing-line. 
 This was due to the gradual contraction of the wings 
 of the Confederate line of battle, towards the right and 
 left, respectively, leaving a gap near the left center. 
 Upon noticing the widening gap in his enemy's line, 
 Sigel, with more judgment and precision than he dis- 
 played at any other period of the combat, formed a 
 heavy column for the countercharge to be directed into 
 the gap, or against the weakest point of Breckinridge's 
 line. (See pages 57, 75, 79.) 
 
 Dr. Turner states in three places in his book that 
 this was a "critical point" in the battle. From a strict 
 military standpoint it was more — Sigel recognized the 
 fact that the very crisis of the combat, that breathless 
 moment when victorj'^ and defeat are suspended in tlie 
 balance, had arrived, and his countercharge was set in 
 motion. It was the opinion of ofiicers who witnessed 
 the battle (and their views are adopted by Dr. 
 Turner) that if this countercharge had succeeded in 
 reaching the Confederate line, Breckinridge's Army 
 would have been cut in twain, and a rout would have 
 followed. This is certainly a reasonable conclusion, for 
 the advance of both Confederate wings had ceased, and 
 the regiment on the left of the cadets had actually fallen 
 into confusion. (See page 59). This regiment could
 
 18 The Military History or 
 
 hardly have opposed the cokimii which Sigel was lead- 
 ing toward the gap, nor could the troops on the right 
 of the opening extend to their left. At this point, then, 
 when the Federal countercharge was well organized, 
 and actually underway, the Cadet Battalion, rectifying 
 its alignment by marking time under a terrific fire from 
 the Federal batteries, was led obliquely to the right 
 from its position in support of the left wing, into the 
 gap, and delivered a heavy musketry fire at close range 
 upon the 34th Massachusetts Infantry, which up to this 
 moment had advanced almost unresisted. 
 
 Of the three regiments which had composed the Fed- 
 eral cokmin, two had been checked by the Confederate 
 troo^js to the left of the cadets; but it seems plain that 
 the Massachusetts regiment would have pressed home, 
 had the gap still been open. As it was, they all but 
 succeeded under the cover of their supporting guns. 
 
 On page 59, Dr Turner now tells us that after the 
 repulse of the countercharge, the "hinder echelon" 
 joined the firing line, and formed a solid line, together 
 WTth the Sixty- Second Virginia of 800 veteran troops. 
 This is conclusive of the fact that at least some of the 
 "resolute veterans" were behind the cadets during the 
 crisis of the combat. 
 
 Having repulsed the countercharge, the firing-line 
 was quickly reinforced, the troops pulled together, and 
 a general advance ensued, which culminated in the giv- 
 ing way, and retreat, of the enemy. In this general ad- 
 vance, the cadets were incidentally in the lead. Indeed, 
 this was a fine example and very naturally "stimulated 
 the adjoining regi7nents to make the decisive charge'' 
 
 Dr. Turner should have mentioned the fact that the 
 cadets were on the "gridiron" themselves, and not 
 merely cheering from the "bleachers." There is a de- 
 cided difference between "stimulating" and "leading," 
 or even "acting in conjunction with." There is no neces- 
 sary inference from the author's language that the 
 cadets were in this final charge. On the contrary, one 
 would be justified in assuming that they were not.
 
 The Vikginia Mit.itaey Institute 19 
 
 Xow, if the cadets repulsed, or contributed to the 
 repulse of, the countercharge (as is stated by Dr. 
 Turner in three places), and if it be admitted that the 
 countercharge, if successful, would have routed the Con- 
 federate Army, the share the cadets bore was undoubt- 
 edly more than that of "stimulating" others, or of 
 setting a mere example. And, so, we see how our 
 friend "H. W." of the Army and Navy Journal has 
 been led astray by Dr. Turner. 
 
 Dr. Turner is not an educated soldier, as is shown by 
 the misuse of the word strategy (page 9), and his en- 
 tire ignorance of the simplest militarj^ terms. Not be- 
 ing a trained soldier, or a student of tactics and 
 strategy, the intellectual and philosophical side of war, 
 he fails utterly to grasp the real importance of the 
 cadets' movements. He fails to recognize the psy- 
 chological instant, or the crisis of the combat. He fails 
 to note that the cadets, when absolutely no other troops 
 were to be had for the purpose, without orders from 
 Breckinridge, were led by their gallant commander to 
 the right spot at just the right moment. He fails to 
 appreciate Breckinridge's remarks to the cadets Im- 
 mediately after the battle, when he raised his hat and 
 said: "Young gentlemen, I have to thank you for the 
 result of to-day's operations." ( See page 88) . A com- 
 manding officer is not apt to ride about his army making 
 such speeches to single commands when there is no 
 foundation for his words. General Breckinridge but 
 expressed the contemporaneous opinion of himself as 
 commander, which was no doubt based largely upon the 
 observations and reports of his staff officers, and they 
 had undoubtedly been in a far better position to follow 
 the movements of the various commands than any of 
 the line officers, for it was their duty to observe and 
 control the whole, while the responsibility and observa- 
 tions of the field and line officers were limited to the 
 sphere of their own activities. 
 
 If Dr. Turner had ever studied the works of Clause- 
 witz, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Von der Goltz, JMoltke,
 
 20 The Miijtaky History of 
 
 IJiilow, Wartcnbiirg, Prince Kraff, and other military 
 philosophers, he would have accorded more considera- 
 tion to tlie psychology of the battlefield. 
 
 In Dr. Turner's discussion of the cadets' part in the 
 capture of the guns he also shows an ever-present desire 
 to deny tliem the credit of the capture, if by anj^ possible 
 argument he can do so. It appears as if he were afraid 
 to follow the evidence too closely, lest he might succeed 
 in proving what he seems to think the impossible. 
 
 Dr. Turner goes off on the question of the number 
 of pieces captured, and the nmnber of casualties in- 
 curred by the cadets, as evidence against the reputed 
 character of their charge. Assimiing that but two 
 pieces were captured bj^ the cadets — and he admits the 
 capture of as many — this fact shows why more loss was 
 not inflicted upon the Corps by the batterj^ some of 
 the guns of which limbered up and pulled out before 
 the Battalion reached its position. The guns that 
 limbered up could not have fired continuously during 
 the few minutes it took the Corps to traverse the ap- 
 proach to the battery, and those that remained in action 
 were able to fire but a few rounds at most. Guns fired 
 slowly those days, two rounds a minute being rapid 
 work, and ranges for canister were short. Then, too, it 
 must be remembered the cadets were moving at a rapid 
 rate. 
 
 Dr. Turner declares the account of John S. Wise to 
 be inaccurate and colored by imagination. He quotes 
 largely from this account until it disagrees with his own 
 views. Then he throws it aside as inaccurate. It is 
 true John S. Wise was wounded early in the action, and 
 claimed no first-hand knowledge of the movements of 
 the Corps, from the first stage of the battle on, but what 
 he wrote was based upon common contemporaneous re- 
 port, and, strange to say, agrees in every respect with 
 the accounts of Captain Town and Major Lang, both 
 of Sigel's staff, and numerous other eye-witnesses. The 
 writer ventures this assertion: that the majority of com- 
 petent military critics to whom Dr. Turner's book
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 21 
 
 might be submitted would hold Mr. Wise's account of 
 the battle more accurate than the conclusions of Dr. 
 Turner, with respect to the importance of the part 
 played by the Corps of Cadets. 
 
 No; it is not claimed that the cadets fought Sigel 
 single-handed, or by their prowess alone won the battle. 
 They did, however, help to save Breckinridge from de- 
 feat at the very crisis of the combat, and took a leading 
 part in the final stages of the engagement. The writer, 
 in common with all other eleves of the Virginia Military 
 Institute, is deeply grateful to Dr. Turner for the last- 
 ing record which he has prepared. "Facts are stubborn 
 things," and can not be obscured by mere false con- 
 clusions. 
 
 In this work the author will midertake to record what 
 probably happened at New Market, without the slight- 
 est desire of claiming the impossible for the Cadet 
 Corps, and to accord it due credit for its actual per- 
 formances, and for the moral effect thereof, remember- 
 ing that numbers and volume of fire are not the only 
 elements of success on the battlefield. Napoleon did 
 not take the bridge at Lodi with his sword, nor did the 
 handful of men he led thereto defeat the enemy. But 
 had he not taken the bridge at the critical moment the 
 enemy would not have been defeated. In a similar 
 sense it was that the Corps of Cadets helped to save 
 the day at New Market. No reasonable person ever 
 supposed for a moment that 250 cadets swept Sigel's 
 Army from the field at the point of their bayonets, or 
 drove his men from position with the volume of their 
 fire. Nor has anyone, as far as the writer knows, 
 claimed that the cadets could have accomplished what 
 they did except in conjunction with the other valiant 
 troops of Breckinridge's command.* 
 
 And now a word as to the frontispiece of this book. 
 It is taken from the painting of the Battle of New 
 Market by the distinguished American artist, B. West 
 
 *The substance of the foregoing criticism appeared over tlie author's name 
 in the Richmond Ei;ening Journal, of July 4. 1912, and was included in a 
 pamphlet, entitled "V. M. I. Papers," printed in December, 1013.
 
 22 The Military History of 
 
 Cliiiedinst, V. M. 1., 1870. The painting was unveiled 
 with appropriate ceremony at the Institute, June 24th, 
 ]914. It occupies the large groined arched space in 
 rear of the chancel-like platform of the Jackson Me- 
 morial Hall; its dimensions are 18 feet wide and 25 feet 
 high, and the canvas is framed by the gold cornice. The 
 near figures of the charging line of cadets are seven feet 
 high. The scene is the heroic charge of the Cadet 
 Battalion against Von Kleiser's Federal battery, which 
 incident was the decisive action of the day and practi- 
 cally closed the battle. 
 
 The picture is a masterpiece of military portraiture. 
 The colors are superb and true, and few pictures, not 
 even those of Messonier, present more real military 
 spirit and action. There are none of those exaggera- 
 tions or offensive artistic liberties which artists so fre- 
 quently find it necessary to call to their aid. It rings 
 with truth, and the artist has succeeded without resort 
 to artificialities. His appreciation of military points 
 is testified to in innumerable ways, and as one, even 
 the novice, or the most casual observer, gazes upon the 
 noble work, he at once perceives the element of studious 
 accuracy which characterizes it; the idea is compelling. 
 
 But the overwhelming elan of the youthful figures 
 and the beauty of their action, individual and collective, 
 is the primal feature of the work. It fascinates and gives 
 one the feeling which a great human drama inspires in 
 real life. There is nothing of the tragedy of death and 
 carnage to strike horror into the breast of the onlooker. 
 The work of the artist has avoided that too common de- 
 feat in battle pictures. The red bandages which en- 
 twine the youthful brows are not merely bloody — they 
 appear more as crimson badges of heroic courage. The 
 fallen lad appears more as a devote, prostrate before 
 the shrine of valor, than as a maimed boy — a more 
 vicarious sacrifice to the ruthless god of war. The flash 
 of the picture is truly that of the lightning bolt — not 
 that of a horrid, consuming blaze the spark of which 
 was struck by human hands. And, furthermore, the
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 23 
 
 radiant canvas has a sound, a thing which few pictures 
 possess. But it is not the awe-inspiring crash and rum- 
 ble of the guns which hght up the sullen background 
 with their lurid tongues of fire — it is more the soulful 
 cry and the thrilling reverberation of the Valkyr's di- 
 vine voice. 
 
 God in all His power never staged a scene more hu- 
 manly sublime than New Market. That day he set 
 apart to immortal man as an eternal inspiration for 
 youth. What more can be said by way of tribute to the 
 artist, the final painter of the glorious deeds on that 
 field enacted, than to say he has fully embraced his op- 
 portunity ? 
 
 But yet, another word. Messonier or Detaille could 
 not have painted this picture. No master could have 
 done it, unless, like Clinedinst he had once worn the 
 cadet coatee; had trod the sacred precincts of Virginia's 
 School of Arms, precincts hallowed by the erstwhile 
 presence of a thousand heroes ; unless he had imbibed the 
 spirit which sparkles over her eternal fountains of 
 tradition. Such an one only could mix into his colors 
 the truth of New Market. 
 
 The other illustrations, with the exception of the 
 pictures of the Institute, are reproductions of portraits 
 at the Institute, none of which, as far as the author 
 knows, have ever been reproduced before. These por- 
 traits present the likenesses of that little body of men 
 who together so largely made the Virginia Military 
 Institute what in their da}^ it was, and what at this time 
 it is, 
 
 Jennings C. Wise.
 
 24 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE GENESIS OF THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE 
 
 When the corner-stone of the present Cadet Bar- 
 racks in Lexington was laid July 4, 1850, the seventy- 
 six anniversary of the })irth of our nation, and nearly 
 eleven years before Virginia seceded from the Union, 
 a distinguished American, John W. Brockenbrough of 
 Virginia, called attention in the address which he de- 
 livered on that occasion to "the portentous cloud gath- 
 ering in the North." "In peace prepare for war," was 
 the tenor of his words. 
 
 Six years later, the General Assembly of Virginia, by 
 Act of March, 1856, made a special appropriation of 
 $10,000 for the purchase of a bronze replica of Jean 
 Antoine Houdon's statue of George Washington, to 
 be placed before the sally-port of the Barracks in order, 
 writes the historian, "that nothing might be wanting to 
 make the Institute effective for usefulness to the State." 
 
 Statues are but symbols, ofttimes idealizations, of 
 the lives and thoughts of those they represent. It was 
 well, therefore, that the heroic figure of Washington 
 should be mounted like a great silent sentinel — eternal 
 guardian of the destinies of Virginia's youth — at the 
 very sally-port of the lives of many of her citizens. But, 
 in placing it there, did our legislators not have in 
 mind the warnings which Washington, like Brocken- 
 brough, had uttered? Exactly eighty years before this 
 statue was dedicated by Governor Henry A. Wise of 
 Virginia, the great man whom it represents wrote these 
 words into his last annual message to Congress: 
 
 "The institution of a militaiy academy is also recom- 
 mended by cogent reasons. However pacific the gen- 
 eral policy of a nation may be, it ought never to be 
 without an adequate stock of military knowledge for
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 25 
 
 emergencies. The first would impair the energy of its 
 character, and both would endanger its safety, or ex- 
 pose it to greater evils, when war could not be avoided. 
 Besides, that war might not often depend upon its own 
 choice. In proportion as the observance of pacific 
 maxims might exempt a nation from the necessity of 
 practising the rules of the military art, ought to be its 
 care in preserving and transmitting, by proper estab- 
 lishments, the knowledge of that art. Whatever argu- 
 ment may be drawn from particular examples, super- 
 ficially viewed, a thorough examination of the subject 
 will evince that the art of war is both comprehensive and 
 complicated; that it demands much previous study; and 
 that the possession of it, in its most improved and per- 
 fect state, is always of great moment to the security of 
 a nation. This, therefore, ought to be a serious care of 
 every government; and for this purpose, an academy 
 where a regular course of instruction is given, is an ob- 
 vious expedient which different nations have success- 
 fully employed."* 
 
 Washington's recommendations as to the creation of 
 a National School of Arms was born of a bitter experi- 
 ence. To-day we find the ultra-pacificists appealing to 
 his military successes at the head of a citizen-soldiery, in 
 support of their anti-militarism contentions. They ig- 
 nore utterly Washington's own views as to the value of 
 the troops he led. But those views were unequivocally 
 expressed. Wrote the peace-loving Father of our 
 country, "Regular troops alone are equal to the 
 exigencies of modern war, as well for defence as offence, 
 and when a substitute is attempted, it must prove 
 illusory and ruinous. No militia will ever acquire the 
 habits necessary to resist a regular force. The firmness 
 requisite for the real business of fighting is only to be 
 obtained by a constant course of discipline and service. 
 I have never yet been witness to a single instance that 
 can justify a different opinion, and it is most earnestly 
 to be wished that the liberties of America may no longer 
 
 *U. S. Doc. Foreign Rel., Vol. Ill, pp. 31-2.
 
 26 The Military History of 
 
 be trusted, in any material degree, to so precarious a 
 dependence." 
 
 How strange that the very man who dedicated the 
 Washington statue at the Virginia Mihtary Institute, 
 in 18,56, should have signed the death-warrant of John 
 Brown within three years thereafter, and that he should 
 have witnessed the execution of the arch-traitor of the 
 Union, with the Corps of Cadets as his mihtary escort! 
 
 It nuist not be thought, however, that Washington 
 originated the idea of a government military academy. 
 Undoubtedly, his wide knowledge led him to appreciate 
 the need of such an institution from the first; but it was 
 Henry Knox who first recommended its creation. 
 
 After the defeat of the Americans on Long Island, 
 in August, 1776, Congress resolved upon an entire re- 
 organization of the Continental Army. The Con- 
 gressional Committee appointed to investigate the 
 matter of army reform called upon Colonel Knox, a 
 young man twenty-six years of age, then in command 
 of the artillery of the army, for suggestions concerning 
 his arm of the service. 
 
 In a report, characterized by great breadth of view 
 and intimate familiarity with the needs of the service 
 in general, Colonel Knox recommended, among many 
 other things, that a school for artillery and engineer 
 officers be established. The following are his exact 
 words : 
 
 "And, as officers can never act with confidence until 
 they are masters of their profession, an academy es- 
 tablished upon a liberal plan would be of the utmost 
 service to the continent, where the whole theory and 
 practice of fortification and gunnery should be taught, 
 to be nearly on the same plan as Woolwich, making al- 
 lowances for differences in circumstances — a place to 
 which our enemies are indebted for the superiority of 
 their artillerv to all who have opposed them." (Report 
 of Sept. 27,' 1776). 
 
 Knox's wise plan was not adopted at the time, and 
 it was not until 1794 that the War Department under-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 27 
 
 took to compensate for the lack of a militaiy school for 
 the training of officers by attaching cadets to artillery 
 regiments. This plan was a poor substitute, as we are 
 informed by Secretary of War McHenry, in a letter 
 dated June 28, 1798, in which he wrote: "It was sup- 
 posed that these cadets would form a nursery from 
 which qualified officers might be drawn to fill vacancies ; 
 but it must occur that without proper masters to teach 
 them the sciences necessary to the engineers and artiller- 
 ists, this nursery can produce no valuable plants." 
 
 In 1802, the Corps of Engineers was organized and 
 stationed at West Point, New York, and so constituted 
 as to form a military academy for the training of ar- 
 tillery and engineer officers. But, notwithstanding the 
 brilliant attainments and ability of Colonel Jonathan 
 Williams, the first Superintendent, the school was not 
 fruitful of the best returns until after the War of 1812 
 when cadets were appointed in all branches of the ser- 
 vice and attached to the academy for preliminary mili- 
 tary and scientific training. 
 
 It was in the j^ear 1816 that President Monroe com- 
 missioned Simon Bernard "an assistant in the Corps 
 of Engineers of the United States with the rank of 
 brigadier-general by brevet." In his capacity as the 
 virtual chief of the Corps of Engineers, this great man 
 exercised so marked an influence upon military in- 
 struction in America, he may rightfully be called one of 
 the fathers of West Point. 
 
 A Frenchman by birth, Bernard had served as a gen- 
 eral of Engineers in the Army of the Rhine under 
 Napoleon, and in 1813 as aide-de-camp on the Em- 
 peror's staff. Adhering to the Restoration, however, 
 he later obtained permission to accept appointment in 
 the American service and remained in the United States 
 until the French Revolution of 1830, at which time he 
 returned to France, planned the fortifications of Paris, 
 and became Minister of War in 1834. 
 
 While in America, Bernard not only planned the en- 
 tire system of our coast defense fortifications, but many
 
 28 The Military History of 
 
 of the great civil engineering works of the country. But 
 it is in his connection M-ith the development of West 
 Point tliat his work particularly interests us. 
 
 In December, 1818, he rendered a report on the Mili- 
 tary Academy in which he expressed, among others, the 
 following views: 
 
 "1. That elementary schools are necessary to supply the wants 
 of the army and for the instruction of the militia. 
 
 "2. That the elementary schools for the army and those for 
 the use of the militia should be distinct from each other. 
 
 "3. That several elementary schools are necessary for the 
 instruction of the militia." 
 
 Of his constructive services to America, Major-Gen- 
 eral William H. Carter, Assistant Chief of Staff U. S. 
 Army (1914), writes, "His training and engineering 
 skill were of great moment to the nation when West 
 Point, the Alma Mater of Military Engineering in 
 America, was yet in its swaddling clothes. His earlier 
 European experiences in campaign and battle were 
 tinged with brilliancy and romance, but his genius laid 
 the foundation of constructive work in America which 
 wall live and be builded upon for the benefit of mankind 
 long after the stories of his battles have lost their power 
 to quicken the pulse of a prosaic age." (Journal of the 
 Military Service Institution, Sept.-Oct., 1912), 
 
 With Simon Bernard came another great Frenchman 
 to America, Captain Claude Crozet. Crozet was born at 
 Villefranche, near Lyons, January 1st, 1790. At four- 
 teen years of age, he was admitted to the Polytechnic 
 School, Paris; was graduated in 1807 as a sub-lieu- 
 tenant of Artillery; and then proceeded to Metz for 
 the special course of instruction given there to artillery 
 and engineer officers. After two years at this fortress, 
 he joined the headquarters of the Emperor near Vienna, 
 just in time to participate in the memorable battle of 
 Wagram. During the next two years young Crozet 
 received from the hands of the Emperor the Cross of 
 the Legion of Honor, and was promoted to the grade 
 of Captain in the Imperial Corps of Artillery attached
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 29 
 
 to tlie division of Marshal Ney, then preparing for the 
 invasion of Russia. 
 
 On the disastrous retreat of the Imperial Army from 
 Moscow, Captain Crozet was captured and held pris- 
 oner in the interior two years. After the Treaty of 
 Paris in 1814, he returned to France, several months 
 after Napoleon's departure for Elba. By order of the 
 King, the "Decoration de Lys" was now conferred upon 
 him, and he was restored to his old rank in the army; 
 but he declined to re-enter the military service until the 
 Emperor returned from his first exile. At the termina- 
 tion of the "Hundred Days", he was again without em- 
 ployment; and on June 6, 1816, provided with letters 
 from the Marquis de Lafayette and others well ac- 
 quainted in America, he set sail, with Bernard, to seek 
 his fortune in the new republic of the United States. 
 
 Through Bernard's influence, Crozet was almost im- 
 mediately appointed Professor of Engineering at the 
 Military Academ}^ entering upon his duties there 
 February 1st, 1817. 
 
 Under Captain Crozet, instruction was first given at 
 West Point in Descriptive Geometry, Analytical Trigo- 
 nometry, Differential and Integral Calculus, Civil 
 Engineering and the Principles of Machines. At that 
 time, there was no text-book in the United States on 
 Descriptive Geometry; and until Captain Crozet's 
 treatise was issued in 1821, instruction in the subject 
 at West Point was entirely oral.* 
 
 In 1824, Captain Crozet's health compelled Jiim to 
 relinquish the confining employment of a professor, and 
 he accepted at this time an appointment as State 
 Engineer of Virginia. During the nine years he served 
 as such he urged a lock and dam system of improvement 
 of the James River from Richmond to Lynchburg, and 
 in 1830 further urged the construction of a railroad 
 connecting the canal with the Kanawha River, tluis 
 
 *The influence of Crozet on the academic organization of the Institute will 
 be readily perceived by all the Alumni. He introduced descriptive geometry 
 at the V. M. I. and his text-bools was here taught for years. The suliject 
 still remains in the curriculum course, and for sentimental reasons, if no other, 
 may it ever remain. It is taught at but few institutions in America, except 
 as a special topic.
 
 30 The Miijtaky History of 
 
 uniting the eastern and western waters. In 1832 he ac- 
 cepted the office of State Engineer of Louisiana, but 
 the following year gave up active engineering and be- 
 came President of Jefferson College, Louisiana. In 
 1837. he again became State Engineer of Virginia. Such 
 had been the career of the man who was, as first Presi- 
 dent of its Board of Visitors, soon to aid in moulding the 
 destinies of the Virginia Mihtary Institute.* 
 
 In Februarv, 1816, the very vear that Bei-nard and 
 Crozet sailed for America, the General Assembly of 
 Virginia provided for the erection of three arsenals, in 
 each of which were to be stored 20,000 stand of arms. 
 One of these arsenals was to be situated west of the 
 Alleghany Mountains, or in that section of the State 
 since become West Virginia; one of the others was 
 located in Riclunond, and one in Lexington. For each 
 arsenal a company of State Guards consisting of one 
 captain, one sergeant, 28 privates, and two musicians, 
 was to be mustered into the service of the Common- 
 wealth, and the period of enlistment was fixed at five 
 years. The regulations, pay and allowances for these 
 troops were the same as those provided by Congress 
 for the regular army. The act authorizing the erection 
 of the arsenals directed the arms held by the militia to 
 be turned into the arsenals as soon as they were ready 
 to receive them for storage and care. Certain militia 
 organizations were designated to retain their arms. The 
 context of the Act clearly shows that continuous neglect 
 of State property caused the establishment of the 
 
 *In 1840 Captain Crozet was selected to locate and construct the Blue 
 Uidge Railroad from Albemarle County through Rock Fish Gap, to Augusta 
 County, as a State improvement. This proved a very difficult undertaking, 
 and involved construction of several tunnels with many complications. The 
 work was completed and turned over to the predecessors of the present 
 Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company, in 18.56 ; and soon after Captain Crozet 
 was invited to Washington by the Secretary of War to assume the position 
 of principal assistant to Captain M. C. Meigs. Corps of Engineers, on the Con- 
 struction of the Aqueduct. Captain Crozet is credited with the planning 
 and construction of the existing aqueduct bridge connecting Georgetown with 
 the Virginia shore, near the Arlington estate. He was separated from the 
 Aqueduct engineering work in 1859, on account of exhaustion of funds, and 
 returned to Richmond, A'irginia. where, as Principal of Richmond Academy, 
 he resided until his death in 1864. For a full account of his life, see article 
 by Gen. Wm. U. Carter. .Journal of the Military Service Institution. .Tulv- 
 August, 1013. Captain Crozefs protrait hangs in the Jackson Memorial HaU 
 at the Virginia Military Institute.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 31 
 
 arsenals, and not any sudden desire to accumulate sur- 
 plus armament against future exigencies.* 
 
 From the passage of the foregoing Act until the out- 
 break of the War between the States, Virginia had a 
 standing army only excelled in point of diminutiveness 
 bv the famous army of the Prince of Monaco. But 
 while the enlisted men of the Lexington Company were 
 not engaged in the protection of legalized gamllling, 
 they were, nevertheless, an undesirable element in the 
 social economy of aristocratic Lexington. The care of 
 the 30,000 stand of arms which were accumulated in the 
 arsenal, the necessary guard-duty and drill, a tri- 
 monthly muste}- and inspection, b\^ no means fully oc- 
 cupied their time ; and the members of the idle command 
 were in tlie nature of things of such a low social order 
 as to be objectionable to the thrifty people of Lexing- 
 ton, a town then numbering possibly 1,500 inhabitants, 
 or about half the present population. 
 
 In Virginia, in the early part of the nineteenth 
 century, there were few towns larger than Lexington; 
 and among its residents, by reason of the presence of 
 Washington College, were to be fomid an altogether 
 disproportionate number of intellectual persons. Fur- 
 thermore, the town was the County seat of Rockbridge, 
 in a section rich in agriculture and cattle, and located 
 on the James River and Kanawha Canal. 
 
 In the nature of things, Lexington had frequently 
 been visited by Captain Crozet while engaged in the 
 construction of the canal. As State Engineer, he knew 
 of the Arsenal; as a soldier and an eleve of a French 
 Military Institute, a foi'mer Professor at West Point, 
 and fresh from his labors in organizing and building u]) 
 the Xational School of Arms in company with Bernard, 
 he undoubtedly perceived the opportunity offered Vir- 
 ginia; and, in all probabihty, discussed with some of 
 its principal citizens the project of founding a military 
 school in Lexington long ere it took tangible form. He 
 pointed out to them, no doubt, that in the period of our 
 
 *See Revised Code of Virginia. 1819. Vol. L pp. 125, 126.
 
 32 The Military History of 
 
 Revolutionary War, the country was entirely de- 
 pendent upon foreigners to supply the scientific corps 
 of the army with officers — such as military engineers, 
 officers of ordnance and topography, as well as tacticians 
 and strategists. He called attention to Washington's 
 recommendations and views regarding military edu- 
 cation and he repeated the words of Professor D. H. 
 Mahan of West Point, who had declared that, "Military 
 knowledge, that essential element of a nation's safety, 
 which, like our own, depends upon her citizen soldiery, 
 in a moment of danger, is at the lowest ebb. To so 
 great a degree was this the case, it may safely be 
 averred that, at the commencement of the War of 1812, 
 twenty-five native-born citizens could not have been 
 brought together throughout the entire length and 
 breadth of our country, who were capable of discharg- 
 ing the simplest duties of military engineering in the 
 field." 
 
 In December, 1834, the plan of substituting a mili- 
 tary school for the Lexington Company of State Guards 
 was finally discussed at a meeting of the Franklin Liter- 
 ary Society in Lexington, and endorsed by most of its 
 members, among whom were many prominent pro- 
 fessional men and other citizens of the town. The dis- 
 cussion led to the publication in August, 1835, in the 
 Lexington Gazette of a series of three articles, over the 
 nom de plume of "Civis'\, proposing the plan for public- 
 consideration. 
 
 Now, ''Civis" was John Thomas Lewis Preston, Esq., 
 a prominent young lawj^^er of Lexington, who has ex- 
 pressly declared that he was not the originator of the 
 idea.* Crozet had been away from Virginia less than 
 two years, and it seems reasonable to conclude that he 
 was one of the originators of the plan, if not solely re- 
 sponsible for its first suggestion. 
 
 In the elaboration of the plan, however, Preston, who 
 was not a soldier by education and training, took the 
 
 ♦History of the Virginia Military Institute, Smith, p. 14.
 
 Oi 
 CO 
 00 
 
 < 
 
 zr. 

 
 The Virginia Military Institute 33 
 
 leading part. This, undoubtedly, accounts for the fact 
 that little mention was at first made of West Point. He 
 stated the object of the proposed measure to be "to 
 supply the place of the present guard by another, com- 
 posed of young men from seventeen to twenty-four 
 years of age, to perform the necessary duties of a guard, 
 who would receive no pay, but, in lieu, have afforded to 
 them the opportunities of a liberal education." In other 
 words, he lost sight, through lack of a proper under- 
 standing of the needs of the country and of the state, 
 of the primary concept of the originator of the idea.* 
 But though lacking in military training Mr. Preston 
 was brilliant and capable. A typical Virginian in ap- 
 pearance, he was six feet in height, well proportioned, 
 graceful, courteous, dignified, cordial, quick-witted, 
 fluent, masterful, and, therefore, had the qualities which 
 make good officers. With natural gifts of exceptional 
 order he had received at Washington College, the Uni- 
 versity of Virginia, and Yale College, the best education 
 the country afforded. His tastes for intellectual pur- 
 suits had been fostered by his profession and by foreign 
 travel, as well as by constant study and reading. He 
 was a grandson of Edmund Randolph, Washington's 
 Secretary of State, and in his veins coursed the cavalier 
 blood of the Nicholases, Peytons, and other equally dis- 
 tinguished families, as well as the sturdy strain of the 
 Scotch-Irish Prestons. 
 
 Lexington and Rockbridge County were not slow to 
 recognize the wisdom of "Civis" and a memorial was 
 soon presented the Virginia Legislature urging the 
 adoption of the plan, by Mr. Preston in person; which 
 resulted in an Act of Assembly, 183.5-6, providing for 
 the disbanding of the Lexington Arsenal, the substitu- 
 tion of a military school therefor, and the appointment 
 of a Board of Visitors, consisting of four members, with 
 the Adjutant-General, eoc-officio. At first, the Legis- 
 
 *Ibid, pp. 15, 18, 21.
 
 34- The Military History of 
 
 lature contemplated the organization of the School as 
 a mere department of or annex to Washington College ; 
 but amended its original Act in 1837-38; repealed it 
 outright in 1838-39; and in March, 1839, gave the 
 School an entirely independent organization. 
 
 The new School, the second governmental Military 
 Academy in America (West Point being the first), 
 was named by Mr. Preston. "Virginia Mihtary Insti- 
 tute seemed appropriately significant, Virginia as a 
 State Institution, neither sectional nor denominational. 
 Military, indicating its characteristic feature. Institute, 
 as something different from either college or university. 
 The three elements thus indicated are the basis of a 
 triangular pyramid of which the sides will preserve their 
 mutual relation to whatever height the structure may 
 rise." 
 
 The Virginia Military Institute was created just as 
 Captain Crozet resumed his office as State Engineer of 
 Virginia. We are told that he was "persuaded" to ac- 
 cept reappointment. Can it be that the consummation 
 of a pet scheme in the founding of the Military Institute 
 had something to do with his decision? At any rate, 
 he was immediately appointed President of the first 
 Board of Visitors, and set about the work of organiza- 
 tion with the same spirit he and Bernard had displayed 
 at West Point. To him is due much credit for the orig- 
 inal scheme of oi'ganization and development, for at 
 once the lay ideas of Preston were supplanted by the 
 professional ideas of the French soldier, and the cadet 
 stepped forth in the uniform of the young Guard of 
 France, already adopted at the National Academy! 
 
 From the outset, the School was impressed with the 
 most thorough military character. Besides the Gover- 
 nor, the Adjutant-General, and three civilians (one of 
 whom, James McDowell, was subsequently Governor 
 of Virginia), the first Board of Visitors contained 
 Colonel Claude Crozet (President), Captain John F. 
 Wiley, a veteran of 1812, General Thomas H. Botts,
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 35 
 
 General Charles P. Dorman, and General Peter C. 
 Johnston.* With four generals, one colonel, and one 
 captain on the Board, the military idea seems to have 
 been quite carefully kept in view! Governor Campbell 
 knew that soldiers were best qualified to do a soldier's 
 work. 
 
 The influence of Crozet and his military comrades of 
 the first Board is clearly reflected in the original cur- 
 riculum of study prescribed, which embraced Mathe- 
 matics, Mechanics, Chemistry, Engineering, Tactics, 
 French, German, English, and German Literature. 
 
 ♦Peter C. Johnston was the brother of Joseph E. Johnston. General 
 Thomas H. Botts married Mary Stone, of Fredericksburg, about 1829. Both 
 died before the war. Their children were William, Benjamin, Henry, Albert, 
 and Mary Berkeley. Bernard Peyton was born March 14, 1792. Died June 
 21, 1854. He married Julia Green, October 1, 1817. Peyton was appointed 
 first lieutenant in the 20th infantry, U. S. A., on March 12, 1812, and became 
 captain in the same on April 16, 1813. In 1825 he was appointed Adjutant- 
 General of Virginia, in which ofl5ce he was succeeded by William H. Richardson. 
 From 1838 to 1844 he was postmaster of Richmond. His children were Thomas 
 Jefferson, Bernard, Moses Green, Thomas Green, Susan Scott, and Julia A.
 
 36 The Miijtary History of 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 FOUNDING OF THE SECOND AMERICAN SCHOOL OF ARMS* 
 
 In the foregoing chapter the influence of West Point 
 upon the creation of a School of Arms in Virginia has 
 been clearly demonstrated; and it is not difficult to 
 understand that the views of Washington, Knox, and 
 Bernard were entertained by Crozet, as well as by the 
 other prominent military men connected with the Mili- 
 tary Institute of Virginia, when it was first established. 
 The voice of these men was certainly a controlling one 
 in all the deliberations of the first governing body of 
 the School; and, thoroughly in accord with Crozet, his 
 fellow-soldiers, as well as the other illustrious members 
 of the Board, were only too glad to give him a free hand 
 in the organization of the Institute. 
 
 The keynote of the new system of education they 
 proposed was that first, last, and all the time the cadet- 
 student should be a soldier, for it was not believed by 
 the founders of the School that military training, with 
 the habits of discipline in mind and body which it in- 
 volved, was in any way subversive of, or inconsistent 
 with, good citizenship. Their purpose was not to sup- 
 ply officers for the regular military establishment, — nor 
 has such been the aim of the authorities at any time, 
 except during the period of the Civil War. The mission 
 of the Institute was clearly differentiated from that of 
 the National Academy, the sole aim of which has neces- 
 sarily been to furnish the nation with officers trained in 
 the fundamental principles of command. The Vir- 
 ginia Military Institute, on the other hand, was created 
 for the purpose of providing a liberal education, coupled 
 with a military training, in the belief that its graduates 
 would prove valuable citizens, all the more useful be- 
 
 *Norwich University of Vermont dates from 1819, but it is a private 
 institution and one in whicb tlie military feature is not of paramount im- 
 portance.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 37 
 
 cause capable of bearing arms efficiently in the hour of 
 their country's need. The whole conception of the 
 School was in accord with the recommendation of Wash- 
 ington which has already been cited. "However pacific 
 the general policy of a nation may be, it ought never 
 to be without an adequate stock of military knowledge 
 for emergencies." Congress recognized the national 
 want by the creation of West Point. Virginia met the 
 needs of her people in the establishment of her own 
 Military Institute. Thus, the nation undertook to sup- 
 ply the trained regular, and the Old Dominion the 
 trained volunteer officer,— acts on the part of each 
 thoroughly compatible with the spirit of the Federal 
 Constitution. 
 
 Having framed their general plan, the Board of 
 Visitors recognized the fact that its successful develop- 
 ment depended upon the character and abilities of the 
 man who should superintend its execution. Accord- 
 ingly, there was no hurry in the selection of that official. 
 Established by legislative Act of March, 1837, it was 
 not until April, 1839, after nearly two years of careful 
 investigation, that the first Superintendent for the 
 School was decided upon, and he was invited to pre- 
 sent his acceptance of appointment to the Board the 
 following month. 
 
 Happily, the choice fell upon one whose subsequent 
 career ably testifies to the wisdom of the selection. 
 
 Fi-ancis Henney Smith was born in Norfolk, Vir- 
 ginia, October 18, 1812, of aristocratic Enghsh and Vir- 
 ginia parents. He was, then, a gentleman by blood, 
 environment, and early training. July 1, 1829, he was 
 appointed a cadet of the United States Military 
 Academy, and was graduated with distinction with the 
 Class of 1833. As to his associates during the period 
 of his cadetship, and the character of his education, one 
 need only consult the records of the Academy. Both 
 were the highest the country afforded. 
 
 November 30, 1833, he was assigned to the celebrated 
 First Artillery with the rank of second lieutenant, and
 
 38 The Military History of 
 
 thus again he was thrown in contact with men of dis- 
 tinguished character and abihty. But his military ser- 
 vice was of short duration, for he, hke many other 
 officers of the time, resigned from the army to enter 
 the civil walks of life. The army at that period offered 
 small prospect of advancement, and, in fact, the life of 
 the soldier held little allurement for men of intellect, 
 not specially devoted to a militarj^ career. And, so it 
 was that Lieutenant Smith resigned his coimnission. 
 May 1, 1836, to accept the professorship of Mathe- 
 matics, — a subject in which he was particularly gifted, 
 — at Hampden- Sidney College, Virginia. 
 
 Although one finds no mention of the matter in the 
 records of the Institute, the writer is inclined to believe 
 a certain influence led to the selection of Francis H. 
 Smith as the first executive and Principal Professor of 
 the Institute. At any rate, the following circumstances 
 are narrated: 
 
 William Nelson Pendleton, of Caroline County, Vir- 
 ginia, was graduated from West Point, July 4, 1830. 
 He was a First Classman at the Academy when Smith 
 entered as a "plebe," and being from Virginia naturally 
 became interested in his fellow-countryman, as cadets 
 are wont to do. A great religious revival was sweeping 
 over the country at the time, and the spirit invaded the 
 Academy. Pendleton and Smith were both intensely 
 religious, and were, therefore, more than ordinarily con- 
 genial. In September, 1831, Lieutenant Pendleton of 
 the Artillery was ordered back to the Academy as 
 Assistant Professor of Mathematics, in which capacity 
 he served for one year. In October, 1833, after an irk- 
 some year of garrison life, Pendleton resigned his com- 
 mission and accepted the professorship of Mathematics 
 at the newly organized Episcopal College, near Bristol, 
 Pennsvlvania. In Mav, 1837, he was ordained Deacon 
 in the Protestant Episcopal Church, Diocese of Vir- 
 ginia, by Bishop Meade at the Convention in Peters- 
 burg, Virginia, and accepted a professorship at Newark 
 College, Delaware. In 1839 he was appointed Head-
 
 The Vikginia Military Institute 39 
 
 Master of the Episcopal High School, near Alexandria, 
 which Bishop Meade founded that year.* 
 
 General Smith tells us that the offer of appointment 
 as professor at the Institute came to him through Rev. 
 George A. Baxter, D. D., President of the Theological 
 Seminary at Alexandria. Dr. Baxter and Pendleton 
 were well acquainted and both had just attended a meet- 
 ing of the Episcopal Sjmod in Lexington, where the ap- 
 pointment of a Superintendent for the Institute was 
 being widely discussed. It is possible, therefore, that 
 Pendleton may have suggested the narne of his friend, 
 whose presence in Virginia, whose skill as a teacher, 
 training as a soldier, and character as a Christian, all 
 recommended his fitness for the position. 
 
 And yet, the name of Francis H. Smith may have 
 been suggested in another way to the Board of Visitors. 
 Joseph Reid Anderson of Richmond, later a Confeder- 
 ate brigadier-general, and the noted proprietor of the 
 Tredegar Iron Works, had been a cadet at West Point 
 with Smith. After serving as a lieutenant in the Third 
 Artillery, he transferred to the Engineer Corps in 1836 
 and resigned his commission in 1837 to become First 
 Assistant Engineer of Virginia. This placed Anderson 
 in intimate association with Crozet, the President of the 
 Board of Visitors, who was Chief Engineer of Vir- 
 ginia. There is good authority for the belief that 
 Anderson himself was Crozet's first choice but declined 
 to be a candidate. Smith always believed that Ander- 
 son was a candidate for the office and the amusing story 
 has become current that when the names of Anderson 
 and Smith were being discussed before the Board, the 
 advocates of the two candidates devoted most of their 
 time to singing the praises of Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. 
 Smith. The story further has it that this more or less 
 irrelevant discussion continued without signs of abating 
 until the humorous Crozet rose and called for a vote 
 as to which one of the ladies should be Superintendent ! 
 
 ♦Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, Lee.
 
 40 The Military History of 
 
 Colonel Joseph R. Anderson, the present Historiog- 
 rapher of the Institute, declares that his father's name 
 never came before the Board; that he was not a candi- 
 date; and that he was merely approached by Crozet and 
 declined to become a candidate. Having been a cadet 
 with Smith, it is possible, therefore, that Anderson sug- 
 gested Smith's name to Crozet. 
 
 The foregoing facts have been presented at some 
 length for the purpose of fully tracing out the West 
 Point influence upon the Institute, a matter which has 
 never been adequately presented. 
 
 The appointment of Smith was also advocated by 
 Major Charles H. Smith, of Norfolk, Paymaster U. S. 
 Army, who was brother-in-law of General Thomas H. 
 Botts, of the Board of Visitors; but we have no reason 
 to believe that Major Smith first suggested the name of 
 his friend to the Board. 
 
 The original plan of the founders of the School con- 
 templated a quota of 40 cadets, one to be appointed 
 from each senatorial district of the State. Smith, who 
 had acquired uncoixanon repute as a teacher, and who 
 was a man of ambition, was unwilling to accept a posi- 
 tion of such limited scope as that offered him, and de- 
 clined to appear before the Board of Visitors, as 
 requested; but, notwithstanding this attitude on his 
 part, he was imanimously elected Principal Professor, 
 with rank of major, and duties as Commandant of 
 Cadets, June 8, 1839. July 1, he accepted the appoint- 
 ment after long and thoughtful deliberation. 
 
 The first official act of Major Smith was to confer 
 with Colonel Thayer, the distinguished and successful 
 Superintendent of West Point, for the purpose of secur- 
 ing suggestions from him, as well as samples of the 
 uniforms, arms and equipment in use at the Academy. 
 Soon after his acceptance, he received a letter from 
 Colonel Crozet which placed at rest all fears the soldier 
 Smith entertained about the military character to be 
 imparted to the new School. An extract from that 
 letter follows :
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 41 
 
 "Lexington, September 12, 1829. 
 
 "Major Francis H. Smith. 
 
 "Dear Sir — You will receive by mail a printed copy of the 
 Regulations adopted by the Board of Visitors for the government 
 of the Virginia Military Institute. 
 
 "We understand that it is your intention to take a trip to the 
 North previous to your coming to this place: in this event, you 
 might assist the Board in procuring several things which will be 
 wanted at, or shortly after, the opening of the Institute. Among 
 them are some parts of the uniform and accoutrements, which, you 
 will observe, are similar to those used at West Point. 
 
 "Would it be convenient to you, while there, to inquire what 
 prospect there would be of obtaining 100 such muskets and com- 
 plete accoutrements as are used there, and to take such steps as 
 will secure this object speedily, as also from fifty to one hundred 
 caps introduced by Major Delafield without the plate, of course? 
 The muskets and equipment will be obtained from the U. S. Gov- 
 ernment, free of charge. It will, consequently, be sufficient to 
 apply for them in the proper quarter, and correspond with General 
 Peyton, if necessary, on the subject, as regards the caps. If you 
 can purchase them, you can draw, or direct the merchant to draw, 
 on Mr. Hugh Barclay, the Treasurer of the Institution."* 
 
 Observe how Crozet used the word, "Institute." That 
 was the term he apphed by habit to his own Ahna 
 Mater. Can it be doubted that he proposed the name 
 to Preston? Also, observe that he is in Lexington 
 busying himself with his pet hobby. Honoring General 
 Smith for his superb executive ability, we must in 
 justice to truth deny him both the titles of "father" and 
 of "founder" of the Institute, fo?' such was Claude 
 Crozet. 
 
 The annual cost to the State of maintaining the Lex- 
 ington Arsenal and the Guard therefor was $6,000. 
 Upon the creation of the Institute, as a substitute for 
 the Arsenal, the same amount was provided for the sup- 
 port of the school. This annuity was quite inadequate, 
 and the available quarters and facilities were equally so. 
 But, in September, 1839, twenty State Cadets and thir- 
 teen Pay Cadets were appointed by the Board, and 
 ordered to report for duty November 11th. 
 
 *Smith's History, p. 46.
 
 42 The Military History of 
 
 The Superintendent met the Board for the first time 
 on the 11th of November, 1839, when he reported for 
 duty, and was placed in command of the Virginia Mili- 
 tary Institute. He was, personally, a stranger to every 
 member of the Board, but was received by them with 
 such courtesy and consideration as to inspire him with 
 great encouragement and hopefulness as he entered 
 upon the discharge of his responsible duties. 
 
 Twenty cadets reported for duty, were examined by 
 the Superintendent in Franklin Hall, in the presence of 
 the Board of Visitors; and, their duties having been 
 fully explained to them, under the regulations, they 
 signed their matriculation obligation, and were then 
 marched by their commanding officer to the Arsenal, 
 relieving the Public Guard of their duty, and were 
 placed in charge of the public property; while Ad- 
 jutant-General Peyton raised the flag of Virginia over 
 the walls of the Virginia Military Institute, to signalize 
 the exclusive proprietorship of Virginia in the Institu- 
 tion, and her purpose to maintain and defend it. 
 
 Such was the inspiring ceremony attending the 
 entrance of America's second School of Arms upon the 
 field of national — nay more, world-wide usefulness. The 
 incident was epochal; and what were the sentiments 
 animating those who participated in the dedication of 
 this School of Arms to the Majesty of Virginia, can only 
 be suggested by the lines which a noble woman, the wife 
 of the first Superintendent, contributed to the occasion. 
 As we read them, we are reminded of the prayer which 
 a little group of Englishmen offered to God May 13, 
 1607, as they stood with heads bared and bowed on the 
 strange shore of Jamestown Island, and of those other 
 pilgrims who later knelt upon the rock of Plymouth, — 
 both with an unknown world and future stretching out 
 before them : 
 
 "Our work is nobly done, 
 
 We have raised our flag on high, 
 A pledge is made at Freedom's shrine 
 That speaks in every eye;
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 43 
 
 And hearts with fervor and with faith 
 
 In youthful courage strong, 
 Are echoing back the patriot cry: 
 
 My country, right or wrong. 
 
 "It is waving high in air, 
 
 And Liberty's proud form, 
 Borne upward by the mountain breeze. 
 
 In sunshine and in storm, 
 Is planted on the tyrant's breast; 
 
 Thus shall it ever be. 
 For while Virginia owns her name. 
 
 Her gallant sons are free. 
 
 "It is waving high in air, 
 
 We will guard it while we live, 
 Our fathers shed their hearts 
 
 This heritage to give. 
 No traitor spirit soils our ranks. 
 
 Our birthright we will keep, 
 And freemen proudly tread the soil, 
 
 Till under it we sleep." 
 
 These lofty sentiments proved to be no vain boast, for 
 within a quarter of a century from the day they were 
 expressed, — a day when nature gently spread her carpet 
 of snow over the blue hills which surrounded the scene, 
 as if in token of the purity of the new-born child, — Vir- 
 ginia's soil was reddened with the blood of many of those 
 present, including a number of the twenty cadets who, 
 on November 11, 1839, pledged their allegiance to the 
 Old Dominion. Within that time, 249 eleves of the 
 Virginia Military Institute proved their devotion to the 
 flag they had been taught to follow by offering up their 
 lives upon the altar of Liberty! Verily, did the school 
 of Crozet make useful citizens of Virginia's youth ! 
 Verily, did the form of Washington which stood before 
 the sally-port of their barracks inspire them with that 
 patriotism synonymous with his name; for when the 
 Mother of States uttered in the anguish of her soul the 
 battle-cry of freedom, over 1,700 of her children, bearing 
 on their shields the V. M. I. motto, "In Pace Decus, In 
 Bello Praesidium," seized their arms and responded to
 
 44 The Militaky History of 
 
 her siinimons! Glorious, glorious record, unequalled in 
 the history of man ! Can it be forgotten by the South- 
 land or any other country where men are bred? How 
 noble the precept, how priceless the heritage, Virginia's 
 Military Institute has transmitted to the posterity of 
 our united nation. Let it be forgotten that these valiant 
 sons of the V. M. I. arrayed themselves in battle against 
 their fellow-men, and only let it be remembered, and 
 recorded in paraphrase : 
 
 They pledged themselves at Freedom's shrine. 
 
 In youthful courage strong, 
 And echoed back the patriot's cry: 
 
 "My coimtry, right or wrong." 
 No traitor spirit soiled their ranks, 
 
 Their lives a birthright kept: 
 With honor bled for native soil, 
 
 Till under it they slept.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 45 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 "the west point of the south" and major gilham 
 
 We can not in a work of this character expect to 
 follow out in detail the physical development of the 
 Virginia Military Institute. Suffice it to say that the 
 Superintendent fully comprehended the opportunity 
 before him and with great zeal turned every advantage 
 to account. The following brief account of the physical 
 condition of the post when turned over to the Virginia 
 Military Institute is interesting:* 
 
 "The buildings, as they were occupied by the old State 
 Guard, consisted of a barracks of brick, two stories high, 
 and an Arsenal four stories high, also of brick, contain- 
 ing boxes packed with flint-lock muskets and rifles, cart- 
 ridge boxes and 'pipe clay' leather belts. The buildings 
 were enclosed by a brick wall, twenty feet high, and the 
 windows of the Barracks were securely defended by 
 stout iron bars, to restrain the wandering propensities 
 of the guard. The only lights used for the cadets were 
 tin lamps in which whale oil was burned. The water 
 consumed by cadets, both for ablution and for drinking 
 purposes, was hauled in barrels from springs near the 
 grounds. 
 
 "The basement of the Arsenal, with a brick floor, was 
 utilized for a mess hall, and was heated by an ordinary 
 iron stove. The steward and commissary, with his fam- 
 ily, occupied two or three rooms in the central portion 
 of the second story of the Barracks. 
 
 "The present parade ground was partly under culti- 
 vation as a corn field, intersected by worm fences, and 
 mioccupied by any buildings except a few log cabins, 
 which were utilized as section rooms. There was no 
 professor's house as yet constructed; except a brick 
 house, built for the Superintendent, Major Smith, 
 
 •Written bv Col. Edmund Pendleton, Class of 1842, one of the oiiirina! 
 matriculates, for the V. M. I. Bomb of 1896.
 
 46 The Military History of 
 
 which stood at the west end of the Barracks, with its 
 gable fronting southward. 
 
 "The only tree on the parade ground at that time 
 was the hickory known as the 'Guard Tree,' which still 
 stands on the grounds. There were a few cedar trees on 
 the face of the hill, which have long since ceased to exist. 
 The face of the hill was deeply cut by gullies, which 
 have since been filled up. No path or avenue at that 
 time connected the V. M. I. with Washington College, 
 and the only way of reaching the town of Lexington 
 was by a pathway leading down the hill to the extension 
 of Main Street. 
 
 "Those who are old enough to remember the winter 
 of 1839 and '40, will recall it as a winter conspicuous 
 for its severity. The ground, from the 11th of No- 
 vember, was covered with snow for the greater portion 
 of the winter. But miUtary discipline and the regular 
 performance of guard duty was strictly enforced in 
 spite of the weather. At that time no tailors had been 
 appointed at the Institute, and the sole dependence of 
 the cadets for proper clothing was upon the few tailors 
 in the town of Lexington. The clothing department 
 was not yet organized, and not until after the newly- 
 appointed cadets had arrived, were any purchases made 
 of cloth or buttons for the uniforms. The temporary 
 supply of rough blanket overcoats was purchased for 
 the use of the sentinels, to protect them against the 
 severe wintry blasts. The consequence was that colds 
 Avere very prevalent among the cadets, and great dis- 
 satisfaction and a spirit of mutiny prevailed to a large 
 extent. So much so that a meeting assembled and 
 angrily discussed the question whether they would not 
 disband and return to their homes. This action, on be- 
 ing put to the vote, very narrowly escaped being de- 
 cided in the affirmative; but the resolute spirit of a few 
 of the cadets, upheld and encouraged by their young 
 Superintendent, who was then but twenty-six years 
 old, saved the imperilled life of the Institute."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 47 
 
 It is proper to record here the names of the original 
 matriculates in the Corps of Cadets, or those cadets 
 who comprised the Corps of 1839-40. They were: 
 
 1. John S. L. Logan, of Rockbridge County. 
 
 2. Philip J. Winn, of Fluvanna County. 
 
 *3. Thomas J. B. Cramer, of Frederick County. 
 
 4. James Kanney, of Rockingham County. 
 
 6. John W. Jones, of Shenandoah County. 
 
 *6. John T. Smith, of Norfolk City. 
 
 *7. James H. Jameson, of Culpeper County. 
 
 *8. Charles P. Deyerle, of Roanoke County. 
 
 *9. Valentine C. Saunders, of I.oudoun County. 
 
 *10. W. M. Elliott, of Buckingham County. 
 
 *11. John B. Strange, of Albemarle County. 
 
 12. Benjamin Sharp, of Lee County. 
 
 13. Charles A. Crump, of Powhatan County. 
 *14. O. M. Knight, of Nottoway County. 
 
 15. B. B. Tibbs, of Monongalia County. 
 
 *16. James H. Lawrence, of Caroline County. 
 
 *17. William A. Forbes, of Richmond City. 
 
 18. Henry B. Sumpter, of Campbell County. 
 
 *19. Edmund Pendleton, of Botetourt County. 
 
 *20. William D. Fair, of Amherst County. 
 
 *21. William S. Beale, of Shenandoah County. 
 
 *22. Joseph W. Bell, of Augusta County. 
 
 23. C. E. Carter, of Albemarle County. 
 
 *24. William H. Henderson, of Loudoun County. 
 
 *25. Louis A. Garnett, of Essex County. 
 
 *26. James Marshall, of Warren County. 
 
 27. Lemuel B. Prvor, of Brunswick County. 
 
 28. David Chilton, of Kanawha County. 
 
 29. Hamilton L. Shields, of Norfolk City. 
 
 30. John S. Swann, of Powhatan County. 
 
 31. R. B. Worthington, of . 
 
 Of the foregoing named matriculates Shields and 
 Swann entered the Institute December 5, 1839; Worth- 
 ington March 1, 1840, and all the others at the opening 
 of the Institute. Those before whose name appears a 
 star were graduated in 1842 except Beale, who was 
 graduated the following year. 
 
 As the spring of 1840 opened, practical military in- 
 struction was commenced and the 31 cadets in their trim 
 coatees soon comprised a natty military company as
 
 48 The Military History of 
 
 excellent in drill as in discipline and personnel. From 
 the hour Major Smith took command of the little Corps, 
 every cadet had been held to a strict accomit for the 
 performance of his dutJ^ The first order of the Com- 
 mandant had dispelled any idea that may have been 
 entertained that the militarj^ duty of the cadet was to 
 be a farce. That order is here inserted: 
 
 "Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "Lexington, Va., November 11, 1839. 
 
 "Orders — No. 1. 
 
 "I. Maj. Francis H. Smith assumes command of the Virginia 
 Military Institute. All reports, permits, etc., will be made to him 
 during the morning office hours. 
 
 "II. The present guard will consist of one sergeant, one 
 corporal, and three privates, and one sentinel will be habitually- 
 posted at the main gate. 
 
 "III. The following temporary appointments are made: 
 
 "Cadet W. D. Fair, to be Adjutant of Corps of Cadets. 
 
 "Cadet H. B. Sumpter, to be First Sergeant. 
 
 "Cadet J. H. Jameson, to be Second Sergeant. 
 
 "Cadet I.. A. Garnett, to be Third Sergeant. 
 
 "Cadet J. H. Lawrence, to be Fourth Sergeant. 
 
 "Cadet C. E. Carter, to be First Corporal. 
 
 "Cadet W. S. Beale, to be Second Corporal. 
 
 "Cadet T. J. B. Cramer, to be Third Corporal. 
 
 "Cadet J. W. Jones, to be Fourth Corporal. 
 
 "Cadet V. C. Saunders, to be Fifth Corporal. 
 
 "IV. The exercises of the Institute will commence on Monday 
 next, by which time cadets will apply to Mr. Hugh Barclay for one 
 copy each of the following text-books : 
 
 "Davies Bourdon's Algebra, 
 "Levizac's French Grammar. 
 "By Order, 
 
 "Francis H. Smith, 
 
 "Major Commanding." 
 
 The first Guard-Book is still on file at the Institute. 
 It might be easily taken for the one of yesterday. 
 
 The organization of the Corps included, besides the 
 Commandant and the cadets, the negro musicians, 
 Reuben Howard and Mike, drummer and fifer formerly 
 attached to the Arsenal Gviard.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 49 
 
 During the cold winter of 1839-40, in which many 
 hardships were encountered by the Commandant and 
 the cadets, two new members were appointed to the 
 Board of Visitors. These were Adjutant-General Wil- 
 liam H. Richardson, vice Peyton, and General William 
 Ligon, a veteran of the War of 1812, vice Wile5^ 
 
 The Board met in Lexington in June to conduct the 
 annual examinations and to inspect the Corps of Cadets. 
 Colonel Crozet conducted the academic examination 
 with the skill for which he was noted, and the diminutive 
 Corps was reviewed by the Board. So satisfactory 
 were the results of the first year's work found to be that 
 from that day the Institute bore the title of "West Point 
 of the South," and its fame rapidly spread abroad. The 
 title did not originate, as is thought by some, at the time 
 of the War between the States, when so many graduates 
 and eleves of the Institute entered the military service. 
 
 In June, 1840, the Corps was more than doubled in 
 size, and the number of applicants for admission as Pay 
 Cadets largely exceeded the nmiiber which the Institute 
 could accommodate. It now became necessary to re- 
 vise the original Regulations and it was at this time that 
 the General Assembly authorized the granting of com- 
 missions in the Volunteers of the Commonwealth to the 
 professorial staff of the Institute, according to the 
 grade fixed by the Board of Visitors. The Principal 
 Professor now became Superintendent, with rank of 
 colonel; the only other professor, John T. L. Preston, 
 who had so earnestly advocated the establishment of the 
 School, was dignified with the title of Major. 
 
 The need of an additional professor now became a 
 pressing one, and the name of Thomas Hoomes 
 Wilhamson, Esq., of Norfolk, was suggested to the 
 Board by the Superintendent. Mr. Williamson was a 
 former classmate of Colonel Smith's at the Academy, 
 but failed in Languages his third year. He was a good 
 soldier, however, and well equipped by training to teach 
 Tactics and Drawing. Accordingly, July 19, 1841, he 
 was appointed Professor of Tactics and Drawing, and
 
 50 The Military History of 
 
 assigned to duty as Commandant of Cadets, with rank 
 of captain, being the second Commandant of the 
 Institute. 
 
 In Wilham H. Richardson, the new Adjutant-Gen- 
 eral, the Institute found a warm friend and ardent sup- 
 porter. From 1841 to 186.5, and from 1866 to 1876, he 
 was Adjutant-General of Virginia, and, as an eaj-officio 
 member of the Board, his services were conspicuously 
 valuable to the School. In every way possible he 
 furthered its interests; and his dying request was that 
 no monument but a simple stone be placed over his 
 grave with the inscription: 
 
 "Placed here by the Graduates of the Virginia Mili- 
 tary Institute." 
 
 Since this request was made it has been fulfilled, for 
 in 1875 the Rev. Charles D. Walker, V. M. I., '69, 
 inscribed in his memorial volume containing the bio- 
 graphical sketches of the graduates and eleves of the 
 Institute who fell in the War between the States the 
 following words: "To General William H. Richard- 
 son, Adjutant-General of the State of Virginia, and 
 the life-long friend of the V. M. I., this record of 
 those of his boys who died for the cause is affectionately 
 dedicated." The record of those valiant youths is 
 indeed a noble memorial. 
 
 As evidence of his faith in the School, he entered his 
 son as a cadet in the fall of 1840, and William H. Rich- 
 ardson, Jr., became an Assistant Professor and the first 
 Adjutant of the Virginia Military Institute, after 
 graduating with the Class of 1844.* 
 
 It was through the influence of General Richardson 
 that the Corps of Cadets was ordered to Richmond in 
 Januaiy, 1842, to be examined and inspected by the 
 
 ♦William H. Richardson was born in Richmond City on Dec. 18, 1795, the 
 son of Major George Richardson, a Revolutionary officer. He served in the 
 War of 1812 as lieutenant in Captain Edmund Taylor's rifle regiment with 
 commission dated on May 31, 1813. He became captain of the company m 1815. 
 In 1821 he was appointed clerk of the Executive Council, which office he held 
 until the Council was abolished in 1852 by the new constitution. Richardson 
 then became Secretary of the Commonwealth for about a year. After the 
 resignation of Adjutant-General Bernard Peyton he was appointed to the office 
 and remained in it until his death on September 1, 1876. In addition to his 
 clerical and military services he organized the Agricultural and Horticultural 
 Society of Virginia in 1844. and was its president for several years.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 51 
 
 General Assembly. As a friend and admirer of the 
 Institute, he believed a more intimate knowledge of the 
 work of the School, on the part of the members of the 
 Assembly, would produce the most favorable results; 
 and in this he was not mistaken. 
 
 The appearance of the Corps in Richmond created a 
 profound impression in the minds of the people of the 
 State. The great body of legislators had followed the 
 proceedings of the more enthusiastic adherents of the 
 Military Institute in a listless way, voting for the 
 various measures proposed in connection with its 
 organization, not because of any especial interest in the 
 undertaking, but because they had no sufficient reasons 
 to oppose the importunities of the few enthusiasts. 
 The people of the State at large knew little of the 
 School, and few, even in Richmond, conceived the real 
 character of the infant institution. And, so, when the 
 superb bodj^ of 60 cadets paraded the streets of the 
 capital city, the popular imagination was aroused and 
 great crowds followed the splendidly-drilled Corps, 
 from place to place. 
 
 The cadets were examined before the House of Dele- 
 gates in the various subjects of their curriculum by 
 three Cadet Instructors who not only demonstrated the 
 proficiency of the academic instruction of the entire 
 Corps, but their own high efficiency as trained teachers. 
 The Legislature was immensely pleased and a public 
 collation was tendered the cadets by the people of Rich- 
 mond. On this occasion, a stand of colors was pre- 
 sented the little Battalion by the veteran soldier. Gen. 
 William Ligon, — a beautiful flag bearing the inscrip- 
 tion, "Virginia Military Institute." ^Vlien, during the 
 ceremony of presentation, the "Flag of the V. M. I." 
 was toasted, the Color-Sergeant, Cadet WiUiam S. 
 Beale,* sprang upon a table, and, as he grasped the 
 colors with his right hand, responded: 
 
 "Let him bear it who is able to defend it." 
 
 ♦This noble voung man, a nephew of General William Steenliergen, a short 
 while after his graduation, was drowned in the Ohio River in a heroic effort 
 to save the life of a negro boatman, after he had rescued from drowning his 
 cousin to whom he was engaged to be married.
 
 52 The Military History of 
 
 Such was the spirit in which the V. M. I. cadet first 
 received the colors he was to bear, and such has been 
 that which for more than three quarters of a century 
 has been inculcated in a host of American youths. With 
 their flag they have been taught to associate the ideals 
 of their race; and so, their flag is not only their colors, 
 but the standard of their virtue. 
 
 The fruits of General Richardson's scheme were now 
 to be gathered, for the pride of the General Assembly, 
 and of the people, had been touched by their young 
 soldiers. Accordingly, by Act of March 8, 1842, the 
 General Assembly increased the annuity of the Insti- 
 tute by $1,500, requiring in return that all State Cadet 
 graduates should discharge their obligation to the Com- 
 monwealth b}^ teaching in some school in the State foj* 
 a period of two years after graduation, on such pay as 
 they might be able to contract for. Thus, the Institute 
 became, not only the second governmental military 
 school in America, but the first Normal School in Vir- 
 ginia ;* and to the subsequent labors of its graduates was 
 undoubtedly due the fact that between 1845 and 1860 
 the number of College students in Virginia increased 
 from 500 to 2,500, "giving Virginia the proud pre- 
 eminence of having a larger number of young men at- 
 tending colleges, in proportion to white population, 
 than any other State in the Union." 
 
 The first class to enter the Institute was graduated 
 July 4, 1842. The high character of their education is 
 well attested by the careers of the sixteen cadets who re- 
 ceived diplomas on that day. Let us enumerate them 
 in order of their graduation. 
 
 1. William D. Fair, Virginia, Lawyer; member of first Senate 
 of California; died December 27, 1861. 
 
 2. William H. Henderson^ Virginia, Lawyer; died 1860. 
 
 3. John B. Strange, Virginia, Principal Norfolk Academy; 
 Colonel 19th Virginia Infantry, C. S. A.; killed in battle. 
 
 4. T. J. B. Cramer, Virginia, Teacher ; elected Treasurer of 
 Kansas ; one of incorporators of City of Denver, which he helped 
 to lay out. 
 
 *The University of Virginia was impressed witli a similar cliaracter bv 
 Act of March 12, 1856.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 53 
 
 5. Edmund Pendleton, Virginia, Lawyer; Colonel Louisiana 
 Infantry, wounded; member Virginia Senate; member Board of 
 Visitors V. M. I. 
 
 6. J. H. Lawrence, Virginia, Dentist; Adjutant Ga. Infantry. 
 
 7. W. M. Elliott, Virginia, Lt.-Col. C. S. A.; Editor Rich- 
 mond Whig; member Virginia House of Delegates and State 
 Senate; member Board of Visitors V. M. L; Rector University of 
 Virginia. 
 
 8. J. H. Jameson, Virginia, Lawyer; Captain Virginia 
 Infantry, C. S. A. ; died of wounds. 
 
 9. C. P. Deyerle, Virginia, Assistant Surgeon U. S. Army; 
 and served in the Mexican War; died 1853, in the line of duty. 
 
 10. John T. Smith, Virginia, Farmer; Officer C. S. A. 
 
 11. William A. Forbes, Virginia; President Clarksville Col- 
 lege, Tenn. ; Colonel 14th Tenn. Infantry; killed Second Manassas. 
 
 12. V. C. Saunders, Virginia; Principal Baton Rouge Military 
 Institute, and noted scholar. 
 
 13. J. W. Bell, Virginia, Farmer; Captain C. S. A. 
 
 14. O. M. Knight,* Virginia, Physician and Planter; Captain 
 Virginia Cavalry, C. S. A. 
 
 15. James Marshall, Virginia, Farmer; Captain Virginia 
 Cavalry, C. S. A. 
 
 16. Louis A. Garnett, Virginia, Lawj^er in California; President 
 Assaying and Refining Co.; leading currency expert in U. S. 
 
 In the life work of these men was reflected the genius 
 of Crozet, of Smith, and of the School they had 
 fomided. The influence of the Institute as a School of 
 Arms and the character of its training as such in the 
 first three years of its existence, could not be more 
 strikingly demonstrated than by the foregoing enum- 
 eration. In 1861, the majority of the members of the 
 Class of 1842 were over forty years of age. Two had 
 died — one in the old army, and three had removed to 
 the far West — of the remaining eleven members ten 
 entered the military service of the Confederacj^ and 
 three were killed in battle ! 
 
 When the Institute was established the Legislature 
 provided for an arrangement between it and Washing- 
 ton College whereby the students of the latter might 
 receive military instruction, in order that the College 
 might avail itself of an endowment of the Virginia 
 
 ♦still living (1914).
 
 54 The Military History of 
 
 Society of the Cincinnati, in the sum of $15,000. This 
 endowment was dependent on the estabhshment by the 
 College of a chair of Military Science and Gunnery. 
 As soon, therefore, as the Institute was put in opera- 
 tion, Major Smith was appointed Cincinnati Professor 
 of JMilitary Science in the College, and a squad of stu- 
 dents was formed as the "Cincinnati Class," and 
 regularly drilled with the cadets, wearing practically 
 the same uniform as the latter. In return for the ser- 
 vice thus rendered by the Institute, cadets were privi- 
 leged to pursue the course of Chemistry at the 
 College. The arrangement was not an advantageous 
 one to the Institute for many reasons, among others 
 that the College students were not subject to discipline. 
 Their disorders frequently brought discredit upon the 
 Institute, for they were not distinguishable from cadets 
 by reason of the similarity of uniforms. Fortunately, 
 the relationship was terminated by the College, Febru- 
 ary 22, 1845; but Washington College, now Washing- 
 ton and Lee University, continues to receive the bene- 
 faction of the great patriotic society; and the 
 remarkable anomaly exists of one institution in Lexing- 
 ton obtaining an annuity for instruction it does not give, 
 while the Military School of the State with its highly 
 developed course of military science and practical in- 
 struction, situated in the same town, receives nothing 
 from the Cincinnati endowment.* 
 
 Upon the severance of the relations of the two Insti- 
 tutions of learning in Lexington, it became necessary 
 to place instruction in the Physical Sciences at the 
 Institute upon a higher plane , and an addition of 
 $7,000.00 to the annuity by the Legislature enabled the 
 Board to create a new and distinct department in 
 1846. 
 
 To fill the chair thus created was a difficult matter, 
 for it was comtemplated that the new professor should 
 also perform the duties of Commandant of Cadets and 
 
 *At its annual meeting in September, 1913, the Virginia Society of the 
 Cincinnati voted an annual allowance to the Institute as a scholarship aggre- 
 gating several hundred dollars and also a gold medal for the cadet of highest 
 general merit.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 55 
 
 Instructor of Tactics, relieving the overburdened 
 Captain Williamson of his mihtary duties. The new 
 professor must, therefore, be a soldier and the greater 
 his experience as such, the better. 
 
 In the selection of the new professor and com- 
 mandant, the West Point influence again made itself 
 felt. 
 
 Proud of the Institute, Colonel Smith had frequently 
 invited his distinguished friends at the United States 
 Military Academy to visit him in Lexington, and wit- 
 ness the results of his work. Among others who at- 
 tended the graduating exercises and examinations were 
 Professors Bartlett, Church, and Mahan of West 
 Point. And, so, when the Superintendent made known 
 his wants to these illustrious teachers, it was natural 
 that Professor Bartlett should recommend the appoint- 
 ment of his brilliant and talented young assistant in 
 the department of Natural Philosophy at the Academy, 
 William GiDiam. 
 
 William Gilham was born in Indiana and was ap- 
 pointed a cadet at West Point July 1, 1836, graduating 
 with distinction with the Class of 1840. Assigned to 
 the Third Artillery with the rank of second lieutenant, 
 he received his promotion October 23, 1841, and as a 
 first lieutenant participated under General Zachary 
 Taylor in the Mexican War. In the battles of Palo 
 Alto and Resaca he was distinguished for gallantr5^ 
 Before the declaration of peace, the young officer was 
 ordered back to the Academy, as assistant to Professor 
 Bartlett, and had served as such with notable success, 
 when he was tendered the appointment as Commandant 
 of Cadets, Instructor of Tactics, and Professor of 
 Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Chemistry, 
 with rank of major. 
 
 Lieutenant Gilliam at once accepted the appoint- 
 ment tendered him, and resigned his commission in the 
 army, October 17, 1846. "Quick, accurate, and self- 
 possessed, he had a magnetic jDower of command which 
 made the drill of the Corps the equal, if not the superior, 
 of that at West Point. In command of the Battalion
 
 56 The Military History of 
 
 of Cadets, JNIajor Gilliam had no superior." Such was 
 the estimate of the Superintendent. 
 
 In addition to his military service at the Institute, 
 Major Gilham organized and conducted the first course 
 in Scientific Agriculture and Industrial Chemistry in 
 the South. But to his greatest work we shall refer 
 later. 
 
 Another distinguished soldier was now associated 
 with the Institute as a member of the Board of Visitors 
 in the person of Philip St. George Cocke, who was 
 graduated from West Point in 1832, but resigned his 
 commission as Second Lieutenant, Second Artillery, 
 April 1, 1834. He was a man of unusual wealth and 
 of great social and political influence, and hence, was a 
 distinct acquisition to the Institute when appointed to 
 the Board of Visitors in 1846.* 
 
 Other recent appointments of military note to the 
 Board were those of Captain Charles Dimmock, U. S. 
 M. A., 1821, who resigned his commission as a captain 
 in the First Artillery, September 30, 1836,** and Gen- 
 eral Carter Braxton. Thus we see that as time went by 
 the necessity of maintaining a preponderant military 
 influence in the Board was not lost sight of. With 
 Crozet, Cocke, and Dimmock, on the Board, and Smith, 
 Williamson, and Gilham in the faculty, all from West 
 Point, the influence which the national Academy bore 
 in the affairs of the Institute can hardly be ex- 
 aggerated. When we consider, with these, the other 
 soldiers on the Board, a highly military character in the 
 governing bod}^ seems to have been jealously preserved 
 as its essential feature. 
 
 The continued enlargement of the Corps, and the 
 splendid work of the Institute, led to the appropriation 
 by the General Assembly, March 8, 1850, of $46,000, 
 for the erection of a suitable barracks. For this ma- 
 terial recognition of the Institute, its thanks were 
 largety due General Richardson and Cocke, who were 
 
 *Appoiiited Brigadier-General C. S. A., October 21, 1861. 
 
 **Captain Dimmocli was born in Massachusetts, but was appointed Colonel 
 C. S. A. and Chief of Ordnance of Virginia, in 1861, a position for which 
 George H. Thomas, later Major-General, U. S. Army, applied in January, 1861,
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 57 
 
 equally enthusiastic with Colonel Crozet in their support 
 of the School. Up to this time, said Cocke, "his negroes 
 were better quartered than the cadets." 
 
 To further the interest of the School by again attract- 
 ing the attention of the Legislature, and by appealing to 
 its pride in the School, thus insuring the passage of the 
 Act appropriating the needed funds, General Richard- 
 son had again caused the Corps in February to be 
 ordered to Richmond to attend the ceremonies con- 
 nected with the laying of the corner-stone of the Wash- 
 ington monument. He well knew that nothing would 
 so appeal to the people of the State, and especially to 
 the legislators, as the visible results being produced at 
 Lexington. 
 
 The Corps now had a battalion organization of two 
 companies, and, under Major Gilham's efficient com- 
 mand, had attained a remarkable degree of military 
 proficiency. Its drill was superb ; its equipment modern 
 and complete in every respect; and the personnel of its 
 officers and cadets was of the highest social order. Num- 
 bered among its one hundred cadets were the scions of 
 many of Virginia's most distinguished families, and the 
 prominent positions in the affairs of the State which 
 its graduates, — numbering over one hundred at this 
 time, — had assimied, added lustre and influence to the 
 Institute. Well might its unparalleled rise in popu- 
 larity throughout the State arouse the jealous attention 
 of its sister institutions. And this is exactly what hap- 
 pened ; for already its progress was beset with the open 
 hostility of the friends of Washington College, hostility 
 which in its unreasonableness only attracted a higher 
 regard to the object of its unjust attacks. 
 
 General Zachary Taylor, then President of the 
 United States, was invited to attend the ceremonies in 
 Richmond on February 22, 1850, the one hundred and 
 eighteenth anniversary of the birth of Washington. 
 He accepted the invitation, and, at once. Governor 
 John B. Floyd of Virginia, former Secretary of War 
 of the United States, and only recently become a
 
 58 The Military History of 
 
 member of the Board of Visitors of the Institute, 
 tendered the services of the Corps of Cadets as his body- 
 guard, an offer which the President accepted with 
 pleasure. 
 
 The work of designing and casting the bronze figures 
 of the Washington Monument had been assigned to the 
 great American Sculptor, Thomas Crawford, and his 
 models had been favorably received. The corner-stone 
 of what has been styled the finest monument of its kind 
 in America, the total cost of which was $260,000, was 
 laid with imposing ceremonies, and most of the military 
 organizations of the State, as well as troops from else- 
 where, participated therein. But none of these com- 
 pared with the Cadet Corps, which won the unstinted 
 plaudits of the assembled populace, and the highest 
 praise from the dignitaries and military men of the 
 State and nation who were present on the interesting 
 occasion. 
 
 The Alumni were overjoyed at the way the Corps 
 was received, and, to express their own pride, presented 
 through James B. Dorman, Esq., a member of the 
 House of Delegates, and a private of the Class of 1843, 
 the second stand of Battalion colors. Cadet Charles 
 Denby, who was graduated with the Class of 1850, and 
 who became Minister to China in 1885, received the 
 flag for the Corps, that function being his prerogative 
 as senior cadet-officer.* 
 
 For many years the Corps of Cadets bore these colors. 
 In the battle of New Market they created much con- 
 fusion in the minds of the Federals, who were un- 
 familiar with the white flag. Indeed, it has been re- 
 corded by one Federal officer that the perfectly drilled 
 Battalion of Cadets, bearing a strange white flag, and 
 maneuvering with unusual precision, led many of his 
 comrades at first to believe the Corps was some foreign 
 command. 
 
 An especial effort has been made by the author to 
 secure a detailed description of these colors which 
 
 *Denby became a colonel in the Federal Army during the war, served with 
 distinction, and sent his son to the Institute. The latter graduated in 1899.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 59 
 
 would prove generally acceptable to those who followed 
 them, but it is difficult to obtain universal agreement. 
 Unfortunately the original flag was removed from its 
 staff while the cadets were evacuating Lexington in 
 June, 1864, and after being much torn hj cadets wish- 
 ing to preserve a relic of their battle flag, was hidden 
 in a hedge in the yard of the house formerly occupied 
 by "Stonewall" Jackson on the campus of Washington 
 College. Upon the return of the Corps of Cadets to 
 the Institute after Hunter's raid, no trace of the 
 tattered flag remained. The only piece of it known to 
 exist was presented to the Institute in June, 1914, by 
 a grandson of General Francis H. Smith, and is now 
 jealously guarded in the library museum. 
 
 The best description of the flag I have been able 
 to obtain is that of Captain B. A. Colonna. "The 
 staff was about 9 or 10 feet long, made of fine-grained 
 ash and surmounted by a brass eagle. The flag was 
 made of white corded silk, and had a gold fringe on 
 the outer end and top and bottom. The right field was 
 emblazoned with the State coat of arms of the usual 
 size, and below it, appeared the motto — Sic Semper 
 Tyrannis. The left field was emblazoned with the head 
 of General Washington above a U. S. shield, behind 
 which were crossed two U. S. flags at a fairly flat 
 angle. Below the flags, were crossed cannon, muskets, 
 etc., and under them appeared cannon balls. The shield 
 was surmounted by an eagle clutching arrows in one 
 claw, and an olive branch in the other." 
 
 Captain Colonna omits all reference to the name — 
 Virginia Military Institute— which many old cadets 
 claim appeared below the head of Washington. 
 
 In 1909, at the inauguration of President Taft in 
 Washington, the New York Alumni Chapter presented 
 to the Corps of Cadets, through Major-General J. 
 Franklin Bell, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, a stand 
 of colors purporting to be a replica of the old cadet 
 colors, but the designer of the new flag, John S. Wise, 
 father of the author, repeatedly stated that he was un-
 
 60 The Military History of 
 
 able to recall in detail the original except that it was 
 white and displayed the head of Washington. The new 
 flag was not really intended by him to be a replica, but 
 was designed for the principal purpose of preserving 
 the characteristic features of the old one, which were 
 the white field and the head of Washington — emblem- 
 atic in themselves and appropriate as a souvenir of 
 the occasion, on which the colors were first presented 
 to the Corps of Cadets, or the anniversary of the birth 
 of the great and pure "Father of His Country." 
 
 The people of Richmond generally, as well as the 
 Alumni and patrons of the Institute, extended every 
 hospitality to the Cadets, while in Riclmiond, in Febru- 
 ary, 1850. Not only was the Corps toasted and enter- 
 tained as a military organization, but invitations of all 
 kinds were showered upon the officers and cadets indi- 
 vidually, and the authorities were importuned to order 
 the Corps to Norfolk and Petersburg, as the guest of 
 those cities. So pressing were these invitations that 
 the Superintendent and the Board of Visitors consented 
 without reluctance to their acceptance, upon being per- 
 suaded by the Adjutant-General, and Mr. Cocke, now 
 President of the Board, of the value of the proposed ex- 
 cursion as an advertisement. 
 
 In both Norfolk and Petersburg the Corps received 
 the most gratifying ovations, and by reason of the 
 soldierly conduct of the cadets, the popularity of the 
 Institute was greatly enhanced. Such was the wise 
 means adopted by the Board to insure the successful 
 issue of the pending appropriations, which followed al- 
 most instantly. 
 
 Not alone were the people of Virginia well pleased 
 with the Corps. President Taylor was so delighted with 
 Major Gilliam's conmiand, which had served as his es- 
 cort of honor, that in token of his gratitude to the Insti- 
 tute, and the high esteem in which he held the Corps, 
 he ordered the United States Ordnance Department to 
 turn out a six-piece battery of field artillery complete, 
 with four 6-pounder guns and two 12-pounder howitzers.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 61 
 
 The pieces he directed to be cast 200 pounds hghter than 
 those regularly employed, each bearing on the chase 
 the coat of arms of Virginia. 
 
 The battery was soon completed and delivered in 
 Lexington, and the Board of Visitors at once began to 
 seriouslj^ consider the matter of instruction in Gunnery 
 and practical artillery drill, which President Taylor's 
 superb gift was designed to bring about. 
 
 This of course delighted the Superintendent and the 
 Commandant, both of whom had served in the Field 
 Artillery; and Philip St. George Cocke, a former 
 artilleryman himself, was no mean supporter of the 
 plan to enlarge the scope of military instruction. Gen- 
 eral Richardson, as usual, stood by the guns; and, ar- 
 rayed with those in favor of the plan, were General 
 Corbin Braxton, General Peter H. Steenbergen, Gen- 
 eral E. P. Scott, and General Douglas B. Layne, all 
 recent appointees to the Board of Visitors. Even had 
 they opposed the measure, the five civilian members — 
 Chas. J. Faulkner, William W. Crump, Harvey 
 George, John S. Carlisle, Esquires, and Dr. C. E. 
 Robinson — would have been overruled bv the military 
 sentiment of the Board.* 
 
 As a School of Arms the Virginia Military Institute 
 has been fortunate in that from the days of its infancy, 
 it has been able to cherish with pride traditions at- 
 taching to the names of its eleves. Noble traditions 
 make gallant soldiers. Unfortunate indeed is the race, 
 the state, or the military organization without the in- 
 spiration of tradition. The founders of Virginia's 
 School of Arms had but a brief time to wait ere they 
 could point to the achievements of its sons, upon the 
 red fields of war in the service of their country, for 
 among those who rushed to arms in May, 1846, were 
 twenty-five eleves of the Institute. Of this number 
 nine served in the regular army and sixteen in the 
 
 ♦Between 1845 and 1850 General Carter Braxton, Col. John Jordan, and 
 John B. Floyd, were, besides those mentioned, notable appointees to the Board 
 of Visitors. Colonel Crozet had relinquished his office in 1844. upon removing 
 to Louisiana, and Generals Botts, Johnston. Ligon, Dorman, and Captain 
 Dimmock, had been superseded.
 
 62 The Military History of 
 
 Volunteers. The following is the roll of those who 
 fought in the Mexican War: 
 
 1. Brevet Major Arthur Campbell Cummings, 11th U. S. 
 Infantry, wounded at Paso Orejas. 
 
 2. Brevet Captain Daniel Smith Lee, 11th U. S. Infantry. 
 
 3. Brevet Captain Hamilton LeRoy Shields, 3rd U. S. 
 
 Artillery. 
 
 4. First Lieutenant Birkett Davenport Fry, U. S. Voltigeurs. 
 
 5. Second Lieutenant Richard Carlton Radford, 1st U. S. 
 
 Dragoons. 
 
 6. Second Lieutenant Andrew Jackson, 3d U. S. Infantry. 
 
 7. Second Lieutenant Isaac Williams Smith, U. S. Voltigeurs. 
 
 8. Second Lieutenant James Edwin Slaughter, U. S. 
 
 Voltigeurs. 
 
 9. Surgeon Charles Peter Deyerle. 
 
 10. Captain Edward Codrington Carrington, 1st Va. Reg. 
 
 11. First Lieutenant George Alexander Porterfield, 1st Va. 
 
 Reg. 
 
 12. First Lieutenant William Arthur Scott, 1st Va. Reg. 
 
 13. First Lieutenant James Lawrenson Bryant, 1st Va. Reg. 
 
 14. First Lieutenant Thomas Stuart Garnett, 1st Va. Reg. 
 
 15. Second Lieutenant Carlton Radford Munford, 1st Va. Reg.; 
 died in service. 
 
 16. Second Lieutenant Robert Henry Keeling, 1st Va. Reg. 
 
 17. Second Lieutenant Harry Watson Williamson, 1st Va. Reg. 
 
 18. Second Lieutenant Beverley T. Hunter, Louisiana Volti- 
 geurs. 
 
 19. Second Lieutenant Alexander Cassius I>ayne, 1st Va. Reg. 
 
 20. Sergeant Major James Baldwin Dorman, Texas Rangers. 
 
 21. Corporal Benjamin Franklin Ficklin, U. S. Army. 
 
 22. Private Anthony Webster Southall, 1st Va. Reg.; died of 
 results of service. 
 
 23. Private Charles Everett Carter, Palmetto Regiment, S. C; 
 died in service. 
 
 24. Private Reuben G. Ross, 1st Va. Reg. 
 
 25. Private Alexander McNutt McCorkle, U. S. Army; died in 
 
 service. 
 
 Considering the fact that the School had been in ex- 
 istence but little over six years, and had graduated but 
 four classes when the war with Mexico broke out, the 
 record it established in that war was indeed one to be 
 proud of. It indicated clearly at the time what the 
 country might expect in future years.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 63 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE COINIING OF JACKSON 
 
 The successful visits of the Corps to the three largest 
 cities of the State added greatly to the prestige of the 
 Institute, and its numbers might have been greatly in- 
 creased had suitable quarters been available. But work 
 on the new barracks had already begun, and the phy- 
 sical development of the School was being pushed with 
 energy, in order that the increasing number of appli- 
 cants might be accepted. More than ever was the mih- 
 tary character of the School appreciated, and the efforts 
 of the governing authorities directed to the perfection 
 of its military instruction. 
 
 In 1850, sectional war was by no means seriously con- 
 templated by the people of America at large. States- 
 men and students of politics may have foreseen the 
 inevitable struggle; but men in the ordinary walks of 
 life, while bitterly hostile in their feelings to what they 
 deemed aggressions on the part of the North, thought 
 little of the impending conflict. It is a notable fact, 
 therefore, that Judge John W. Brockenbrough, in liis 
 speech on July 4, 1850, upon which day the corner- 
 stone of the new barracks was laid, eleven years before 
 Virginia seceded, pointed out the dark cloud which low- 
 ered in the North; and it was a no less singular coin- 
 cidence that the foundation of that great structure, 
 destined to shelter so many gallant Confederate officers, 
 should have been laid imder the presage of the con- 
 flict in which they were so soon to be engaged. 
 
 The Board of Visitors was composed of that class of 
 men who busied themselves with the future of the 
 State. They foresaw the inevitable; and, as the Insti- 
 tute was the School of Arms of Virginia, so was it the 
 seat of military preparedness. To reheve Major Gil- 
 ham of much of his professional work, thus leaving him
 
 64 The Military History of 
 
 freer for his military duties, and also to provide an 
 instructor of Artillery, the Board now determined to 
 look about for one possessing the requisites for the 
 position. 
 
 It was unanimoush^ agreed that the appointee should 
 be a West Pointer; and, in order to seek the advice of 
 the Superintendent and the professors of the Academy, 
 Colonel Smith repaired to West Point, and then visited 
 the War Department in Washington. 
 
 The result of Colonel Smith's investigations was that 
 many names were suggested for his consideration; 
 among the more prominent being those of George 
 Brinton McClellan, of Pennsylvania, Second Lieu- 
 tenant of Engineers; Jesse Lee Reno, of Virginia, 
 Second Lieutenant of Ordnance; and William Starke 
 Rosecrans, of Ohio, Second Lieutenant of Engineers. 
 
 These names are significant, for it will be observed 
 they were those of officers of the branches of the ser- 
 vice characterized by the high intellectual qualities of 
 their officers. The authorities at West Point and the 
 War Department well knew the character of man of 
 whom the Institute was in need; and the fact that they 
 proposed the names of McClellan, Reno and Rosecrans, 
 is indicative of their regard for the Institute. 
 
 McClellan was at that time only twenty-five years of 
 age, but he was a graduate of the Academy, Class of 
 1846, and, like Gilham, a veteran of the Mexican War 
 in which he was brevetted first lieutenant of Engineers 
 for gallant and meritorious conduct at Contreras and 
 Churubusco, and captain for equally conspicuous con- 
 duct at Chapultepec. At the close of the war he had 
 been ordered back to West Point in command of the 
 Engineer company stationed there, and assigned to 
 duty as assistant instructor of Practical Engineering. 
 While at the Academy, he had prepared a Manual of 
 Bayonet Exercises, which he adapted from the French, 
 and which was immediately introduced into the system 
 of instruction. Thus McClellan, even in 1850, was a 
 marked man. The next year he was designated to sup-
 
 COLONEL CLAUDE CUOZET 
 Founder of the Virginia Military Institute
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 65 
 
 erintend the construction of Fort Delaware; and in 1852 
 he accompanied Captain R. B. Marcy on the Red River 
 exploring expedition. In 1853 and 1854, he was en- 
 gaged in exploring a route for the proposed Pacific 
 Railroad through Washington Territory and Oregon; 
 and in the spring of 1855 he was appointed to a military 
 commission created to visit Europe for the purpose of 
 studying the organization of the Continental Armies. 
 This commission, the other members of which were 
 Major Richard Delafield and Major Alfred Mordecai, 
 both of the Engineers, proceeded at once to Europe, 
 and soon repaired to the Crimea where they were most 
 hospitably received by General Simpson, commander 
 of the British forces, and accorded by him every op- 
 portunity to witness the siege operations of Sebastapol. 
 McClellan's report on the arms, equipments, and 
 organization of "the three arms" was, wrote a dis- 
 tinguished soldier, "a model of conciseness and accurate 
 information, and added to his already brilliant 
 reputation." 
 
 As is well known, McClellan became, in 1861, a Ma- 
 jor-General of United States Volunteers, and after 
 McDowell's disastrous defeat at First Manassas in 
 July, was placed in command of the army defending 
 Washington ; relieved after the failure of the Peninsula 
 campaign of 1862; recalled to his exalted command 
 after Pope's overthrow at Second Manassas; and at 
 Antietam shattered the Army of Northern Virginia, 
 compelling General Lee to forego the invasion of the 
 North and return with his army to Virginia. What- 
 ever may have been his defects and weaknesses as a 
 tactical commander, he was, undoubtedly, the ablest 
 organizer the Federal Army produced. The fighting 
 machine he created out of nothing in the summer and 
 fall of 1861 (or the Army of the Potomac) was by 
 far the finest army the Federal Government sent afield, 
 and growing stronger and stronger under repeated dis- 
 asters, well calculated to destroy any army, was destined 
 on many occasions to save the Republic, and ultimately
 
 66 The Military History of 
 
 to vanquish the Southern arms. It was the briUiant 
 genius of McClellan which made possible the victories of 
 Grant; and it was McClellan, himself, who, on at least 
 two occasions, denied the Confederate States of 
 America success. These facts are mentioned in con- 
 nection with our narrative because it is a matter of im- 
 portant conjecture what might have been the course of 
 history had the young soldier, always partial to the 
 sentiments of the South, been appointed a professor in 
 1851 at the Virginia Military Institute, and thereby 
 thrown into closer relations with the Southern people. 
 As it was, his candidacy for the presidenc}^ of the 
 United States held prospects of an adjustment between 
 the North and the South favorable to the latter. 
 
 Lieutenant Reno, U. S. M. A. 1846, was also bre- 
 vetted, first as a first lieutenant for conspicuous con- 
 duct at Cerro Gordo, and then as captain for gallant 
 and meritorious conduct at Chapultepec. While his 
 reputation was not as great as that of McClellan, he 
 was recognized as one of the most superior young 
 officers in the service. In 1861 he became Brigadier- 
 General of United States Volunteers; in 1862 Major- 
 General; and was killed at South Mountain, Md., soon 
 after this promotion. 
 
 William Starke Rosecrans was graduated from the 
 Academy in 1842. He also was a young officer of the 
 highest character, and a veteran of the Mexican War. 
 Resigning from the army in 1854, he re-entered the 
 service at the outbreak of the war, and rose to the grade 
 of JMajor-General U. S. Volunteers in 1862. His mili- 
 tary service during the war won for him the thanks of 
 Congress. 
 
 There were others besides McClellan, Reno, and 
 Rosecrans, prominently mentioned to the Board of 
 Visitors of the Institute; among whom may be men- 
 tioned Gustavus W. Smith, of Kentucky, who became 
 a major-general, C. S. A., in 1861, and won fame as a 
 soldier in the service of the Confederacy. The selection 
 of any one of these eminently qualified men would have
 
 The Virginia Militaey Institute 67 
 
 been justified by their distinguished records. The im- 
 portant professorship at the Institute, however, was 
 offered to none of them, but finally to a classmate of 
 McClellan and Reno; and it came about in this way. 
 
 In February, 1849, First Lieutenant and Brevet 
 Major Daniel Harvey Hill, U. S. Artillery, of South 
 Carolina, afterwards the celebrated Lieutenant-Gen- 
 eral D. H. Hill of the Confederacy, resigned his com- 
 mission in the army to accept a chair at Washington 
 College, Lexington. Major Hill, twice brevetted for 
 conspicuous gallantry in the battles of Contreras, 
 Churubusco, and Chapultepec, was a graduate of the 
 United States Military Academy, of the Class of 1842, 
 and was well acquainted with McClellan, Reno, and 
 Rosecrans. 
 
 It so happened that soon after Colonel Smith's re- 
 turn from his visit to West Point and the War De- 
 partment, Major Hill called upon the Superintendent 
 of the Institute and found him much perplexed and 
 annoyed in consequence of a difference which had 
 recently arisen between himself and the Board of 
 Visitors over the appointment of the new professor. In 
 Colonel Smith's absence politics had entered into the 
 matter, and strong pressure was being exerted upon the 
 Board for the appointment of Captain Robert Emmet 
 Rodes, of Lynchburg, a graduate of the Institute of 
 the Class of 1838, then serving as an Assistant Pro- 
 fessor at the Institute. Rodes had many influential 
 friends, and was a man of exceptional ability, as proven 
 by his subsequent career as Major-General, C. S. A. 
 Colonel Smith recognized his merit, but was firm in 
 his determination to secure a West Pointer, and in this 
 he was supported by Philip St. George Cocke, President 
 of the Board, himself a graduate of the Academy. \Vest 
 Pointers in those days, as now, were wont to consider 
 the Academy as the source of all military knowledge; 
 and this evident spirit was resented by the Board at 
 large ; and as a result much ill-feeling arose between the 
 two factions. Cocke and Smith, however, carried their
 
 68 The Military History or 
 
 point and the chair was tendered Professor Alexander 
 Peter Stewart, of Cumberland University, Tennessee. 
 Stewart was a Tennesseean, who had graduated from 
 West Point in 1842, served three years in the Third 
 Artillery, and resigned his commission as second lieu- 
 tenant May 31, 1845. Well satisfied with his present 
 position, he declined the offer. He subsequently rose 
 to the grade of lieutenant-general, C. S. A., and was 
 among the most celebrated officers of the Confederacy. 
 
 Again, the appointment of Rodes was being urged, 
 when Colonel Smith introduced the subject in con- 
 versation with Major Hill, and handed him an Army 
 Register, with the request that he suggest the name of 
 a suitable officer. As Major Hill glanced over the list 
 his eye, as if by providence, fell upon the name of 
 Jackson. With this young officer Hill had had an ac- 
 quaintance in Mexico, the circumstances of which are 
 interesting. 
 
 When General Scott withdrew from General Taylor 
 the greater portion of the regular troops for the invasion 
 of Mexico by the Vera Cruz line, they were ordered to 
 Camargo, where they were embarked for Point Isobel 
 at the mouth of the Rio Grande, and held there until 
 the arrival of transports to convey them to Vera Cruz. 
 
 A young second lieutenant of artillery who had served 
 under General Taylor, and was waiting for his regi- 
 ment on the beach at Point Isobel, strolled over to 
 see Captain Taylor of the Artillery. While in con- 
 versation with Hill, Captain Taylor saw his visitor ap- 
 proaching, and said: "Here comes Lieutenant Jackson. 
 I want you to know him. He was constantly rising in 
 the class at West Point, and if the course had been a 
 year longer he would have graduated at the head of his 
 class. He will make his mark in this war." 
 
 Hill and Jackson were thereupon introduced, and 
 soon strolled off together along the beach. While ad- 
 miring the grandeur of the ocean, young Jackson said 
 to Hill, "I envy vou men who have been in battle. 
 How I would like to be in one battle!" and then ex-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 69 
 
 pressed the fear that the war might terminate hefore 
 his longing would be gratified. "Little did he then 
 know how many scores of battles he would direct, and 
 how breathlessly the two divided sections of the nation 
 M^ould watch his terrible movements!" 
 
 The two young officers parted to meet under the walls 
 of Vera Cruz. After a night of toil, they sought shelter 
 under a sand bank to snatch a few hours' sleep, when 
 an enormous shell from the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa 
 came crashing through their shelter, and nearly ended 
 their earthly careers. Side by side, they served in the 
 pursuit of the Mexicans, after the fall of Chapultepec, 
 and their mutual friendship, born of admiration and 
 confidence, was heightened by a closer association after 
 the fall of the City of Mexico. 
 
 So it was that in 1851, many years after their service 
 together in Mexico, Captain Taylor's remark, "if the 
 course had been one year longer, Jackson would have 
 graduated at the head of his class," was recalled by 
 Hill, and also the prophetic remark, "He will dis- 
 tinguish himself in this war." 
 
 Jackson had fully justified the expectations of 
 Captain Taylor, and in order that his career up. to 1851 
 may be compared with those of McClellan, Reno and 
 Rosecrans, his record is here given. 
 
 Born in Harrison County, Virginia, of a large and 
 influential family, the early boyhood of Jackson, if not 
 oppressed by poverty, was a hard struggle by reason 
 of the financial reverses of his father, who, as a lawyer, 
 had lost a large sum of security money. 
 
 Schools of an ordinary grade were inaccessible to one 
 of young Jackson's means; and such primary in- 
 struction as he received had to be obtained in spite of 
 the severest demands for his labor on his father's farm 
 notwithstanding the additional drawback of bad health 
 and a feeble physical constitution. 
 
 "Thus, were the years of his boyhood and early youth 
 passed. We may picture to ourselves that manly and 
 conscientious and thoughful, though delicate, boy, now
 
 70 The Military History of 
 
 running the furrow, now planting the grain, now har- 
 vesting the crop, or tending the cattle by day, and, in 
 the intervals of labor, snatching up the grammar, or 
 geography, or history, and thus laying the foundation 
 for that education he was soon to receive. These trials 
 and struggles of early boyhood, in thirsting after know- 
 ledge, present a sublime spectacle, while there can be 
 no doubt that the disciphne which Jackson thus under- 
 went in his western home, while laying in the rudiments 
 of a plain English education, constituted an important 
 element in the development of those qualities which 
 have added such lustre to his name. 
 
 "In the winter of 1841-42, he became aware that a 
 vacancy existed from his district in the United States 
 Military Academy at West Point. He was at once 
 fired with the desire to secure the appointment. He was 
 conscious of the great number of applicants, and of the 
 difficulties in the way of success. He knew he was poorly 
 prepared for the severe and advanced studies of the 
 Academy; but, nothing daunted, he resolved to make 
 the effort ; and, trusting to that providence whose guid- 
 ance he ever acknowledged and sought, he started for 
 Washington. His journey was a difficult one; partly 
 on horseback, j^artlj^ on foot, and partly by the public 
 conveyances, he reached the national capital and laid 
 his petition in person before his immediate representa- 
 tive, the Hon. Samuel L. Hays. The manner of the 
 youth, his earnestness, his resolution, his hopefulness, 
 all spoke for him. These were his credentials; and the 
 result was, he returned to his home with his warrant' 
 in his pocket, — his first public reward for honest effort 
 in the path of duty. 
 
 "On the 1st of July, 1842, he was admitted a cadet 
 in the United States Military Academy. His class was 
 a large and distinguished one. Generals McClellan, 
 Foster, Reno, Couch, and Gibbon, of the Federal 
 Army; and Generals A. P. Hill, Pickett, Maury, D. R. 
 Jones, W. D. Smith, and Wilcox, of the Confederate 
 Army, were among his classmates. He was at once
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 71 
 
 brought into competition with young men of high culti- 
 vation; and, although it is doubtful whether he had 
 seen a French book in his life, or a Mathematical book, 
 except his Arithmetic, he was assigned to the fourth 
 class, and entered upon the study of Algebra, Ge- 
 ometry, and French. At the end of his first year, in a 
 class of seventy-two, he stood 45 in Mathematics, 70 
 in French, had 15 demerit and was 51 in general merit. 
 Such a standing would have discouraged an ordinary 
 youth. Not so with Jackson. He knew his early dis- 
 advantages. He was rather encouraged that he could 
 sustain himself at all; and, stimulated by this hope and 
 confidence, he pressed forward to the work of the next 
 advanced class. Here, the studies were more abstruse 
 and more complicated; but, when the examination came 
 around, he had risen to 18 in Mathematics, 52 in 
 French, was 68 in drawing and 55 in English studies, 
 had 26 demerit, and was 30 in general merit. 
 
 "In the second class a new course of studies was pre- 
 sented to him. Having completed the pure Mathe- 
 matics, French and English, he had now to enter upon 
 the stud}^ of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy; and 
 we see the upward and onward march of this youth in 
 the result of the year, which placed him 11 in Natural 
 Philosophy, 25 in Chemistry, 59 in drawing, with no 
 demerit for the year, and in general merit he was 20. 
 In July, 1846, his class graduated. In the studies of 
 the final year he was 12 in Engineering, 5 in Ethics, 11 
 in Artillery, 21 in Infantry Tactics, 11 in Mineralogy 
 and Geology, had 7 demerit for the year, and his 
 graduating standing, including the drawbacks of his 
 previous years, was 17. 
 
 • •«••••* 
 
 "It was scarcely possible for a young man to have 
 entered upon a course of studies for which he was less 
 prepared, from want of early preparation, than he was. 
 Accustomed to the labor of the field, the change in his 
 habits of life would have unsettled any ordinary man; 
 but the resolute purpose to accomplish what he had un- 
 dertaken, and thus to vindicate the confidence of his
 
 72 The Military History of 
 
 friends, animated him through all his difficulties, and 
 crowned him with the honors of a graduate, and with 
 the commission as a brevet second lieutenant of artillery, 
 on the 1st of July, 1846. 
 
 "Lieutenant Jackson immediately reported for duty 
 w^ith his regiment, the First Artillery, and was soon 
 after assigned to Magruder's Light Battery, then 
 serving in Mexico. On the 3d of March, 1847, he was 
 promoted to second lieutenant, and on the 20th of 
 August of the same year to the rank of first lieutenant. 
 On that day the battles of Contreras and Churubusco 
 were fought, and 'for gallant and meritorious conduct 
 in these battles,' he was brevetted a captain. The 
 battle of Chapultepec was fought on the 13th of 
 September, and he was brevetted a major of artillery 
 for 'gallant and meritorious conduct' in that battle. 
 Thus, in the brief period of fourteen months, he had 
 risen from a brevet second lieutenant of artillery, to the 
 rank of a brevet major of artillery, — a success without 
 parallel in the history of the Mexican War. His 
 division commander thus noticed his conduct : 'The ad- 
 vanced section of the battery, under the command of 
 the brave Lieutenant Jackson, was dreadfulh^ cut up 
 and almost disabled.' . . . Captain Magruder's field 
 battery, one section of which was served with great 
 gallantr}^ by himself, and the other by his brave lieu- 
 tenant, Jackson, in the face of a galling fire from the 
 enemy's intrenched positions, did invaluable service pre- 
 paratory to the general assault. 
 
 "Captain Magruder in his official report, made the 
 following reference to him: 'I beg leave to call the 
 attention of the Major- General commanding the 
 division to the conduct of Lieutenant Jackson of the 
 First Artillery. If devotion, industry, talent and 
 gallantry are the highest qualities of a soldier, he is 
 entitled to the distinction which their possession con- 
 fers.' "* 
 
 *From the memorial tribute to Jackson written by General Francis H. 
 Smith, and read to the Board of Visitors of the V. M. I. July 1, 1863. It 
 is given here verbatim because it comprises a comtemporary estimate upon 
 the facts of which, as then known, the appointment of Jackson was made. 
 
 D. H. Hill and Jackson were not brothers-in-law at this time, as is frequently 
 erroneously asserted.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 73 
 
 Such was the record of the officer whom Major D. H. 
 Hill recommended in the strongest terms to tJhe Super- 
 intendent, with the result that Colonel Smith at once 
 wrote Major Jackson requesting permission to present 
 his name to the Board. In reply, the following letter 
 was received: 
 
 "Fort Meade, Fla., February 25, 1851. 
 
 "Dear Sir — I have just received your communication of the 4th 
 inst., containing the kind proposition of bringing my name before 
 the Board of Visitors of the Virginia Military Institute as a candi- 
 date for the professorship of Natural and Experimental Philosophy. 
 "Though strong ties bind me to the Army, yet I can not consent 
 to decline so flattering an offer. Please present my name to the 
 Board, and accept my thanks for your kindness. 
 "I am, sir, 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "T. J. Jackson." 
 
 There was an adjourned meeting of the Board in 
 Richmond, and upon receipt of Major Jackson's favor- 
 able reply, Colonel Smith immediately repaired to that 
 city, and sought out the Hon. John S. Carlisle, who was 
 one of its members, and a connection of Jackson's. 
 Carlisle heartily endorsed his candidacy, and set to work 
 to enlist support therefor, arguing that inasmuch as 
 little patronage had been derived by the Institute from 
 the western section of the State, it would be politic to 
 appoint an officer from that quarter. 
 
 When the Board convened on March 28, 1851, to con- 
 sider the disturbing question of appointing the new 
 professor, Hon. John Brannon, State Senator from 
 Lewis County, arose and nominated Major Thomas 
 Jonathan Jackson, stating in a strong plea for his ap- 
 pointment that this officer was from his section of the 
 State, that he was well known in western Virginia, 
 that the distinguished reputation he had gained in 
 Mexico had made him the idol of the people, and that 
 his election to the chair would greatly strengthen the 
 Institute in that quarter.
 
 74s The ^Military History of 
 
 Mr. Brannon's nomination was promptly seconded 
 and Major Jackson was mianimously elected, a result 
 insin-ed by hard work and the most thorough canvass of 
 the Board before the matter was finally considered. 
 Thus, we see that not only Providence, but West Point 
 and State politics, all combined to produce "Stonewall" 
 Jackson. 
 
 Colonel Smith, highly pleased with his victory, com- 
 municated the result of the election to Major Jackson 
 on the day it occurred, and nearly a month later received 
 the following reply: 
 
 "Fort Meade, Fla., April 22, 1851. 
 
 "Colonel — Your letter of the 28th ult., informing me that I 
 had been elected Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy 
 and Artillery Tactics, in the Virginia Military Institute, has been 
 received. 
 
 "The high honor conferred by the Board of Visitors in selecting 
 me unanimously to fill such a professorship gratified me exceedingly. 
 
 "I hope to be able to meet the Board on the 28th of June, next, 
 but fear that circumstances over which I have no control will 
 prevent my doing so before that time. For your kindness in 
 endeavoring to procure me a leave of absence for six months, as 
 well as for the interest you have otherwise manifested in my behalf, 
 I feel under strong and lasting obligations. 
 
 "Should I desire a furlough of more than one month, commencing 
 on the 1st of July next, it will be for the purpose of visiting Europe. 
 
 "I regret that recent illness has prevented my giving you an 
 earlier answer. Any communication which you may have to make, 
 previous to the 1st of June, please direct to this place. 
 
 "I am. Colonel, 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "T. J. Jackson. 
 "To Col. Francis Smith, 
 
 "Sup't Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "Lexington, Rockbridge Countj-, Virginia." 
 
 At this time. Major Jackson's health was very poor, 
 and his eyes, especially, were so weak he had to exercise 
 great prudence in using them, never doing so at night. 
 Thus crippled for his new work, he was asked by a 
 friend if he did not hesitate to accept a position when he
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 75 
 
 was i^hysically incapacitated to fill it. "Xot in the 
 least," was his prompt answer. "The appointment came 
 unsought, and was therefore providential; and I knew 
 that if Providence set me a task, He would give me the 
 power to perform it. So, I resolved to get well, and you 
 see I have. As to the rest, I knew that what / willed 
 to do, I could do/' 
 
 Major Jackson tendered his resignation at once, to 
 take effect February 29, 1852, and secured a leave of 
 absence from June until that date. In the meantime, 
 he was transferred to Fort Hamilton, and in order to 
 recuperate his strength, he spent the month of July on 
 Lake Ontario, and, reporting at Lexington early in 
 August, was assigned to duty as Acting Commandant, 
 with Captains R. E. Rodes and J. W. Massie as his 
 assistants. In a few days Major Jackson marched the 
 Corps to Warm Springs, Virginia, where it remained 
 in camp for three weeks, returning to Lexington in time 
 for the opening of the session, September 1st, at which 
 time JNIajor Gilliam returned from leave. 
 
 During the encampment Major Jackson did not 
 prove a success as a Commandant, and gave no evidence 
 of ability to command young men. His appointment 
 led to the early resignation of Captain Rodes, who took 
 up railroad engineering, which profession he followed 
 with success until the outbreak of the war, just before 
 which he was elected a professor at the Institute.* 
 
 *Upon reporting for duty at the Insstitute, Major Jackson found an old 
 friend who had been most insistent in his humble way, urging the former's 
 appointment. General Smith, who was from Norfolls, and frequently visited 
 Fortress Monroe, had some years before appointed Sergeant Dempsey, of the 
 Artillery, Ordnance Sergeant at the Institute. This worthy man, who faithfully 
 served the Institute many years, had been a member of Jackson's battery in 
 Mexico. Upon learning that an artillery officer was being sought for by the 
 Superintendent, he had persistently spoken of Major Jackson, his old battery 
 commander, referring again and again to Major Jackson as the finest officer in 
 the Artillery. , , ^ .^^, , 
 
 When Jackson was buried in Lexington, Mrs. Jackson presented the faithful 
 Sergeant Dempsey with the military boots in which her husband was killed, 
 and they are now owned by a gentleman in Lexington to whose mother they 
 were willed by their proud owner.
 
 76 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 IN TIME OF PEACE PREPARE FOR WAR GILHAM AND 
 
 JACKSON 
 
 The faculty of the Institute now consisted of Colonel 
 Smith, Majors Preston, Williamson, GiDiam, and 
 Jackson, and several young Assistant Professors with 
 tactical duties. Captain Rodes resigned soon after 
 Jackson's appointment. 
 
 It is frequently assumed by those ignorant of the 
 facts, that Jackson was the military genius of the Insti- 
 tute during his association with the School. Nothing 
 could be more erroneous than such a belief. His sole 
 connection with the military affairs of the School was as 
 Instructor of Ordnance and Artillery Tactics and Com- 
 mander of the Cadet battery which President Taylor 
 had presented the Corps the year before Jackson's 
 appointment. 
 
 As a member of the faculty Jackson did undoubtedly 
 exert his own peculiar influence upon the Corps of 
 Cadets and the community in which he dwelt; but his 
 was not a commanding influence, nor did he in an}' way 
 shape the course of events at the Institute, or its 
 character as a School of Arms. I believe it is not too 
 much to say that Jackson was influenced more by the 
 Institute than it was by him. Even had he possessed 
 the personality to be a leader of thought, he did not 
 occupy a sufficiently prominent position as a mere pro- 
 fessor, without executive duties of any kind, to exercise 
 a positive control. 
 
 In the writer's opinion, the impression of Jackson 
 which a late popular novelist has sought to create is not 
 a correct one. That impression harmonizes too well 
 with the Boer-like figure portrayed in the frontispiece 
 of the "Long Roll." Jackson was undoubtedly eccentric
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 77 
 
 as we shall see, but he was not a bore; he was peculiar 
 but not rough. He was not handsome, but in his ap- 
 pearance there was nothing partaking of the repulsive; 
 he was rather unhandsome than ugly; unpolished than 
 coarse in grain. 
 
 The writer did not, of course, know Jackson, but he 
 has been at particular pains to gain a correct impression 
 of the man as he appeared while a professor at the 
 Virginia Military Institute. Jackson may have ap- 
 peared otherwise to those who knew him elsewhere ; but 
 to his personal acquaintances, his brother-officers, his 
 business associates, his official superiors, his military 
 subordinates, his social equals, his servants, his superiors 
 and his inferiors, in Lexington, he presented the fea- 
 tures so carefully and vividly portrayed by his military 
 biographer, John Esten Cooke. That likeness has been 
 verified in detail by the author. It bears the flesh tints 
 from the brush of an artist who painted from life, and, 
 as it can not be improved upon in the writer's opinion, 
 it is herein incorporated : 
 
 "Well-meaning persons have drawn a wholly incor- 
 rect likeness of Jackson at this period of his life. Misled 
 by admiration, and yielding to the temptation to 
 eulogy, they have bestowed upon Professor Jackson 
 every moral and physical grace, and even his eccentric- 
 ities have been toned down into winning ways, original 
 and characteristic, which only made their possessor 
 more charming than before. We are sorry to say this 
 is all fancy. Jackson was the farthest possible removed 
 from anything graceful; and as the first merit of any 
 biography is accuracy, we shall endeavor to lay before 
 the reader a truthful sketch of the real form seen mov- 
 ing to and fro, on the streets of Lexington, between the 
 years 1851 and 1861. 
 
 "It was the figure of a tall, gaunt, awkward indi- 
 vidual, wearing a gray uniform, and apparently moving 
 by separate and distinct acts of volition. This stiff and 
 unbending figure passed over the ground with a sort 
 of stride, as though measuring the distance from one
 
 78 The Military History of 
 
 given point to another; and those who followed its 
 curious movements saw it pause at times, apparently 
 from having reached the point desired. The ej^es of the 
 individual at such moments were fixed intently upon 
 the ground; his lips moved in soliloquy; the absent and 
 preoccupied gaze and general expression of the features 
 plainly showed a profound unconsciousness of 'place 
 and time.' It was perfectly obvious that the mind of 
 the military-looking personage in the gray coat was 
 busy upon some problem entirely disconnected from his 
 actual surroundings. The fact of his presence at Lex- 
 ington, in the commonwealth of Virginia, had evidently 
 disappeared from his consciousness; the figures moving 
 around him were mere plantasmagoria ; he had travelled 
 in search of some principle of philosophy, or some truth 
 in theology, quite out of the real, work-a-day world, and 
 deep in the land of dreams. If you spoke to him at 
 such times, he awoke as if it were from sleep, and looked 
 into your face with an air of simplicity and inquiry, 
 which sufficiently proved the sudden transition which he 
 had made from the world of thoughts to that of reality. 
 
 "In lecturing to his class, his manner was grave, 
 earnest, full of military brevity, and destitute of all the 
 graces of the speaker. Business-like, systematic, some- 
 what stern, with an air of rigid rule, as though the 
 matter at issue were of the utmost importance, and 
 he was entrusted with the responsibility of seeing that 
 due attention was paid to it — he did not make a very 
 favorable impression upon the volatile youths, who sat 
 at the feet of this military Gamaliel. They listened 
 decorously to the grave Professor, but, once dismissed 
 from his presence, took revenge by a thousand jests 
 upon his peculiarities of mind and demeanor. His 
 oddities were the subject of incessant jokes; his eccentric 
 ways were dwelt upon with all the eloquence and sar- 
 castic gusto which characterize the gay conversation of 
 young men discussing an unpopular teacher. No 
 idiosyncrasy of the Professor was lost sight of. His 
 stiff, angular figure; the awkward movement of his
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 79 
 
 body; his absent and 'grum' demeanor; his exaggerated 
 and apparently absurd devotion to mihtary regularity; 
 his wearisome exactions of a similar observance on their 
 part ; — that general oddity, eccentricity, and singularity 
 in moving, talking, thinking, and acting peculiar to him- 
 self — all these were described on a thousand occasions, 
 and furnished unfailing food for laughter. They called 
 him 'Old Tom Jackson'; and pointing significantly to 
 their foreheads, said he was 'not quite right there.' 
 Some inclined to the belief that he was only a great 
 eccentric; but others declared him 'crazy.' Those who 
 had experienced the full weight of his professorial baton 
 — who had been reprimanded before the class, or 're- 
 ported' to the Superintendent for punishment or dis- 
 missal — called him 'Fool Tom Jackson.' 
 
 "These details are not very heroic, and detract con- 
 siderably from that dignified outline which eulogistic 
 writers upon Jackson have drawn. But they are true. 
 Nothing is better established than the fact that the 
 man to whom General Lee wrote, 'Could I have directed 
 events, I should have chosen for the good of the coimtry 
 to have been disabled in your stead,' and of whom the 
 London Times said, 'That mixture of daring and judg- 
 ment, which is the mark of "Heaven born" Generals, 
 distinguished him beyond any man of his time' — noth- 
 ing is more certain, we say, than that this man was 
 sneered at as a fool, and on many occasions stigmatized 
 as insane. 
 
 "It is doubtless true, however, that some of the 
 youths, of more generous disposition or penetrating 
 judgment, did not share in this general opinion.* They 
 saw in the young professor originality rather than ec- 
 centricity of mind. They could acknowledge the 
 peculiarities of his views and opinions, and the singular- 
 it}^ of some of his habits, without sharing the popular 
 impression that some wheel or crank of his mental 
 machinery was out of order. Upon one point, however, 
 
 *Among whom may be mentioned Col. R. Preston Chew, '61, who, in hia 
 address at the Institute on the occasion of the unveiling of Ezekiel's .Tackson 
 Statue denied much that has been written about Jackson's appearance and 
 eccentricities.
 
 80 - The Military History of 
 
 there seems to have been a general concurrence: the 
 young teacher's possession of an indomitable fearless- 
 ness and integrity in the discharge of every duty. His 
 worst enemies never ventured to say that he did not 
 walk the straight path of right, and administer his 
 official duties without fear, favor, or affection. They 
 were forced to recognize the fact that this stiff military 
 machine measured out justice to all alike, irrespective 
 of persons, and could not be turned aside from the 
 direct course by any influences around him. The cadets 
 laughed at him, but thej?^ were afraid of him. They 
 agreed, by common consent, that it was time thrown 
 away to write excuses for a 'report' made by Major 
 Jackson. The faculty had come, from long experience, 
 to understand that when Major Jackson reported a 
 cadet he deserved punishment, and the consequence was 
 that, although the young men derided his peculiarities, 
 and laughed in private at his odd ways, thej^ felt that 
 he was their master, and yielded full obedience to his 
 orders. 
 
 "Such was the ex-artillerist turned professor. From 
 his functions of professor in the schoolroom, he would 
 pass to those of instructor of artillery on the parade 
 ground. Here he was more in his element. He was 
 called upon to teach the mysteries of that arm of the 
 service which he loved above all others; and the pro- 
 ficiency of the cadets in drill and all the evolutions of 
 the battery was soon a subject of remark. Jackson 
 took great interest in those drills, especially when blank 
 cartridges were used. 'An Ex-Cadet,' in his interesting 
 accomit of this portion of Jackson's life, says: 'As soon 
 as the sound of the guns would fall upon his ears, a 
 change would seem to come over Major Jackson. He 
 would grow more erect ; the grasp upon his sabre would 
 tighten; the quiet eyes would flash; the large nostrils 
 would dilate, and the calm, grave face would glow with 
 the proud spirit of the warrior. I have been frequently 
 struck with this, and have often called the attention of 
 others to it.'
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 81 
 
 "We have thus presented the figure of Jackson under 
 two or three aspects — as the absent-looking thinker 
 moving, lost in meditation, through the streets of Lex- 
 ington; the grave professor in the lecturer's desk, and 
 the officer of artillery, with sabre at his side, directing 
 the drill and drawling out his commands in the long, 
 singsong fashion, peculiar to the graduates of West 
 Point. His appearance on Sunday will conclude our 
 outline. He attended church with unfailing regularity. 
 Punctual to the moment, the form of the Professor was 
 seen to enter church, decorously approach the familiar 
 pew, and enter with grave respect in his whole de- 
 meanor. Book in hand, he followed the words of the 
 hymn sung by the congregation, and at the signal for 
 prayer rose erect, his tall figure remaining motionless 
 as a statue until the prayer was finished. After the 
 service he retraced his steps with decorous gravity and 
 retired to his quarters, to return again with the same 
 punctuality, and conduct himself with the same solemn 
 respect, at the evening services. The hours of Sun- 
 day not spent in church were given up to religious 
 reading, meditation, and prayer in his study or in the 
 bosom of his family. 
 
 "Thus passed, in routine of duty, barren and dull to 
 the beholder, but doubtless interesting to him, a period 
 of nearly ten years. Jackson's health was still delicate, 
 and he suffered much from weakness of eyesight; but 
 these drawbacks did not interfere with the rigid and 
 complete discharge of his duties. The feebleness of 
 his sight induced him to turn his attention especially 
 to that subject, and when the revolution conmienced, he 
 had made considerable progress in an elementary work 
 on Optics, which he proposed to pubHsh for the benefit 
 of his class. His character seems to have been under- 
 stood and appreciated by the best classes of the little 
 society of Lexington, and his virtues were greatly re- 
 spected. Men of grave character and experience dis- 
 cerned the merits of the solid man: and if the}^ did not 
 suspect the presence of that military genius which he
 
 82 The Military History of 
 
 afterwards exhibited on another arena, they valued him 
 for liis conscientious devotion to duty, and loved him for 
 his simplicity and piety. One who was connected with 
 him officially at this time. Colonel Smith, the Superin- 
 tendent, writes : 'His great principle of government was 
 tliat the general rule should not be violated for any 
 particular good; and his animating rule of action was, 
 that a man could always accomplish what he willed to 
 perform.' This statement may be paraphrased in the 
 Avords system, regularity, justice, impartiality, and un- 
 conscionable perseverance and determination. These 
 were valuable lessons to teach youths. They laughed 
 at him, but they imbibed the principles of action which 
 he taught. Thej^ derided the rigid discipline which the 
 young monitor enacted ; denounced him for administer- 
 ing things on a 'war footing,' and no doubt honestly 
 regarded him as a most unreasonable advocate of useless 
 military etiquette; but they were slowly and certainly 
 trained, like growing twigs, in the direction which the 
 teacher wished. Jackson proceeded upon the eminently 
 just view that the Institute was a military school, 
 whose chief value consisted in the habits of military 
 system and obedience which is impressed on the ductile 
 characters of the cadets, and regarded any relaxation 
 of the rules of the establishment as directly tending to 
 strike at the intention of its founders and destroy its 
 usefulness. Many anecdotes touching this point are 
 related of him. He once continued to wear a thick 
 woolen uniform during the sultriest days of summer, 
 when everybody else had adopted the lightest attire 
 possible; and when asked by one of the professors why 
 he did so, replied 'that he had seen an order prescribing 
 the uniform which he wore, but none had been exhibited 
 to him directing it to be changed.' 
 
 • • • •-• • • • 
 
 "As yet, however, the cadets laughed, and doubted 
 the good sense of all this rigid discipline. They not 
 only made fun of the grave Professor behind his back, 
 but persecuted and 'sorely tried' him, says an 'Ex-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 83 
 
 Cadet', by practical jokes. One of these was amusing, 
 and will give the reader some idea of the youths with 
 whom he had to deal. The battery used in drilling was 
 managed by drag-ropes, which the plebe class manned. 
 Sometimes a linchpin would be secretly abstracted, and 
 the piece or caisson would break dowTi in the midst of 
 the drill. A more mirth-provoking device even than 
 this, however, was hit upon. A small bell was adroitly 
 suspended inside of the limber-box, and the conspirators 
 demurely took their places at the drag-ropes. The com- 
 mander of the battery gave the order, 'Forward', and 
 the pieces began to move. Suddenly a mysterious 
 tinkling was heard, and the cadets, unable to withstand 
 this tax upon their risible faculties, burst into shouts of 
 laughter. The Professor looked astonished, halted the 
 battery, and with great earnestness instituted an in- 
 quiry into the phenomenon. It was in vain; nothing was 
 discovered, and the order was again given for the pieces 
 to move forward. They moved, and the hidden bell 
 again tinkled, amid renewed shouts of laughter. How 
 this adventure terminated we are not informed, but 
 there is no doubt the trick was played and was not 
 greatly enjoyed by Professor Jackson. Other devices 
 of the frolicsome cadets to annoy him seem to have af- 
 fected him with a touch of humor. We have referred 
 to the long drawling manner in which, following the 
 fashion of West Point, he gave his commands. A fav- 
 orite movement with him was to bring the battery 
 into echelon; and whenever the command to 'Form 
 echelon' was given with its accompaniment, 'Right 
 oblique— trot — march!' the whole ground would ring 
 with the commands, repeated by the cadet officers, in the 
 most ridiculous drawl imaginable. One evening when 
 this had been carried to unwonted excess, the adjutant 
 approached Jackson and asked him how he was pleased 
 with the drill. 
 
 " 'Very much, sir,' replied Jackson; then smiling 
 slightly he added, 'the officers gave very fine commands 
 this afternoon.'
 
 84 The Military History of 
 
 "No opportunity of having a laugh at the Professor's 
 expense was lost sight of, and on another occasion the 
 cadets had some grounds for their amusements. One 
 day Jackson informed his class that the clock in front 
 of the Institute was not correct, and declared his in- 
 tention to ascertain, by scientific means, the exact time. 
 He accordingly marched out to the parade ground, with 
 the class at his heels, and proceeded, by means of his 
 instruments, to take an observation. The result was 
 amusing and delighted the cadet-heart. He finished his 
 work about half-past twelve in the day, and to his pro- 
 found astonishment discovered that it was nearly seven 
 in the evening! The cadets set up a shout, and after 
 looking around him with an incredulous surprise for 
 some moments, Jackson joined in the general laughter. 
 It was soon discovered that the instruments were out 
 of order, but the cadets did not suffer this fact to lessen 
 their appreciation of the joke. 
 
 "One of the few exhibitions of the tendency to humor 
 which we find in Jackson's whole career occurred at this 
 period. The reader will not be troubled with many 
 similar incidents, and we give the anecdote here. One 
 morning in 1858 he called upon a member of the 
 graduating class, and with profound gravity pro- 
 pounded the following scientific question: 
 
 " 'Why is it impossible to send a telegraphic dispatch 
 from Lexington to Staunton?' 
 
 "The cadet reflected for some moments, and then re- 
 plied that the explanation of this phenomenon doubt- 
 less lay in the fact that the amount of iron ore in the 
 mountains drew the magnetic current from the wires. 
 
 "A covert smile touched upon Jackson's features; 
 fled away, and he said: 
 
 " 'No, sir; you can take your seat.' 
 
 "Another was called up, but he too failed to explain 
 the mystery. A second, then a third were equally mi- 
 successful — Jackson listening to their theories with pro- 
 found attention, but with the same sly smile that had 
 greeted the first solution. This smile probably at-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 85 
 
 tracted the attention of the next cadet who was called, 
 and threw a sudden light upon the subject. His 
 countenance lit up ; his lips broke into a smile in return, 
 and he said: 
 
 " 'Well, Major Jackson, I reckon it must be, because 
 there is no telegraph between the two places.' 
 
 " 'You are right, sir,' replied Jackson, who had sud- 
 denly renewed his composed expression. 'You can take 
 your seat.' 
 
 "An outburst of laughter from the class greeted this 
 passage of arms in which the Professor was overthrown, 
 but the unwonted display of humor had apparently ex- 
 hausted Jackson's appreciation of the quality for the 
 time. He called the class to order, and calmly con- 
 tinued the subject of the recitation as if nothing had 
 happened. 
 
 "We give this incident upon good authority. It is 
 the first and last attempt at a practical joke which we 
 find in Jackson's life. 
 
 "Another incident of his dealings with the cadets is 
 an illustration of the quiet courage of the man, and 
 disregard of personal consequences where duty was con- 
 cerned. He had brought charges against a cadet, who 
 was tried and dismissed from the Institute. Burning 
 with resentment, the young man declared his intention 
 to take Jackson's life, and arming himself took his 
 position on the road from Lexington to the Institute, 
 over which he knew the Professor would pass to meet 
 his class. A friend had overheard the youth express his 
 bloody intention, and hastening to warn Jackson, met 
 him on the road, and informed him of his danger, 
 strongly urging him to turn back. To turn back, how- 
 ever, was to neglect his recitations on that day, and to 
 hold his recitations was a part of his duty. He 
 peremptorily refused to retrace his steps, and with the 
 cold and stern reply, 'Let the assassin murder me if he 
 will!' continued his way. As he approached the spot 
 indicated, he saw the young man standing and awaiting 
 him. He turned and gazed fixedly at him with that
 
 86 The Military History of 
 
 look which had fronted, unmoved, the most terrible 
 scenes of carnage upon many battlefields. The youth 
 could not sustain it; he lowered his eyes, and, turning 
 away in silence, left the spot, while Jackson cahnly pur- 
 sued his way. 
 
 "We have here placed upon record, with such illus- 
 trations as we could collect, the traits of character which 
 distinguished Jackson at this period of his life. One 
 other which is mentioned by a recent biographer should 
 be noticed — the strength of his memory. 'In the section- 
 room,' says 'an Ex-Cadet', 'he would sit perfectly erect 
 and motionless, listening with grave attention, and ex- 
 hibiting the great powers of his wonderful memory, 
 which was, I think, the most remarkable that ever came 
 under my observation. The course that he taught was 
 the most difficult and complicated known to mathe- 
 matics, running through at least half a dozen text- 
 books. In listening to a recitation he rarely used a book. 
 He was ready at any moment to refer to any page or 
 line in any of the books, and then to repeat with per- 
 fect accuracy the most difficult passages that could be 
 referred to.' 
 
 "Such was Jackson at Lexington; a stiff, earnest, 
 military figure — artillery officer turned professor; stern 
 in his bearing, eccentric in his habits, peculiar in many 
 of his views, leading a life of alternate activity in the 
 section-room, and abstraction in the study, independent, 
 devoted to duty, deeply religious in sentiment, and 
 notable in person, deportment, and character for an un- 
 doubted originality. The eccentric figure was as well 
 known in Lexington as the 'Iron Duke', raising the 
 finger to his hat, and uttering his curt greeting in the 
 streets of London. As j^ears wore on, his character was 
 better understood — his merit more fully recognized. 
 We may doubt Colonel Smith's assertion that at the 
 breaking out of the war, 'the spontaneous sentiment of 
 every cadet and graduate was to serve under him as their 
 leader,' but there is good reason to believe that he had 
 strongly impressed great numbers of persons with a
 
 The Vikginia Military Institute 87 
 
 conviction of his soldierly qualities — his good judgment, 
 impartiality, perseverance, courage, and knowledge of 
 the profession of arms."* 
 
 To the foregoing description of Jackson's career as 
 a professor at the Institute much might be added in the 
 natiu'e of confirmatory evidence. But I shall only at- 
 tempt to fill in the gaps, avoiding repetition as much as 
 possible. 
 
 As a professor, Major Jackson was not a success. It 
 is not in that iconoclastic spirit which too commonly 
 leads the flippant critic to break down popular beliefs 
 concerning the perfections of great men, but in the 
 interest of historical truth, that this assertion is here 
 made. According to the testimon}^ of his superior officer 
 at the Institute, who w^as responsible for his appoint- 
 ment, and knew of his abilities as a professor in a way 
 that no other did, Jackson displayed no qualifications 
 for the chair he was selected to fill. By nature, he was 
 no teacher; and he lacked the tact required for the suc- 
 cessful handling of young men. Every officer and every 
 cadet respected him for his many sterling qualities. 
 They knew him to be brave, conscientious, and to be 
 a good Christian man; and the glamor of his military 
 exploits in Mexico appealed with especial force to the 
 youth with whom he was associated; but his warmest 
 personal admirers perceived at once he was not gifted 
 in the work he had chosen to pursue. 
 
 Even as a military commander at the Institute, 
 Major Jackson failed to inspire that confidence in the 
 cadets which one, who later developed such high genius 
 for command, might now be supposed to have done. 
 It is a well known fact that the peculiarities of genius 
 are usually construed as eccentricities, by associates, 
 rather than as indicative evidence of extraordinary 
 ability on the part of the one possessing them. It is 
 only in the retrospect that one attributes idiosyncrasies 
 
 ♦stonewall Jackson, a Military Biography, John Esten Cooke, pp. 23-32. 
 See also Memorial Va. Mil. Inst.. Walker ; Henderson's Stonewall .Tackson 
 and the American Civil War ; Life of Stonewall Jackson, Daniels ; Wearing 
 of the Gray, Cooke ; Life and Campaigns of Stonewall Jackson, Dabney ; 
 and Religious Character of Stonewall Jackson, Smith.
 
 88 The Militaey History of 
 
 to the temperament of genius; and youth especially is 
 wont to lose no time forecasting future greatness from 
 present eccentricity. Young men, and the large ma- 
 jority of maturer minds as well, are concerned with 
 the material aspect of things in their relation to the 
 present. Thus it is, that the smaller intellect capable 
 of a complete mastery of a task of commensurate magni- 
 tude, is ordinarily rated higher in the general estimate 
 than a less circimiscribed intellect which gives imperfect 
 evidences of its grasp of tangible things. Especially is 
 this true of cadets, who in their uncritical judgment 
 would at once underestimate a Hannibal, should he 
 undertake to discharge the duties of a drill-master, with- 
 out a thorough knowledge of the details involved. The 
 immature mind, whether of youth or men, does not deal 
 in generalities, but exacts preciseness in the most trivial 
 matters. Nor can it accept the unconventional oddities 
 of style and manner, beneath which a broader mind de- 
 tects the more essential qualities ; they onty obscure those 
 qualities from the view of the undiscerning ; and thus 
 the superficial attributes are construed as the true na- 
 ture of the subject under consideration. 
 
 "Major Jackson's presence was not striking, his man- 
 ners were not attractive, and his habits were so eccentric 
 that he had not ranked high as a professor; even at the 
 time of his most astonishing victories, and when any 
 cadet there would have given all he possessed to be with 
 him, the stories of 'Old Jack's' eccentricities made daily 
 sport for the cadets." Such were the accurate recol- 
 lections of one who upon mature reflection sought to re- 
 cord his youthful estimate of the great man, under 
 whom he had served as a cadet.* And this testimony 
 is almost universally corroborated. 
 
 One who knows human nature, and more particularly 
 the nature of young men, — one who has not yet lost 
 touch with the spirit of youth, may readily detect from 
 the following account the feelings of the Corps of Cadets 
 with respect to Major Jackson: 
 
 *End of an Era, John S. Wise, p. 268.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 89 
 
 "It was a famous joke how, when he had been drilhng 
 the Third Class in hght artillery, with the 'plebes' as 
 horses, the cadets had drawn the linchpins from the 
 cannon wheels ; and as the guns made the turn near the 
 parapet along the edge of the parade ground, the wheels 
 had come off and sent the pieces tumbling over the 
 slope. When this would happen, as it often did. Major 
 Jackson would gallop up, look ruefulh^ down the slope, 
 and remark, without the slightest suspicion: 'There 
 must be something defective in the construction of these 
 linchpins; they seem inclined to fly out whenever the 
 pieces in rapid motion change direction.' " 
 
 Now, here, let it be interpolated, no such incident as 
 this could have occurred but once (at most), under 
 Major Gilham who, the first time it did occur, would 
 in his more practical laiowledge of young men, probably 
 have required the old cadets to draw the pieces up the 
 slope, instead of halting them in the shade while the 
 innocent human gun-teams labored at the task! Such 
 an expedient would have at once remedied all defects in 
 the linchpins. But Major Jackson's mind was not con- 
 stituted that way. 
 
 Soon after his appointment, lack of harmony de- 
 veloped between Major Jackson and the Superin- 
 tendent. It was said Major Jackson would have little 
 to do with his superior officer, except in an official way. 
 "Professors were required under the regulations to 
 make their weekly reports to the Superintendent at four 
 o'clock Friday afternoon. It was told of 'Old Jack' 
 that Friday afternoon, within a few minutes of four 
 o'clock, he would appear in front of the Superin- 
 tendent's office, and walk up and down, until the clock 
 struck four. It made no difference whether it was rain- 
 ing, haihng, snowing, or freezing, he would not enter 
 until the clock struck; then, with military precision, he 
 would advance to the office of the Superintendent, sa- 
 lute, lay his report upon the table, face about, and walk 
 out. It was also related that during the recitations he 
 was frequently occupied in rubbing one side of himself,
 
 90 The Military History of 
 
 under the impression (confided to a select few) that 
 one side of his body was not so well nourished as the 
 other, and was gradually wasting away." 
 
 The writer of this interesting account does not him- 
 self vouch for the truth of the reports he recounts, and 
 they may have all been greatly exaggerated, and very 
 likely were; but the fact remains, that the general im- 
 pression was according to the current rumor or gossip, 
 and we readily understand why the cadets dubbed a 
 man but twenty-seven years of age, "Old Jack", "Old 
 Tom Jackson", and "Fool Tom Jackson". 
 
 With Gilham as Commandant, and Jackson as In- 
 structor of Ordnance and Artillery Tactics, the military 
 instruction of the School progressed with the utmost 
 success; but Gilham was the disciplinarian and the 
 champion of the military ideals of the Institute. He 
 was regarded by many as a veritable martinet, was dis- 
 liked by those who shirked their duty and felt the iron 
 of his hand, admired intensely by his associate officers 
 and the great majority of the Corps, and respected by 
 all. When the Superintendent, — a kindly, gentle man, 
 thoroughly imbued with the principles of discipline, but, 
 occasionally, through what he deemed to be policy, 
 inclined to overlook in a spirit of paternalism, breaches 
 of discipline, — it was Major Gilham, the Commandant, 
 who opposed these tendencies to depart from the strict 
 requirements of duty. At times, of course, the Com- 
 mandant was too exacting ; for, thrown into contact with 
 cadets only in his military capacity, he dealt with them 
 as men with men's responsibilities, and treated them 
 accordingly. He rightly perceived that it was not the 
 academic excellence of the Institute upon which its suc- 
 cess depended ; for he knew that many other institutions 
 of learning afforded a higher and more elaborate course 
 of instruction. He miderstood that it was the military, 
 or characteristic, feature of the Institute that must be 
 preserved, and maintained at the highest standard of 
 efficiencj^; and that just in so far as the fundamental 
 conception of the School was ignored and departed
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 91 
 
 from, to that extent was its power of usefulness sacri- 
 ficed. In such a behef it was that he demanded of cadets 
 the most conscientious and thorough attention to mih- 
 tary duty; and when one of them proved remiss and 
 failed to respond to reasonable measures of correction, 
 he took the stand that the Institute was not a reforma- 
 tory, and that however hard the penalty of dismissal 
 might be upon the incorrigible cadet, and his parents, 
 the general interest should not be sacrificed in a spirit 
 of mistaken leniency to the individual. 
 
 It is needless here to add that Gilliam's views were 
 the only practicable ones for a Commandant of Cadets. 
 Entertaining any other views, one, responsible for the 
 discipline of a large body of young men, is destined to 
 meet with inevitable failure. There is no mid course be- 
 tween discipline and indiscipline; nor can discipline be 
 compromised with in the interest of an individual where 
 the control of many is involved. Soldiers, and especially 
 cadets, are invariably happier and more content under 
 a system of rigid exaction of duty, which is specific in 
 its demands and prompt and impartial in the ad- 
 ministration of justice. They do not weigh the penalty, 
 or rebel, however severe the penalty may be, if only 
 it be assigned with firmness and impartiality. No pun- 
 ishment can be inflicted, however, without serious con- 
 sequences, unless at least these two requisites are 
 present. 
 
 From the foregoing, it must not be inferred that the 
 Superintendent overlooked the requirements of disci- 
 pline. He merely found it difficult on occasions to ex- 
 act the full recompense from the youthful offender. 
 This was natural. Men either grow more lenient or 
 more tyrannical with increasing years. General Smitli 
 was never a tyrant. At times he did fail to perceive 
 that in a military body where failure to do appointed 
 tasks tends to lower the general standard of efficiency 
 penalties lose much of their character as individual 
 punishments, and become stimulants as well as 
 restraints.
 
 92 The Military History of 
 
 At this point, it may be well to advert at some length 
 to the view of discipline, which has in the main pre- 
 vailed at the Institute and upon which so much of its 
 success as a school of arms has been based. 
 
 From the first, it was perceived that discipline con- 
 sists of more than a code of regulations, devised and 
 promulgated to order the conduct of those subject 
 thereto, but that it consists of such a code coupled with 
 a consistent, firm, prompt, and unvarying system of 
 enforcement. At the Institute the system of enforce- 
 ment was based not upon physical compulsion, but upon 
 mental compulsion through fear of the exaction of a 
 prescribed penalty for any violation of the code of 
 regulations. 
 
 Discipline becomes effective just to the extent that 
 adherence to the regulations is compelled, and when 
 the penalty system of compulsion is in effect, adherence 
 to the rules of discipline will be found according to the 
 degree of rigidity with which the penalty prescribed for 
 a violation is exacted. Discipline, however, is not to be 
 gauged by the penalties exacted, for penalties when ex- 
 cessive are conclusive of undue disregard of regulations. 
 In other words, good conduct can not be argued from 
 the recompense demanded for bad conduct. 
 
 But there are other means available for the disci- 
 plinarian than the penalty system of enforcement which 
 may be employed in conjunction with such a system. 
 Careful instruction, appeal to pride, reward for the 
 faithful and efficient discharge of duty — all these must 
 serve to induce adherence to the established rules. Be- 
 hind them, however, must stand the ever-present know- 
 ledge that a violation of those rules will be attended with 
 a penalty of such character as to make the violation 
 unprofitable. 
 
 Military discipline rigidly enforced may as a system 
 be likened to the law of contract. A contract is volun- 
 tarily entered into. While it can not be broken to the 
 advantage of the one who disregards his obligations 
 thereunder without incurring damages, yet the bonds
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 93 
 
 can not be oppressive. The unmilitary mind too often 
 fails to perceive this analogy. It comprehends that the 
 granting of damages to the party whose contract rights 
 are violated is but a protection to society, and that it 
 is not in the nature of a mere punislmient to the of- 
 fender. But it can not grasp the fact that a military 
 penalty is not a pimishment but a means of protecting 
 the military society and enforcing that general co- 
 operation upon which the safety of the military unit, 
 large or small, depends. To weaken the guarantee of 
 protection in either case by failing to exact the damages 
 in the first, and the penalty in the last, for any indi- 
 \ddual violation is itself an act which disregards the 
 right of the many for the benefit of one. 
 
 The foregoing idea of discipline was fundamental in 
 the military system of the Institute, where the individ- 
 ual interest was never allowed under the regime of 
 Gilham, and later on under Shipp, to rise superior to 
 that of the Corps of Cadets as a military unit. Neither 
 of these eminently forceful and preeminently successful 
 Commandants regarded a penalty as a punishment, or 
 in the crude light of the exaction of recompense — "an 
 eye for an eye." They did not relish the duty of in- 
 flicting penalties, and by constant effect and patient in- 
 struction sought to prevent the necessity from arising; 
 yet when it did arise, they never allowed the kindness 
 of their hearts to mislead them into encouraging the 
 repetition of offenses by adopting an attitude of mis- 
 taken leniency. They knew that kindness of heart like 
 charity is dangerous in some cases, and in them does 
 more harm than good. Their views prevailed and the 
 result was that under them the correct ideas of discipline 
 were inculcated in the Corps of Cadets. 
 
 Under the wise administration of affairs by the Super- 
 intendent, and the firm command of the Corps of 
 Cadets by Gilliam, the Institute flourished, surpassing 
 the most sanguine expectations. Before 1860, the new 
 barracks, and many other buildings, had been erected, 
 at a total expense to the State of $151,000; the more
 
 ^4 The Military History or 
 
 essential improvements were effected between I80O and 
 1855. 
 
 The Snperintendent had laid great stress before the 
 Legislature on the fact that in building up the Institute 
 the State was not only fostering its educational and 
 industrial development, but at the same time was pro- 
 viding for its defense in the event of war; and, as the 
 imminence of sectional strife became more apparent, 
 this argimient proved more and more availing. 
 
 July 4, 1856, Governor Henry A. Wise, always an 
 ardent supporter of the Institute, dedicated the Wash- 
 ington Monument and the new barracks, and in a mem- 
 orable address, emphasized in bold terms the service 
 which Virginia's School of Arms was destined to render 
 the State. Expressing his pride, as Chief Executive 
 of Virginia, in the Institution, he pledged his support 
 to it in every reasonable way. His subsequent record 
 shows that he fully discharged that promise. 
 
 The favorable opinion of the people at this time, but 
 expressed by the Governor, insured the successful prog- 
 ress of the Institute. They now attached to it a value 
 which they had failed to perceive until the chariots of 
 Mars began to rumble. Hitherto, they had in large 
 measure regarded the Institute as a dedication to the 
 violent, lustful son of Jove. Now, they miderstood its 
 true character, and saw that the conception of Crozet 
 and Smith, and those others who had been active in 
 the furtherance of their designs, had not merely raised 
 a monument to Mars, but one to the peace-loving, 
 though war-like, Minerva. And with this broad grasp 
 of the situation, however tardy, the Legislature was 
 just preparing to make possible the wide extension of 
 the field of usefulness of the Institute, when war 
 intervened. 
 
 The Washington Monument in Richmond was not 
 completed for many years after the laying of the cor- 
 ner-stone; but, at last, February 22, 1858, the one 
 hundred and twenty-sixth anniversary of the birth of 
 the Immortal Patriot, was appointed as the daj^ for the 
 unveiling of the statue.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 9o 
 
 Governor Wise ordered the Corps of Cadets, now 
 about 150 strong, to attend the ceremonies as his escort 
 of honor; and in due time the BattaHon of four com- 
 panies and a section of the battery, in command of 
 Majors Gilham and Jackson, respectively, were em- 
 barked aboard canal boats for Richmond, where the 
 cadets were quartered in the Lyceum. 
 
 The people had not yet forgotten the appearance of 
 the Corps in the Capital eight years before, and wel- 
 comed the cadets with open arms. 
 
 "The appearance of the Corps on this occasion, the 
 first on which I ever saw it," wrote a distinguished 
 author, "was sufficient to excite the wildest enthusiasm 
 of a small boy, such as I was at the time. Never be- 
 fore had I seen such trim, alert figures; such clean, 
 saucy-looking uniforms ; such machine-like precision and 
 quickness of drill ; such silence and obedience. From the 
 first day my eye rested on the Cadet Corps, my ambition 
 was to be a cadet. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 "The only thing about this fine body that struck me 
 as in any way lacking in soldierly appearance was the 
 Commandant of the battery. He was not my ideal of 
 a soldier, either in military bearing, or in the manner in 
 which he gave his commands. His uniform was not 
 new : his old blue forage cap sat on the back of his head ; 
 and he stood like a horse 'sprung' in the knees. His 
 commands were given in a piping, whining tone, and he 
 appeared to be deeply intent on his business, without 
 paying much regard to the onlookers. On the other 
 hand, the officer commanding the battalion of infantry 
 was the model of a martinet. He was petite, quick as 
 a lizard, straight as a ramrod, and his commands were 
 given like the crack of a whiplash. I thought him a 
 perfect commanding officer. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 "When the parade was dismissed, on hiquiring about 
 the officers, I learned that the odd-looking Commandant
 
 96 The Militaey History of 
 
 was familiarly called 'Old Jack' ; and that his real name 
 was Major Jackson; and that the cadets while disposed 
 to make light of him for his eccentricities, dare not trifle 
 with him. As to the other officer, Major Gilham, all 
 agreed that he was the best drill-officer and tactician 
 they had, and that he was superior to Major Jackson."* 
 
 "At the grand reception given that night by my 
 Father, the Governor, I again saw both these officers, 
 and their bearing confirmed me in my judgment that 
 there was no question which was the superior soldier. 
 Major Jackson was plainly dressed, wore coarse shoes, 
 had a weary look in his blue eyes, took very little part 
 in conversation, seemed bored by the entertainment, 
 neither ate nor drank, and after paying his respects to 
 the Governor, and to General Winfield Scott, Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States, 
 quietly disappeared. Major Gilham, on the other hand, 
 was urbane, ubiquitous, and remained until the close of 
 the entertainment. 
 
 "In after years, I had occasion to revise my opinion 
 of these two men, for Mujor Jackson was none other 
 than the immortal Stonewall." 
 
 The visit of the Corps to Richmond in 1858, as in 
 1850, was productive of much good. It not only ad- 
 vertised the military worth of the Institute among the 
 people of Virginia, but also among a host of visitors 
 from all sections of the country ; and this aroused in the 
 cadets themselves a consciousness of their superiority, 
 which constitutes one of the strongest factors of 
 esprit de corps in a mihtary body. The reception they 
 received, and the honors again thrust upon them, made 
 them realize that much was expected of the Virginia 
 JNIilitary Institute as the Corps Elite of the South, and 
 the opportunity it afforded them to see and meet the 
 dignitaries of the country, including such eminent sol- 
 diers as General Winfield Scott, and his distinguished 
 
 *The writer's memory played him a triclj in connection with this interesting 
 account. Major Jaclisoh was not Commandant, nor was he in Richmond in 
 1858. It was the following year that he accompanied the Corps to Richmond 
 from Harper's Perry, and was seen by the writer ; but the picture is a good 
 one.
 
 ( f M 
 
 F^Pfii^r^p n p t p HI » y ^^ 
 
 •!• ' : r^ ztrLiii 
 
   » ; I ; ; I ; ; i ; [ 1 1 1 
 
 COI.UXEL JOHN THOMAS LEWIS PRESTON 
 
 Professor 1839-1876, 1878-1882
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 97 
 
 staff officers, aroused a sense of the dignity of their 
 status. 
 
 The influence of such incidents in the hfe of a vouns 
 soldier can not be overestimated. Youthful impressions, 
 always the strongest, are also the most lasting, and the 
 contact of the cadets with Zachary Taylor, "Old Fuss 
 and Feathers", and many other great men of the age, 
 laid the foundation of traditions which grow greener 
 with time. 
 
 The next great military pageant of the State was 
 held on the occasion of the removal of the remains of 
 President Monroe from New York to Richmond, in 
 July, 1858. On this occasion almost the entire military 
 establishment of the State turned out, and the famous 
 Seventh New York Regiment escorted the body by boat 
 from New York to Richmond. But the Corps, being on 
 furlough, did not attend, and took no part in the 
 brilliant ceremonies. The gallant "Seventh", therefore, 
 captured the military honors of the day, and, it has even 
 been said, fixed in the minds of the Virginians the color 
 of the uniform afterwards adopted by the Confederacy. 
 But this it not true. Long ere the New York troops 
 made their appearance in Richmond, the South was 
 familiar with the Cadet gray of West Point and the 
 Institute. 
 
 It was at this time, that Major Gilham strongly urged 
 the extension of the military instruction of the Institute 
 to include practical cavalry and light artillery drill with 
 horses. It had been for years the desire of the Board 
 to provide for such instruction ; and, now that graduates 
 of the Institute were being eagerly sought and relied 
 upon for the re-organization of the militia, the need of 
 more general instruction seemed all the more pressing. 
 
 Major Gilham's plan embraced the procuring of 30 
 horses which he declared parents would provide, and, 
 furthermore, he stated that certain citizens of Lexington 
 would donate others. The cost of hauling for the 
 Institute he estimated at $1,800.00 per annum. This 
 work could be done by the cavaby and artillery horses.
 
 98 The Military History of 
 
 Should they be provided they could actually be kept 
 for the amount saved. By increasing the annual charge 
 against each cadet $15.00 until the State made adequate 
 provision, mounted instruction could be given the 
 Second Class, and every graduate would go forth 
 thoroughly trained in the three branches, instead of in 
 infantry tactics, and the theory of gunnery alone. But 
 Gilliam's wise plan has never yet been adopted in spite 
 of the constant efforts of successive Commandants.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 99 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 chair of strategy created THE EXECUTION OF 
 
 JOHN BROWN 
 
 During the period immediately subsequent to 1855, 
 the friction between the two sections over slavery ques- 
 tions increased at an alarming rate. "The declamation 
 against disunion, and the mutual j^ledges of fraternal 
 love between North and South, which attended th^ ban- 
 quet to the Seventh New York Regiment in Richmond, 
 arose in great part from a knowledge of sectional feel- 
 ing, threats of disunion, and of partisan recriminations 
 between politicians, but too familiar to all who spoke." 
 Mere pledges of fraternity between their soldiery could 
 not blind the eyes of the people of either New York or 
 Virginia to the crisis that was impending. 
 
 Never for an instant had the necessity for prepared- 
 ness been overlooked at the Institute, and with increas- 
 ing numbers and demands for entrance, came enlarge- 
 ments of the Faculty and the facilities for instruction. 
 
 The unprecedented success of the Virginia Military 
 Institute by no means turned the heads of those at the 
 helm whose motto had been "Progress". Availing them- 
 selves of the best this country had to offer, it was now 
 proposed by them to send Colonel Smith to Europe to 
 study the methods of the best military and scientific in- 
 stitutions of the old world. Accordingly, fully ac- 
 credited by the Board of Visitors and the Governor of 
 Virginia, he sailed from New York June 9, 1858, with 
 three graduates of the Institute, returning the last of 
 December, following. During his investigations which 
 extended over a period of nearly five months, he visited 
 every one of the principal military schools of England, 
 France, and Germany, and procured a mass of infor- 
 mation, more valuable in the academic development of
 
 100 The Military History of 
 
 the School, than with respect to its mihtary organiza- 
 tion. It was by reason of the knowledge the Superin- 
 tendent gained abroad, however, that a notable innova- 
 tion in military instruction in this country was 
 inaugurated. 
 
 In 1854, Captain Raleigh E. Colston, V. M. I., 
 1846, Assistant Professor, had been appointed Pro- 
 fessor of a new chair of French, History, and Political 
 Economy, with rank of major. A Chair of Military 
 Strategy was now created, and Major Colston was as- 
 signed to fill it. This was, as far as the writer can 
 determine, the first chair of the kind created in any 
 institution of learning in America, and no such ad- 
 vanced instruction in the military science existed else- 
 where, even at the United States Military Academy. 
 
 In this new work. Major Colston displayed the most 
 marked ability, giving many evidences of that know- 
 ledge of the theory of war, which enabled him to attain 
 high distinction as a brigadier-general of the Confeder- 
 acy, and later to become the military adviser of the 
 Khedive of Egypt whose army he reorganized after the 
 War between the States. 
 
 Among the military men who served on the Board of 
 Visitors during this period, besides those already 
 mentioned, were General Francis M. Boykin, Colonel 
 Wilham B. Taliaferro, Colonel Samuel F. Hays, Major 
 Samuel V. Fulkerson, Colonel Benjamin Rush Floyd, 
 Colonel Augustine J. Smith, Colonel James L. Kemper, 
 Colonel A. Hughes Dillard, Colonel James H. Paxton, 
 Colonel Samuel Downing, and Captain S. B. Gibbons. 
 Colonel Taliaferro became the senior military officer of 
 Virginia before the outbreak of the war, with rank of 
 Major-General, Virginia Volunteers. 
 
 In 1858, Captain Stapleton Crutchfield, V. M. I., 
 1855, was appointed Adjunct Professor of Mathe- 
 matics. Up to the time of their promotion, both Colston 
 and Crutchfield had served at the Institute as tactical 
 officers.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 101 
 
 To the high character of the suh-faciilty and tactical 
 officers of the Institute much of the efficiency of the 
 Corps has always been due, a fact that is readily 
 understood by one familiar with the importance of an 
 able staff. 
 
 Upon the tactical staff of Major Gilham, during the 
 fifteen years previous to the war, were to be found many 
 young officers afterwards prominent in the military ser- 
 vice of the Confederacy. A list of the tactical officers 
 during that period, with the positions attained by them 
 in the service, or in civil life, is here given. 
 
 J. Q. Marr, 1846; member Secession Convention, 1861; 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Virginia Infantry, C. S. A. ; killed in battle. 
 
 M. E. Colston, 1846; Brigadier-General, C. S. A. 
 
 R. E. Rodes, 1848; Major-General, C. S. A.; killed in battle. 
 
 J. S. Gamble, 1848; Principal Norfolk Academy; died in 1857. 
 
 James W. Massie, 1849; Lieutenant-Colonel 51st Va. Reg., 
 C. S. A. 
 
 James W. Allen, 1849; Colonel 2nd Va. Reg., C. S. A.; killed 
 in battle. 
 
 Wm. D. Stuart, 1850; Colonel 56th Va. Reg., C. S. A.; killed 
 in battle. 
 
 W. W. Gordon, 1850; Colonel 27th Va. Reg., C. S. A. 
 
 Daniel Trueheart, 1850; Major and Chief of Artillery, C. S. A., 
 Jackson's Corps. 
 
 Thomas A. Harris, 1851 ; Major and Surgeon, C. S. A. 
 
 Henry A. Whiting, 1852; Major and Inspector General Rodes's 
 Staff, C. S. A. 
 
 G. H. Smith, 1853; Colonel 62d Va. Reg., C. S. A. 
 
 E. V. Bargamin, 1855; Physician; died in France, 1860. 
 W. T. Patton, 1855; Colonel 7th Va. Reg., C. S. A.; killed in 
 
 battle. 
 
 L. B. Williams, 1855; Colonel 1st Va. Reg., C. S. A.; killed in 
 battle. 
 
 F. W. Smith, 1856; Lieutenant-Colonel Artillery, C. S. A.; 
 killed in battle. 
 
 J. H. Lane, 1856; Brigadier-General, C. S. A. 
 
 P. B. Stanard, 1856; Major of Ordnance, C. S. A. 
 
 G. M. Edgar, 1856; Lieutenant-Colonel 26th Va. Reg., C. S. A. 
 John McCausland, 1857; Brigadier-General, C. S. A. 
 
 B. F. Stewart, 1857; Captain, C. S. A.; killed in battle. 
 P. P. Slaughter, 1857; Colonel 56th Va. Reg., C. S. A. 
 R. M. Mayo, 1857; Colonel 47th Va. Reg., C. S. A. 
 W. H. Otey, 1859; Captain Cavalry, C. S. A.
 
 102 The Military History of 
 
 J. H. Chenoweth, 1859; Major 31st Va. Reg., C. S. A.; killed 
 in battle. 
 
 J. D. H. Ross, 1859; Lieutenant-Colonel 52d Va. Reg., C. S. A. 
 
 Scott Shipp, 1859; Lieutenant-Colonel 21st Va. Reg., C. S. A. 
 
 J. G. Miller, 1860; Lieutenant, C. S. A.; Professor Baltimore 
 City College. 
 
 A. S. Scott, 1860; Captain Cavalry, C. S. A. 
 
 Edward Cunningham, Jr., 1860; Major Engineers, C. S. A. 
 
 Thomas M. Semmes, 1860; Lieutenant and Adjutant Arkansas 
 Infantry, C. S. A. 
 
 Marshall McDonald, 1860; Captain Infantry, C. S. A.; first 
 U. S. Fish Commissioner. 
 
 William A. Smith, 1861; Captain and Assistant Adjutant-Gen- 
 eral, C. S. A. 
 
 One can not fail to be impressed by such a record. 
 In this hst of 33 tactical officers of the Institute, in a 
 period of fifteen years, there are numbered 1 Major- 
 General, 3 Brigadier- Generals, 8 Colonels, 6 Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonels, 6 Majors, 5 Captains, and 2 Lieu- 
 tenants. There are but two civilians, who both died 
 before the war — one a physician and one a college pro- 
 fessor. Nine of the number were killed in battle, and 
 one was a member of the Secession Convention, and one 
 the first Fish Commissioner of the L^nited States, after 
 the war. 
 
 In the Bill of Rights of Virginia, George Mason 
 wrote: "A well regulated militia composed of the body 
 of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, 
 and safe defense of a free State." Recognizing that 
 great truth the Legislature of 18.57-8 undertook, at 
 the instance of the people, to reorganize the militia 
 which had been practically disbanded. Immediately the 
 graduates of the Institute were called into service to 
 assist in the work and as Inspectors, especially, greatly 
 aided the Adjutant-General; but it took time to create 
 more than a skeleton organization in a State where little 
 attention had been paid to the military establishment 
 for four decades or more. 
 
 Hardly had the movement to regenerate the citizen 
 soldiery gotten under way, when an incident portentous 
 of the future occurred, and one upon which the writer 
 is able to throw very little light. It maj^ be that sub-^
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 103 
 
 sequent research among the archives of the State will 
 disclose more facts than can now be given. At any 
 rate it is a well established fact that in the fall of 1858, 
 secret orders were received by the Superintendent to 
 double the guard at the Institute for the protection of 
 the Arsenal and to issue ball cartridges to the cadets. 
 The Governor, it seems, had information of a plot for 
 the arming of a number of negroes at the Pewe Iron 
 Works near Lexington, and the seizure of the arms in 
 the Arsenal with which to start a servile insurrection 
 among the slaves in Virginia.* 
 
 The Governor's orders were strictly carried out, but 
 no uprising occurred. The supposed plan was almost 
 identical with the one which John Brown sought to 
 execute the following year, and it may be the Governor's 
 alarm was not without foundation. 
 
 In the fall of 1859 an event transpired which may be 
 assigned as a prelusive incident of the War between the 
 States, for from the time of its occurrence even the 
 most conservative people of the South began to prepare 
 for the conflict. 
 
 On the night of Sunday, October 16, 1859, John 
 Brown, the arch-abolitionist, advanced with a party of 
 twenty-two men upon Harper's Feriy, Virginia, and 
 seized the United States Armory and Arsenal estab- 
 lished there. Throughout the next day, he held posses- 
 sion of the town, and committed the most atrocious acts 
 of murder and destruction. It was his expectation that 
 the negro slaves of the section, among whom his emis- 
 saries had been active for many months, would rise en 
 inasse and massacre the white population; but not one 
 joined his force. 
 
 It was the afternoon of the 17th, when intelligence 
 of the event reached Richmond ; and, within ten minutes 
 after its receipt. Governor Wise had ordered Colonel 
 John Thomas Gibson, of Charles Town, commanding 
 the militia regiment of the Harper's Ferry District, to 
 mobilize his regiment. Similar instructions were tele- 
 
 *Letter of M. C. Ellzey, V. M. I., I860, to Col. .Tos. R. Andorson, Historiog- 
 rapher.
 
 104 The Military History of 
 
 graphed Colonel Robert W. Baylor, of the Third Regi- 
 ment of Militia Cavalry. 
 
 The military system of the State was still utterly in- 
 efficient, having nothing but a skeleton organization. 
 Regiments were organized on paper, by districts, and 
 only the few companies in the larger towns had yet been 
 actually recruited and armed. The volunteer company 
 of Charles Town, however, had assembled at the first 
 notice of the invasion, and, by prompt action, had cut off 
 Brown's expected reinforcements, and prevented his 
 escape. 
 
 A number of companies of the First Virginia Regi- 
 ment, stationed in Richmond, left that city Monday 
 night on an hour's notice, for Washington, en route to 
 the scene of the trouble, but, upon arriving there, 
 learned that a body of United States Marines, imder the 
 command of Colonel Robert E. Lee, had proceeded to 
 Harper's Ferry, and on Tuesday morning had battered 
 doMai the doors of the Engine House in which Brown 
 and his followers had barricaded themselves against the 
 militia force, and had captured the murderers, along 
 with their chief. 
 
 It was one o'clock p. m.^ when the Governor, with the 
 troops from Richmond, arrived at Harper's Ferry. He 
 immediately ordered the prisoners to be incarcerated 
 in Charles Town, and established a force there as a 
 guard. 
 
 The general public in and around Harper's Ferry 
 was in no condition to give quarter to Brown, or any 
 of his men ; still, it is most creditable to Virginia that the 
 infuriated people were willing to let the law take its 
 course with the assassins who had assailed them while 
 in their beds, and sought to instigate servile insurrection 
 in their midst. They had absolute confidence in the 
 ability of Captain John Avis to hold them in jail, es- 
 pecially when aided by the militia, and knew that a 
 speedy trial would result. 
 
 The people were not idle, however, while they awaited 
 the trial. Rumors of all kinds were rife. There was a
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 105 
 
 general belief that Brown would never have undertaken 
 so perilous and impossible a task without assurance of 
 reinforcements, either of organized slaves, or aboh- 
 tionists from the North; and the belief that a rescue 
 would be attempted was well-nigh universal. Brown 
 himself expected to be rescued. 
 
 These conditions caused the citizens to arm them- 
 selves, and the Governor to keep the State troops con- 
 stantly in readiness, and a part of them actually on 
 guard in Charles Town; so that from the time of 
 Brown's capture the town had the appearance of a mili- 
 tary camp. 
 
 The preliminary examination was held October 25, 
 1857. The early morning found the Court-house safe 
 from any attempt to release the prisoners. Cannon 
 were posted before it, and every approach was guarded 
 by the troops. Brown's counsel had not then been 
 selected by him; so Colonel Davenport, the presiding 
 justice assigned Hon. Chas. J. Faulkner, a member of 
 the Board of Visitors of the Institute from 1848 to 1851, 
 and Lawson Botts, Esq., an eleve of the Institute, as 
 temporary counsel for the defense.* The next day, the 
 Grand Jury returned a true bill against the prisoners 
 for treason, advising and conspiring with slaves and 
 others to rebel, and for murder, — each offense punish- 
 able with death. 
 
 The trial proceeded without delay. Until the fourth 
 day of the trial. Brown was represented by Messrs. 
 Green, Botts, and Hoyt; but on the 29th of October, 
 Messrs. Chilton and Griswold, eminent counsel from the 
 North, selected by Brown's friends, appeared and con- 
 ducted the defense. The Court adjourned that day un- 
 til Monday, the 31st, when a verdict in the following 
 words was returned: "We, the jury, find the defendant, 
 John Brown, the prisoner at the bar, guilty of treason, 
 advising and conspiring with slaves and others to rebel, 
 and for murder in the first degree." "Signed by J. C. 
 Wiltshire, Foreman." 
 
 *Mr. Faulkner declined to act as such, and Thomas C. Green was sub- 
 stituted for him.
 
 106 The Military History of 
 
 November 2d, Brown was again brought into Court, 
 when Judge Parker cahnly sentenced him to be hanged 
 on the 2d day of December, 1859, by the Sheriff of 
 Jefferson County, "not in the jail yard, but at such 
 other place in the county, convenient, as the said Sheriff 
 might select." 
 
 Meantime, the Governor not only held the militia 
 already there on guard, but directed other troops to as- 
 semble at Charles Town for the execution. 
 
 One may well imagine the interest which all these 
 proceedings excited in Lexington. The cadets magni- 
 fied the dangers a thousand-fold, and the wildest rumors 
 were current at the Institute. The papers from the 
 North gave long accounts of the sympathetic feeling for 
 Brown and his band of assassins on the part of the 
 abolitionists in that quarter, and the cadets fully be- 
 lieved that any day they might be ordered out to assist 
 in repelling an invasion. 
 
 Orders of a different nature, however, soon arrived. 
 Major-General William B. Taliaferro, commanding 
 the Virginia Volunteers, formerly President of the 
 Board of Visitors, was directed by the Governor to 
 mobilize the militia at Charles Town; and the Superin- 
 tendent of the Institute was ordered to dispatch a de- 
 tachment from the Corps of Cadets to that point as the 
 personal escort of the Governor. Colonel Smith him- 
 self was designated to superintend the execution. Thus, 
 the Institute was to play a prominent part in an event 
 of great national moment, the effect of which on the 
 Corps can hardly be hinted at. 
 
 The Cadet command ordered by Colonel Smith to 
 Charles Town late in November consisted of a detach- 
 ment from the infantry battalion of 64 cadets organized 
 as two companies, under Major Gilham, with Lieu- 
 tenants McCausland, Otey, and Shipp comprising the 
 tactical staff, and the howitzer section manned by 21 
 cadets. Major Jackson in command, and Lieutenant 
 Trueheart attached.* 
 
 ♦Daniel Trueheart was afterwards Major and Chief of Artillery, Army of 
 the Valley, Major-General T. J. Jackson commanding. The Corps numbered 
 161 cadets in 1859-60.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 107 
 
 Majors Preston and Colston, Major E. L. Graham, 
 Surgeon, and Captain J. T. Gibbs, Commissary of the 
 Institute, comprised the staff of Colonel Smith. 
 
 The cadets reached Charles Town November 26th, 
 via Washington. 
 
 The best account of the execution known to the writer 
 was prepared, the evening of December 2d, by Major 
 Preston, and it is here given practically in its entirety, 
 as of especial interest to the Institute : 
 
 "The execution is over; we have just returned from 
 the fields, and I have sat down to give you an account 
 of it. The weather was very favorable; the sky was a 
 little overcast, with a gentle haze in the atmosphere that 
 softened, without obscuring, the magnificent prospect 
 afforded here. Between eight and nine o'clock, the 
 troops began to put themselves in motion to occupy the 
 positions assigned them on the field, as designated on 
 the plan I send you. To Colonel Smith had been as- 
 signed the superintendence of the execution, and he and 
 his staff were the only mounted officers on the ground, 
 until the JMajor-General and his staff appeared. By 
 one o'clock all was arranged ; the general effect was im- 
 posing, and, at the same time, picturesque. The cadets 
 were immediately in rear of the gallows, a howitzer on 
 the right and left, a little behind, so as to sweep the 
 field. The cadets were uniformed in red flannel shirts 
 which gave them a gay, dashing, zouave look, and were 
 exceedingly becoming, especially the battery. They 
 were flanked obliquely by two corps, the Richmond 
 Grays and Company F, which, inferior in appearance 
 to the cadets, were superior to any other companies I 
 ever saw outside of the regular army. Other companies 
 were distributed over the field, amounting in all to about 
 800 men. The military force was about 1,500. 
 
 "The whole enclosure was lined by cavalry troops 
 posted as sentinels, with their officers — one on a peerless 
 black horse, and another on a remarkable-looking wliite 
 horse, continually dashing round the enclosure. Out- 
 side this enclosure, were other companies, acting as
 
 108 The Military History of 
 
 rangers and scouts. The jail was guarded by several 
 companies of infantry, and pieces of artillery were put 
 in position for its defense. 
 
 "Shortly before eleven o'clock, the prisoner was taken 
 from the jail, and the funeral cortege was put in motion. 
 First, came three companies, then, the criminal's wagon, 
 drawn by two large white horse. John Brown was 
 seated on his coffin, accompanied by the sheriff and two 
 other persons. The wagon drove to the foot of the 
 gallows, and Brown descended with alacrity, and with- 
 out assistance, and ascended the steep steps to the plat- 
 form. His demeanor was intrepid, without being 
 braggart. He made no speech; whether he desired to 
 make one or not, I do not know. Had he desired it, it 
 would not have been permitted. Any speech of his 
 must, of necessity, have been unlawful, and as being 
 directed against the peace and dignity of the Common- 
 wealth, and as such could not be allowed by those who 
 were then engaged in the most solemn and extreme 
 vindication of law. His manner was without trepida- 
 tion, but his countenance was not free from concern; 
 and it seemed to me to have a little cast of wildness. He 
 stood upon the scaffold but a short time, giving brief 
 adieus to those about him, when he was properly 
 pinioned, the white cap dra^^l over his face, the noose 
 adjusted and attached to the hook above, and he was 
 moved blindfold a few steps forward. It was curious 
 to note how the instincts of nature operated to make 
 him careful in putting out his feet as if afraid he would 
 walk off the scaffold. The man who stood unblanched 
 on the brink of eternity was afraid of falling a few feet 
 to the ground! 
 
 "He was now all ready. The sheriff asked him if he 
 should give a private signal before the fatal moment. 
 He replied in a voice that seemed to me to be un- 
 naturally natural, so composed was its tone, and so 
 distinct its articulation, 'that it did not matter to him, 
 if only they would not keep him too long waiting.' He 
 was kept waiting, however. The troops that had formed
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 109 
 
 his escort had to be put into their position, and while 
 this was going on, he stood for some ten or fifteen 
 minutes bhndfold, the rope around his neck, and his 
 feet on the treacherous platform, expecting instantly the 
 fatal act. But he stood for this comparatively long 
 time upright as a soldier in position, and motionless. I 
 was close to him and watched him narrowly to see if I 
 could perceive any signs of shrinking, or trembling, in 
 his person, but there was none. Once, I thought I saw 
 his knees tremble, but it was only the wind blowing his 
 loose trousers. His firmness was subjected to still 
 further trial by hearing Colonel Smith announce to the 
 sheriff, 'We are all ready, Mr. Campbell.' The sheriff 
 did not hear, or did not comprehend; and in a louder 
 tone the same announcement was made. But the culprit 
 still stood steady until the sheriff, descending the flight 
 of steps, with a well-directed blow, of a sharp hatchet, 
 severed the rope that held up the trap door, which 
 instantly sank sheer beneath him, and he fell about three 
 feet; and the man of strong and bloody hand, of fierce 
 passions, of iron will, of wonderful vicissitudes, the 
 terrible partisan of Kansas, the capturer of the United 
 States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, the would-be Cati- 
 line of the South, the demi-god of the abolitionists, the 
 man execrated and lauded, damned and prayed for, the 
 man who in his motives, his means, his plans, and his 
 successes, must ever be a wonder, a puzzle, and a 
 mystery, — John Brown — was hanging between heaven 
 and earth. 
 
 "There was profound stilhiess during the time his 
 struggles continued, growing feebler and feebler at each 
 abortive attempt to breathe. His knees were scarcely 
 bent, his arms were drawn up to a right-angle at the 
 elbow, with the hands clenched ; but there was no writli- 
 ing of the body, no violent heaving of the chest. At 
 each feebler effort at respiration, his arms sank lower, 
 and his legs hung more relaxed, until, at last, straight 
 and lank he dangled, swayed to and fro by the wind.
 
 110 The Military History of 
 
 "It was a moment of deep solemnity, and suggestive 
 of thoughts that make the bosom swell. The field of 
 execution was a rising ground, and commanded the out- 
 stretching Valley from mountain to mountain, and their 
 still grandeur gave sublimity to the outline, while it so 
 chanced that white clouds resting upon them gave them 
 the appearance that reminded more than one of us of 
 the snow-peaks of the Alps. Before was the greatest 
 array of disciplined forces ever seen in Virginia, in- 
 fantry, cavalry and artillery combined, composed of the 
 old Commonwealth's noblest sons, and commanded by 
 her best officers; and the great canopy of the sky over- 
 arching all, came to add its sublimity, ever-present, but 
 only realized when other great things are occurring 
 beneath each. 
 
 "But the moral of the scene was its grand point. A 
 sovereign State had been assailed, and she had uttered 
 but a hint, and her sons had hastened to show that thev 
 were ready to defend her. Law had been violated by 
 actual murder and attempted treason, and that gibbet 
 was erected by law, and to uphold law was this military 
 force assembled. But, greater still — God's Holj^ Law 
 and righteous Providence was vindicated, 'Thou shalt 
 not kill' — 'whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall 
 his blood be shed.' And, here, the gray-haired man of 
 violence meets his fate, after he has seen his two sons 
 cut down before him, in the same career of violence into 
 which he had introduced them. So perish all such 
 enemies of Virginia! all such enemies of the Union! 
 all such foes of the human race! So, I felt, and, so, I 
 said, with solemnity, and without one shade of 
 animosity, as I turned to break the silence, to those 
 around me. Yet the mystery was awful, — to see the 
 human form thus treated by men, — to see life suddenly 
 stopped in its current, and to ask one's self the question, 
 without answer. 'And what then?' 
 
 "In all that array there was not, I suppose, one throb 
 of sympathy for the offender. All felt in the depths of 
 their heart that it was right. On the other hand, there
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 111 
 
 was not one single word or gesture of exultation, or of 
 insult. From the beginning to the end, all was marked 
 by the most absolute decorum and solemnity. There 
 was no military music, no saluting by troops as they 
 passed one another, or anything done for show. The 
 criminal hung upon the gallows for nearly forty 
 minutes; and, after being examined by a whole staff 
 of surgeons, his body was deposited in a neat cofRn 
 to be delivered to his friends, and transported to 
 Harper's Ferry, where his wife awaited it. She came 
 in company with two persons to see her husband last 
 night, and returned to Harper's Ferry this morning. 
 She is described by those who saw her as a very large, 
 masculine woman, of absolute composure. The officers 
 who witnessed their meeting in the jail said they met 
 as if nothing unusual had taken place, and had a com- 
 fortable supper together, 
 
 "There was a very small crowd to witness the execu- 
 tion. Governor Wise and General Taliaferro had both 
 issued proclamations, exhorting the citizens to remain 
 at home and guard their property, and warned them of 
 possible danger. The train on the Winchester Rail- 
 road had been stopped from carrying passengers and 
 even passengers on the Baltimore Railroad were sub- 
 jected to examination and detention. An arrangement 
 was made to divide the expected crowd into recognized 
 citizens and those not recognized ; to require the former 
 to go to the right, and the latter to the left. Of the 
 latter, there was not a single one. It was told last 
 night there were not in Charles Town ten persons be- 
 sides citizens and military. 
 
 "There is but one opinion as to the completeness of 
 the arrangements made on the occasion, and the abso- 
 lute success with which they were carried out. I have 
 said nothing about the striking effect of the pageant, as 
 a pageant; but the excellence of it was that everything 
 was arranged solelv with the view of efficiencv, and not 
 for effect upon the eye. Had it been intended as a mere 
 spectacle, it could not have been made more imposing;
 
 112 The Military History of . 
 
 or, had actual need occurred, it was the best possible 
 arrangement." 
 
 A number of amusing incidents in connection with 
 the Corps occurred at Charles Town. "Grand Rounds" 
 was a vicious and sensational performance which general 
 officers occasionally indulged in. It consisted of the Gen- 
 eral visiting all portions of his command at an unex- 
 pected hour, in order to satisfy himself that everything 
 was in order and the guards were on the qiii vive. Soon 
 after the arrival of the Corps, General Taliaferro with 
 an imposing staff undertook to make the "Grand 
 Rounds," and for some reason the Cadet Guard was 
 not as prompt in turning out as it should have been. 
 The General made some adverse criticism of what he 
 deemed to be laxity, which was very mortifying to the 
 Corps. Lieutenants McCausland and Shipp deter- 
 mined that this would not occur again, and it so 
 happened that when the next "Grand Rounds" were 
 made, Lieutenant Shipp, the tactical officer in charge, 
 had the Cadet Guard thoroughly instructed and turned 
 it out in the promptest manner. The Major-General 
 commanding was greatly pleased, and, inquiring the 
 name of the young officer responsible for the instruction 
 of the guard, caused him to be detailed to duty at the 
 jail where John Brown was imprisoned. 
 
 The press was very sensational at this time, and the 
 wildest rumors were circulated. People had visions of 
 a hostile force sweeping down upon Charles Town at 
 any moment. Where it was to come from, or how it 
 was to get there, gave them little concern. 
 
 The cadet section of artillery was posted so as to 
 sweep a certain approach, and Major Jackson gave 
 Lieutenant Trueheart the most detailed instructions as 
 to what kind of ammunition to use under various con- 
 tingencies, even directing how the fuzes should be cut, 
 should the enemy advance in this or in that direction! 
 
 Now it is doubtful if Jackson had any more idea that 
 an enemy would assail Charles Town than the other 
 officers of the Corps had, but the explicit nature of his
 
 The Vieginia Military Institute 113 
 
 preparations shows that he was unwilhng to be sur- 
 prised, or found unprepared, in the most remote 
 contingency.* 
 
 It is also related of Jackson that, while the Corps was 
 in Washington, en route to Harper's Ferry, he placed 
 his money in his stockings, which in turn he concealed 
 beneath his pillow upon retiring at the hotel. The next 
 morning he was unable to find his stockings, so donned 
 a fresh pair. It was not until on the way to the depot, 
 at the head of his battery, that he missed his money. 
 Halting his command in the middle of Pennsylvania 
 Avenue, he returned to the hotel where he recovered 
 both his money and his stockings. 
 
 There is another incident connected with the service of 
 the cadets at Charles Town, which is so full of moral 
 force and ])eautv that the writer can not refrain from re- 
 cording it here, to rescue it from oblivion. A widowed 
 mother had four sons with the militar}^ at Charles Town 
 — three of them cadets. November 29, 1860, she wrote 
 them as follows: 
 
 "My dear Boys — To think you are in camp, preparing for war, 
 and civil war, too ! What a calamity ! Yet I would not recall you 
 if I could. I believe this is the hour of trial to all who love the 
 Old Dominion, and I would not have one of my sons prove recreant 
 to his native state. I have given you up cheerfully to God, and 
 prayed His protecting care, and my trust is in Him to preserve and 
 bring you back safely. I write to tell you that we have an eye 
 turned upon you, and that our prayers go up for you. 
 
 "God bless you! God bless you! and keep you in the hollow of 
 His hand, 
 
 "Prays your 
 
 "Mother." 
 
 With such mothers, the tyrant will never conquer the 
 spirit of, though he may subdue, Virginia. 
 
 ♦The foiegoing incidents were related to tbe writer by General Sbipp.
 
 114 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 military preparation 
 
 The daj^ after the execution of John Brown, the 
 Corps accompanied Governor Wise to Richmond, via 
 Washington, on his fifty-third birthday, December 3d. 
 The Governor was immensely proud of the Corps, and 
 wished to return to the capital, escorted by the gallant 
 detail of cadets which had served as his body-guard 
 during the most trying event of his public career. Their 
 presence in Richmond, at such a time, was a fitting 
 representation to the excited populace of the majesty of 
 Virginia, which they had but recently assisted in vindi- 
 cating. 
 
 While in Richmond, the artillery section, under 
 Major Jackson, executed an interesting drill for the 
 people in the Capitol Square. December 10th the 
 cadets reached Lexington, after their fourth visit to 
 the capital of the State. 
 
 The Governor, and the authorities of the Institute, 
 well knew that the display of the Corps at such a time 
 would advertise the Institute, and attract the attention 
 of many to the means of providing military training 
 foi' the youth of the State, and they were not 
 disappointed in the results, for many applications 
 for entrance were immediately received by the 
 Superintendent. 
 
 One of the first official acts of Governor Wise, after 
 the execution of John Brown, was to order the Superin- 
 tendent to detail a competent officer of the Institute to 
 prepare a Manual of Tactics for the volunteers and 
 militia of Virginia. This task was promptty assigned to 
 Major Gilliam, Commandant of Cadets. 
 
 Perhaps no more difficult or important task could 
 have been assigned an officer at this time. Drill regu- 
 lations for all branches of the service were in a generally 
 chaotic state, and even in the United States Army seven
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 115 
 
 texts were in use and none were satisfactory. No gen- 
 eral Manual for the three arms existed. 
 
 Major Gilham was not slow to perceive the oppor- 
 tunity presented him, and addressed himself to the work 
 in hand with characteristic energy. The result was, that 
 by December, 1860 (or within a year), he published 
 a military work entitled, "Manual of Instruction for the 
 Volunteers and Militia." 
 
 This work was a distinct contribution to the military 
 art as practised in America. It comprehended army 
 organization, arms and ammunition, field service, staff 
 duty, conduct of battles, military law and procedure, 
 besides drill regulations for the Infantry, Artillery and 
 Cavalry. The treatment of many of these subjects in 
 such form was highly novel, and at once made available 
 a Manual for the American soldier, dealing with every 
 phase of instruction and not merely with formal drill. 
 
 The excellence of the work is attested by the fact 
 that it was promptly adopted by the United States War 
 Department to succeed Hardee's Tactics, and to sup- 
 ply the want of a more general treatise which had been 
 so long experienced, but upon the outbreak of the war 
 in 1861, Gilham's Manual was supplanted in the 
 Federal Army by Casey's Tactics. It was at once 
 adopted, however, by the Confederate States Army, 
 and formed the basis of instruction for all arms 
 throughout the war. 
 
 Thus, did the Institute contribute not only a host of 
 gallant officers to the Southern cause, but also the 
 system of training and instruction of the Confederate 
 Army. It should ever be a matter of pride to the School 
 that the f rontispage of the Confederate Tactics read : 
 
 MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 VOLUNTEERS AND MILITIA 
 
 Confederate States, 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM GILHAM, 
 
 colonel of volunteers, instructor of tactics, and 
 
 commandant of cadets, 
 
 VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE.
 
 116 The Military History of 
 
 But Gilham's great work was not the sole contribution 
 of the Institute to the military science of the time, as we 
 shall see. 
 
 The treasonable acts of John Brown, and the wide- 
 spread sympathy displayed in the North for that law- 
 less character, forewarned the South that war was 
 inevitable. The General Assembly of Virginia was, 
 therefore, admonished to provide for the defense of the 
 State. As early as November, 1859, the Board of Visi- 
 tors of the Institute submitted to the Legislature a copy 
 of its report to the Governor, the previous June. The 
 preamble read : 
 
 "Actuated by these considerations, the Board of 
 Visitors feel it to be their duty to urge upon Your Ex- 
 cellency, and beg that Your Excellency will enforce 
 upon the General Assembly the importance and ex- 
 pediency of granting the inconsiderable, yet essential, 
 aid from the State, which may enable the Institute to 
 satisfy the pressing public wants and reasonable 
 expectations." 
 
 The report contained many references to the im- 
 minence of war, and the duty of the State to prepare 
 for the inevitable. 
 
 The result of such warning was an elaborate measure, 
 contained in the Act of January 21, 1860, providing 
 for the Public Defense, and appropriating the sum of 
 $500,000.00 for the purchase of arms and equipment; 
 and the Governor was authorized to appoint com- 
 missioners to make the purchases. 
 
 March 28th, another Act was passed, reciting that "it 
 appearing further that the Corps of Cadets, in the 
 course of their regular military education, may readily 
 be employed to prepare munitions of war, as may be 
 demanded by the wants of the State : 
 
 "I. Be it enacted, etc., etc." 
 
 The special enactment was the appropriation of the 
 sum of $20,000.00 for the erection of new buildings.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 117 
 
 It was at this time, also, that all the officers of the 
 Virginia Mihtaiy Institute were constituted a part of 
 the military establishment of the State, subject to the 
 orders of the Governor who was authorized to issue com- 
 missions to the Professors, Assistant Professors, and 
 other officers, according to the rank prescribed by the 
 regulations of the Institute. Such commissions con- 
 ferred no rank in the active militia, however. The 
 Board of Visitors, pursuant to this authority, fixed the 
 military rank of full professors as that of colonel; 
 associate professors, as lieutenant-colonel; adjunct 
 professors, as major; and assistant professors as 
 captain in the branch of the service in which they were 
 required to give tactical instruction. From the first the 
 Superintendent's rank had been fixed by law as colonel, 
 and that of the Commandant as major of Engineers.* 
 
 The Commission for the Public Defense consisted of 
 Colonel Philip St. George Cocke, Captain George W. 
 Randolph, and Colonel Francis H. Smith. Randolph 
 was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, 
 and later became Secretary of War in the Confederate 
 Cabinet. Cocke was now again President of the Board 
 of Visitors of the Institute. 
 
 So active was the commission appointed by the Gov- 
 ernor, that additional appropriations aggregating 
 $106,000.00 were made in March; and the Armory in 
 Richmond having already been put in thorough condi- 
 tion, steps were taken to secure the newest "machinery, 
 implements and material" for its operation. The Com- 
 mission was furthermore directed to purchase the 
 patent rights of "newly invented arms," whenever the 
 same could be secured ; and the armament procured was 
 to be distributed for immediate use in the more exposed 
 parts of the State. These were drastic measures, and 
 clearly show what was in the minds of the people of 
 Virginia. 
 
 In all these proceedings, and those which followed 
 in connection with the armament of Virginia, it is not 
 difficult to trace the influence of the Institute. 
 
 *The Act of 1859-60 was amended In 10] 2, giving officers of the Institute 
 j-anl{ in the Virginia Volunteers.
 
 118 The Military History of 
 
 The able men constituting the Commission, whose 
 military" training enabled them to grasp the seriousness 
 of the situation, determined to visit the various arsenals 
 of tlie country, and to open negotiations with the fore- 
 most manufacturers of arms in America, and abroad. 
 They were accompanied by the recently-elected Gov- 
 ernor, John Letcher, of Lexington, afterwards famous 
 as the energetic War Governor. Their tour embraced 
 visits to Springfield, Harper's Ferry, and the West 
 Point Foundry, at Cold Spring, on the Hudson. While, 
 at the last-named place, they were invited by Cap- 
 tain R. P. Parrott, one of the proprietors, a retired 
 army officer and personal friend of Colonel Smith, to 
 witness a series of experiments he was conducting with 
 his new rifled field piece. The Ordnance Department 
 of the Army had been slow to grasp the importance of 
 Parrott's invention, just as it had declared the per- 
 cussion cap interesting, but only as a toy, — not many 
 years before; and Parrott had up to this time failed 
 to secure the adoption of his gmi.* 
 
 But the Virginians did not hesitate. The effect of 
 the fire of Parrott's ordnance, which they witnessed 
 from behind epaulments, convinced the commission of 
 the superiority of the rifled gun over any ordnance they 
 had seen; and Colonel Smith was instructed to invite 
 the inventor to send one gmi and 100 shells to the Insti- 
 tute to be thoroughlj^ tested by Major Jackson, In- 
 structor of Ordnance and Artilleiy Tactics. 
 
 Captain Parrott assented to the suggestion, and the 
 gun was received at the Institute, July 5, 1860. Major 
 Jackson caused a number of tent flies to be set up as 
 targets, on the ridge across the river, north of the Insti- 
 tute, and, manning the new piece with a detail from his 
 artillery class, gave it a most thorough trial. 
 
 The accuracy and the range of the gun were found 
 to be astonishing, and the report of Major Jackson led 
 to the immediate purchase by the commission of twelve 
 
 *It was not until November 1st, 1860, that an experimental board recom- 
 mended the conversion of fifty per cent, of the guns at the forts and arsenals ; 
 but even then' little attention was paid to rifled field pieces.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 119 
 
 more rifled field pieces, with a large supply of shells 
 therefor. These guns were first used, and with great 
 effect, at the battle of Big Bethel, June 10, 1861, and 
 the reputation they there acquired led to the general 
 introduction of the Parrott field piece into the artillery 
 of both armies.* 
 
 Distinguished witnesses of the range practice with 
 the new piece in Lexington were Major D. H. Hill, 
 and the Rev. William Nelson Pendleton, both of whom 
 we have previously had occasion to refer to. Major 
 Hill was still professor at Washington College, and 
 Dr. Pendleton had been called to Lexington as the 
 Rector of Grace Episcopal Church, in October, 1853. 
 Both of these gentlemen had formerly served in the 
 United States Artillery, and were, therefore, not dis- 
 interested spectators of Major Jackson's tests. 
 
 Jackson had at once grasped the situation. Being 
 an artillery expert, he appreciated the great possibilities 
 of rifled field pieces. The results he had obtained with 
 the Parrott gun on the Institute range were startling 
 to him, as well as to all those who had been accustomed 
 to smooth bore guns the greatest range of which was 
 from 1,800 to 2,000 paces. Even when firing at 1,000 
 paces, the result with the old guns had been so doubt- 
 ful that gunners generally (as said by Hohenlohe) 
 acted on the proverb: "The first shot is for the devil, 
 the second for God, and only the third is for the King," 
 that is to say, that at such a range only one-third of the 
 sliot would hit a target six feet high and fifty yards 
 wide. 
 
 Jackson could have been little influenced by sucli 
 rumors as may have sifted across the Atlantic be- 
 fore his own trial of the Parrott gun. His nature was 
 not one which allowed him to be influenced by less than 
 the most tangible knowledge, or experience. That the 
 Americans knew little of European progress with rifling 
 is again borne out by the fact that General Johnston, 
 though frantic in his efforts to secure ordnance for his 
 
 *During the Civil War the West Point Foundry furnished the U. S. 
 Government with 1,200 guns and 3.000,000 projectiles.
 
 120 The Military History of 
 
 field artillery, wrote his Chief of Artillery in Rich- 
 mond,* after the battle of Bull Run, "Do not fail to 
 urge the making of 12-pounder howitzers. I have faith 
 in them. Let them send guns and equipment, and leave 
 us to organize. I enclose a requisition for equipment of 
 a battery of rifles, which can not be filled here ( Manas- 
 sas). Will you see if the authorities in Richmond can 
 do it? Do not, however, let them prefer it to the fitting 
 out of field-batteries of smooth bore guns." 
 
 In the light of the present day, it seems strange that 
 so great a soldier, especially distinguished for his ability 
 as an organizer, and for his military learning, should 
 have failed to appreciate the lessons of Bethel, empha- 
 sized by current report. Masked batteries and rifled 
 guns were subjects of common talk among the 
 soldiery, and especially in the press of the time. 
 McDowell's men had heard so much of these terrible 
 things that they marched into Virginia, imagining them 
 to crown every crest. The explanation lies in the fact 
 that Johnston's experience had not so far brought him 
 into personal familiarity with the new invention, al- 
 ready well known to Jackson and Pendleton, both of 
 whom had first-hand knowledge of the new gun, through 
 personal experience with it in Lexington, the previous 
 year. Having staked his professional reputation, as it 
 were, on his favorable report of the Parrott invention, 
 Jackson was of course only confirmed in his views bv 
 the events of Bethel, and the subsequent accounts of the 
 affair. 
 
 On the 10th of August, General Johnston wrote to 
 President Davis urging an increase of the Artillery 
 Arm, to be armed and equipped by borrowing material 
 from the States, or hy casting guns, especially in Rich- 
 mond, adding a particular request for 12-pounder howit- 
 zers. Though thoroughly aware of the value of artil- 
 lery, and attributing the success of the great Napoleon 
 to its proper use, General Johnston had not yet realized 
 the value of rifled ordnance, but when Pendleton be- 
 
 *Col. Wm. X. Pendleton, later Chief of Artillery, A. N. V.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 121 
 
 came Chief of Artillery of Johnston's Army, he was 
 soon able to enforce his views as to the new ordnance 
 and overcome the prejudices of his commanding general. 
 The United States War Department was not 
 ignorant of the tests made of Parrott's gun at the Insti- 
 tute, and the subsequent report of its own Board of 
 Ordnance and Artillery officers was in its hands. Al- 
 ready, it had received exaggerated accomits of the effect 
 of rifled pieces at Bethel. Now came to its ears the 
 stoiy of Hainesville, confirming the sudden reversal of 
 opinion, and reassuring the authorities that no mistake 
 had been made in providing McDowell with a large 
 number of rifled pieces for his impending invasion of 
 Virginia. As to the sudden popularity of the new gun 
 in the Confederate Army, it is only necessary to refer, 
 by way of explanation, to the fact that the influence of 
 Jackson extended throughout the South, hundreds of 
 his pupils holding important offices in the Confederate 
 armies, each one of them, we may be sure, hanging upon 
 the words of their former tutor in arms, by this time 
 become a "martial divinity" in their eyes. 
 
 The Institute, then, through the President of the 
 Board of Visitors, the Superintendent, and finally 
 Major Jackson, was responsible in a large measure for 
 the first practical use of rifled ordnance in war. 
 
 Late in the year 1860, Robert Emmet Rodes, the un- 
 successful candidate for the chair filled by Jackson 
 in 1850, was appointed Professor of Civil Engineering 
 and Applied Mechanics at the Institute, and granted 
 a year's leave of absence to visit Europe, for the pur- 
 pose of study. Before his leave expired, however, the 
 war broke out; and, though carried to the day of his 
 death, at Winchester in 1864, as a Major-General, on 
 the rolls, he never actually served a single day at the 
 Institute as a full professor. 
 
 Important, in connection with the appointment of 
 Colston and Rodes as professors, it is to be noted that 
 the Institute no longer depended upon West Point for 
 its officers, and that well before the war interrupted
 
 122 The Militaky History of 
 
 the intimate relationship existing between the two 
 schools, the Institute had begun to draw vipon its own 
 graduates for its skilled officers and teachers. In 1860, 
 M. B. Hardin, of the Class of 1858, was appointed 
 an adjunct-professor. 
 
 Many distinguished men were invited to attend the 
 final exercises in July, 1860, including Professor D. H. 
 Mahan of the Military Academy, Captain George L. 
 Blake of the Naval Academy, Commander T. T. 
 Craven, and Commander J. A. Dahlgren of the Navy, 
 all of whom except Captain Blake accepted the in- 
 vitation. The Governor, accompanied by Colonel W. J. 
 Hardee (subsequently Lieutenant- General, C. S. A.), 
 Commandant of Cadets, U. S. M. A., also attended, and 
 inspected the Corps. According to General T. T. Mun- 
 ford. Colonel Hardee drilled the Battalion, and to Ma- 
 jor Gilham pronounced it as well drilled as his own, 
 saying, "I was unable to give them a single command 
 that they did not execute with precision." 
 
 For many years, that is, since about 1855, Major 
 Gilham had been deeply absorbed in the work of de- 
 veloping a department of Physical Sciences at the Insti- 
 tute, and the demands upon his time were excessive. 
 With the passing of time, he had become more and 
 more studious in his tastes, and devoted to scientific re- 
 search. In view of these facts, the Board determined, 
 late in 1860, to secure, if possible, another Commandant. 
 While Colonel Smith was willing to have graduates of 
 the Institute appointed to the faculty, he felt it wise to 
 keep a West Pointer in the Commandant's Office, and 
 again opened negotiations for a suitable officer. Under 
 date of January 18, 1861, he received a letter from 
 Major George H. Thomas, of the United States 
 Cavalry, in which, referring to the position he had heard 
 was to be offered an officer of the army, he said: "If not 
 already filled, I will be under obligations if you will 
 inform me what salary and allowances pertain to the 
 situation, as, from present appearances, I fear it will 
 soon be necessary for me to be looking for some means 
 of support."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 123 
 
 At this time, Major Thomas was notoriously a 
 States' Rights man, and professed the most sanguine 
 loyalty to Virginia, and was undoubtedly casting about, 
 as many officers of the army were, to provide for the 
 future. Very naturally, he was desirous of securing a 
 berth which would place him in a most favorable posi- 
 tion in the event of war, which he had frequently fore- 
 told. His application for the position was doubtless 
 due to Major Gilham, for between them a great friend- 
 ship existed. But the application of Major Thomas 
 was not regarded with favor, and it soon became known 
 that the Board would elect Captain Scott Shipp, an 
 assistant professor, and graduate of the Institute of 
 the Class of 1859, to succeed Gilham. 
 
 Captain Shipp was on the point of resigning his 
 office to study law at the University of Virginia, but 
 was now urged to remain at the Institute; and even 
 Gilham, who had before suggested Thomas, added his 
 persuasions to those of others to keep Captain Shipp 
 from carrying out his original intention. 
 
 Knowing that Major Thomas was looking for a post 
 of vantage, and wishing to do "Old Tom" a good turn, 
 especially since he had failed to land the position at the 
 Institute, Major Gilham later recommended his old 
 friend to Governor Letcher whom he frequently visited 
 in Lexington, and by whom he was constantly consulted, 
 for appointment as Chief of Ordnance of Virginia. 
 Governor Letcher, who was energetically organizing the 
 State troops, was in need of just such a man, and hence 
 the following letter : 
 
 "New York Hotel, 12th March, 1861. 
 
 "His Excellency, Governor John Letcher, 
 "Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 "Dear Sir — I received yesterday a letter from Major Gilham, 
 of the Virginia Military Institute, dated the 9th inst.. in reference 
 to the position of Chief of Ordnance of the State, in which he 
 informs me that you requested him to ask me if I would resign from 
 the service, and, if so, whether that post would be acceptable to me ? 
 As he requested me to make my reply to you direct, I have the honor
 
 124 The Military History of 
 
 to state, after expressing my most sincere thanks for your very 
 kind offer, that it is not my wish to leave the service of the United 
 States, as long as it is honorable for me to remain in it; and, there- 
 fore, as long as my native state, Virginia, remains in the Union, it 
 is my purpose to remain in the army, unless requested to perform 
 duties alike repulsive to honor and humanity. 
 
 "I am, very respectfully, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "George H. Thomas, 
 
 "Major U. S. Army." 
 
 If Major Thomas did not mean to signify to Gov- 
 ernor Letcher (by the words itahcised by the author) 
 that it was his desire to remain in the army at that time 
 (more than a month before Virginia seceded), — but 
 his purpose to remain in it only so long as his native 
 State, Virginia, remained in the Union,- — then, it is 
 clear that hmnan language is worthless to express hu- 
 man purpose. When we consider this letter in con- 
 nection with his voluntary application for the office of 
 Commandant at the Institute, there can be no doubt of 
 Major Thomas's intentions, as late as March, 1861. He 
 remained in the Federal Army, as we all know, and 
 was promoted to Major-General. That promotion was 
 the bait of his loyalty; but he erred in grabbing it, for 
 he was never fully trusted by the strangers among whom 
 he remained, and, therefore, never given the opportuni- 
 ties he might have had in the Southern army. 
 
 There was always a large question mark after 
 Thomas's name. Why did he remain in the Federal 
 Army, after years of professing loyalty to the South? 
 And then, too, we may rest assured his receptive at- 
 titude, in the early spring of 1861, was known to other 
 persons than Colonel Smith, Major Gilham, and Gov- 
 ernor Letcher. 
 
 It was also in 1860 that the Superintendent was 
 directed by the Board to receive candidates for cadetship 
 from other States, and immediately applications from 
 the Southern States began to be received. 
 
 That same year, the General Assembly passed a 
 resolution providing for the removal of General Henry
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 125 
 
 Lee's remains from Cmnberland Island, Georgia, and 
 their reinterment at the Virginia Mihtary Institute. 
 The advent of the war interfered with the execution of 
 this plan. In 1913, they were removed to Lexington, 
 pursuant to a resolution of the General Assembly of 
 1912, and placed in a vault, beside those of his illustrious 
 son, Robert Edward Lee, in the Chapel of Washington 
 and Lee Universitv.
 
 126 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ^"^DRAW THE SWORD AND THROW AWAY THE SCABBARD" 
 
 Whatever ma}^ have been the true contemporary 
 estimate of Major Jackson, one thing is certain, — his 
 interest in affairs became more apparent, his eyes a 
 httle brighter, his back, perhaps, straighter, and his 
 step more agile, upon the near approach of war. The 
 cadet gunners began to notice a firmer note in his voice, 
 and all recalled his oft-repeated remark, now tran- 
 scribed upon the cornice of the Chapel erected at the 
 Institute in 1897 to his memory, "You Can Be Wliat- 
 ever You Resolve To Be." 
 
 The growing discontent in the country, in the fall of 
 1860 and the following winter, caused great excitement 
 in the Corps. The newspapers were scanned with 
 avidity in Barracks, and the accounts of military 
 preparations fired the cadets with an enthusiasm for 
 war which j^outh, careless of consequences but longing 
 for opportunities to win glory, alone can feel. 
 
 After Lincoln's election, the New York Herald was 
 the principal source of information from the North, and 
 was read by Major Jackson with keen interest. One 
 night he and his assistant were perusing the Herald in 
 their section-room, neither having spoken for some 
 time. "Major," inquired Lieutenant Cunningham, 
 "would vou like to see war?" 
 
 Major Jackson stopped reading his paper, and for 
 five minutes hung down his head before replying. He 
 then looked up, and, in a low and deliberate tone, said: 
 "Mr. Cunningham, as a Christian, I wouldn't like to see 
 war," and then raising his voice until it rang out like a 
 bugle-call, with eye flashing and every fibre of his body 
 tingling with excitement, added, "but as a soldier, sir, 
 I would like to see war!"* 
 
 •This Incident is related by General Henry T. Douglas, of New York and 
 Virginia, to whom it was recounted by Major Cunningham, after the war.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 127 
 
 Nothing that could he said would indicate what must 
 have been the sentiments of the fiery cadets at this time, 
 as well as the narration of this incident. How it must 
 have inspired the Corps when it became known to them ! 
 
 Throughout the winter of 1860-61, a spirit of intense 
 restlessness pervaded Barracks; at times the cadets be- 
 came turbulent though never insubordinate. The ex- 
 plosion of bombs and other disorders were of almost 
 daily occurrence. The guard was increased and the 
 penalty of dismissal promptly inflicted on all who were 
 apprehended in the disorders, and finally the disturb- 
 ances ceased for the time being, only to be followed by 
 an incident of grave consequence. 
 
 February 22, 1861, James W. Thomson, who met a 
 gallant death at Sailor's Creek as a major of Horse 
 Artillery, after four years of distinguished service in 
 the Confederate Army, and D. Murray Lee, a son of 
 Sidney Smith Lee, and a nephew of Robert E. Lee, 
 both of whom were Fourth Classmen at the time, hoisted 
 a secession flag at reveille on the tower of Barracks from 
 which Old Glory usually fluttered in the breeze, beside 
 the State flag on the other tower. Captain Lee has 
 recently furnished me, through Captain Colonna, with a 
 full description of the incident and a sketch of the seces- 
 sion flag, which he and Thomson made with shoe black- 
 ing, and a cadet issue sheet. In the center it displayed 
 the Goddess of Liberty and the motto — Sic Semper 
 Tyrannis. At the top appeared in bold letters — Hurrah 
 for South Carolina.* 
 
 As soon as the strange flag was discovered by the 
 guard it was hauled down ; but, in the excitement it was 
 recaptured by Thomson and Lee, and buried by them 
 in the stove at the military store. The bold escapade, 
 the parties to which were undiscovered, served to arouse 
 intense enthusiasm in the Corps of Cadets for the cause 
 of secession. There were not only many cadets present 
 from the far South, but secession meant war, and the 
 ardent youth of the Institute, who reckoned little of the 
 
 •South Carolina had of course already seceded. Captain Lee served In the 
 Confederate Navy under his father. Admiral Lee.
 
 128 The Military History of 
 
 meaning of armed conflict between North and South, 
 thirsted for adventure and largely supported that course 
 most certain to yield them the opportunities they longed 
 for. 
 
 Another incident which made a deep impress upon 
 the minds of the cadets, and which was later forcibly re- 
 called to them, occurred in March, 1861. 
 
 The Secession Ordinance of Virginia had not then 
 been enacted, but on the 18th of April, the Confederacy^ 
 had been born at Montgomery, with South Carolina, 
 Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas as constituent 
 states of the New Sovereignty. 
 
 The sentiment in the Corps was by this time almost 
 overwhelmingly in favor of secession. Rockbridge 
 County and Lexington were vehemently opposed to the 
 withdrawal of Virginia from the Union. Members of 
 the Corps were almost daily hoisting secession flags 
 about the Institute, in spite of the vigorous efforts of 
 the authorities to suppress such actions. At this time, 
 a fine volunteer company, composed of young men of 
 Lexington and vicinity, with Captain Sam Letcher, 
 brother of the Governor at its head, was being regularly 
 drilled on Saturdays, in the town. It was announced 
 that on a certain Saturday the cadets would raise a 
 secession flag, and the volunteers the Stars and Stripes. 
 This brought large numbers of people to town, most of 
 whom came provided with arms. The Unionists were 
 greatly in the majority, and after they had witnessed 
 the cadets raise the Stars and Bars, they determined 
 to have their own flag-raising. But by some means the 
 partisans of secession bored holes in the pole provided 
 by the Unionists and when it was raised the Union flag 
 fell to the ground amid joyous expressions from the 
 opposing party. 
 
 Several onlookers were slightly injured by the falling 
 pole, and the leg of one man was broken. The unhappy 
 issue of the affair greatly aggravated the more violent 
 Unionists who at first attributed their misfortunes to the 
 cadets, who, nevertheless, vehemently denied any part 
 in the affair.
 
 .MA.KiK (JKNEUAL FRANCIS IlENNEY SMIll 
 SrPKi!IXTEXl>EXT 1 830-1890
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 129 
 
 The following Saturday, when the cadets as usual 
 were allowed to visit Lexington, several of them became 
 involved in a dispute with a party of armed moun- 
 taineers who were openly in sympathy with the Union 
 party. The dispute which arose over the flag incident 
 soon developed into a fracas in which Cadet J. K. 
 Thomson, and perhaps one other, were roughly handled 
 by the countrymen. 
 
 Upon the cadets reaching Barracks with bloody faces 
 and uniforms, the rumor spread abroad that a cadet had 
 been killed in Lexington by the Unionists. The alarm 
 was at once somided on the guard house drum, and in 
 a few seconds Galloway, the First Captain of the Corps, 
 rushed through the court-yard and sally-port, bran- 
 dishing his sabre and calling in his commanding tones 
 for the Corps to "Turn Out Under Arms." 
 
 The response to Galloway's command was immediate. 
 The cadets assembled at their usual posts, a detail was 
 made to man two field guns, the companies called off, 
 and the Battahon, fully armed and provided with ball 
 cartridges hitherto issued to them, was led off in columns 
 of fours by Galloway toward Lexington by the custo- 
 mary route leading over the parapet. Upon reaching 
 the main road to the town the Battalion was formed in 
 column of companies at full distance. Upon the head 
 of the column reaching Governor Letcher's residence, 
 just beyond the Institute reservation, a number of 
 officers who had been sitting on the porch endeavored 
 to turn back the cadets, but they heeded only Gallo- 
 way's commands to press on. At this juncture the 
 Superintendent arrived, but failing to reach Galloway, 
 and being imfamihar with the nature of the demonstra- 
 tion, also failed in his efforts to disperse the cadets. 
 
 The news had reached Lexington that the cadets 
 were forming for an attack upon the town, filling the 
 citizens with consternation, for they clearly foresaw 
 what would be the consequence of an armed conflict be- 
 tween the cadets and the rugged mountaineers and the 
 other Unionists sympathizers, who were preparing to
 
 130 The Military History of 
 
 defend themselves if need be. Furthermore, in order to 
 protect the citizens, the local volunteer companj'^ had 
 been called out and stationed in a position to bar the 
 progress of the cadets to the town. The situation was 
 one of general misunderstanding on both sides, and was 
 relieved in the very nick of time by a deputation of 
 leading citizens who, investigating the causes of the 
 disturbance, were able to assure the officers of the Insti- 
 tute that no cadet had been killed. 
 
 "Meanwhile, a tall, sinewy, well-formed man, with a 
 slight stoop in his shoulders, large feet and hands, re- 
 treating forehead, blue-grey eyes, straight nose, strong 
 mouth and chin held well to the front, appeared on the 
 scene. In measured gait, Major Thomas Jonathan 
 Jackson walked up and down before the Battalion which 
 he viewed closely, then looked at the surroundings and 
 the position of the opposing forces. He uttered no 
 words, but his movements grew more animated every 
 moment; his statue straightened and grew taller and 
 bigger, and his merit, which was known to all, made 
 him the central figure. Still, the formation of the Bat- 
 talion went on. A leader who would take command was 
 only needed, while three himdred yards up the street the 
 volunteer company of a himdred young men, well-of- 
 ficered, armed, and equipped, had been drawn up across 
 the street, supported by five times their number of the 
 citizens of the town and comity, armed with shot guns, 
 rifles and pistols."* 
 
 On past the next house marched the column until the 
 leading company was confronted by a superbly mounted 
 officer, who caused it to mark time, each company as 
 it closed doing the same until the Battalion was closed 
 in mass, but still marking time. 
 
 "Mr. Galloway," said the soldierly officer in a firm 
 but low tone as he rose in his stirrups, "halt the column." 
 "Battalion, Halt," commanded Galloway. 
 
 "Face them about and take them back to Barracks," 
 said the quiet mannered, unruffled officer, and his 
 
 *The War. James H. Wood, V. M. I., 1861.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 131 
 
 directions were hardly given before the Corps was 
 coiintermarched, passing the perfectly manned section 
 of artillery as it returned past the guard tree. 
 
 By the time Galloway had halted his command, every 
 member of which stood dumf oimded but unable through 
 force of training and habit to disobey when once the 
 ranks were closed, he had received instructions from 
 the Superintendent. "Go to your rooms and disarm 
 and assemble at once in Colonel Preston's section- 
 room," directed the First Captain, and this was quickly 
 done as ordered. 
 
 The reader must agree with those who recall this 
 incident accurately, that the conduct of that Battalion 
 evidenced a most remarkable state of disciphne among 
 its members. Only one familiar with the force which 
 the mob spirit of 300 stalwart youths with arms in their 
 hands can set on foot, is able to appreciate this incident 
 in its full significance. Here we see the mob spirit, 
 fanned to a frenzy by the belief that physical violence 
 had been unjustly and wantonly offered one of the mob. 
 In an instant the suppressed animosities, which had 
 been generating for months, burst out in a great flame of 
 pent-up rage. The cry of a leader is heard — "Turn Out 
 under Arms!" The meaning of that summons is known 
 of all — the very tone of authority which makes the simi- 
 mons a command quickens, and seems to justify, even 
 in the coolest minds, the sense of the righteousness 
 of revenge. In an instant 300 madmen seize their 
 arms; in another instant about the mob is thrown 
 the coil of discipline, and frenzied individuals 
 no longer rush hither and thither in the surge of the 
 mob, but stand shoulder to shoulder in the silent ranks, 
 breathlessly awaiting the voice of a leader ordained by 
 order, or habit, or common consent, what you will. No 
 longer do we hear the din of mingled cries and im- 
 precations. The eyes of these 300 youths no longer 
 flash forth that half-animal ferocity of the frenzied mob. 
 The ranks are closed. A familiar voice directs. The 
 directions are not incoherent, demagogical ravings,
 
 132 The Military History of 
 
 serving to fan the flame of senseless frenzy smothered 
 awhile. They are old, familiar commands. Each jaw 
 is firmly set; each eye now gleams with resolution 
 mingled with ordered intelligence. The great human 
 throng moves, not with the hysterical jerk of the mob, 
 but with a smoothness born of common intent. Sud- 
 denly through the force of discipline alone, the purpose 
 of a single mind has substituted itself for the confusion 
 of many others. The mob mind has been overcome ; the 
 will of the leader has become that of the crowd— the mob 
 has vanished as suddenly as it came into being. And 
 so transpires the psychological transformation which 
 caused Major Colston, on his superb charger "Pompy," 
 to meet, not an unreasoning mob, but a body of soldiers 
 trained to obey; a body whose unconscious but highest 
 boast was its ability to subordinate individual desires to 
 the will of a superior. 
 
 We may search afar for a more striking example of 
 the value of military discipline. Few incidents convey 
 a better lesson for those who in their ignorance contend 
 that uniforms and arms alone are capable of making 
 soldiers of citizens in the hovu* of emergency. In this 
 incident will the psychologist also find much of interest, 
 and before dismissing it we should ponder well the ele- 
 ment of influence which Major Colston, known to the 
 cadets as "Old Polly," brought to bear on the collective 
 will. As his subsequent career shows he was a natural 
 leader. Intuitively he knew that unflinching calmness, 
 not hysteria, was the note his command should convey. 
 He knew the danger of a discordant word at such a 
 time. It is such intuitive knowledge that enables some 
 men to rise superior in time of crisis, and the lack of 
 such that causes others to fail under the strain. 
 
 When the cadets were finally assembled in the section- 
 room to which Galloway had ordered them to repair, 
 they were excoriated by the Superintendent for their 
 conduct. They inwardly resented his charge of in- 
 subordination and felt that they had been guilty of no 
 such act in refusing to break their ranks until ordered
 
 The Virginia MilitxVry Institute 133 
 
 to do so by their immediate commander whom the 
 Superintendent and the other officers they had en- 
 comitered had not approached. Colonel Preston and 
 Major Massie next spoke in turn and then the cadets 
 began to call for a speech from Major Jackson, who 
 had been a silent but interested observer of the pro- 
 ceedings, both in the town and in the assembly hall. At 
 first Jackson declined to respond and only arose at the 
 reiterated request of Colonel Smith. 
 
 "At once, he moimted the rostrum and faced his audi- 
 ence. His erect figure, flashing eye, energetic ex- 
 pression, — short, quick and to the point, — disclosed to 
 the commonest mind a leader of merit. He said, 'Mili- 
 tary men make short speeches, and as for myself, I am 
 no hand at speaking, anyhow. The time for war has not 
 yet come, but it will come, and that soon; and when it 
 does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw 
 away the scabbard.' 
 
 "The personality of the speaker, the force of those 
 simple words thus uttered, elicited a response of ap- 
 proval I never heard surpassed, except for the Con- 
 federate yell often heard on the battlefield, a little later 
 on. This simple speech and manner of Jackson estab- 
 lished in the minds of his audience the belief that he was 
 a leader upon whose loyalty and courage we could 
 rely."* 
 
 Thus it was, that Major Jackson, "Old Tom Fool," 
 sprang into prominence among the cadets as the "man 
 of the hour" in their military world. Who shall say 
 that psychology does not play a leading role in war? 
 
 ♦The War, James H. Wood, V. M. I., 1861. Captain Wood's description of 
 the action of the cadets In marching to the town Is very Interesting but in 
 some respects erroneous, according to several other participants.
 
 134 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 UNION SENTIMENT MOBILIZATION— THE CORPS OF CA- 
 DETS ENTERS THE SERVICE OF THE CONFEDERACY 
 
 CAMP LEE ^^FIRST BLOOD OF THE WAR"^ 
 
 It must not be thought that the Institute was free 
 from that difference of conviction which led brothers 
 throughout the South to espouse the cause of secession 
 and union. There is authority for the behef that over 
 half a million Southern-born white men cast their lot 
 as soldiers with the North. There were also many 
 Northern men who followed the fortunes of the Con- 
 federacy, and a nimiber of them attained high rank in 
 the Southern armies, such as General Samuel Cooper, 
 Lieutenant-General John C. Pemberton, Major-Gen- 
 erals Samuel C. French, Martin L. Smith, Franklin 
 Gardner; Brigadier-Generals Albert Pike, Albert C. 
 Blanchard, Daniel Leadbetter, Isaac M. St. John, 
 Josiah Gorgas, and others. 
 
 When Virginia seceded the present State of West 
 Virginia comprised a large part of her territory and 
 there were a nmnber of cadets from the western district 
 of the State, whose people were strongly union in senti- 
 ment. And then there were others from the border 
 States who entertained the convictions of the North. 
 Their records are fully set forth in Appendix "H," and 
 show that of the fifteen cadets who entered the military 
 service of the United States, one became a brigadier- 
 general, three became colonels, one attained the rank of 
 lieutenant-colonel, three that of major and three that of 
 captain, two became lieutenants, one a surgeon in the 
 navy, and one a private in the army. Five of the 
 number lost their lives during the war and two soon 
 after its close, in the line of duty. 
 
 There have been a number of reimions of the war 
 cadets of the Institute since 1865; some of them at-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 135 
 
 tended by those who went forth from Virginia's School 
 of Arms to fight for the Union against their comrades 
 of cadet days. But there was no spirit of recrimination, 
 no sentiment of regret expressed at these joyous gath- 
 erings; rather more a spirit of thanksgiving that all 
 could return without a feeling that there was something 
 here to wean the stripling soldier from allegiance to his 
 convictions. At these reunions there were none but 
 recalled that long ere they donned the frock coat of an 
 officer, either Federal or Confederate, they had re- 
 sponded to the reveille of life while wearing the cadet 
 coatee ; and that the flag they had first learned to follow 
 and to love, that they had served together — its white 
 field, yet unsullied as the driven snow — was emblazoned 
 only with the features of Washington and the name of 
 V. M. I.! 
 
 At the 1913 Reunion of the graduates of the United 
 States Military Academy, General Morris Schaff, of 
 Massachusetts, the president of the association, con- 
 tributed from his beautiful pen, a pen dipped always 
 in the well of human tenderness and brotherly affection, 
 the following lines which we may repeat to express the 
 sentiments of all V. M. I. men for those cadets who 
 entered the Federal service during the War between the 
 States : 
 
 "What a just pride we have then in Grant and Lee; but not in 
 them only, for in what numbers and what splendor our fellow- 
 graduates performed their part in that national crisis and where- 
 soever, before and since, they have followed the flag. And as my 
 eyes sweep once more this chapel so dear and familiar to them, its 
 speaking tablets, its mute cannon, dreaming colors and Weir's 
 picture of War and Peace over this altar appealing to our hearts 
 through the finer avenues of our being, lo ! the doors open and the 
 battalion of my youth is marching in. Time has not dimmed the 
 banner they carry, dewy and radiant still are the faces in the 
 springtime of life. Kingsbury, who fell at Antietam; Gushing and 
 Pelham of immortal fame, O'Rorke and little Dad Woodruff, 
 Sanderson, Robbins, Murray, Cross, Jones, W. G., that prince 
 among gentlemen; Collins, Dimock, Roderic Stone, Beckham, 
 Patterson, Willet, Ramseur, Jim Bearing, "Ned" Willis, — Oh, cadet 
 friends of my day ! garlands, garlands for you all, whether you
 
 136 The Military History or 
 
 wore the blue or the gray, and peace, peace to your ashes wherever 
 they lie ! And when I recall the gentleness of their natures and the 
 blessings the sacrifices of their lives brought to our country and 
 humanity, I feel like saying to the National Peace Society, which in 
 its laudable, humanitarian enthusiasm puts all wars in the category 
 of barbarism, that those men condemned and abhorred commercial 
 and ambitious war as much as you do; but, members of the Peace 
 Society, lofty and humane as is your purpose, sweet as are the 
 days and the songs of peace, so long as there is iron in the blood, 
 life will be laid down as they laid theirs down for Home, for 
 Justice, and the free exercise of Natural rights, and heartily self- 
 respecting manhood will exclaim. Amen!" 
 
 Yes. What a just pride we have in that httle band of 
 blue-clad soldiers, one of whom later sent his first-born 
 son to be trained in our halls as an evidence of his de- 
 votion to Alma Mater. 
 
 If, perchance, the reader should fail to understand, 
 even after reading the foregoing words, the attitude of 
 the V. M. I. toward her sons who espoused the Union 
 cause, let him know that her sentiments are those of the 
 loving parent whose ennobled story we shall tell; the 
 story of William H. Terrill of Bath County, Virginia. 
 
 In 1849 the father entered one of his four sons as a 
 cadet at West Point; in 1854 another at the Institute. 
 The first, William Rufus, attained the rank of Brig- 
 adier-General of U. S. Volunteers and after dis- 
 tinguished service in the Federal Army laid down his 
 hfe in the battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862. The 
 second, James Barbour, was graduated from the Insti- 
 tute in 1858, soon to become a major in, and then the 
 colonel of, the "gallant" 13th Virginia Regiment in 
 command of which he won for himself the stars of a 
 Confederate brigadier, and a glorious death on the field 
 of Bethesda Church, May 31, 1864. After the war, 
 when brothers no longer stood arrayed against each 
 other, the bodies of William and James, whose swords 
 were sheathed forever, were brought by the stricken 
 father to the home of their boyhood and laid in a single 
 grave, where they rest in the embrace of eternal peace. 
 But above their heroic remains and that single grave.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 137 
 
 there stands a stone upon which may be read the in- 
 scription: "This monument erected by their father. 
 God alone knows which was right." 
 
 God alone knew which ones were right, but ere Vir- 
 ginia actually seceded men had begun to anticipate the 
 act and prepared to array themselves under the 
 standards which already waved defiant in the heated 
 breeze. Already those cadets loyal to the Union had 
 withdrawn from the Institute, and himdreds of gradu- 
 ates were seeking military office in the South. 
 
 It was a striking justification of the faith which Vir- 
 ginia had reposed, during the past twenty years, in her 
 School of Arms, that the first military organization she 
 sent afield, and before she seceded, was commanded by 
 an old cadet. Captain Reuben Lindsay Walker, a 
 graduate of the Class of 1845. He had been a civil 
 engineer for some years after leaving the Institute, and 
 had finally settled upon a farm in New Kent County. 
 Upon visiting Richmond, he was accosted by Mr. John 
 Purcell, a wealthy citizen who had with his own means 
 uniformed and equipped the battery named after him- 
 self. Knowing Walker's fitness for command, he insisted 
 on his accepting a commission as captain, without giving 
 him time to return home to bid his wife farewell; and it 
 was nearly a year before he saw his family again, for 
 the battery was ordered to the neighborhood of Aquia 
 Creek immediately after the State seceded. It was 
 armed with six of the Parrott field gims which the Com- 
 missioners had purchased on Jackson's recommendation, 
 and received its baptism of fire in the battle of First 
 Manassas where Walker distinguished himself by ex- 
 ploding a shell on the stone bridge over which the enemy 
 was retreating, adding greatly to the confusion of the 
 rout by turning over a number of gun carriages and 
 vehicles which blocked the bridge. Reuben Lindsay 
 Walker afterwards became Chief of Artillery, 3d Corps, 
 and in 1864, after serving throughout the greater part 
 of the war as a colonel, was finally promoted Brigadier- 
 General of Artillery. There were but four officers of
 
 138 The Military Histoby of 
 
 that grade in the Artillery of the Army of Northern 
 Virginia, the others, — Pendleton, Long and Alexander, 
 — all being West Pointers. 
 
 It was not until April 17th that Virginia seceded 
 from the Union. That night, the Governor directed the 
 Adjutant-General to order Colonel Smith to report in 
 Richmond. On reaching the capital, Colonel Smith 
 was informed that the Convention of Virginia had ap- 
 pointed a "Council of Three," upon the nomination of 
 the Governor, to aid, counsel and advise him in the ex- 
 ercise of his executive authority, in the emergency upon 
 the State. 
 
 This Coimcil was composed of the following mem- 
 bers: 
 
 Hon. John J. Allen, President of the Court of Ap- 
 peals of Virginia. 
 
 Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury, late Superin- 
 tendent, U. S. Observatory. 
 
 Colonel Francis H. Smith, Superintendent, Virginia 
 Military Institute. 
 
 Later, the Council was augmented by the addition of 
 Hon. R. L. Montague, President of the Convention, 
 and General Thomas S. Haymond. 
 
 In order to show how imminent the probability of a 
 call upon the Corps of Cadets appeared to the Acting 
 Superintendent, after Colonel Smith was summoned 
 to Richmond, the following order is here given : 
 
 "Headquarters Virginia Mil. Inst., 
 
 "April 18, 1861. 
 "Order — No. 61. 
 
 "The following is the order of exercises until further orders : 
 
 "Drill at Battery daily, from 5:30 to 6:30 p. m. 
 
 "2nd Class Mil. Engineering, from 8 to 10 a. m. 
 
 "4th Class, Inf'ty Tactics, from 8 to 10 and 2 to 3. 
 
 "3rd Class Art. Tactics, from 9 to 10 a. m. 
 
 "4th Class Mortar and Rifle Cannon Drill, 6 to 7 a. m. 
 
 "Battalion Drill, from 3 to 4 p. M. daily. 
 
 "Artillery Tactics, 8 to 9 a. m. daily. 
 
 "Strategy, from 10 to 11 daily.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 139 
 
 "Light Infantry, from 10 to 11 a. m. 
 
 "First and Second class in the Laboratory, from 11 to 1. 
 
 "Bv order of Major Preston, 
 
 "T. M. Semmes, 
 
 "Adjutant V. M. I." 
 
 From a perusal of this order it is not difficult to 
 understand what were the expectations of all. 
 
 The same day, the authorities of Washington College 
 applied for a detail of officers and cadets to instruct the 
 "Liberty Hall" Volunteers, a company recruited from 
 among the College students. To this work Major 
 Williamson, Captain Hardin, Lieutenants Henderson, 
 and Semmes, and such cadets as might be required by 
 them, were assigned and the Conmiandant was directed 
 to issue from the Arsenal such flint-lock muskets as the 
 College company might need. 
 
 After consultation with the Council, it was deemed 
 advisable by the Governor to establish a Camp of In- 
 struction in the vicinity of Richmond for the local 
 troops, and to utilize the cadets the services of whom had 
 been tendered by the Superintendent, as drill-masters. 
 This decision was reached during the late afternoon of 
 April 20th, and, early the next morning, the following 
 telegraphic dispatch was received in Lexington: 
 
 "Richmond, April 20, 1861. 
 
 "Send courier to Major Preston immediately to send Corps of 
 Cadets to Richmond. Let inefficient cadets remain to aid as guard, 
 and get volunteers from Lexington to aid as guard. Bring down 
 all the ordnance stores with full supply of ammunition. Major 
 Gilham and Mr. Catlett will report here, without delay. 
 
 "Wm. H. Richardson, 
 
 "Adjutant-General." 
 
 And, now, let us read the order immediately published 
 by Major Preston announcing the receipt of this dis- 
 patch : 
 
 "When the muster is held for men who have souls to defend 
 their native soil from violation, insult and subjugation, the heart 
 of every Virginian responds to the voice, and, with stern delight, 
 he answers, 'Here !'
 
 140 The Military History of 
 
 "Words are not necessary now to stimulate. 
 
 "The Corps of Cadets will prove their birth and breeding, and 
 exhibit to Virginia the work of her favorite Institute. The cadet 
 will not fail to manifest the advantage which the military training 
 gives to him over those not less brave than himself. The Corps 
 will go forth the pride of its friends, the hope of the State, and 
 the terror of her foes. May the blessing of the God of Hosts rest 
 upon every one who is battling in this holy cause ! 
 
 "The march will be performed as directed by special order. 
 
 "In the march, the Corps will be under the command of Major 
 Jackson. Major Colston is assigned to duty as Acting Comman- 
 dant of Cadets, and will report to Major Jackson. lieutenant 
 Cunningham will act as Assistant Commandant of Cadets, and will 
 report to Major Colston. Lieutenant McDonald is assigned to the 
 Artillery, and will report to Major Jackson. Lieutenant Semmes 
 will accompany the Corps as Adjutant. 
 
 "Dr. R. L. Madison, Surgeon, and Dr. J. R. Page, Assistant 
 Surgeon, will comprise the Medical Staff. Assistant Surgeon Page 
 will be with the Corps on the march. 
 
 "Commissary Gibbs will accompany the Corps as far as 
 Staunton. 
 
 "By order of the Adjutant-General, Lieutenants McCausland 
 and Shipp will remain here to raise companies. 
 
 "The details will be prepared, as heretofore ordered, and be 
 ready to be inspected at 10 o'clock. 
 
 "At 12:30 o'clock they will be formed to march. Dinner at 
 12 o'clock. 
 
 "The following detail is made of cadets to form a guard of the 
 Virginia Military Institute. 
 
 "By order of Major Preston, 
 
 "T. M. Semmes, 
 
 "Adjutant." 
 
 Then followed a detail of 48 of the younger, and less 
 experienced, cadets to remain at the Institute. 
 
 One may well imagine the elation of those selected to 
 go with "Old Jack" to Richmond, and the bitter 
 chagrin of the yomiger lads, drafted from among their 
 fellows, to remain in Barracks. The joys and the bitter- 
 ness of that hour can not be recorded in history. 
 
 Long before the appointed hour the Corps assembled 
 and chafed with youthful impatience at the delay, as 
 Major Jackson paced back and forth in front of the 
 Washington Statue. "Let us go, let us go," the ardent 
 youth cried. "When the clock strikes the hour we will
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 141 
 
 march, and not until then," their stern commander re- 
 pHed, and ere the hour ceased to strike, the sharp order, 
 "For-ward — March" rang out upon the glorious spring 
 air from Major Jackson's lips. Jackson was very 
 much annoyed by the persistent and impatient im- 
 portimities of the cadets to move off. To show them he 
 had no intention of moving imtil the appointed time, 
 he sent to the mess-hall for a mess stool, and on it he 
 took his seat by the statue. That stool he took with him 
 to Richmond, and all through his campaigns. It is now 
 in the possession of the family of General Pendleton in 
 Lexington. 
 
 It was now that the Virginia Military Institute w^as 
 to subserve the distinctive purpose of its creation, for 
 Governor Letcher, thoroughh^ familiar with the School, 
 its military traditions, its noble ideals, and the pecuhar 
 efficiency of the Corps, by reason of his residence in 
 Lexington, and his intimate association with the officers 
 of the Institute, had ordered the Corps to proceed to 
 Riclimond to provide drill-masters for the volunteers, 
 and to impart to the raw soldiery of the South the 
 principles contained in Gilham's Manual. 
 
 Dangers were thickening rapidly around the State. 
 Invasion by overwhelming numbers seemed imminent. 
 Norfolk, Richmond, Alexandria, and Harper's Ferry 
 were threatened. Such was the condition of affairs 
 when the Corps entered upon the fulfillment of the 
 high mission for which it had been so earnestly prepar- 
 ing the past twenty-two years. 
 
 To console the heartbroken youths who remained be- 
 hind, — whose misery was as abject as their disappoint- 
 ment was keen, — Major Preston pubhshed during the 
 afternoon an order assigning Major Crutchfield to duty 
 as Acting Commandant of Cadets, and Captain Hardin 
 as his Assistant. 
 
 "The whole Corps is now in active service, and the detail made 
 for the post, is made by the same order from the Adjutant-General 
 of Virginia, which put on the march those who have just left us. 
 Those who remain are doing duty to Virginia as really, and it may 
 be as efficiently, as those who are gone. It is not the service that
 
 142 The Military History of 
 
 anv one of us would prefer. But the soldier who is prepared to 
 do only such duty as pleases him, is not to be trusted. The soldier 
 that would desert a post, would fly in battle." 
 
 But the order reciting the foregoing was poor con- 
 solation for the httle band held in Lexington, and the 
 utmost discontent among its members was manifested, 
 without, however, any indication of insubordination, or 
 neglect of duty. 
 
 The following day, the "Rockbridge Greys," a local 
 volunteer company. Captain Updike commanding, was 
 consolidated with the remaining cadets, and military 
 exercises for all, and academic duty for the cadets, 
 resumed. 
 
 As the Corps crossed the bridge over the North River, 
 and ascended the hills beyond, on the day of its de- 
 parture, a lingering look from every eye was cast be- 
 hind at the fading outlines of Barracks, which like a 
 great, gray castle crowned the distant plateau. How 
 many cadets have seen those castellated walls thus vanish 
 from their view! But have any lost the mental picture 
 of those martial halls in which the heart-aches and joys 
 of youth combine to make the memory of cadet-days, 
 whether bitter or sweet, yet glorious? 
 
 "There, our laudable boyish ambitions had been 
 aroused, our hopes kindled, and our mental and physical 
 manhood developed; there, each was independent of his 
 fellows, yet all were a band of brothers." There, each 
 had learned how to obey, and hence went forth into an 
 unknown world, knowing the secret of command. 
 
 Two hundred strong, the Corps pressed on towards 
 Staunton, the battery armed with the four 6-pounder 
 cadet guns, and the baggage wagons rumbling on be- 
 hind, in a vain effort to keep apace with the unwearying 
 feet of the boy infantry in the van. Ten miles out, and 
 a farm wagon was impressed to carry the cadet knap- 
 sacks; but^no thought of a bivouac short of Staunton 
 was entertained, for this was the first of "Stonewall" 
 Jackson's foot-cavalry! Staunton, thirty-eight miles 
 away, was reached at 10 o'clock that night.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 143 
 
 Major Jackson maj^ have made longer marches, and 
 we know he commanded larger forces, in later days; 
 but, of this we may be sure, he never commanded a more 
 gallant band, or one which possessed a greater nerve, 
 than that which he led over the blue hills of Rockbridge 
 and Augusta, out from the confines of youth, and into 
 the world of glory beyond, on the 21st of April, 1861; 
 for it was that same body of Southern youth that later 
 formed the backbone of his victorious armies, bearina' 
 the eagles of his triumphs and the burden of his fame. 
 
 Footsore and weary, the cadets slept well the night of 
 their first real day of military service, quartered in the 
 hotels of Staunton, but arose bright and ready for the 
 work of the next morning. First, the guns and baggage 
 had to be loaded on flat cars, and everything carefully 
 packed for the movement by rail to Richmond. This 
 done, several hours were allowed them to stroll about 
 the town in their natty gray uniforms. Staunton in 
 those days boasted of a number of fine schools for girls, 
 as it does at the present time; and the fair pupils with 
 their matronly guardians were permitted for once to 
 mingle with the gallant soldier lads, ere they departed. 
 
 At last, the "Assembly" sounded and the Corps en- 
 trained amid the cheers and huzzas of the populace. As 
 the troop train, always an inspiring sight to the citizen, 
 pulled out with its brave passengers, many were the 
 tears, the fond farewells, the longing glances, and "the 
 girls they left behind them." 
 
 All went well until the heavy train reached the Blue 
 Ridge tunnel on the old Central Railroad (now the 
 Chesapeake and Ohio). There, an exciting, and some- 
 what perilous, catastrophe occurred. "The train con- 
 sisted of passenger cars for the officers and Corps and 
 flat cars for the battery and baggage. It was a 
 'special,' and hence had no schedule time. When well 
 in the tunnel, which is nearly a mile long, our engine was 
 derailed. The smoke from it filled the cars, and the 
 narrow space around them. We could not go forward, 
 for the engine and force engaged blocked the way; nor
 
 144 The Military History of 
 
 could we go back, as we would be in danger of being 
 left, as the engine might be ready for duty any minute 
 and would at once pull out. To add to our peril, another 
 train from the direction whence we came was about due, 
 as per schedule time, and was liable to collide with 
 ours, in which event results could but be imagined. 
 Thus we were held veritable prisoners for nearly two 
 hours, imperiled by the dangers of an oncoming train 
 and the suffocating smoke from our own engine, — our 
 first lesson in the privation and hardships of war." 
 
 Soon, however, the derailed engine was righted, and 
 the train moved off, meeting with ovations all along the 
 route. Before the Corps reached Riclnnond few coatees 
 were capable of being buttoned, for the V. M. I. button 
 was then, as now, most popular among the fair sex. 
 
 "Late in the afternoon, Richmond loomed up to view. 
 This was another new sight, for most of us were from 
 rural districts, and had never seen a city. From the 
 station we marched to the front of the Capitol Building 
 in Capitol Square. Here the Corps was reviewed by 
 His Excellency, the Governor, who made a little talk, 
 and the compliments were pleasing to boys (as we 
 were) . He said, among other things, that war was upon 
 us and much depended upon our work in preparing an 
 army for the field. Then, amid the waving of handker- 
 chiefs by the dames and maidens, and the huzzas of the 
 men and boys (a large number of whom had gathered 
 to see and greet us), we marched to what was then 
 known as the new Fair Grounds, about a mile west of 
 the city." 
 
 So forcibly did "Honest John," the Governor, pre- 
 sent the needs of Virginia in his address, so flatteringly 
 did he refer to the ability of the Corps to meet the de- 
 mands of the State, and so seriously did he charge the 
 cadets, individually and collectively, with the great 
 responsibilities imposed upon them, that no lad marched 
 away from his inspiring presence without silently 
 pledging himself to the faithful service of his country. 
 Thus did the fledglings, within a brief hour, become
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 145 
 
 men with the fullest responsibilities of manhood and of 
 their calling. 
 
 The Corps was quartered in the Exhibition buildings 
 surrounded by the beautiful Fair Grounds, which were 
 well suited for a camp of concentration and instruction. 
 All arrangements for its accommodation had been per- 
 fected in advance by Colonel Gilham, by whose sug- 
 gestion the camp had been named after his old friend, 
 Colonel Robert E. Lee, now the senior officer of Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 Soon, General Magruder, Jackson's old batteiy com- 
 mander, arrived, and assumed charge of the artillery, 
 and immediately the undrilled, undisciplined, partly un- 
 armed, and un-uniformed volunteers of Virginia began 
 to arrive at Camp Lee. 
 
 The raw volunteers afforded much amusement to the 
 well- trained cadets. Many of them reported with 
 squirrel rifles, shot guns, butcher's knives, and ancient 
 horse pistols. Some wore red shirts and coon-skin caps, 
 and all were imbued with the belief that the true soldier 
 must present a dare-devil aspect with the unkempt 
 hair and scraggly beard of the border ruffian. To these 
 men the trim cadets appeared play-soldiers and dandies, 
 almost beneath their contempt, and they at first re- 
 garded the little "whipper-snappers" placed over them 
 with the utmost disfavor. 
 
 As the volunteers arrived, were mustered into the 
 service, and organized into regiments, and batteries, 
 drill-masters (one to a company) were assigned to 
 them from the Corps of Cadets. General Magruder at 
 once called upon Major Jackson to designate twelve 
 cadets skilled in gunnery and artillery drill to be as- 
 signed to the difficult task of drilling and assisting in 
 organizing the light batteries, among which were the 
 1st, 2d, and 3d Companies of Richmond Howitzers, the 
 Richmond Fayette Artillery, and the Hampden Artil- 
 lery from Richmond, the Beauregard Rifles from 
 Lynchburg, and other artillery organizations destined 
 to become famous in the ensuing war. 
 
 10
 
 146 The Military History of 
 
 Soon, Captain Edward Porter Alexander, recently 
 resigned from the U. S. Engineers, already dis- 
 tinguished as a former Commandant of West Point, 
 and as an expert in the novel signal-system developed 
 by Myer, arrived from the West, to assume direct 
 charge of the Artillery instruction. It was he who 
 urged the organization of the three batteries of Rich- 
 mond Howitzers, commanded by Captains J. C. Shields, 
 J. Thompson Brown, and Robert Stanard, respec- 
 tively, into a battalion with George W. Randolph as 
 Major. Thus, the cadets were identified with the 
 first battalion of Field Artillery ever created in 
 America. 
 
 So efficient was the work of the cadets, that within a 
 few weeks the Confederacy^ was threatened with losing 
 their services as drill-masters, by reason of their ab- 
 sorption into the army as officers. Many of them 
 were commissioned, ere a month had clasped; but 
 enough remained at the disposal of the authorities with 
 which to whip into shape the 20,000 volunteers as- 
 sembled at Camp Lee, and as a just tribute to the value 
 of tlieir services and of the Institute, the Convention 
 unanimously adopted a most complimentary resolution 
 in July, and an allowance of $20 a month, in addition to 
 subsistence, was made each cadet drill-master. 
 
 In June, 1861, there were 4S3 (467 less 34 dead) 
 graduates of the Institute living, and the vast majority 
 of those were commissioned officers in the various 
 armies of the South before the first hostile move was 
 made, and this was also true of the 654 (741 less 87 
 dead) non-graduates, among the eleves of the School, 
 living then. July 15, 1861, the Superintendent re- 
 ported to the Board that one- third of the field officers 
 in the Volunteers, and two-thirds of those in the Pro- 
 visional Army, were graduates or ex-cadets, while the 
 number of captains and lieutenants were in proportion 
 to the field officers. The result was, that the jealousy 
 of the volunteers throughout the South, and especiallj^ 
 in Virginia, was aroused, and a thoughtless prejudice
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 147 
 
 arose in the public mind against the Virginia MiKtary 
 Institute, which was supposed to have exerted an undue 
 influence upon Governor Letcher, in the matter of miU- 
 tary appointments. 
 
 Such is always the case in a country where no definite 
 military policy prevails, and no adequate provision for 
 defense is made, in time of peace. Civilians, who neces- 
 sarily comprise the bulk of the army, when the call for 
 volunteers is made, ever display the most unreasonable 
 prejudice against men better equipped than themselves 
 to lead. They ignore utterly the years of devoted ser- 
 vice and preparation of trained soldiers, asserting, in 
 their ignorance and self-confidence, their own natural 
 abilities to command. By some illogical process of 
 reasoning that sets at naught the history of war, they 
 even disparage those who have devoted years to the 
 study of military science. They point with conviction 
 to such far-fetched examples as Cleon and Narses, not 
 realizing that "pestilent demagogues and mutilated 
 guardians of Eastern zenanas have not always been suc- 
 cessful in war," and, in their conceit, earnestly believe 
 that they, if but the opportunity be given them, will, 
 like Cincinnattus, prove the saviours of their country. 
 They can not, as a rule, comprehend that untrained 
 soldiers who have attained success in war are the ex- 
 ceptions, which prove the rule, and if they do perceive 
 the inexorable truths which history should impress upon 
 us, they confidently believe themselves to be the ex- 
 ceptions. 
 
 So, it was that Gilliam's and Jackson's services were 
 forgotten, and when they were nominated for promo- 
 tion as colonels in May by Governor Letcher, many 
 of the members of the Legislature inquired, "Who is 
 this Thomas J. Jackson?" 
 
 "I can tell you who he is," Hon. Samuel McDowell 
 Moore, of Rockbridge replied, "If you put him in com- 
 mand at Norfolk, he will never leave it alive, unless you 
 order him to do so."
 
 148 The Military History or 
 
 While the hue and cry against them continued, the 
 cadets continued to "shoot disciphne" into the raw 
 volunteers entrusted to their charge, and to secure com- 
 missions whenever possible. Drilling the volunteers was 
 a role which suited them exactly, for they were used to 
 it. The drill of "rats" was a pastime from which every 
 upper classman had graduated with honors, and the 
 "plebes" were overjoyed that their opportunity to en- 
 gage in the sport had at last come. Many were the ludi- 
 crous sights witnessed at Camp Lee as the trim, sharp- 
 voiced youngsters, perfectly drilled and disciplined them- 
 selves, trotted the surprised recruits, panting and weary, 
 about the spacious drill-grounds of Camp Lee. Many 
 were the poor country yokels, who, compelled to bathe 
 and shear their hirsute badges of military dignity, re- 
 belled in spirit, but obeyed the tyrannical striplings who 
 lorded it over them, saying all the while among them- 
 selves, "Surely this is not war!" 
 
 But as the days wore on, and a semblance of discipline 
 began to be detected among the volunteers, — then the 
 true indications of the soldier in their improved carriage 
 and drill, — there was less grimibling; and rapidly con- 
 tempt was superseded by the highest respect for the 
 gray-clad martinets from Lexington. 
 
 At first, the camp was intended for Virginia troops 
 only ; but the value of the system of instruction there in 
 operation was so apparent to all, that it was made the 
 rendezvous of troops from other states, as well. This 
 increased the numbers so greatly that not only the new, 
 but the old. Fair Grounds had to be utilized, and the 
 Corps was taxed to the utmost in its special and im- 
 portant work. 
 
 The general health record of the Corps while in the 
 Camp of Instruction was excellent; only three serious 
 cases of illness occurring between April 23d and June 
 30th. Early in May an epidemic of laryngitis and 
 opthalmia, and soon after of catarrh broke out among 
 the volunteers, due to unfavorable weather conditions. 
 Soon followed measles, diarrhoea, and dysentery, all of
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 149 
 
 which played havoc with the vokmteer troops ; but in the 
 entire Corps but 9 cases of measles, 26 of diarrhoea, .5 of 
 dysentery, and 26 of laryngitis and opthalmia oc- 
 curred, facts which strikingly testifj^ to the value of 
 trained soldiers, always more or less exempt from the 
 camp diseases which beset raw troops. 
 
 How fortunate was the South to possess such an as- 
 set as the Virginia Military Institute! Only a man of 
 military experience can estimate the value of its services 
 at this time. Yet, the historian has completely ignored 
 its work, and has failed to grasp the real reasons for the 
 initial success of the Confederate forces in Virginia. 
 He has failed to perceive, in his scrutiny of the natural 
 characteristics of the Southern volunteers, the real rea- 
 son for their superiority over the men of the North in the 
 early days of the war in Virginia. He has failed to 
 detect, standing there all along the Confederate battle- 
 line at Manassas, 500 trained young officers, and the 
 200 drill-masters of Camp Lee, who poured out from 
 the embattled Barracks at Lexington, upon the first 
 call to arms ! 
 
 Nor was the Institute unduly favored by Governor 
 Letcher in his appointments. It was not until the re- 
 organization of the army, in the spring of 1862, that 
 Institute men came to their own. Until that time, the 
 higher grades had been very generally confined to re- 
 tired officers of the Old Army, to those who resigned 
 their commissions to join the Confederate arms, and to 
 politicians. Thus, Institute men were at first over- 
 slaughed, irrespective of their abilities, except with re- 
 spect to the number of commissions assigned them. 
 Governor Letcher, in his report of June 17, 1861, to the 
 Convention of Virginia, stated that over one-half of the 
 recruiting officers and the junior officers were appointed 
 from among the graduates of the Institute.* 
 
 The records also show that of the 56 regiments of 
 Virginia Infantry and Heavy Artillery mustered into 
 the service of the Confederate States of America, in 
 
 •Rebellion Records, Series IV, Vol. 1, p. 390.
 
 150 The Military History of 
 
 1861, 20 were commanded by graduates of the Institute, 
 and that two of the eight cavahy regiments were also 
 commanded by former cadets. Tlie number of Heu- 
 tenant-colonels and majors were at this time out of all 
 proportion to the number of regimental commanders, 
 but as time wore on, they forged rapidly to the front. 
 Thus, during the war, the Institute furnished the Con- 
 federacy 92 colonels, 64 lieutenant-colonels, 107 majors, 
 304 captains, and 221 lieutenants. It is estimated that 
 at one time nearly two-thirds of the Army of Northern 
 Virginia was officered by field-officers from the 
 Institute. 
 
 During the months of May and June, and early July, 
 many inspiring spectacles were witnessed by the cadets 
 at Camp Lee, among which was the presentation of a 
 new Confederate flag, made by the ladies of Richmond, 
 to the 18th Virginia Regiment. There were many Old 
 Cadets in this fine regiment, and the Corps, therefore, 
 felt especial pride in its recognition by Mr. Davis. 
 
 "This flag," said he, "is our symbol of liberty, and on 
 behalf of the ladies of the capital of our nation, I gave 
 it into the hands that will proudly bear it to victory, and 
 never let it trail in the dust." 
 
 The cadets had had occasion to see Mr. Davis before 
 this, during the many visits which he made to the camp, 
 attended by his brilliant stafl*; and, while they had felt 
 the generally entertained respect for the President of 
 the Confederacy, it was not until now that they were 
 spell-bound by the power of the man. In the excite- 
 ment of their work, they had found little time to dwell 
 upon the virtues of the new nation; but Mr. Davis's 
 speech aroused in them the greatest enthusiasm for the 
 new flag, which for four long years they were to follow, 
 and first made them realize they were soldiers of the 
 new nation of which that flag was symbolic. 
 
 Other prominent statesmen visited the camp, and ad- 
 dressed the troops; among whom was the venerable 
 John Tyler, veteran of 1812, former Governor of Vir- 
 ginia, and Ex-President of the United States. All
 
 The Virginia Military Institute lol 
 
 were optimistic of the outcome of the war and each 
 added his coal of fire to the enthusiasm of the cadets. 
 
 The work of Instruction, in so far as the Corps was 
 concerned, was wholly in the hands of Gilham, who had 
 been promoted Colonel of the 21st Virginia Regiment 
 late in April. Jackson only remained with the Corps 
 a few days after its arrival in Richmond; for on April 
 26th, he was promoted Colonel of Virginia Volun- 
 teers, and immediately departed to take command of 
 the force gathering at Harper's Ferry, while the Act- 
 ing Commandant, Major Colston, was detailed in 
 charge of the Camp of Instruction at Norfolk. 
 
 By the time Joseph E. Johnston had assembled the 
 2d Corps, or Army of the Shenandoah, in the Valley; 
 Beauregard, the 1st Corps, or Army of the Potomac, 
 at Manassas; and Magruder, the Army of the Penin- 
 sula, at Yorktown, there were few troops left at Camp 
 Lee, and, therefore, few cadet drill-masters. The Corps 
 had been practically dissolved by the appointment of 
 cadets as officers, the attaching of those left to com- 
 panies in the field, and the ordering of a few of the 
 young men back to the Institute. 
 
 At the Institute work had been promptly resmned, as 
 we have seen. Many of the cadets from distant States 
 which had been left behind resigned, in order to return 
 to their homes, and there join the army. A few returned 
 from Richmond, and about 100 new cadets were ad- 
 mitted after the 1st of May. By the end of that month, 
 there were over 100 cadets in Barracks, who were being 
 thoroughly instructed in Field Fortifications, Artillery, 
 and Infantry Tactics, and in the drill of all these 
 branches. 
 
 During the summer of 1861, although the great bulk 
 of the arms had been issued from the Arsenal at the 
 Institute, there were 3,600 stand of muskets, 8 6-pound 
 iron guns, 15,900 pounds of cannon, and 125 pounds of 
 rifle powder, and 600 rounds of fixed ammunition for 
 the cadet battery, including round shot and canister, 
 while the employees of the Institute, imder the direction
 
 152 The Military History or 
 
 of the Quartermaster, turned out 10,000 small arms 
 cartridges per day for the use of the army. 
 
 Early in June, it was rmnored that a raiding party of 
 Federal Cavalry was approaching Lexington, with the 
 intention of destroying the Institute and the Arsenal. 
 The report was absurd, and, though not credited. Major 
 Preston, Acting Superintendent, took the precaution of 
 providing for the defense of the Institute. Ten rounds 
 of ammunition were issued each cadet; an artillery de- 
 tachment was designated and placed under Lieutenant 
 Hunter, Class of 1861. Major Crutchfield was directed 
 to move out and meet the enemy with an infantry de- 
 tacliment composed of half of the cadets, and Captain 
 Hardin, to defend Barracks with those remaining. 
 Lieutenant Morgan was assigned to duty with the 
 "Liberty Hall" Volunteers, Lieutenant Ross with 
 Captain Gatman's local company, and Lieutenant 
 Smith and Lynch, and Surgeon Meade, to the staff of 
 the Acting Superintendent, the last being directed to 
 prepare the Hospital to receive the wounded! 
 
 Needless to add, nothing came of this wild rumor, for 
 there was no enemy within reach of Lexington, at this 
 time. The incident is narrated, however, as one of 
 many, to illustrate the state of mind of the cadets, from 
 first to last. The wonder is that any remained; and 
 none would have done so had parental orders not com- 
 pelled them to forego the field of glory. 
 
 Another incident which created a marked impression 
 upon the young soldiers, was the announcement in May 
 of the death of Captain John Q. Marr. Entering the 
 military service in April, he was killed while gallantly 
 defending an outpost at Fairfax Courthouse, June 1, 
 1861, and shed "the first blood of the war," according 
 to the report of the Adjutant- General of Virginia. 
 
 Thus, was the seriousness of the war brought home to 
 the cadets, further adding to their restlessness and long- 
 ing to take the field. 
 
 Thursday, June 13th, was appointed a day of national 
 fasting and humiliation by the proclamation of Presi-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 153 
 
 dent Davis, and, accordingly, all duties at the Institute 
 were suspended by Major Preston who in orders paid 
 the tribute of the Virginia Military Institute to the 
 memory of Captain Marr, in these words: 
 
 "The Acting Superintendent takes this occasion to 
 announce officially the death of Captain J. Q. Marr, of 
 Fauquier County. He was one of the oldest Alumni of 
 the Institute, having graduated in 1846, the second dis- 
 tinguished graduate of his class. He devoted his 
 talents to the pursuits of civil life, and held important 
 and influential offices in his county. At the first call of 
 his county for his services as a soldier, he seized the 
 arms whose use he had laid aside but not forgotten. He 
 was offered a commission as Lieutenant-Colonel, but he 
 chose to head the company he had raised. The enemy 
 made a sudden attack upon the post where he was 
 stationed, and he immediately exposed himself, regard- 
 less of danger, to the fire of the foe, when he was pierced 
 to the heart by an ill-fated ball. 
 
 "The Institute with pride has beheld the graduates 
 hastening to arms in order to redeem the j^ledge of 
 fidelity to Virginia, that makes the motto upon the flag 
 of the Corps. To the Institute, too, has been accorded 
 the sad, yet honorable, distinction, that the first officer 
 who has laid down his life on the altar of his country 
 has had his name recorded on our Register with dis- 
 tinction. Such examples serve their noble purpose when 
 they stimulate to imitation. Such imitation is the 
 noblest tribute we can pay to the brave dead." 
 
 In the latter part of June, it was announced that 
 Colonel Smith proposed to raise a regiment for the field 
 during the summer, and that graduates, ex-cadets, and 
 such cadets as were permitted by their parents to join 
 the army, would be welcomed by him as officers — an 
 invitation which many accepted. 
 
 The work of the Institute was not suspended until 
 July 18th. Notice had been given the Acting Superin- 
 tendent by the professors and assistant professors, who 
 had been all the spring and summer laboriously dis-
 
 154 The Military History of 
 
 charging the new duties which had devolved upon them, 
 that after the 1st of July, the date on which the academic 
 year terminated, they would tender their services to the 
 governor for active and permanent service in the field. 
 Great credit is due Major Preston, who had returned 
 from Harper's Ferry where he might have remained on 
 Jackson's staff, and to Major Crutchfield and Captain 
 Hardin, for their unselfish labors up to this time. The 
 two last, without the advantages of text-books, had pre- 
 pared a course of lectures in the various branches, of the 
 military art. Lieutenants Ross, Morgan, Lynch, 
 Hunter, and Smith, had also rendered valuable aid as 
 tactical officers. But they could no longer be restrained, 
 and although there were 100 cadets present for duty, 
 a number of candidates present and applying for ad- 
 mission, and yet others on the way to enter, there was 
 no other alternative than to decline to receive new 
 cadets, to accept the resignation of all those recently 
 admitted, and to place the others on furlough until 
 September 1st. 
 
 Now, let us see what became of the officers of the 
 Institute. 
 
 The Superintendent, after the dissolution of the 
 Council of State, July 16th, was assigned to duty as 
 Colonel of the 9th Virginia Regiment, Heavy Artillery, 
 in command of the Craney Island defenses in Norfolk 
 Harbor. The Commandant had been promoted Colonel, 
 21st Virginia Infantry, and was now preparing to join 
 his command in the Valley. Major Jackson had been 
 appointed Colonel of Volunteers April 26th, assigned 
 to the command of the troops at Harper's Ferry, and 
 promoted Brigadier-General June 17th. Major 
 Williamson had been assigned to duty in April, as 
 Major of the Corps of Engineers, under his academic 
 commission, and had since been busily engaged fortify- 
 ing the line of the Rappahannock, and, later on, the de- 
 fenses near Manassas Junction, having been promoted 
 Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers in early July. Major 
 Colston had been promoted Colonel of the 16th Virginia
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 155 
 
 Infantry, and assigned to the command of the Camp of 
 Instruction at Norfolk. Dr. R. L. Madison, Surgeon, 
 had been placed on duty as Medical Director of Camp 
 Lee. Captain McCausland, upon the special request of 
 the people of the Kanawha Section, had been appointed 
 Lieutenant-Colonel 35th Virginia Infantry, and as- 
 signed to duty in the West. Lieutenants Shipp, Cun- 
 ningham, and McDonald, had been appointed Captains 
 in the Provisional Army, and assigned to special duties 
 — the first, under the orders of Colonel Gilham, as As- 
 sistant Adjutant- General — the others under Jackson at 
 Harper's Ferry, Captain Cunningham, on engineer 
 duty, and Captain McDonald, as Assistant Inspector- 
 General. Before the end of the summer, Shipp became 
 Major of the 21st Virginia of which Gilham was the 
 Colonel. Lieutenant Semmes was retained at the Camp 
 of Instruction as Acting Commandant, upon the relief 
 of Colonel Colston. 
 
 After being relieved of duty at the Institute, Majors 
 Preston and Crutchfield were appointed Lieutenant- 
 Colonel and Major 9th Virginia Regiment, respectively, 
 Colonel Smith commanding, and repaired to Craney 
 Island. In October, however, Preston rejoined Jack- 
 son's staff as Assistant Adjutant-General, Army of the 
 Valley, and soon Crutchfield, longing for active sendee, 
 transferred to the 58th Virginia Infantry, with the 
 rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and was ordered to West 
 Virginia, where he served under General Lee. During 
 the fall he was tendered the colonelcy of the 16th Vir- 
 ginia, but ill-health forced him to decline the pro- 
 motion.* 
 
 Captain M. B. Hardin, like Crutchfield, was also 
 appointed Major in the 9th Virginia Regiment, upon 
 leaving Lexington; Lieutenant J. D. H. Ross, Major, 
 later Lieutenant-Colonel 52d Virginia Infantiy; Lieu- 
 tenant W. H. Morgan, Adjutant 21st Virginia In- 
 fantry, later Captain and killed; and Lieutenant O. C. 
 
 *In the spring of 1862, he became Jackson's Chief of Artillery (Vice- 
 Major Daniel Trueheart), with the rank of Colonel of Artillery: was wounded 
 at Chanfcllorsville. and killed at Sailor's Creek in April, 1865. after most 
 heroic- lUid efficient service throughout the war.
 
 156 The Military History of 
 
 Henderson, First-Lieutenant, later Captain 1st Battal- 
 ion Virginia Infantry. 
 
 Rodes, who had never served at the Institute as a 
 full professor, had, meantime, become Colonel of the 
 5th Alabama, later Major- General, and was killed. 
 
 Captain John T. Gibbs was placed in command of 
 the "Rockbridge Greys," and alone remained in charge 
 of the Institute. Thus, it is seen, that every officer of 
 the Institute had entered the service, and that, by the 
 middle of the summer, the faculty and the Corps had 
 dissolved. 
 
 Far off in the hills of Rockbridge, the great Cadet 
 Barracks,* tenanted only by a few members of the mi- 
 litia, stood silent and all but deserted during the fall and 
 winter of 1861, a mournful reminder of the gallant 
 band which had poured forth from its grim portals, 
 apppealing, in its abandoned aspect, to the poetess who 
 wrote : 
 
 "They are gone ! they are gone ! Never more shall they come 
 Witii no gap in their ranks to this dearly loved home ; 
 They are gone! they are gone! from depression upspringing. 
 Its bold onward flight the young spirit is wringing. 
 In memory still lingers the touching refrain. 
 Of exulting farewell, spoken once and again. 
 
 "Still, I see the light form — the flushed cheek — the quick eye, 
 Still, I hear the firm tread, as 'boy heroes' sweep by; 
 But the mantle of evening from daylight is won, 
 And the Mother's worn heart looks in vain for her son. 
 Alas ! for the eyes that have scarce known a tear ! 
 Alas ! for the hopes that were safe garnered here ! 
 
 "They are gone ! they are gone ! From terrace and hill. 
 Of the light springing footsteps, the echo is still. 
 The rich music of youth's wild exuberance is gone; 
 Through this midnight of sorrow, we watch all alone 
 In a sickness of heart that sees nought in their path 
 But the Great Reaper's Sickle, the harvest of Death ! 
 This is feeble distrust. It is cowardly fear 
 To linger thus idly, when danger is near. 
 Arise — break its shackles — look out from this gloom, 
 To thy work bravely done will the Comforter come. 
 
 ♦Occupied bv the Rockbridge Greys, upon the departure of the Corps of 
 Cadets as a guard for the Arsenal, in which much Ordnance material was 
 stored. See Rebellion Rec, Series IV, Vol. 1. pp. 387-388.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 157 
 
 "Did the sun's rosy light o'er the Blue Ridge this morning 
 Kiss the high mountain peaks? I know not, for this warning 
 Note eagerly longed for, prevented the dav. 
 And the hours, unchronicled, glided away. 
 All to one paying tribute. Well each cadet knew 
 To the stroke of the clock, the command would be true; 
 Major Jackson in charge, he would linger for none, 
 And he still would move on. did he move on alone. 
 
 "With Love, holiest cares, as her purpose fulfilling, 
 Another's burdens to lighten, the heart is made willing; 
 Thus to lighten its own, each moment passed on, 
 Smiles brightening to tears — then, in tears, the smiles gone. 
 Fair young fingers were busy — on many a fair face, 
 This April of Sunshine and Showers you might trace ; 
 While gay words of greeting were followed as soon. 
 By some errand accepted, as quickly as known. 
 
 "Hark! the roll of the drum. It has called them to prayer. 
 And each uncovered head bows in reverence there. 
 Through the Barracks is hushed all the vexed strife of earth, 
 As the servant of God breathes falteringly forth 
 In grief-stricken accents, but firm, trusting faith, 
 A prayer for His presence in danger and death. 
 Let them only be Thine, then must suffering be 
 The path Thou hast chosen to lead them to Thee ! 
 The silence is broken — a quick rush of feet — 
 Each one takes his place, and the ranks are complete. 
 A stroke of the clock — the Battalion moves on — 
 A dull, measured tramp — a last look— they are gone !"* 
 
 *By Mrs. Francis H. Smith.
 
 158 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 ^} 
 
 JACKSON AT HARPER S FERRY AND MANASSAS 
 
 We have seen that Major Jackson's preferment was 
 attributed by jealous civihans, seekmg their own selfish 
 interests, to the undue influence of the Virginia Mihtary 
 Institute. His connection with the army, and his serv- 
 ice in Mexico seemed to have passed from the memory 
 of everybody but his intimate friends.* 
 
 The following account of Jackson's arrival at 
 Harper's Ferry, where he arrived and took command 
 May 3, 1861, is given by General John D. Imboden, 
 at that time Captain of the Staunton Battery: 
 
 "When I arrived in Richmond, General Robert E. Lee had been 
 placed in command of all the Virginia forces by the Governor, and 
 by an ordinance every militia officer in the State, above the rank of 
 Captain, had been decapitated, and the Governor and his Military 
 Council had been authorized to fill the vacancies thus created. 
 This was a disastrous blow to the 'pomp and circumstance of 
 glorious war' at Harper's Ferry. Militia generals, and the brilliant 
 'staff' were stricken down, and their functions devolved, according 
 to Governor Letcher's order, upon Thomas J. Jackson, Colonel 
 Commandant, and James W. Massie, Major and Assistant 
 Adjutant-General, who arrived during the first week of May. 
 
 "This was Stonewall Jackson's first appearance on the theatre 
 of war. I spent one day and night in Richmond, and then returned 
 to camp, arriving about 2 p. m. What a revolution three or four 
 days had wrought ! I could scarcely realize the change. The 
 militia generals were all gone, and the staff had vanished. The 
 commanding colonel and his adjutant had arrived, and were occupy- 
 ing a small room in the little wayside hotel near the railroad bridge. 
 
 ♦Military Biography of Stonewall Jackson, Jones, p. 36. The following 
 letter from Major Preston, who had been ordered to Richmond, Is interesting 
 at this point : 
 
 "I got here safely. As I anticipated, the Colonel wanted to consult me with 
 regard to matters connected with the Institute, and the organization of the 
 military forces of the region roundabout. Colonel Smith is occupying here a 
 very Important and laborous position and is acquiring a very enviable reputation 
 for the value of his services. The general idea of the movements is, I think, 
 based upon the purpose of avoiding civil war, but to be prepared thoroughly 
 for every emergency. Jackson, with the rank of colonel, goes to supersede 
 General Harper at Harper's Ferry. It is most flattering to him. Say to his 
 wife that It is the command of all others which he would most prefer. He is 
 a noble fellow, and I rejoice in his success."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 159 
 
 Knowing them both, I immediately sought an interview and deliv- 
 ered a letter and some papers I had brought from General Lee. 
 Jackson and his Adjutant were at a little pine table, figuring upon 
 the rolls of the troops present. They were dressed in well-worn, 
 dingy uniforms of professors in the Virginia Military Institute, 
 where both had recently occupied chairs. Colonel Jackson had 
 issued, and sent to the camp, a short, simple order assuming the 
 command, but had had no intercourse with the troops. The deposed 
 officers had nearly all left for home, or for Richmond, in a high 
 state of indignation. After an interview of perhaps a half hour, I 
 proceeded to my camp on the hill, and found the men of the 5th 
 Virginia regiment in assembly, and greatly excited. They were 
 deeply attached to their field-officers, and regarded the ordinance 
 of the Convention as an outrage on freemen and volunteers ; and 
 were discussing the propriety of passing denunciatory resolutions. 
 On seeing me, they called for a speech. As I did not belong to 
 the regiment, I declined to say anything, but ordered the men of 
 the Staunton Artillery to fall into line. Then I briefly told them 
 that we were required to muster into the service either for twelve 
 months, or during the war, at our option, and urged them to go 
 in for the full period of the war, as such action would be most 
 creditable to them, and a good example to others. They unani- 
 mously shouted, 'For the war ! For the war !' Before tliev were 
 dismissed, the ceremony of mustering in was complete, and I 
 proudly took the roll to Colonel Jackson with the remark, 'There, 
 Colonel, is the roll of your first company mustered in for the war.' 
 He looked it over, and, rising, shook my hand, saying, 'Thank you, 
 Captain; thank you, and please thank your men for me.' He had 
 heard that there was dissatisfaction in the camps, and asked me to 
 act as mustering-officer for the two other artillery companies 
 present. Before sunset the rolls were returned. This prompt 
 action of the batteries was emulated, the next day, by the other 
 troops, and all were mustered in."* 
 
 An army correspondent of one of the Southern 
 papers has left us a personal sketch of Colonel Jackson, 
 at this time. It clearly indicates the general impression 
 of the hour, and, furthermore, portrays Jackson as he 
 was recalled by more than one cadet: 
 
 "The queer appearance of the ex-Professor on the field excited 
 great merriment in this writer. The Old Dominion must be 
 woefully deficient in militarj^ men, he thought, if this was the best 
 she could do. To him the new colonel was not at all like a com- 
 manding officer. There was a painful want in him of all the 'pride, 
 
 ♦Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 1, pp. 120-121.
 
 160 The Military History of 
 
 pomp^ and circumstance of glorious war.' His dress was no better 
 than a private soldier's, and there was not a particle of gold lace 
 about his uniform. His air was abstracted; his bearing stiff and 
 awkward ; he kept his own counsels ; never consulted with his 
 officers, and had very little to say to anybody. On horseback his 
 appearance was even less impressive. Other officers, at that early 
 stage of the war, when the fondness for military insignia and dis- 
 play was greater than afterwards, and before the blockade had cut 
 off the supply of gewgaws and decorations, made their appearance 
 before their troops on prancing horses, with splendid trappings, 
 and seemed desirous of showing the admiring spectators how grace- 
 fully they could sit in the saddle. The new colonel was a strong 
 contrast to all this. He rode an old horse which seemed to have 
 little of the romance of war about him, and nothing at all fine in 
 his equipment. His seat in the saddle was far from graceful; he 
 leaned forward awkwardly ; settled his chin from time to time in 
 his loft}'^ military stock, and looked from side to side, from beneath 
 the low rim of his cadet cap, in a manner which the risible faculties 
 of the correspondent could not resist. A queerer figure, and one 
 which answered less to the idea of military grace, had never before 
 dawned on the attention of the literary gentleman who sketched it 
 for the amusement of the Southern reader." 
 
 Among the first steps taken by Colonel Jackson for 
 the organization of his command, was the selection of 
 Major James W. Massie, V. M. I., 1847, who had 
 served under him as a tactical officer at the Institute, 
 as his Inspector-General; his old associate in the 
 faculty, John Thomas Lewis Preston, as his Acting 
 Assistant Adjutant- General; and Captain Marshall 
 McDonald and Edward Cunningham, Assistant Pro- 
 fessors, as his Assistant Inspector-General and 
 Engineer Officer, respectively, while Dr. Graham of 
 Lexington, formerly Surgeon of the Institute, became 
 his Chief Surgeon. Major Preston, who had been 
 ordered to Richmond to confer with the Superintendent, 
 repaired at once to Harper's Ferry, but was recalled to 
 the Institute late in May.* 
 
 •The following extracts from the correspondence of Major Preston with 
 his wife illustrates the work of the Institute in the organization of Jackson's 
 command : 
 
 May 9th, 1S61. "While Massie is gone to Richmond with dispatches, 
 I take as much of Jackson's responsibility as I choose. Colonels, captains. 
 and officials of all ranks come to me for orders, for leave of absence, for 
 directions, for privileges, for information. It is precisely, so far as I am 
 concerned, like the Superintendency of the Institute, and it is my practice 
 in that sort of work that gives me here more efficiency than men of more 
 ability and more experience. It is astonishing to see how the Institute tells
 
 fe .. ..     .■ I I — - • ; ; ::! ' : ; , I ...t : , ... I - it . . - 1-- -" 
 
   ■111. 
 
 BRIGADIER-GENERAL THOMAS HOOMES WILLIAMSON 
 
 Commandant of Cadets 1841-1846 
 Professor 1841-1888
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 161 
 
 April 22d, an order had been received at the Institute 
 from General Harper at Harper's Ferry, to forward 
 10,000 muskets from the Arsenal for issue, to his com- 
 mand, and Captain Updike was directed to detail 25 of 
 his men as an escort, under the command of Lieutenant 
 Shipp. Lieutenant Shipp, however, proceeded no 
 further with the escort than Staunton, at whicli point 
 he received orders to proceed to Richmond, where he was 
 assigned to duty with rank of Captain under Colonel 
 Gilham as Assistant Adjutant- General in the Camp of 
 Instruction. The same day, Lieutenant J. D. H. Ross 
 was detailed with ten cadets to escort an ammunition 
 train to Harper's Ferry. These cadets, Wight, Holt, 
 Norris, Hempstead, Burruss, Burk T., Lee W., 
 Turner S., Savage and Taylor M., were retained by 
 Colonel Jackson at Harper's Ferry as drill-masters. 
 Jackson had been at Camp Lee long enough to witness 
 the immediate results obtained there by the cadets in 
 charge of the instruction of the volunteers. His next 
 step was to place Major Daniel Trueheart, formerly 
 his assistant at the Institute, in charge of the organiza- 
 tion of his artillery ; and, assisted by officers in whom he 
 reposed confidence born of previous association, he 
 undertook the work of hammering his command into 
 shape. 
 
 Meantime, the Rev. William Nelson Pendleton, of 
 Lexington, had been elected Captain of the Rockbridge 
 Artillery, a battery which had been organized in Lexing- 
 ton and drilled by Captain John McCausland, of the 
 Institute Sub-Faculty, until he was promoted lieu- 
 tenant-colonel of the 36th Virginia Regiment, and 
 ordered to northwest Virginia. Knowing the calibei' of 
 his old friend, Colonel Jackson requested that the Rock- 
 just now. Every man from the oldest to the youngest, who has been connected 
 with It, is looked to for extra service. When Massie is here I do some of 
 the same sort of thing, but mainly I write letters for .Jackson and advise him 
 as far as I am able." 
 
 May 12th, 1861. "I did not know before how well I could get through 
 work which is new to me, nor did I know how much technical acquaintance 
 with military matters I had absorbed by my life-long connection with the 
 Institute. At all events, I have been a week, since Massie's absence, acting as 
 chief aid, settling all manner of questions for colonels, majors, captains, and 
 sometimes when .Jackson was absent looking after his fortifications, acting 
 as commander-in-chief." 
 
 11
 
 102 The Military History of 
 
 bridge Artillery be assigned to his command, which was 
 done; and, with two of the cadet brass 6-pounders, and 
 ammunition chests mounted on the bodies of hay 
 wagons, the battery marched to Staunton on Maj^ 11th, 
 arriving at Harper's Ferry four days later.* 
 
 Jackson's command was fast rounding into shape. 
 As early as May 8th, he wrote his wife, "Colonels Massie 
 and Preston have been of great service to me. 
 Humanly speaking, I don't see how I could have ac- 
 complished the amount of work I have done without 
 them." 
 
 The press now began to change its view about the 
 odd-looking colonel, and we read: 
 
 "The commanding officer at Harper's Ferry is worthy of the 
 name he bears, for 'Old Hickory' himself was not a more deter- 
 mined, iron-nerved man than he. Born in Virginia, educated at 
 West Point, trained in the Mexican War. occupied since at the pet 
 military Institution of the Old Dominion, his whole life has been 
 a preparation for this struggle." 
 
 On the 23d of May, Colonel Joseph E. Johnston ar- 
 rived at Harper's Ferry and superseded Jackson in 
 command. The troops were almost immediately 
 organized into brigades, according to States. Colonel 
 Jackson was assigned to the command of the first, or, 
 strictly, Virginia brigade, composed of the 2d Virginia, 
 Colonel James W. Allen; 4th Virginia, Colonel J. F. 
 Preston; 5th Virginia, Colonel Kenton Harper; 27th 
 Virginia, Lieutenant-Colonel, John Echols; 33d Vir- 
 ginia, Colonel A. C. Cummings. Colonels Allen, 
 Echols, and Cummings were graduates of the Institute, 
 of the Classes of '49, '48 and '44, respectively. 
 
 When, on the 15th of June, Johnston withdrew fi-om 
 Harper's Ferry to Winchester, he left Colonel Jackson 
 with his brigade at the front along the Baltimore & 
 Ohio Railroad, to observe General Patterson's prepara- 
 tions. 
 
 On the 2d of July, 1861, Colonel Jackson detected a 
 movement on the part of the Federals, and desiring 
 
 ♦Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, Lee, pp. 140-144.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 163 
 
 to develop the intentions of the enemy directed Captain 
 Pendleton to move forward the Rockbridge Battery, 
 and, supported by the 5th Virginia, to open fire. Be- 
 sides the two brass cadet 6-pounders, the battery now 
 liad two iron pieces. Three of the gvms were held in 
 the rear, and one of the cadet pieces only placed in 
 action, about three miles from the camp. Upon dis- 
 covering Pendleton's gun, the enemy's artillery opened 
 a brisk fire, but gunner David E. Moore, Jr., of Lexing- 
 ton, carefully laid his piece under the directions of the 
 battery commander, and fired at a squadron of cavalry 
 about 800 yards distant. The first shot dispersed the 
 troopers, the second disabled a gun. But eight shots in 
 all were fired before the enemy retired, leaving 55 
 prisoners in the hands of Colonel J. E. B. Stuart's 
 Cavalry. 
 
 This affair, called Hainesville, or Falling Waters, 
 which occurred near Martin sburg, Virginia, was the 
 first in which the troops under Jackson were engaged, 
 and is notable in connection with the Institute inasmuch 
 as David Moore, of Lexington, fired the first hostile 
 cannon shot in Jackson's army, with one of the guns of 
 the cadet battery.* 
 
 July 6th, Jackson received his commission as Brig- 
 adier-General, dated June 17, 1861. His promotion 
 was confirmed August 28th, following. 
 
 Captain Pendleton had been three years at West 
 Point with Generals Johnston and Lee, and two years 
 with Mr. Davis. On July 13, 1861, the President in 
 writing to General Johnston, after hearing of the affair 
 of the 2d of July, said : 
 
 "I recollect Captain Pendleton well. and. when we were all 
 younger, esteemed him highly as a soldier and a gentleman. I, 
 some days since, directed that he should have rank as a Colonel, 
 and be put in command of the batteries of your army."** 
 
 ♦Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, Lee, pp. 145-146. 
 The Story of a Cannoneer under Stonewall .Tackson, Moore, p. 25. 
 In this work the picture of the gun and the gunner may be seen. 
 In 1914. David E. Moore is Commonwealth Attorney in Lexington. 
 ♦♦Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. II, p. 977.
 
 164 The Military History or 
 
 Thus, both the first and second commanders of the 
 guns which President Zachary Taylor presented the 
 Corps of Cadets were not only present when they fired 
 their first hostile shots, but both received their pro- 
 motions ahnost simultaneously after the affair in which 
 they were engaged, that being the prelude to Manassas. 
 Colonel Pendleton later became Brigadier- General and 
 Chief of Artillery, Army of Northern Virginia.* 
 
 July 21, 1861, the great battle of First Manassas, or 
 Bull Run, was fought. We can not here give the de- 
 tails of that battle, in which Brigadier-General Thomas 
 Jonathan Jackson received from the lips of Bee the 
 immortal sobriquet of "Stonewall" as he stood among 
 the old cadet guns, which for ten long years he had 
 commanded at the Institute. 
 
 •The junior Lieutenant of the Rockbridge Artillery at Hainesville, 
 William T. Poague, became Captain of the battery in 1862, Major of Artillery 
 in 1863, Lieutenant-Colonel 1864, and has, for the past thirty years, been 
 Treasurer of the Virginia Military Institute. He was designated by General 
 Lee to lead the retreat to Appomattox in 1865.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 165 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 CADETS AT MANASSAS IN MEMORIAM 
 
 On pages 117 and 118, of the current catalogue of the 
 Virginia Mihtary Institute, one finds the following: 
 
 C. W. Moore, Virginia, 1861, C. S. A., Cadet, killed 
 First Manassas. 
 
 S. R. Norris, Virginia, 1861, C. S. A., killed First 
 Manassas. 
 
 J. S. Moffett, Virginia, 1861, C. S. A., Cadet, killed 
 First Manassas. 
 
 That is all the official record contains concerning these 
 youthful soldiers, and for over half a century in the 
 memorial of our New Market dead, we have forgotten 
 that there were others who met their death while wear- 
 ing the cadet coatee.* 
 
 The names of Moore, Moffett and Norris, while 
 hitherto obscure, should be stamped upon the very heart 
 of every V. M. I. cadet, and emblazoned in enduring 
 form upon the highest pinnacles of Fame. 
 
 How came they to offer up their sacrifice to the 
 Southern cause? Who were they, and whence did they 
 hail — these all but forgotten heroes? 
 
 It was in the late summer of 1860, when Charlie 
 Moore, Johnnie Moffett, and Charlie Norris passed 
 through the sally-port of Barracks and became cadets 
 at the Virginia Mihtary Institute. Moore and Moffett 
 were eighteen years old; Norris was two years their 
 junior. They came from Abingdon, Virginia, Rock- 
 bridge County, Virginia, and Leesburg, Virginia, 
 respectively, sent to the Institute by loving parents to 
 be trained for their part in the dreaded future. 
 
 ♦There were 19 cadets killed in battle on various fields during the war.
 
 166 The Military History or 
 
 Already the omen of war had east its shadow over 
 the Southland, and in the souls of strong men were 
 gloomy presages of inevitable tragedy. Then, as now^ 
 the lilting air of youth, the echo of exuberant spirits, 
 rang through the martial halls ; but in the still hours of 
 night when men are wont to ponder the serious things of 
 life, not even these youths could fail to discern the ever- 
 darkening cloud which gathered in the North. No ears 
 could fail to hear the rumbling of the approaching 
 storm. 
 
 Here were soldiers then who knew war — the veterans 
 of Cerro Gordo, of Palto Alto, of Monterey and 
 Chapultepec, who, while they quailed, but steeled their 
 hearts and labored with unceasing energy to meet the 
 crisis. The genius of Gilham shone the brighter, and 
 the determination of Jackson seemed the more inexor- 
 able, in their stern resolve to serve Virginia— to serve 
 her by inculcating in a thousand youthful breasts a 
 mature sense of duty. 
 
 It was within the year these three young men spent 
 here that the Corps was electrified by those flashes from 
 the soul of Jackson. They beheld him in their midst, 
 standing erect, and radiant with high purpose, prepared 
 to face the future. They heard him say in tones of 
 heartrent anguish, when asked if he desired war, "Sir, 
 as a Christian I will deprecate the advent of fratricidal 
 strife, but as a soldier, sir, I will welcome war." Then, 
 they heard him cry with clear and ringing accent, "It 
 is time for Virginia to draw the sword and throw away 
 the scabbard." 
 
 Such, were the leaders in those days; and, so, it was 
 natural that when the tide of invasion swept up against 
 the bulwarks of Virginia, not only Smith, the Superin- 
 tendent, Gilham, the Commandant, Jackson, Crutch- 
 field, Rodes, Colston, Preston, Williamson, McCaus- 
 land, and Shipp, the Professors, but that the entire 
 Corps, should rush to the defense of Virginia. 
 
 It was a glorious Sunday morning in April when 
 Major Jackson marched the Battalion of Cadets from
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 167 
 
 Lexington to Staunton, en route to Richmond, where 
 its members were to serve as drill-masters in the Camp 
 of Instruction. He left in no haste. His orders were 
 to move at 12 :30 p. m. The impatient cadets chafed as 
 they stood in ranks awaiting the appointed time until 
 which the command was not given. 
 
 About fifty of the younger cadets were ordered to re- 
 main as a guard for the Institute, and among those was 
 Norris. In strange contrast was the elation of those 
 who wound their way behind "Old Jack" over the blue 
 hills, to the disappointment of the faithful few who 
 watched the gallant Corps disappear in the haze of 
 distance. It was at this very moment, alone perhaps 
 in the very highest tower of Barracks, that little Norris 
 felt the realization of the word "Duty" in its highest 
 sense. Can we doubt that in this hour of sorest trial, 
 as he strained his eyes to catch the last glint of the 
 vanishing column, he wiped away the bitter tears that 
 welled unbidden from his heart, and said "It is braver 
 to remain than to go." 
 
 As it always does, the conscious performance of 
 duty brought to Charlie Norris his reward, for but a 
 few days passed until he and nine other cadets were 
 ordered to escort the powder train from the Institute 
 to Harper's Ferry; and upon reporting, they found 
 not Major Jackson of old, but Colonel Jackson in com- 
 mand of the volunteer army there assembled, who as- 
 signed them to different commands as drill-masters. 
 Like Moore and MoflPett in Richmond, Norris now de- 
 voted all his energies to the work in hand, conscious 
 that the eye of "Old Jack" was upon him. 
 
 Soon, Beauregard began to assemble his army. The 
 First Corps, or Army of the Potomac, at Manassas, 
 and Joseph E. Johnston took command of the Second 
 Corps, or Army of the Shenandoah, in the Valley. 
 
 The undisciplined recruits were quickly rounded into 
 shape, and in this work nearly 200 cadets labored night 
 and day. Fortunate, indeed, was the South that such 
 hands were available to mould the weapon of its first de-
 
 168 The Military History of 
 
 fense. Now, was the value of the Institute appreciated 
 by all, both friend and foe. Now, the service which 
 Smith and Gilliam and Jackson had rendered, their 
 people well understood. Was it not Lincohi, himself, 
 who, it has been said, replied, when asked by an im- 
 patient politician, why he did not crush the Confederate 
 Army at once: "It might be done, were it not for a 
 certain Military School they have, which supplies them 
 with trained officers."* But whether he ever made such 
 a remark or not, well might he have done so, for the 
 full import of Lincoln's supposed remark is appreciated, 
 if it be recalled that among the Sieves of the Virginia 
 Military Institute, in the Confederate States Armies, 
 M^ere 20 general officers, nearly 300 field officers, and 
 more than 500 of lower rank, including many of the 
 most responsible staff officers in the service. 
 
 Verily, those were the days that tried men's souls 
 and made strong men of boys. Indeed, our great 
 national struggle was a war between boys. Statistics 
 show us that the average age of the 2,400,000 or more 
 enlisted men in the Northern Armies was but twenty 
 years, upon their entrance into the service. But 
 while there were thousands of youthful soldiers in this 
 war, few rendered their flag the service which the cadets 
 performed in the spring and summer of 1861. 
 Historians in analyzing the cause of Confederate suc- 
 cess at First Manassas, seem to have utterly neglected 
 one of its prime factors. They do not see standing 
 there in front of the Southern troops, several hundred 
 drill-masters suddenly become leaders, and reflecting the 
 very spirit, embodying the very soul, that won for 
 "Stonewall Jackson," on that day, his immortal sobri- 
 quet. Thus, in such ignorance, is history written. 
 
 The subjects of our sketch were but three of several 
 hundred cadets who found their way to the momentous 
 field of Manassas; but most of these had already won 
 commissions in the arm}% and had changed the natty 
 
 *I can find no real authority for this remaric, though Lincoln frequently 
 declared that the Federal troops were not fighting raw militia but troops disci- 
 plined by highly trained officers.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 169 
 
 coatee for the long frock coat of a Confederate officer. 
 The Corps whicli left Lexington in April had dissolved, 
 ere McDowell crossed the Potomac, but there were still 
 some of its members serving in their original capacity 
 as drill-masters at Richmond, Harper's Ferry, and with 
 Beauregard, at Manassas. Such was the case with 
 Moore, Moffett, and Norris. 
 
 On the memorable morning of July 21, 1861, swept 
 on by the ardour of youth, Moffett and Moore entered 
 the fight, with the first sound of battle, as volunteer 
 captains of the companies they had drilled so faithfully. 
 And not far off was little Norris hastening from the 
 Valley with Johnston's troops. He had watched his 
 older comrades with envy when they left him in the 
 Barracks; but no longer was he the immature lad of 
 Lexington. A soldier's responsibilities now rested on 
 his shoulders as he sped over the roads with Jackson and 
 his men, to the aid of Beauregard. While spurring on 
 the men of his coinpany, with which he had toiled, and 
 over which he was now in command, in the absence of 
 his captain, he was no doubt thinking of his cadet 
 friends at Manassas, and chafing lest he should be too 
 late to join them in battle. 
 
 At last, the grey canopy of smoke marked for his eyes 
 the fretted field. A few minutes more, and he had 
 entered the conflict. Some strange power carried him 
 on with a speed and endurance unknown to him before ; 
 and, rushing forward at the head of his men, he was 
 soon face to face with Ricketts' guns, in the blast of 
 which Moore and Moffett had already fallen. "Come 
 on, boys, quick, and we can whip them!" he shrilly cried, 
 and these words just uttered, he sank to the earth to 
 rise no more.* 
 
 The horrors of that day all know. Nor was the sacri- 
 fice vain, for Manassas gave to the world "Stonewall" 
 
   Note — Captain Robert McCulloch, of St. Louis, V. M. I., '61. tlie friend 
 and comrade of Moore. Moffett, and Norris. also served at First Manassas as 
 a volunteer cadet captain. Though wounded, he continued to serve with such 
 conspicuous gallantry that he was promoted immediately after the battle 
 to regular rank, finally reaching the grade of Captain. Learning of Moore's 
 death, he sought out "his body after the fighting ceased, buried it, marked 
 the grave, and thus enabled Mrs. Moore to recover the remains of her son.
 
 170 The Military History of 
 
 Jackson, one whose memory will inspire humanity with 
 noble impulses as long as the brave worship at the altar 
 of Christianity. His idealized figure alone the whole 
 world now sees standing there amid the belching guns, 
 as Bee and Bartow saw it in reality, ere they fell. But 
 the mist of time has obscured from our eyes the 
 dreader scenes of that day. There, upon the field, when 
 the smoke of battle had mingled with the dark clouds, 
 when the roar of the conflict had died away, lay the rigid 
 forms of three soldier lads. Each marked the far ad- 
 vance of the battle line. In the gray coatee of each was 
 found the rent through which a soul ascended to await 
 the coming of the leader to whose glory they had con- 
 tributed so much of blood and valour. Let belated fame 
 with her light now search the stricken field and cast her 
 discerning rays upon their pallid cheeks, and somewhere 
 on the pages of her undying record inscribe the names 
 of Moore, Moffett, and Norris.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 171 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE WEST POINT OF THE CONFEDERACY 
 
 April 29, 1861, Jefferson Davis, President of the 
 newly-formed Confederacy, addressed an interesting re- 
 port to the Confederate Congress, detaihng at length 
 the executive measures up to that time, and offering 
 many valuable recommendations. The former Secre- 
 tary of War of the United States, thoroughly con- 
 versant with all matters pertaining to army organiza- 
 tion, wrote: 
 
 "To secure a thorough military education, it is deemed essential 
 that officers should enter upon the study of their profession at an 
 early period of life, and have elementary instruction in a military 
 school. Until such school shall be established, it is recommended 
 that cadets be appointed and attached to companies until they 
 shall have attained the age, and have acquired the knowledge, to 
 fit them for the duties of lieutenants."* 
 
 Pursuant to this wise recommendation, the Act of 
 Congress providing for the increase of the military 
 establishment of the Confederate States, amending the 
 original Act creating the army, and approved May 16th, 
 included the following section: 
 
 "Section 8. That until a military school shall be established 
 for the elementary instruction of officers for the Army, the Presi- 
 dent shall be authorized to appoint cadets from the several States 
 in number proportionate to their representation in the House of 
 Representatives, and ten, in addition, to be selected by him at large 
 from the Confederate States, who shall be attached to companies 
 in service in any branch of the Army as supernumerary officers, 
 with the rank of 'Cadet,' who shall receive the monthly pay of 
 $40.00, and be competent for promotion at such time, and under 
 such regulations, as may be prescribed by the President, or here- 
 after established by law."** 
 
 •Rebellion Records, Series IV, Vol. I. p. 267. 
 ♦♦Ibid., p. 327.
 
 172 The Military History of 
 
 From this measure it is clearly seen that at the out- 
 set the Confederate Congress contemplated the estab- 
 lishment of a military academy for the education of its 
 officers. But upon discovering that such an institution 
 was already available, inasmuch as Virginia, which 
 possessed a School of Arms, second only to West Point, 
 had joined the Confederacy April 17th, the necessity 
 of creating another School at great expense no longer 
 existed. 
 
 Upon the joint recommendation of Governor Letcher 
 and President Davis, the Confederate Congress, early 
 in the fall of 1861, ordered the Board of Visitors of 
 the Virginia Military Institute to reopen the School, 
 January 1, 1862, and put into full operation the regular 
 exercises which had been suspended since July 18th, pre- 
 ceding, when the Corps was furloughed. During the 
 smnmer it had been announced that the Institute would 
 not be reopened in the fall, as previously stated. 
 
 Colonel Smith, strange to say, vigorously opposed 
 the reopening of the School. He argued that the rest- 
 lessness of the cadets, the impossibility of securing ade- 
 quate supplies of provisions, clothing, fuel, books, etc., 
 etc., was a difficulty which would increase as the war 
 progressed. But the authorities insisted that the Insti- 
 tute was a necessity, and, that the Confederacy was 
 compelled to depend upon it to a great extent for its 
 future supply of officers. 
 
 Accordingly, the Board of Visitors met on the second 
 Tuesday in September, and took steps to assemble the 
 faculty, the members of which were widely scattered, 
 and all serving as officers in the army. Among the 
 responses to the call of the Board, the following letter 
 was received from the Professor of Natural and Ex- 
 perimental Philosophy : 
 
 "Headquarters First Brigade, 2d Corps, A. P., 
 
 "Centreville, October 22, 1861. 
 
 "Gentlemen- — Your circular of the 9th inst. has been received, 
 and I beg leave to say, in reply, that I only took the field from a 
 sense of duty, and that the obligation that brought me into the
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 173 
 
 service still retains me in it, and will probably continue to do so 
 as long as the war shall last. At the close of hostilities, I desire 
 to resume the duties of my chair, and, accordingly, respectfully 
 request that, if consistent with the interest of the Institute, the 
 action of the Board of Visitors may be such as to admit of my 
 return, upon the restoration of peace. 
 
 "Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "T. J. Jackson, 
 "Prof. Nat. and Ex. Philosophy, V. M. I. 
 "To 
 
 "General Wm. H. Richardson, 
 "General T. H. Raymond, 
 "Committee." 
 
 Having been overruled, Colonel Smith, the Superin- 
 tendent, now set himself about the task of reorganizing 
 the School, with his usual energy. Under date of No- 
 vember 23d, 1861, from his post at Craney Island, in 
 Norfolk Harbor, where he was in command of the 
 Artillery defenses. Colonel Smith addressed a letter to 
 the Adjutant- General of Virginia, from which the 
 following is an extract: 
 
 "I am anxious that the Board shall settle the question, as far 
 as they can do it, with regard to the connection of the Institute 
 witli the Southern Confederacy. I think that all that is valuable in 
 the art of war may be secured b}^ having an understanding with the 
 Confederate Government that at each annual examination the 
 Secretary of War shall notify the Board of Visitors of the number 
 of officers required for the military service, then send a board of 
 examiners, to meet when the Board is in session, that they may 
 examine the graduating classes, and report to the President the 
 names of such as are recommended for commissions in the Army, 
 the arm of service for which they are fitted, etc. This would give 
 the Government all the advantage it might require of the School." 
 
 General Richardson at once forwarded this letter to 
 the Secretary of War, stating that the Institute would 
 be reopened January 1st, that the Board desired to 
 make the School subserve the interests of the service 
 in every way possible, and requesting suggestions and 
 cooperation from the President and the War Depart- 
 ment.* 
 
 •Rebellion Records, Series IV, Vol. I, p. 537.
 
 174 The Military History of 
 
 At its fall meeting, the Board had elected Major 
 Scott Shipp, V. M. I., 1859, 21st Virginia Regiment, 
 Commandant of Cadets. Major Shipp had served since 
 graduation, it will be recalled, as an assistant professor. 
 The change was a welcome one to Colonel Gilham, who, 
 as we have seen, had expected in 1860 to be relieved 
 in order that he might devote his imdivided attention 
 to his academic department. His return to the Institute 
 was not, therefore, opposed to his inclinations, inasmuch 
 as he was still deeply interested in scientific research. 
 
 Major Shipp was on sick leave at the time he received 
 his orders to return, and did so, much against his will. 
 He had served with credit in the West Virginia cam- 
 paign, was ambitious, and preferred active service in the 
 field with his regiment, to a less stirring, if more useful, 
 career at the Institute. But those familiar with his 
 eminent qualifications for the important office of Com- 
 mandant of Cadets urged upon him the view that in 
 no way could an officer better serve his country than 
 in the position offered him, pointing out the great possi- 
 bilities of the office at a time when the cry for trained 
 officers in the lower grades was growing louder and 
 louder every day. Yielding to the urgent representa- 
 tions of his friends. Major Shipp finally accepted the 
 office which he filled with distinguished ability for 
 twenty-eight years. 
 
 Wlien the reorganization of the army occurred in 
 April, 1862, Lieutenant-Colonel John M. Patton, Jr., 
 V. M. I., 1846, succeeded Colonel Gilham in command 
 of the 21st Virginia Regiment, and Major Scott Shipp 
 was elected Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment {vice 
 Patton promoted) ; but Shipp lost his commission in a 
 most unusual way, for after he was elected Lieutenant- 
 Colonel of the 21st Virginia, Captain Morgan, the ad- 
 jutant, had his office declared vacant on the ground that 
 he could not leave the Institute, an action entirely un- 
 authorized by Shipp. 
 
 At the outbreak of the war, there were numerous 
 military schools in the South, for many of the States
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 175 
 
 had established schools after the model of the Institute. 
 First, South Carolina, with its well-endowed schools, 
 at Charleston and Columbia; then Georgia, at Marietta; 
 Kentucky, at Frankfort; Tennessee, at Nashville; 
 North Carolina, at Charlotte and Hillsboro; Louisiana, 
 at Alexandria; Arkansas, at Little Rock; Florida, at 
 Tallahassee; then. Texas; and finally Alabama, in the 
 thorough reorganization of its State L^niversity, at 
 Tuscaloosa. And, thus, had no fewer than ten Southern 
 States followed the guidance of Virginia. 
 
 The operation of all of these institutions during the 
 war was greatly embarrassed by the Confederate Con- 
 scription Acts, the first of which "entitled an act to pro- 
 vide for the public defense," approved April 16, 1862, 
 did not exempt cadets of the Southern military schools. 
 This Act annulled all previous contracts made by 
 volimteers, and virtually constituted all men over 
 eighteen years of age and under thirty-five, soldiers, dur- 
 ing the continuance of the war. The provisions with- 
 drew from State control all male citizens within the age 
 prescribed, and made them subject to the control of the 
 President of the Confederacy, during the war. 
 
 Alabama and South Carolina complained bitterly 
 against the conscription of their cadets; and Governor 
 Brown, of Georgia, became involved in a serious con- 
 troversy with the President over the execution of the 
 Conscript Act. Governor Letcher also sought to secure 
 exemption for the cadets of the Institute, but all in vain. 
 It was suggested to him by the President that a test 
 case be made by causing a cadet to be called into service 
 under the law, and Colonel Smith applying for a writ 
 of habeas coi'pns for the conscript. But this was not 
 necessary, for October 14, 1862, the Superintendent was 
 peremptorily ordered by the Governor of Virginia not 
 to surrender any cadet claimed as a conscript by the 
 Confederate authority, until the constitutionality of the 
 law should be tested, the legislative will of the State 
 ascertained, or until further orders.* At all times. 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Series IV, Vol. III. pp. 722-72.^.
 
 176 The Military History or 
 
 however, the Corps as a mihtary unit was held, by the 
 Governor's orders, subject to the will of General Lee. 
 and, as we shall see, was freely employed by him. 
 
 Such was also the case with the Citadel Military 
 Academy, of South Carolina. Numbering about 60 
 cadets in 1861, and something over 100 in 1863, that 
 Corps was employed repeatedly during the war to man 
 the defenses of Charleston, and other exposed points. 
 During the operations of Major- General Samuel Jones, 
 between December 5th and 31st, 1864, leading up to the 
 evacuation of Savannah, Georgia, the Citadel Cadet 
 Corps served as a unit.* Arriving at Pocotaligo on 
 the 6th of December, it was designated to guard the 
 Tulfinny trestle, together with a battalion of the 32d 
 Georgia Regiment, and a section of artillery. As the 
 enemy approached the Cadet Corps, commanded by 
 Major White, was moved rapidly forwarded in splendid 
 fashion, and was preparing to attack, when the troops 
 on its left gave way and fell back across the Coosaw- 
 hatchie River; whereupon the cadets were withdrawn, 
 after having actually come mider fire at long range. 
 Major White and his Corps were highly complimented 
 by the commanding general for their gallant conduct.** 
 
 In 1865, the Citadel Cadet Corps was attached to 
 McGrath's South Carolina brigade and fell back with 
 Hardee before Sherman, as the latter pressed north- 
 ward. 
 
 The Attorney- General, however, in spite of the serv- 
 ice the Institute and other military schools were 
 capable of rendering, and actually did render, was com- 
 pelled to give an opinion declaring that the only possible 
 exemption of those in the military service from active 
 duty, was in the case of Ordnance Department em- 
 ployees ; and Congress refused to extend this exemption 
 to cadets of military schools, on the ground that such 
 institutions would prove asylums for those capable of 
 bearing arms and wishing to escape active military 
 
 *Jones had previously employed the Corps of Cadets, V. M. I., as we shall 
 see, against Averill in 1863, on two occasions while commanding the Depart- 
 ment of Western Virginia. 
 
 ♦♦Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XLIV, pp. 442-446.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 177 
 
 service. In this narrow view Congress preferred to 
 leave the matter to the executive discretion, depending 
 on the President to enforce service from the cadets in 
 the various schools, only when the exigencies of the 
 country required. And, so, it remained to the end of 
 the war, in spite of every effort to correct the letter of 
 the law. 
 
 As far as the Institute was concerned, the law 
 actually worked no hardship ; for, although efforts were 
 made, from time to time, to conscript cadets, it was 
 soon a generally recognized fact that the President 
 would not enforce the law, to the disadvantage of the 
 Institute. 
 
 As the age limit of men liable to military duty was 
 but eighteen, the Board thought wise to stimulate ma- 
 triculation at the Institute, and thereby enhance its use- 
 fulness, by fixing the minimum age of cadets at sixteen, 
 instead of seventeen. The expected results were 
 realized; for, soon after the reopening of the Institute, 
 the Corps numbered nearly 300 cadets, 50 of whom were 
 appointed by the President, and the School was recog- 
 nized by all as the "West Point of the Con- 
 federacy." 
 
 "Adjutant-General's Office, Virginia, 
 
 "Richmond, June 13, 1863. 
 
 "His Excellency, Jefferson Davis, 
 
 "President of the Confederate States of America. 
 
 "Sir — The Virginia Military Institute is filled to the utmost 
 capacity, and, although the utmost order prevails, with an earnest, 
 even zealous attention to study, and obedience to all the rules of 
 discipline, there is coupled with the desire of each cadet to complete 
 his course a restless feeling of uncertainty as to whether they 
 ought not, every one of them, to be in tlie field, and an apprehension 
 that the war may be over before they have struck one blow for 
 Southern liberty. 
 
 "It is understood that you regard this Institution with much 
 interest as being to the Confederate States, to a considerable extent, 
 what West Point was to the late United States, and as possessing 
 the capacity beyond any other Southern institution of training the 
 best officers for the Army. 
 
 12
 
 178 The Military History of 
 
 "In this view, if it shall be your opinion that the cadets are 
 more in line of their duty to our country in the course of training 
 at the Military Institute, and will in fact render more important 
 service to the Southern Confederacy by completing their course 
 than by entering the Army before they graduate, I am well assured 
 that a full expression of your opinion and wishes will have a 
 controlling influence over them, and effectually remove all doubt or 
 apprehension in their minds as to the line both of duty and 
 expediency. 
 
 "The Board of Visitors and the Superintendent are most anxious 
 to direct the operations of the Institute so as most effectually to 
 meet the wants and wishes of the Confederate Government, and I 
 beg leave to say for them that it will be most gratifying to receive 
 from you any suggestions or recommendations as to the character 
 and duration of the course of instruction, and on any and all other 
 matters which in your judgment has, or may have, an important 
 bearing upon its prospective value to our common cause. 
 
 "I beg leave, therefore, with the highest respect, to ask a full 
 and unreserved expression of your opinion upon the whole subject. 
 "Very respectfully and truly, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Wm. H. Richardson, 
 "Adjutant-General of Virginia, 
 
 "Ex-Officio Member of the Board."* 
 
 "Richmond, Va., June 17, 1863. 
 
 "General W. H. Richardson, 
 
 "Adjutant-General of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 
 
 "General — I have the honor, by direction of the President, to 
 acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th instant, in re- 
 lation to the Virginia Military Institute. The President takes a 
 warm interest in the efficiency and success of the military schools 
 in the several States of the Confederacy, but having had no oppor- 
 tunity to form any opinion by observation of the relative merits of 
 the systems of education pursued at these institutions, he does not 
 desire to be understood to express any especial preference for any. 
 His Excellency is debarred from expressing any opinion as to 
 whether the cadets at the Virginia Military Institute do better 
 service to their country by pursuing their studies than by joining 
 the Army, because his action in regard to the matter must neces- 
 sarily conform to the law, which requires all citizens who are over 
 eighteen years of age to enter the service, and which leaves him no 
 discretionary power to which the case of cadets who have become 
 liable to military duty can be properly referred. The President 
 
 •Rebellion Records, Series IV. Vol. II. pp 502-503.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 179 
 
 would be glad to comply with the request of the Board of Visitors, 
 as expressed by you, that he should make suggestions as to the 
 'character and duration of the course of instruction,' etc., but the 
 pressure of public business will only allow him to refer the Board 
 to a report made by him in 1860 on the subject of military edu- 
 cation at West Point, in which his views are given at length. 
 
 "With assurances of the President's respect and esteem, I re- 
 main, General, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "William M. Browne, 
 
 "Colonel and Aide-de-Camp."* 
 
 Upon the reorganization of the army, in April, 1862, 
 hundreds of the Sieves of the Virginia Mihtary Insti- 
 tute, whose training and service entitled them to higher 
 command than they had hitherto exercised, were recog- 
 nized by the government and the army. It was 
 from then on that such men as Robert E. Rodes, 
 Wilham Mahone, W. Y. C. Humes, Gabriel C. 
 Wharton, John Echols, Reuben Lindsay Walker, 
 Raleigh E. Colston, James E. Slaughter, James H. 
 Lane, James A. Walker, Thomas T. Munford, John 
 McCausland, Birkett D. Fry, Wilham R. Terry, 
 William H. Payne, A. C. Jones, J. R. Jones, A. J. 
 Vaughan, James B. Terrill, and James W. Allen, 
 began to forge ahead in the higher grades of the service, 
 and that others began to occupy some of the most 
 prominent staff positions in the army, among which, a 
 few, at least, should be mentioned. 
 
 Colonel Walter H, Taylor, '57, was Adjutant-Gen- 
 eral, Army of Northern Virginia; Colonel Edwin J. 
 Harvie, '55, Inspector-General to General Joseph E. 
 Johnston; Colonel Briscoe G. Baldwin, '43, Chief of 
 Ordnance, and Major A. R. H. Ranson, '47, Assistant 
 Chief of Ordnance, Army of Northern Virginia; Major 
 Giles B. Cooke, '59, Assistant Adjutant-General, Army 
 of Northern Virginia; Brigadier-General Reuben 
 Lindsay Walker, '45, Chief of Artillery, 3d Corps; 
 Colonel Stapleton Crutchfield, '55, Chief of Artillery, 
 2d Corps; Thomas H. Carter, '47, Chief of Artillery, 
 
 *Ibid., p. 597.
 
 180 The Military History of 
 
 Early's Army; and Robert Preston Chew, '61, Chief 
 of Horse Artillery, Army of Northern Virginia. 
 
 We have already said that wide-spread prejudice 
 existed in the Southern Army against the graduates of 
 West Point, and the Institute, because of the great 
 number of them commissioned at the beginning of the 
 war. 
 
 There were but 282 West Pointers who joined the 
 Confederacy, and most of them attained high rank. 
 There were nearly three times this number of V. M. I. 
 men commissioned in the service (810). We are com- 
 pelled to believe, therefore, that another prejudice be- 
 sides that of the civilian soldiers militated against the 
 Institute, and before the close of the war it was a con- 
 trolling one ; for West Pointers were unwilling to share 
 honors with the eleves of any other School of Arms, the 
 V. M. I. not excepted. But there were some V. M. I. 
 men who, as we have seen, simply could not be denied 
 their due. 
 
 The fact remains, however, that at the close of the 
 war, William Mahone and Reuben Lindsay Walker, 
 and a few other graduates of the Institute, were the 
 only general officers except West Pointers remaining 
 in responsible positions, for the West Point influence 
 had triumphed. The fact also remains that Mahone's 
 celebrated division was practically the only fighting 
 organization left at the time General Lee surrendered 
 the Army of Northern Virginia. Leaving the trenches 
 at Petersburg with 30,000 men, April 2d, General Lee 
 arrived at Appomattox, April 9th, with 7,892 organized 
 infantry. The Parole rolls include a grand total of 
 28,231 officers and men for ten divisions, many of the 
 number having rejoined their commands after the sur- 
 render. But of the actual number present at the sur- 
 render, nearly half were in Mahone's five brigades, 
 which contained 3,537 officers and men. 
 
 After the battle of Gettysburg, and the failure of the 
 second invasion of the North, General Lee, with that 
 magnanimity by which he was characterized, assuming
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 181 
 
 all blame, and willing to turn over the command of the 
 army "to one better able to lead it" than himself, should 
 there be such an one, tendered his resignation to the 
 President, and recommended that a younger officer be 
 appointed in his stead. Mr. Davis wisely declined to 
 consider the matter and persuaded General Lee to con- 
 tinue in command; and the fact that he had tendered 
 his resignation was kept a profound secret for a long 
 time. When it did come out, however, there was great 
 curiosity on the part of all to know whom General Lee 
 had recommended as his successor. 
 
 "Of the fact that some younger general was recom- 
 mended by Lee at the time of his resignation, I have 
 undoubted authority, and, if any body questions it, I 
 can make that authority known any time," wrote 
 Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, of the Federal 
 Army.* 
 
 "It has come out, however, that General William 
 Mahone was the man recommended by Lee, and the 
 statement is from Lee's own mouth. Since Mahone's 
 change of politics, in Virginia it has been most stoutly 
 contradicted. It is but just to Mahone to say that, 
 at that time, he was ignorant both of Lee's resignation, 
 and of his recommendation."** 
 
 To substantiate this assertion, General Butler pre- 
 sented in his book a facsimile letter, the text of which 
 is as follows: 
 
 "Washington, D. C, March 10, 1889. 
 
 "My dear General — It gives me great pleasure to hand you a 
 written statement of a conversation at the table of General R. E. 
 Lee, which, years ago, I stated to your wife, yourself, and some 
 twenty gentlemen at your table. The occasion was the first com- 
 mencement of Washington and Lee University. General Wade 
 Hampton delivered the address before the Literary Societies, and 
 I, before the Alumni. General Lee gave a sort of State dinner 
 to thirty gentlemen. I think I was the only officer at the table 
 below the rank of colonel. And the honor was accorded me because 
 I was the orator of the day. After the cloth was drawn, and the 
 wine began to circulate, some gentlemen, a brigadier from Georgia 
 
 •Butler's Book, p. 880. 
 ♦•Ibid.
 
 182 The Military History or 
 
 (I think it was General Jackson from the lower end of the table), 
 asked General Lee if he did not think Gordon, of Georgia, had 
 developed the highest qualities for command, General Lee, with his 
 habitual quiet dignity, replied, 'Where all did so well, certainly it 
 would be invidious and improper for me to particularize. General 
 Gordon was a brave and efficient soldier.' Then, rising, he said, 
 'Gentlemen, fill up your glasses. Etiquette demanded that this 
 official dinner should be made in accordance v,'ith rank ; gentlemen, 
 I propose a toast which all will drink with pleasure to the privates 
 of the Army of Northern Virginia, who, I still sometimes think, 
 came near winning immortal fame for us.' The toast was drunk 
 standing. After this the conversation became general, and some 
 one down the table seemed to be telling a good story. General 
 Hampton sat on the right, and I, as orator of the day, sat on the 
 left, of Lee. Turning to Hampton, General Lee said something in 
 a low tone. I leaned back, as I thought it was possible it might be 
 something confidential. Laying his hand upon my knee, he said, 
 'Lean over. Major; I only wish Hampton and yourself to hear.* 
 Then, 'General Hampton, in the dark days which preceded the fall 
 of the Confederacy, for a good while, I was almost hopeless. And 
 you know I did not spare this poor life, for I thought it became me 
 to fall on one of those fields of glory. My artillery was handled 
 well. The cavalry was in the very hands, after the death of Stuart, 
 that I preferred to any other. But I often thought if a stray ball 
 should carry me oflP who could best command the incomparable 
 infantry of the Army of Northern Virginia. Of course, I could 
 not nominate a successor — that whole matter was in the hands of 
 the President. But, among the younger men, I thought William 
 Mahone had developed the highest qualities for organization and 
 command.' 
 
 "The words were written down by me that evening, and are in 
 my desk at Ellwood. I write them now hastily in a public room. 
 But I know they are accurate. We drifted far apart, politically, 
 and I so entirely condemned your policy and methods that I would 
 not give them to the world. Now, I cheerfully write them, and, 
 as far as I am concerned, this may be an open letter to the world.. 
 
 "Very truly yours, 
 
 "J. Horace Lacy. 
 "To General William Mahone." 
 
 Major Lacy was a gentleman of the highest standing 
 in Virginia. The truth of his evidence has been bitterly 
 assailed and denied, as often as it has been presented; 
 but in the nature of things, it can not be disproven. It 
 was not denied by General Wade Hampton, who died 
 in 1902. Wade Hampton, the vei-y soul of honor, could
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 183 
 
 have dispelled all doubts with a word. But the writei' 
 neither intends to defend the Lacy letter, nor to pose as 
 the champion of William Mahone, V. M. I., 1847. It is 
 sufficient to know that General Lee entertained the 
 highest respect for his military abilities, and that his 
 career as a leader grew more illustrious with every suc- 
 ceeding day of his service in the Army of Northern 
 Virginia. Had the war continued longer, he would, un- 
 doubtedly, have received the highest recognition, and 
 brought even greater credit upon the School of Arms in 
 which he was trained.
 
 184 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 winter of 1862 — battle of mc do well 
 
 December 18, 1861, the Superintendent was re- 
 lieved of his command at Craney Island by the War 
 Department, and returned to the Institute, under the 
 orders of the Board of Visitors. In order that he might 
 bear rank of equal dignity with that of his subordinate 
 professor, Jackson, who had been promoted Major- 
 General, October 7th, the Superintendent was now ap- 
 pointed Major-General, Virginia Reserves. 
 
 On reaching the Institute, General Smith found him- 
 self without the aid of a single professor or assistant 
 professor, with upwards of a hundred cadets ready to 
 report for duty, January 1st. The orders of the War 
 Department detaching Colonel Gilham from the bri- 
 gade which he was commanding, and Major Scott 
 Shipp, from his regiment in the field, had been tempo- 
 rarily suspended by General Jackson, under an 
 emergency, and they did not report to the Superin- 
 tendent until January 16th, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Preston, of Jackson's staff, not until January 31st.* 
 Meantime, Major Shipp had reported for duty with his 
 regiment December 1st, in Staunton, from which point 
 he accompanied it down the Valley, taking part in the 
 Romney Campaign early in January. On the day 
 Romney was captured Major Shipp commanded the 
 skirmish line with conspicuous ability. 
 
 Dr. R. L. Madison, however, reported on the 2d, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Williamson on the 9th; and 
 Llewellyn Crittenden, E. L. Yancey, and Walter 
 Bowie, all of the Class of 1861, were inmiediately ap- 
 pointed assistant professors, and assigned to tactical 
 duties. 
 
 *The order relieving these officers from duty in the field was S. O. No. 
 276, A. & I. C. O. Richmond, Dec. 27, 1861.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 185 
 
 On the 16th, Major John D. H. Ross, and Lieu- 
 tenant Semmes, also reported. 
 
 Exercises were commenced January 2d; and, with 
 the Superintendent and the Surgeon alone present, the 
 new cadets were enrolled, and the Corps reorganized. 
 By the end of January, the Corps numbered 232 cadets 
 present for duty, including 22 in the Second, and 65 in 
 the Third Class, or a total of but 87 old cadets. Ad- 
 ditional cadets soon reported, so that the total enroll- 
 ment, February 4, 1861, was 269. Over fifty applicants 
 were refused during January alone. 
 
 Upon the reopening of the Institute, the Superin- 
 tendent received a communication from his Excellency, 
 Governor Letcher, stating that inquiry had been made 
 of him by the Secretary of State, Hon. R. M. T. 
 Hunter, on behalf of the President, if the 56 Con- 
 federate Cadets appointed by him could be admitted to 
 the Institute, and on what terms. General Smith im- 
 mediately replied that the Institute would receive such 
 cadets on the same basis as Pay Cadets from other 
 States, provided the Confederate Government would 
 be responsible for the accounts of the same; and 
 preparations were at once made to enlarge the Barracks 
 for their accommodation. 
 
 There could be no doubt now that the Confederacy 
 regarded the Virginia Military Institute as its National 
 School of Arms; and, in order to place the course of 
 practical military instruction on a par with that at West 
 Point, the Superintendent urged the immediate pro- 
 vision of 36 horses for the instruction of the cadets in 
 cavalry and light artillery drill. These important arms 
 of the service should be cared for at the Institute, he 
 urged, and, in his opinion, no expense should be spared 
 for that purpose. "We have seen," said he, "what has 
 been accomplished by the cadets in the camp of in- 
 struction, for infantry, and in part, in the artillery 
 camp. More can yet be done, and it should not be 
 neglected."
 
 186 The Military History of 
 
 The heaviest loss whicli had befallen the Institute up 
 to this time was the death of General Philip St. George 
 Cocke, on December 26, 1861. Appointed Brigadier- 
 General, October 21, 1861, while President of the 
 Board, after commanding a brigade with distinction at 
 First Manassas, he was finally compelled, at the end of 
 eight months' service, to retire to his home in Powhatan 
 County, where he died at the age of fifty-three. 
 
 He had served on the Board from 1846 to 1852, and 
 from 1858 until the time of his death. From the day of 
 its founding, he had been one of the foremost supporters 
 of the Institute, not only contributing large sums of 
 money, and unremitting labors to its welfare; but, also 
 by enrolling as cadets his three grown sons. It was 
 with the funds secretly provided by General Cocke that 
 the Superintendent visited Europe in 1858 to study the 
 continental systems of military instruction, and it was 
 his large donation to the Institute that founded the first 
 School of Scientific Agriculture in the State of Vir- 
 ginia. Even to-day, two cadets are still educated by 
 the Cocke scholarships. In Philip St. George Cocke, 
 the West Pointer, and former artillery officer, the Insti- 
 tute, as a technical School of Arms, found its most able 
 advocate and executor of the original ideas of Crozet. 
 All honor to his memory ; and may a fitting monument 
 some day be erected at the Institute, along with those 
 of Claude Crozet, Francis Henney Smith, John Thomas 
 Lewis Preston, William Gilham, Matthew Fontaine 
 Maury, John Mercer Brooke, Scott Shipp, and William 
 H. Richardson, to memorialize the services of this i-e- 
 markable galaxy of men to Virginia and her great 
 School of Arms. Had General Cocke with his great 
 fortune survived the war, it seems certain many of the 
 difficulties in which the Institute was involved in the 
 dark days of reconstruction w^ould have been averted.* 
 
 The first wrecks of the session of 1862 comprised a 
 period of reorganization fraught with great difficulties. 
 
 •As these lines are written news of the death of his second sou. Philip 
 St. George Cocke, comes to hand. Mr. Cocke was a cadet at New Market 
 as was his younger brother, the late William R. C. Cocke (two of whose sons 
 were Cadets at the Institute) ; an older brother. Lieutenant John B. Cocke, was 
 graduated in the Class of 1856.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 187 
 
 Many parents sent their sons to the Institute to avail 
 themselves of the practical exemption they would there 
 receive from conscription, knowing, however, the 
 liability of the Corps to military service. There was no 
 First Class from which to draw mature cadet officers; 
 onty a small Second Class, and a Third Class also small 
 in number, which had served but a part of the preceding 
 year. The plebes were largely in the majority, and 
 many of them matriculated under virtual duress. Such 
 was the problem confronting the new Commandant, 
 Major Shipp, made more difficult by reason of the 
 resignation of cadets from day to day to join the army 
 with the consent of their parents, the irregular report- 
 ing of new cadets, and the desertion of others in order 
 to enlist in the army. 
 
 A strong hand was required to bring discipline out 
 of such an organization; and, that it was applied, is 
 evidenced bv the fact that all cadets deficient at the ex- 
 aminations, or neglectful of their military duty, were 
 promptly dismissed, those over eighteen years of age 
 being turned over to the army. Over 70 cadets were 
 thus dismissed at one examination; but others were 
 always at hand to keep the Corps well recruited. The 
 difficulty was that many were purposely neglectful, in 
 order to enter the active military service. 
 
 Great difficulties were also experienced in providing 
 uniform cloth, shoes, clothing in general, and rations, 
 for so large a body of cadets; but, with the aid of the 
 Quartermaster-General, supplies were secured and 
 transported to Lexington from the far South by the 
 direction of the President. The blockade-runners con- 
 tributed books and many other necessary articles. 
 
 The arms issued to the Corps at this time were the 
 old smooth-bore percussion cap muskets, formerly used 
 by the cadets. They were very heavy, unserviceable, 
 and, therefore, unsatisfactory; but more efficient small 
 arms were not to be had, and were even much needed in 
 the army. 
 
 Major Shipp conducted regular artillery practice 
 with the smooth-bore guns at the Institute, including
 
 188 The Military History or 
 
 the howitzers, the 6-pounders of the Cadet Battery, and 
 several old mortars stored in the Arsenal. The iron 
 rifles had been taken from the cadets in Richmond, the 
 preceding April. 
 
 As the Corps grew from week to week, additions to 
 the faculty became necessary. Early in April, there- 
 fore, Lieutenant-Colonel James W. Massie, '49, of 
 Jackson's staff, physically disabled for active service 
 in the field, reported for duty as Professor of Mathe- 
 matics, and was assigned by the War Department to 
 the command of the local Home Guards which he was 
 directed to organize and discipline. 
 
 In April, Captains Abel S. Scott, '60, and Henry A. 
 Wise, '61, also reported for duty, the latter on parole, 
 and were attached to the Tactical Department. 
 
 Before spring, the Corps had been hammered into 
 excellent shape, notwithstanding the constant losses and 
 accessions; and, while great attention had been devoted 
 to military instruction throughout the winter, the near 
 approach of the enemy in the western part of the State 
 required the suspension in April of all academic duty, 
 in order that more time might be available for practical 
 instruction in the field. 
 
 On the 22d of April, the Superintendent announced 
 in orders his purpose of tendering the services of the 
 Corps to General Jackson, who was then operating 
 against the enemy in the Valley District. This order 
 filled the Corps with the utmost zeal. Resignations and 
 disorders now ceased and all bent their energies to the 
 work before them, praying that active service would 
 soon be demanded of them. 
 
 In order to understand the sentiments animating the 
 Corps, at this time, it is necessary to know the feeling 
 which the cadets entertained for the Army of the Valley. 
 General Jackson they regarded as their special tutelary 
 genius. He belonged to the Institute, heart and soul, 
 and his name was still borne on its rolls. According to 
 his own expressed wishes he was considered as on leave 
 of absence in the field. Colonels Preston and Massie,
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 189 
 
 of his staff, temporarily relieved from field duty, were 
 at the Institute, but Major Daniel Trueheart, '50, was 
 still serving as Jackson's Chief of Artillery, and Dr. 
 E. L. Graham as his Surgeon. 
 
 His army was composed at this time as follows : 
 
 First Brigade ("Stonewall") : 
 
 Brigadier-General Garnett - 
 
 Second Brigade: 
 
 Colonel Burks 
 Third Brigade: 
 
 2d Virginia 
 4th Virginia 
 5th Virginia 
 27th Virginia 
 33d Virginia 
 
 21st Virginia 
 
 42d Virginia 
 
 48th Virginia 
 
 1st Regular Battalion (Irish) 
 
 {10th Virginia 
 23d Virginia 
 37th Virginia 
 
 McLaughlin's Battery 8 guns 
 
 Water's Battery 4 guns 
 
 Carpenter's Battery 4 guns 
 
 Marye's Battery 4 guns 
 
 Shumaker's Battery 4 guns 
 
 Chew's Horse Artillery Battery 3 guns 
 
 7th Virginia Cavalry 
 
 The infantry numbered about 3,600, the cavalry 600 
 and the six batteries, with their 27 guns, about 500 men. 
 
 In this command were at least 100 former cadets 
 serving in various capacities under their old professor. 
 In the 2d Virginia, there were Colonel James W. Allen, 
 '43, Lieutenant-Colonel Raleigh T. Colston, '46, Major 
 Lawson Botts, '49, and Major Francis B. Jones, '48.* 
 In the 4th Virginia, there were Major William R. 
 Terry, '50 (subsequently Colonel in the 27th Regiment) , 
 Colonel John Echols,' '43, and Major Wilham W. 
 Gordon, '50, who succeeded Echols in command. In 
 the 33d Virginia, were Colonel Arthur C. Cummings, 
 
 ♦Francis Lackland, '49, as Lieutenant-Colonel, commanded this regiment 
 at First Manassas.
 
 190 The Military History of 
 
 '44, Lieutenant-Colonel John R. Jones, '48, and 
 John F. Xeff, '58 (later Colonel of the regiment). 
 
 The Artillery of the Stonewall Brigade, at this time, 
 consisted of the Rockbridge Battery, of Lexington, and 
 the Alleghany Battery from the neighborhood of Cov- 
 ington. Nearly every member of the former was well 
 known to the officers and cadets of the Institute, and 
 in it they naturally felt a proprietary interest. Its com- 
 mander, Wilham McLaughlin, was a member of the 
 Board of Visitors. Joseph H. Carpenter, '56, com- 
 manded the Alleghany battery, and in it were several 
 old cadets, including the Orderly- Sergeant. So much 
 for the Stonewall Brigade. 
 
 In the Second Brigade, commanded by Colonel 
 Jesse S. Burks, '44, there were Colonel John M. Patton, 
 Jr., '46 (who had succeeded Colonel Gilham in com- 
 mand of the 21st Regiment), and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Wilham P. Moseley, '61, Major John B. Moseley, '60; 
 and Major Scott Shipp, the Commandant, still held 
 his commission as Major in this regiment which he had 
 assisted Colonel Gilham in recruiting and organizing. 
 In the 42d Virginia, Jesse S. Burks, '44, was Colonel, 
 P. B. Adams, '49, Major; while John A. Campbell, '44, 
 was Colonel of the 48th Virginia. 
 
 In the Third Brigade, Colonel Wilham B. Taliaferro, 
 formerly President of the Board of Visitors, com- 
 manded the 23d Virginia with Clayton G. Coleman, Jr., 
 an ex-cadet, as his Lieutenant-Colonel. In the 37th Vir- 
 ginia, Robert P. Carson, '54, was Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 commanding, and Titus V. Williams, '59, was a Major, 
 and later Colonel; while Simeon B. Gibbons, '52, 
 commanded the 10th Virginia (later killed). 
 
 In the Horse Artillery Battery, all four of the officers 
 were fresh from the Institute, and no outfit in the army 
 so appealed to the pride of the Corps as did Chew's 
 Battery, by reason of its brilliant exploits, the youth of 
 its commissioned personnel, and the fact that it was 
 organized and exclusively officered by men with whom 
 every old cadet in the Corps had recently served at the 
 Institute.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 191 
 
 On the 11th day of November, 1861, Robert Preston 
 Chew, aged nineteen, Milton Rouss, seventeen, and 
 James W. Thomson, eighteen, all of the Class of 1861, 
 under special authority of the Secretary of War, 
 organized the first Horse Battery in the Confederate 
 Army. Soon, James W. McCarty, '60, joined the 
 battery as junior second lieutenant. 
 
 The original armament of this battery consisted of a 
 6-inch iron rifle, a 12-pounder howitzer, and an imported 
 Blakeley rifle. 
 
 "Chew's Battery was Ashby's pet, and under the 
 gallant Chew it was as much Ashby's right arm, as 
 Ashby was the right arm of Jackson. Indeed, the 
 fame of this battery extended throughout the Army of 
 Northern Virginia, and the attestations to its dis- 
 tinguished service are too nimierous for mention."* 
 
 "In the minds of the people of the Valley, the Ashby 
 cavalry and Chew's Battery belonged to one another 
 as by natural affinity, and thej^ located the position of 
 the Federals by the familiar crack of 'Chew's Blakeley' 
 which awakened the echoes of the moimtains, and spread 
 commotion in the encampments of the enemy, ere the 
 farmers had aroused to call and feed their hogs."** 
 
 Officered by young, energetic, and highly-trained 
 young men who have been tutored by Jackson himself, 
 it was natural that this command should attain a dis- 
 tinction second to none in the service. After the death 
 of Ashby, it served in the famous battalion of Stuart 
 Horse Artillery, and was, perhaps, engaged in more 
 affairs than any batterj' in the army. In 1863, Chew 
 became a major of Horse Artillery, and March 1, 1865, 
 was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding the 
 Stuart Horse Artillery, proving himself a worthy suc- 
 cessor of the "gallant" Pelham. Jimmie Thomson be- 
 came a Major of Horse Artillery, and was killed at the 
 High Bridge in April, three days before the Surrender. 
 
 When the youthful Captain Chew, with his even more 
 youthful lieutenants, reported for duty to Jackson, the 
 
 •General Thomas T. Miinford. 
 
 **See History of the Laurel Brigade, McDonald, pp. 30-35.
 
 192 The Military History of 
 
 latter's face wore a quizzical expression, as he inquired: 
 "Young men, now that you have your company, what 
 are you going to do with it?" There was no reply to 
 this question then, but the answer came soon, for but 
 a few weeks later, Captain Chew, Milton Rouss, Jim- 
 mie Thomson, and Jimmie McCarty, performed a feat 
 of arms with their battery, believed to be impossible 
 until they executed it, and that was a charge in the front 
 rank of Ashby's cavalry upon the enemy at Middletown, 
 on which occasion the guns were unlimbered and dis- 
 charged at a distance of not over fifty yards from the 
 Federals. Chew not only originated this hazardous 
 practice, but performed similar feats of daring on many 
 other fields thereafter.* How the old drill-master's heart 
 must have swelled with pride over the exploits of young 
 Chew, and his other former pupils! 
 
 After reviewing the composition of the Army of the 
 Valley, it is easy to understand the proprietary interest 
 the Corps felt in it, and the longing the cadets enter- 
 tained to join in active service those whom they had 
 either known or of whom they had heard so much, at 
 the Institute. 
 
 The long-expected order soon followed the prepara- 
 tions of the Superintendent, and, on May 1st, the fol- 
 lowing communication was received by him : 
 
 "Swift Run Gap, April 30, 1862. 
 
 "Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute. 
 
 "General — Please march the cadets at once to Staunton, if you 
 feel authorized to co-operate in an important movement which I 
 will explain to you when we meet; as many of the cadets' parents 
 may have sent their sons to the Institute for the purpose of keeping 
 them out of the field, at present, I can provide for all such cases, 
 and even for the entire Corps, if necessary, by assigning them to 
 the care of the provisions, and the baggage train; and thus let 
 volunteers go into battle who would be otherwise kept out. The 
 duty I know would not be congenial to the feelings of our brave 
 Corps which I am well satisfied would desire to advance ; but the 
 
 *See History of Laurel Brigade, McDonald, p. 32. Also The Long Arm ot 
 Lee, Wise.
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM H. RICHARDSON 
 Adjutant-General of Virginia 1841-1865, 1866-1875
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 193 
 
 patriot (and I regard each one of them as such) is willing to take 
 any position where he can best serve his country. Should vou 
 co-operate with me, you will be absent from the Institute for a few 
 days, but I trust that an ever-kind Providence will afterguards 
 permit the Institute, uninterruptedly, to press forward in its great 
 mission. 
 
 "Please let me hear from you at once. Send your dispatch to 
 the care of Major A. W. Harman, Staunton. 
 
 "I am. General, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "T. J. Jackson, 
 
 "Maj or-General." 
 
 The response to this call was the immediate publica- 
 tion of the following order: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "May 1, 1862. 
 
 "General Orders — No. 46. 
 
 "The enemy are hovering upon our borders, and are threatening 
 to drive us from our homes. The Army of General T. J. Jackson 
 is preparing to meet and repel their invasion of our Valley, and in 
 the critical emergency pressing upon him, I have tendered to 
 General Jackson the co-operation of the Corps of Cadets. General 
 Jackson has accepted their services, and calls upon me to march 
 to Staunton this morning. 
 
 "The Corps of Cadets, under command of Major S. Shipp. will 
 be in marching condition as soon as practicable, and proceed forth- 
 with to Staunton. I want no cadet to accompany the command, 
 except those who feel that they go with the consent of their parents, 
 either presumed or actual. I have no time to consult all, but have 
 to presume upon the patriotic impulse of parents whose wishes 
 would be to defend the home now so seriously threatened. Let us 
 go into this service which will be but for a few days, with the 
 ardor and devotion of the true sons of the South, resolved to main- 
 tain the independence of our beloved country. 
 
 "Major Shipp will detail a guard to take charge of the public 
 property. Col. William Gilham and Lt. H. A. Wise will remain in 
 charge of the Institute, the command devolving upon Col. Gilham. 
 
 "By command of 
 
 "General Smith." 
 
 To understand the necessity of calling out the cadets, 
 it is necessary to briefly review the military situation 
 in Virginia, in the spring of 1862. 
 
 18
 
 194 The Military History of 
 
 McClellan had assembled an immense army of 
 200.000 men about Washington, and Shields was in 
 command of 46,000 Federal troops — a long line from 
 Fredericksbm-g to Romney. About 40,000 Federals had 
 assembled under General Banks, along the Potomac. 
 Early in March, Banks commenced his advance from 
 Harper's Ferry into the Valley, and Jackson with his 
 small army, instead of retiring, advanced and offered 
 Banks battle on the 7th, and again on the 11th, of 
 March. Falling back through Winchester to Stras- 
 burg, Jackson again took up a position, in the hope that 
 he would be attacked; but the enemy remained in 
 Winchester until the 18th, when Banks sent Shields, 
 who had reinforced him with 12,000 men, forward to 
 Strasburg. Jackson retired slowly up the Valley as far 
 as Mount Jackson. Ashby, witli his cavalry and Chew's 
 Battery, disputed every foot of the way. Meantime, 
 Banks was ordered to Manassas, and Shields was left 
 at Winchester. 
 
 Upon learning on the 22d that Shields alone was now 
 before him, Jackson determined upon an attack. Gen- 
 eral Shields had been woimded by a shell from Chew's 
 "Blakeley" and was succeeded in command by Kim- 
 ball, who formed his line in the vicinity of Kernstown, 
 some miles south of Winchester. The Confederates 
 were repulsed, with a loss of 718 killed and wounded, 
 and, although unsuccessful in this fight, so alarmed Mr. 
 Lincoln that McDowell, with 40,000 men, was posted 
 at Fredericksburg, and Banks was ordered back to the 
 Valley to oppose Jackson. 
 
 About the 1st of April, Banks had succeeded in 
 driving Jackson's Cavalry back as far as Edinburg, 
 where Ashby clung on for over three weeks. 
 
 By April 15th, Jackson had increased his force to 
 a little over 6,000 men; but Banks, who had been heavily 
 reinforced, made an advance on the 17th, and reached 
 Harrisonburg on the 22d. 
 
 It was this near approach which had caused General 
 Smith to prepare the cadets for field service, and to 
 tender the use of the Corps to General Jackson.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 195 
 
 From Harrisonburg, Jackson crossed the Shenan- 
 doah at Conrad's Store, and went into camp in Elk Run 
 Valley. He was not equal to fighting Banks in the open 
 country between Harrisonburg and Staunton, but, in 
 this position, would be a constant threat to the safety 
 of that general. With Banks advancing up the Valley 
 towards Staunton, Milroy at McDowell, and Fremont 
 moving up the South Branch Valley, it seemed Staunton 
 and Lexington were doomed. 
 
 General Ewell was encamped on the Upper Rappa- 
 hannock with his division of 8,000 men. General Ed- 
 ward, Johnson, with a brigade, had marched back to 
 within a few miles of Staunton. McDowell's advance 
 liad reached Fredericksburg. In order to divert 
 McDowell from his contemplated junction with the 
 right of the Army of the Potomac, which, under 
 McClellan, had assailed Johnston at Yorktown, Gen- 
 eral Lee now authorized Jackson to employ Ewell's 
 division. 
 
 On the 29th, Ewell arrived at the Elk Run Valley, 
 and Jackson moved up the river to Port Republic, while 
 Ashby demonstrated before Banks at Harrisonburg. 
 Jackson's intentions were guarded with the utmost 
 secrecy fi'om now on, and not even his brigade com- 
 manders knew his plans. On May 3d, he turned to the 
 left and crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains, directing 
 his march to a station on Meechum's River. Everyone 
 was bewildered by his movements. Ewell and all, save 
 Ashby, were as much mystified as the enemy who were 
 completely in the dark. Mr. Lincoln and General 
 Halleck received information of Jackson's simultaneous 
 appearance in at least three different places. None of 
 them knew the contents of the following letter : 
 
 "Brown's Gap, May 3, 1862. 
 
 "Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute. 
 
 "General — Since leaving Swift Run Gap, the heavy roads have 
 prevented my reaching Staunton, as I hoped to do by inarching
 
 196 The Military History of 
 
 across the country by Port Republic; but I hope in a few days to 
 be with you in Staunton. 
 
 "I trust that neither yourself, nor any member of your com- 
 mand, will have occasion to regret this temporary suspension of the 
 Institute. It is unnecessary for you to come this side of Staunton. 
 Should you have any leisure time, it would be well spent in 
 familiarizing yourself with the country, if you are not already 
 acquainted with it, in the direction of the enemy, as far as our 
 pickets. I send you herewith a pass. I desire all the information 
 possible respecting the military features of the country between 
 us and the enemy. 
 
 "Yesterday, Colonel Williamson was reconnoitering this pass, but 
 will soon be in the Valley. 
 
 "I am much obliged to you for bringing the artillery. It is 
 very desirable to arouse the people, and to induce as many as 
 possible to come forward and meet this special emergency, and with 
 such arms as they may have. 
 
 "It is very important to keep our movements concealed from the 
 enem3\ and. to this end, our people should say nothing about our 
 Army. 
 
 "Ashby has a large cavalry force, which is mainly designed at 
 present to cover my present march to Staunton. 
 
 ' 'With you, I am assured our God will prosper our cause. Please 
 remember me very kindly to the officers who are with you. 
 
 "I am, General, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "T. J. Jackson." 
 
 This letter, written by Jackson when he was heading 
 directly away from Staunton, clearly established his in- 
 tention to return to that point at which the Corps had 
 arrived on the day it was written. 
 
 Leaving Lexington at noon of the 1st, the Corps had 
 camped that night at Fairfield, after a march of 12 
 miles, and the next night at Mint Springs, 20 miles 
 farther on, leaving but a six-mile march the third day. 
 No guns were taken, as assumed by General Jackson.* 
 
 General Smith preceded the Corps, and, upon arriv- 
 ing in Staunton, immediately reported to General 
 Jackson, receiving the letter before quoted, in reply. 
 
 The Corps did not find the famous "Stonewall 
 Brigade" and the other troops of Jackson's command 
 
 ♦This statement is made upon the authority of General Shipp, who was in 
 command.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 197 
 
 awaiting it in Staunton. In Ewell's division, there were 
 also many old friends the cadets and officers had hoped 
 to see. That division was composed of Taylor's 
 Louisiana Brigade; Elzey's Brigade, 13th, 31st, and 
 25th Virginia, and 12th Georgia; Scott's Brigade, 44th, 
 52d, and 58th Virginia; the 1st Maryland Regiment, 
 and the 2d and 6th Virginia Cavalry, with 6 batteries 
 of artillery. In the Virginia regiments were many 
 former cadets. 
 
 Thomas T. Munford, '52, was Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 commanding the 2d Virginia Cavalry, and Cary 
 Breckinridge, '60, was a major in that regiment. In the 
 13th Virginia Infantry, there were Colonel James B. 
 Terrill, '58, Lieutenant-Colonel James A. Walker, '52, 
 and Major John B. Sherrard, '45. George A. Porter- 
 field, '44, commanded the 25th Virginia, with George H. 
 Smith, '53, as one of his majors, later colonel. 
 Francis M. Boykin, '56, and Joseph H. Chenoweth, 
 '59, were lieutenant-colonel and major in the 31st 
 Virginia, respectively. A. C. Jones, '50, was a major 
 in the 44th Virginia, and John D. Lilley, '58, and 
 John D. H. Ross, '59, were majors in the 52d Virginia, 
 while Stapleton Crutchfield, '55, was lieutenant-colonel 
 of the 58th Virginia. Besides these field-officers, there 
 were many other former cadets in Ewell's division, most 
 of the yoimger ones commanding companies in the 
 various regiments, or batteries. But of all these, only 
 those of Elzey's, or Edward Johnson's, Brigade, were 
 to take part in the operations immediately ensuing. 
 
 Sunday, May 4th, after reaching Meechum's River, 
 Jackson entrained his infantry for Staunton, leaving 
 his artillery and wagon train to follow by road. Banks, 
 like McDowell, meantime had received what he believed 
 to be the most reliable intelligence of Jackson's progress 
 past Gordons ville to join Lee. 
 
 WHien Jackson's troops returned to Staunton on the 
 4th and 5th, it was rimiored that Ashby was being 
 rapidly forced back upon the town by Banks, and that 
 Edward Johnson was also being driven in from the
 
 198 The Military History of 
 
 west by Milroy. Yet, he rested his troops on the 6th, 
 and prepared for the sudden movements he was about 
 to undertake. This delay was not at all pleasing to 
 General Smith, who, having flattered himself upon the 
 confidence Jackson had placed in him, now perceived 
 that he knew no more of his ultimate aims than any one 
 else. It was in a peevish state of mind, therefore, after 
 three days of idle waiting in and about Staunton, ex- 
 amining the terrain thereabout, perhaps, as suggested 
 in Jackson's dispatch, little improved by the Board's 
 disapproval of his action in turning out the Corps, that 
 he 'addressed the following letter to the Commanding 
 General : 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "Staunton, May 6, 1862. 
 
 "Major-General T. J. Jackson, 
 
 "Commanding Valley District. 
 
 "General — In tendering to you the co-operation of the Corps 
 of Cadets, for the defense of this portion of the Valley, to the 
 extent of my authority and means, I was prompted by a sense of 
 duty devolving upon me as Commandant of the Public Guard at 
 Lexington, and by a desire to make an effort to protect the Virginia 
 Military Institute from destruction. 
 
 "On reaching Staunton with the Corps of Cadets, I reported 
 my arrival to the Adjutant-General of Virginia, and regret to find 
 that the presumed authority which I had supposed that I had 
 received from that officer had been misunderstood, and that the 
 Board was unanimous in their disapprobation of the cadets being 
 in any way subjected to the risk of battle, unless in the immediate 
 defense of Lexington, and also objected to the co-operation on the 
 part of the Corps with military movements in the field. The view 
 taken by the Board is based upon the idea 'that it would be a breach 
 of good faith on the part of the Institute towards parents and 
 guardians.' Subsequently, the Governor has said 'that as the mis- 
 chief had been done, we had as well go on.' 
 
 "Finding myself thus unexpectedly and painfully embarrassed, 
 by the action of the Board, and the opinion of the Governor, I 
 would esteem it a favor if you would inform me in what wav, and 
 to what extent, I may take the responsibility of acting in opposition 
 to the express wishes and orders of my immediate superiors. 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "Francis H. Smith."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 199 
 
 General Jackson knew conditions at the Institute 
 too well not to give the Superintendent the assurance 
 he needed for the action which the Governor had 
 characterized as "mischief", and which the Board had 
 unanimously condemned. He, therefore, promptly ad- 
 dressed the following letter: 
 
 "Headquarters, Valley District, 
 
 "Staunton, May 6, 1862. 
 "Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute. 
 
 "General — Your letter of this date, stating the embarrassment 
 in which you are placed in co-operating with me, in defense of this 
 portion of the Valley, and requesting to be informed in what way, 
 and to what extent, I propose to use the Corps of Cadets, has been 
 received. In reply, I would state, that should you, notwithstanding 
 the action of the Board of Visitors, and of the Governor, feel at 
 liberty to continue your co-operation, the Corps of Cadets will form 
 a part of the reserve, and that its duties will perhaps be of an 
 unusually active character, and may continue for five or seven days. 
 The safety of this section of the Valley, in my opinion, renders your 
 continued co-operation of great importance ; but, should you deem 
 it your duty, in consequence of the action of the Board of Visitors 
 and of the Governor of the State, to return at once to the Institute, 
 I hope you will accept for yourself, and tender to your command, 
 the grateful appreciation of your patriotic devotion to our cause, 
 which has been manifested by having so promptly responded to 
 my call. 
 
 "I am. General, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "T. J. Jackson, 
 
 "Major-General." 
 
 This politic reply in which the Superintendent was 
 flatteringly reassured, and at the same time relieved not 
 one whit of the responsibility of his future course, either 
 in remaining or returning with the Corps, had the effect 
 the shrewd writer intended for it, and elicited the 
 following response: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "May 6. 1862. 
 "Major-General T. J. Jackson, 
 
 "Commanding Valley District. 
 
 "General — I have received your communication of this date. 
 The unqualified expression of your opinion that the continued co-
 
 200 The Military History of 
 
 operation of the Corps of Cadets is of great importance to the safety 
 of this section of the Valley, removes all doubt from my mind as to 
 my duty to give you that co-operation with the limitation of exclud- 
 ing all cadets under eighteen years of age, who have not the consent 
 of their parents to participate in this temporary service. 
 
 "Knowing, as I well do, the wishes of the governing authorities 
 of the Institute, and of parents, that no interruption shall take place 
 in our regular course, if it can be avoided, I regard this call as 
 presenting a means, under Providence, by which you may be 
 enabled, with your gallant Army, to ensure to the cadets, at the end 
 of the contemplated service, a safe return to their accustomed 
 duties, with the satisfaction that they have endeavored to render a 
 patriotic service. 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "Francis H. Smith." 
 
 On the morning of the 7th, although the inhabitants, 
 credulous of every wild rumor, fully expected to see 
 the Federals approaching, Jackson who was well in- 
 formed by Ashby of Banks' idleness, moved his army 
 westward to strike Milroy commanding Fremont's ad- 
 vance guard. His strategy was to crush the weaker 
 force first, and then fall upon Banks, thus preventing 
 their combination. 
 
 The army was set in motion in the following order: 
 Edward Johnson's regiments led the way, several miles 
 in advance; the 3d and 2d Brigades followed, the 
 Stonewall Brigade under General Winder, and the 
 Corps of Cadets under Major Shipp, bringing up the 
 rear, as a reserve. 
 
 "The Corps of Cadets of the Virginia Military Insti- 
 tute," says Dabjiey, "was also attached to the expedi- 
 tion; and the spruce equipments and the exact drill of 
 the youths, as they stepped out, full of enthusiasm to 
 take their first actual look upon the horrid visage of war, 
 under their renowned professor, formed a strong con- 
 trast with the war-worn and nonchalant veterans who 
 composed the army."* 
 
 Eighteen miles west of Staunton, a Federal picket 
 was overrun, and in the pass leading to the Shenandoah 
 
 *Life and Campaigns of Lieutenant-General Stonewall Jackson, Dabney, 
 Vol. II, p. 65.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 201 
 
 Mountain, Johnson captured a camp that had just been 
 abandoned. The Federal rear-guard fired a few shells, 
 and the Confederates went into bivouac. Johnson had 
 marched fourteen, and Jackson twenty, miles. 
 
 For full and accurate details of the battle of 
 McDowell, the reader should consult some of the more 
 reliable accounts of Jackson's Valley Campaign.* 
 Briefly stated, events were as follows: 
 
 On the morning of the 8th, Johnson encountered 
 Milroy, reinforced by Schenck, on the top of Bull Pas- 
 ture Mountain, about three miles east of the village of 
 McDowell. A severe conflict now ensued, which lasted 
 four hours, and which was fought mainly by the 
 infantry, because the difficult terrain would not permit 
 the use of artillery. The action gradually became so 
 fierce that Jackson sent the 3d Brigade to support his 
 advance guard, and was on the point of throwing into 
 action the 2d Brigade, when the enemy fled as darkness 
 set in. The Stonewall Brigade and the cadets, com- 
 prising the reserve, after having gone into camp three 
 miles in rear, about dusk, were ordered to move forward 
 rapidly to McDowell, where they arrived just as the 
 firing was dying out, well after dark, only to be ordered 
 back to camp again, as pursuit was impracticable by 
 night. 
 
 The enemy had been repulsed at every point, but not 
 without severe loss, which included 444 enlisted men and 
 54 officers. The Federal loss, due to advantages of 
 position, did not exceed 256 killed, wounded and miss- 
 ing. Among the wounded Confederate officers was the 
 gallant Colonel George H. Smith, V. M. I., '53, com- 
 manding the 25th Virginia, while Colonel S. B. Gibbons, 
 V. M. I., '52, commanding the 10th Virginia, was 
 killed. 
 
 After a day of exceptional hardship and excitement, 
 and an unusually long and toilsome march, it was a 
 
 ♦stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War, Henderson. Life and 
 Campaigns of Lieutenant-General Stonewall Jaclison, Dabney. Stonewall 
 Jackson in the Shenandoah, Imboden, in Battles and Leaders of the Civil 
 War. Vol. II, pp. 282-301. Military Biography of Stonewall Jackson, Cooke.
 
 202 The Military History or 
 
 disgruntled body of cadets that returned to camp that 
 night. For weeks, they had builded upon their hopes. 
 The long period of expectancy and drilling had been 
 followed by the order calling out the Corps. Then the 
 Corps had marched to Staunton, picturing an enemy on 
 every hill, only to be held in restraint in Stamiton, with- 
 out the slightest knowledge of the future course. Then, 
 had come the day when, relegated to the reserve, yet 
 happy, the Corps had set out for McDowell, only to be 
 held in the rear in the very sound of the firing, and, 
 later, rushed back and forth over the roads, without the 
 slightest opportunity to participate in the action. It 
 was all certainly very disappointing to the exuberant 
 youths who chafed at the leash with boyish impatience. 
 
 The next morning, Ashby's cavalry crossed the bridge 
 at McDowell, and moved cautiously forward through 
 the mountain passes which had blocked pursuit. The 
 infantry halted for some hours in McDowell, in order 
 that rations might be issued. Here, the delightful task 
 of burying the Federal dead, some 26 in number, was 
 assigned Major Shipp and the cadets, a duty no doubt 
 designed to harden the nerves of the young soldiers. 
 
 Meantime, the Federals had covered 23 miles or more 
 in their flight, so that even forced marches on the 10th 
 and 11th failed to overtake them. The difficulties of the 
 pursuit were heightened by the novel scheme of setting 
 the moimtain forests on fire, which enshrouded the vales 
 with an impenetrable cloud of smoke. Late on the 11th, 
 however, Jackson gained close contact with the retreat- 
 ing Federals, and drove them back as far as the village 
 of Franklin, where they assumed a defiant attitude, in 
 a position of great natural strength. In the meantime, 
 the cadets who had discharged their inglorious task, ar- 
 rived and were deployed by Major Shipp, while the 
 random firing from both sides continued. The Corps 
 was not, however, actively engaged. 
 
 Having driven Milroy and Schenck far enough to 
 prevent Fremont's juncture with Banks, Jackson com- 
 menced his march back to the Valley on the 12th, arriv-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 203 
 
 ing at Lebanon Springs on the road to Harrisonburg 
 on the loth, while the Corps returned to Staunton by 
 the direct road. Banks, meanwhile, had fallen back 
 to Strasburg, so there was no occasion for the Corps to 
 remain away from Lexington longer. 
 
 Remaining in Staunton during the 15th, the Corps 
 marched to Lexington on the 16th, 17th and 18th, and 
 orders were issued, the following day, for the resumption 
 of academic duties on the 20th. 
 
 Soon, the following order was received at the Insti- 
 tute, which attested the valuable service rendered the 
 cause by the Corps of Cadets: 
 
 "Headquarters, Valley District, at McDowell, 
 
 "May 15, 1862. 
 
 "General Orders— No. 46. 
 
 "The imminent danger to which Staunton was recently exposed 
 having been removed by the defeat of the combined forces of 
 Generals Schenck and Milroy on the west, and the falling back 
 of General Banks on the north, Major-General F. H. Smith returns 
 with his command to the post and duties which have been assigned 
 him by the State of Virginia. In thus parting with this patriotic 
 officer, and those who had for a time left their scientific and literary 
 pursuits for the purpose of co-operating in repelling the danger 
 which threatened the Virginia Military Institute (which has by its 
 graduates contributed so efficiently to the success of this war), the 
 Major-General commanding tenders his thanks to Major-General 
 Smith, and the officers and cadets under him, for the promptitude 
 and efficiency with which they have assisted in the recent expedition. 
 
 "By command of Major-General T. J. Jackson, 
 
 "T. L. Dabney, 
 
 "A. A. G." 
 
 The following account of the experiences of the Corps 
 of Cadets in the McDowell Campaign, by Captain 
 B. A. Colonna, Class of 1864, First Sergeant of 
 Company "D" in 1862, is so graphic and so live with 
 interest, that it is here inserted in full: 
 
 "Our first day's march became disagreeable on account of a cold 
 rain that set in at about 2 or 3 o'clock. The Corps, though not 
 prepared for hardship, was not provided with transportation as we 
 had been in April, 1861. There were no stage coaches and only
 
 204 The Military History of 
 
 two or three wagons and one ambulance. The cadets carried their 
 own blankets, etc., each had a tin cup and plate, haversack and 
 canteen, and were not equipped as fancy soldiers at all. Our arms 
 were the little drill guns, quite unsuited for war, smooth-bores — 
 just what he had before the war for drill guns. Each cadet carried 
 in his haversack enough food to last him to Staunton, viz., two days' 
 rations, consisting of hardtack, sandwiches and bacon — and coffee; 
 for we had coffee then that was made for us by old Judge, in large 
 tin camp kettles, and the 'short sweetening' was boiled in. The 
 cadets were allowed to nibble at this food whenever we stopped, 
 and some nibbled even on the march; but we had no coffee until 
 we reached camp that night, a long distance beyond Fairfield, where 
 we were fed in 1861. I think this place was called Mint Spring. 
 
 "The night was miserable enough, for it rained at intervals, and 
 though there were a few tents we slept on the ground, and only a 
 few of the cadets knew how to care for themselves. 'Spex' was 
 not along. Col. Shipp was mounted on a dapply iron-gray, a 
 stallion, I believe, and a lazy brute that I often wished I could 
 have on a side road to put some ginger in him. Dr. Madison rode 
 a clumsy sorrel that I suspected to be from some livery stable, and 
 this doctor was as kind as he could be in dismounting most of the 
 time and allowing some tired cadet to ride his horse. There were 
 a lot of assistant professors along who generally marched at the 
 rear of the column. Dr. Madison was a particularly entertaining 
 man, whose knowledge of Botany made a day's marching at his side 
 as instructive as a week's study at school. 
 
 "Sunday, May 4th, we were about as soon as it was light, and 
 coffee was ready by the time our tents were struck. The morning 
 air was damper than our clothes. The day was only partly cloudy, 
 and the excellent spirits of the boys soon caused sore feet and 
 blisters to be forgotten as we pulled along through the mud toward 
 Staunton, arriving there while it was yet daylight. I can not recall 
 the place v/here we stopped, but I think it was in some vacant store 
 or warehouse. The good people of Staunton treated us royally, and 
 we had an excellent night's rest. 
 
 "Monday, May 5th. Rations were issued and coffee served as 
 usual. We cleaned up our clothes and made ourselves as present- 
 able as we could, and in the afternoon had Dress Parade on the 
 lawn in front of the Deaf and Dumb asylum. The blind children 
 sang for us in the evening; one very pathetic song made the tears 
 come in my eyes. I remember some of the words: 
 
 " 'No one to love, none to caress. 
 
 Wandering alone through this world's wilderness,' etc. 
 
 We spent the night pleasantly.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 205 
 
 "Tuesday, May 6th. It was rumored that Gen. Jackson was in 
 town, and we had hardly finished our hardtack and bacon when the 
 word was passed that we were to pass in review before him. There 
 was much effort to prepare for the event, and at dinner roll call 
 it was officially announced that we would respond to drum call at 
 1 p. M. The review was over by 2 p. M., being held on the spacious 
 grounds before the Deaf and Dumb asylum. It was the last time 
 I ever appeared before my old professor. (I recited in declamation 
 before him in 1860-61.) 
 
 "It was rumored that we were to be attached to the Stonewall 
 Brigade, and tliat evening at D. P. an order was read, to that 
 effect, but that brigade was not just then in evidence. 
 
 "Wednesday, May 7th. After a quiet, restful day the Stonewall 
 Brigade came in. I did not see it at all, but during the afternoon 
 rations were issued for a day, and no permits to leave quarters were 
 issued. There was an early tattoo, and the word was passed around 
 that we were to be ready for an early start in the morning. 
 
 "Thursday, May 18th, was a balmy, pleasant May day and we 
 responded to reveille at about 1 a. m., and at 2 a. m. we joined the 
 Stonewall Brigade on the street or road in the west part of 
 Staunton. There was no tiresome delay, but the brigade moved 
 westward on the road leading to Buffalo Gap. twelve miles distant. 
 This was the same route over which I had passed with the 21st 
 Virginia Regiment in June, 1861, on its way to western Virginia, 
 and our first day's march was to Buffalo Gap, and I expected to 
 halt there to-day. The old 21st was along to-day. but its impedi- 
 menta had disappeared. Each company did not have four large 
 six-horse wagons furnished by the government and one extra hired 
 by the company to carry trunks, etc., and each soldier did not 
 start out with over 100 pounds on his back, to be gradually thrown 
 away as the sun climbed higher until the road from Staunton to 
 Buffalo Gap was lined by all kinds of articles, as in '61. The 21st 
 only had one wagon and two ambulances with a shoulder kit of 
 less than forty pounds in all wrapped in a blanket roll, through 
 which the soldier's head stuck out, leaving it resting on his right 
 shoulder and left hip. But each soldier did carry forty rounds of 
 ammunition in his cartridge box, which he knew how to take care 
 of and use properly. I doubt whether the whole of Jackson's 
 army had as much impedimenta as the 21st had on leaving Staunton 
 in 1861. 
 
 "Dr. Madison used to discuss the Corps with me from the 
 surgeon's point of view, and he always acknowledged the inferiority 
 of this rat corps physically to the corps that went to Richmond in 
 1861 — the present personnel being so much younger and smaller — 
 but he was forced to acknowledge its esprit to be wonderful. So 
 the morning passed until a little after sunrise, when he halted at
 
 206 The Military History of 
 
 Buffalo Gap near the splendid spring that bursts out about fifty 
 feet below the railroad track. We had covered just what the 21st 
 had covered in the same time thirteen months before, and, of course, 
 I expected to go into camp; but in an hour we were under way 
 again, following the same road we had traveled in 1861. We were 
 taking a short rest now every hour, say twenty minutes, and then 
 resuming our march. In about five hours we came to the very 
 place where we camped in 1861 at the end of our second day out. 
 The log blacksmith's shop that stood on the south side of the road 
 just off a point of woods that was on the north side was there as 
 natural as life. 'Now,' I thought, 'we are about twenty-four miles 
 from Staunton this 8th day of May, 1862, and we will surely go 
 into camp.' It was growing monotonous, and, though I did not 
 like to own it, I was getting a little tired of carrying that musket 
 and other toggery. But, no; we were called to attention and soon 
 found ourselves climbing Shenandoah Mountain. The boys were 
 beginning to feel the strain, but none of them so far had fallen 
 by the wayside, though we saw several veterans of the Stonewall 
 Brigade resting by the roadside and looking unhappy. Though I 
 thought it took ages, we finally reached the top of Shenandoah 
 Mountain and to the westward could see the valley of Cow Pasture 
 River. We were now over thirty miles from Staunton, but on we 
 went. It was down grade, and that brought another set of muscles 
 into play, so that we reached Cow Pasture River in better shape. 
 We crossed the river and ascended a hill, where in a pretty little 
 valley near a small rivulet we filed to the left and went onto 
 camp along with the brigade. Judge and the other cook, who had 
 been riding in the commissary wagon turn about, had coffee directly, 
 and I had two tin cupfuls of it, with some hardtack stowed away 
 quickly. Then we all rolled up in our blankets and went off dozing 
 and dreaming of 'the girls we left behind us.' It was probably 
 an hour later when the beating of drums all around us called me to 
 my feet. In an instant my clothes were adjusted and I was 
 accoutered to march, for it was the long roll that was sounding. 
 At the last tap of the drum the companies were fallen in and faced 
 to the front. So far as I can remember the cadets were all present, 
 but it was a peaked-looking crowd that faced to the right and took 
 up the march along with the Stonewall Brigade, still to westward. 
 Some of the boys were limping, but, though sore, we were much 
 refreshed by that short rest. The blankets, etc., we were ordered 
 to leave on the ground with the camp guard. The sun was getting 
 low in the west, and I suppose it was about 5 p. m., when we took 
 up the march toward McDowell. We were soon on top of the flat- 
 topped hill that formed the divide between Cow Pasture and Bull 
 Pasture rivers, and could hear continually and distinctly the fire 
 of the infantry and occasionally of a cannon. It seemed to put 
 new life into the boys as we pressed forward, and on reaching the
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 207 
 
 west slope of the hill we heard a band playing; a little later we 
 passed it on the north side of the road. It was seldom that we 
 heard a band playing like this on the eve of battle, but some one, 
 knowing how fatigued we were, had ordered this to cheer us on 
 to the fight. It was certainly doing its work well. As we 
 progressed the firing gradually ceased ; we were halted and a rest 
 ordered, and finally marched back to our camp. I was certainly 
 tired when at about midnight we filed to the right, marched to our 
 bivouac, were given 'stack arms,' and dismissed. I was about 
 five or six yards from my blankets when I fell to my knees and 
 crawled to my blankets, wrapped them about me and fell asleep. 
 So ended a forty-four-mile march of twenty-two hours. 
 
 "Friday, May 9th. I did not stir until 10 a. m., when I awoke 
 at the tap of the drum. A summer sun was shining in my face 
 and every bone in my body seemed to be aching. I was stiff and 
 sore, and it required some will power to put the engine in motion, 
 but by the time we had limped to reveille and washed our faces we 
 were ready for our fried bacon, hardtack, and coffee. We were 
 not allowed to stand about long before we were marching for the 
 fifth time on that hill slope for McDowell. I don't think it was 
 over four miles off, and as I remember we were there by 2 p. m., 
 and were halted in the road opposite a nice brick house (Dr. 
 Zollerman's?) with a blacksmith's shop across the way. I was 
 looking for a place to sit in a lean-to at the west end of the smithy 
 when I heard a slight noise and was at the road again just as a 
 Federal field officer, followed by a colored man leading two horses, 
 came out of the shop door. He looked more astonished than we 
 did, but he soon came to himself, for the cadets swarmed about him, 
 and he was being picked at as if he were a 'rat,' when Col. Shipp 
 came jogging up on that old pot-bellied horse of his and took 
 charge. He made us restore everything, and he and the colonel (.'') 
 rode away, the negro following, mounted on the other horse. 
 
 "It was decided directly that we would stop here overnight, and 
 we stacked arms and were turned loose. I can not remember any 
 house at McDowell save the brick one and the smithy. About a 
 year previous I had been with the 21st when it camped 
 here, back of the smithy, and I can not remember any houses 
 at that time. On going to the brick house we found that 
 the parlor had been used as a hospital ; there was a dead man 
 laid on top of the piano, and in the dining-room on the table there 
 was a litter with a man on it. This man had a triangular hole 
 knocked in the top of his head, and liis brains had run out on the 
 floor, leaving the front half of his skull entirely empty ; yet he 
 breathed, and when we gave him water from a sponge, that we 
 found in his mouth, he sucked it vigorously, and opened his eyes. 
 He was paralyzed for locomotion, and I think for sensation, too.
 
 208 The Military History of 
 
 Dr. Madison came along and looked him over, and directed us to 
 give no more water, for it was a hopeless case, and we were only 
 prolonging misery. He died in about half an hour. His name was 
 Hayden D. Runyon, of Eaton, Ohio, as we learned from the 
 contents of his kit, which was on the floor under the table. I was 
 ordered to make a detail from D Company and bury the two of 
 them, which I did. They found a resting place under a big sugar 
 maple along the bank of Cow Pasture River, and were covered by 
 one blanket. I believe it was Glazebrook who read the Episcopal 
 service over them. That night cadets slept everywhere in the brick 
 house. And so ended the 9th of May, 1862. 
 
 "May 10, 1862. The whole army resumed march, pressing the 
 enemy, who made a weak stand, causing a little delay. I can not 
 recall where we bivouacked. 
 
 "Svmday, May 11, 1862. In hot pursuit of the enemy, who had 
 set the woods on fire. As the wind blew our way, we were 
 enveloped in it to such an extent as to obscure everything, and, 
 getting in our eyes, it was very annoying. I can not remember 
 where we camped, except that it was in a pretty valley with one or 
 two houses. 
 
 "Monday, May 12, 1862. We rested to make up for Sunday. 
 There was a large and very beautiful maple tree in a meadoM' at 
 this camp, which was on the south fork of the Potomac, and under 
 that tree I found Gen. Jackson, his staff, and a large number of 
 soldiers holding public Avorship. Gen. Jackson remained standing 
 and uncovered, and I had a fine opportunity of seeing him. It was 
 my last chance until he was brought back to Lexington to be buried. 
 I will own up to being more interested in that beloved "Round 
 Head" than in all the parson's discourse. It was only a little after 
 noon when the drums beat, and we soon gathered our effects and 
 made the march back to McDowell. No one in that whole host 
 knew what was in the mind of our general. I have no recollection 
 of where we camped. 
 
 "Tuesday, May 13, 1862. We were on the march back to Mc- 
 Dowell. I could not conceive how men could so quickly pass from 
 what they were on the 8th to that quiet, steady-going army bent 
 as one man on the hardest kind of work. 
 
 "Wednesday, May 14, 1862. We reached McDowell in the 
 evening and camped. The other commands were to the eastward 
 of us, and, I suppose, on Cow Pasture River. The cavalry had 
 not yet come up. It was announced to us that our course was back 
 to Staunton over the same route by which we had advanced. We 
 camped on the bank of Bull Pasture River and had bread (corn 
 pones), bacon, and no coffee. I could have wept for growle)^
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 209 
 
 "Thursday^ May 15th. The cadets were now all up and the 
 ranks were well filled. The boys were full of enthusiasm, but not 
 so full of anything else. Our clothing was getting worn and our 
 shoes were playing out. Some of the cadets were using strips of 
 cloth or strings to bind them to their feet. The soreness of 
 muscles due to hard marching had worn off, and the cadets were 
 in better shape for work than when they had marched out of 
 Barracks. Some spoke openly of their disappointment at not being 
 allowed to follow Jackson, for the Stonewall Brigade had petted 
 us and bragged on our endurance, but they all reminded us that 
 we were too young to leave our mothers, and ought to go home 
 before the latter knew we were out, etc., etc. ; and that was rather 
 offensive to our digTiity and our vanity, though always spoken in 
 great kindness. From the battlefield to the bivouac of the 8th in- 
 stant we passed over the same ground for the sixth time. There was 
 one place that I remember very well where on the 8th we had met 
 Gen. Johnson, wounded, and whenever we looked at Shenandoah 
 Mountain as we approached it we were reminded that work lay 
 before us right there. Occasionally we could distinguish Jackson's 
 army as it climbed the mountain, but by ten o'clock the last of them 
 seemed to have passed, and we were at the foot of the mountain. 
 There was occasionally a straggler on the roadside, for Jackson's 
 provost guard did not get every one of them ; and occasionally I 
 would see one who looked quite able to be in his place Avith bis com- 
 pany. We camped that night about twenty miles, I think, from 
 Staunton. Many of the cadets were in sorry plight for shoes, and 
 for want of knowing how to tie a square knot they could not use 
 such as they had to the best advantage. I tried to show some in 
 D Company, but they took no interest. 
 
 "Friday, May 16, 1862. We broke camp early and struck out 
 for Staunton. We had not gone far before the shoe matter became 
 a serious one. Cadet after cadet began to ask to be allowed to leave 
 the ranks, and, after holding them for a while longer, they were 
 excused, with directions to reach Staunton as soon as practicable. 
 Nothing of interest happened beyond this. We arrived in Staunton 
 about 3 p. M., with say half our number present. Col. Shipp had 
 preceded us and provided quarters in the second story of a large 
 brick store that was vacant, and in front of it we were halted, faced 
 to the front and ordered arms. It was simply perfect; every gun 
 came down at once on the brick pavement. I have never forgotten 
 that 'Order arms,' and I have had several other cadets speak to 
 me about it. We were not detained long before we were dismissed 
 to go to our quarters. Judge and his staff were on hand and the 
 kettles of coffee awaited us. I tanked up on coffee, hardtack, and 
 cold, boiled bacon that tasted so good that I forgot soldier's life at 
 once. There were no roll calls until the following morning, and a 
 
 14
 
 210 The Military History of 
 
 tired lot of cadets slept as sweetly on that hard floor as a king can 
 sleep on a bed of down. During the night cadets continued to 
 come in, but there were a few who did not come in until the next day. 
 
 "Saturday, May 17th. Reveille was held this morning a little 
 after sunrise. The Corps formed and rolls were called on the 
 second floor where we had slept. But little military duty was asked 
 of us, and the most important thing was the issuing to us of 
 soldier's shoes, good, broad heavy ones. I think that every man 
 received a pair, and socks were issued when needed. We slept 
 that night on the same floor, but it had turned hard during the day, 
 and was not at all luxurious. Our clothing was now dry and the 
 mud rubbed off as well as we could do so, and we went to sleep 
 early. 
 
 "Sunday, May 18th. We began to have regular roll calls, and I 
 do not remember that there were any absent. At B. R. C. it was 
 announced that the Corps would attend church as usual: 
 
 A Company went to the Episcopal Church. 
 B Company went to the Presbyterian Church. 
 C Company went to the Baptist Church. 
 D Company went to the Methodist Church. 
 
 We did not look very natty, but the people received us with every 
 sign of approval and esteem. Many of the cadets had friends at 
 Staunton and dined out. Those of us who had not friends had 
 dried-apple duff instead of raisin ditto, and some butter materi- 
 alized. At night we slept again on the floor. 
 
 "Monday, May 19th. We left Staunton early in the morning, 
 homeward bound. We went about halfway and camped for the 
 night. 
 
 "Tuesday, May 20th. We resumed the march to Barracks. It 
 was evident as we progressed that there was a large number of" 
 cadets who were loath to return, but I was not prepared for such 
 a spirit as developed later. We reached Barracks before sundown, 
 had supper in the mess hall, and slept in our own beds in Barracks. 
 
 "Wednesday, May 21st. We went through the form of academic 
 work, I suppose as a matter of course. But nothing could have 
 been better to divert the cadets' attention from war; though, like 
 the McDowell campaign intended, as I suppose, to surfeit them 
 with war, it did not work. 
 
 "Thus was the McDowell campaign brouglit to a close."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 211 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 (e_ 
 
 BACK TO WORK AGAIN CHANCELLORSVILLE THE VIR- 
 GINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE AVILL BE HEARD FROM 
 TO-DAY^' THE BURIAL OF JACKSON 
 
 The interruption incident to the participation of the 
 Corps in the McDowell Campaign was a serious one, 
 hut the added repute of the Institute, accruing from 
 this patriotic service, more than counterbalanced the 
 loss in other respects. Every officer and cadet now 
 understood that not only was the Institute relied upon 
 by the Confederate Government to furnish the army 
 with trained officers, but that as a military unit the 
 Corps was regarded as capable of rendering valuable 
 service in the field; and this knowledge added at least 
 an inch to the stature of every cadet. In the public 
 mind the Corps was likened more and more to the 
 A'-oung Guard of France, and, though dangers sur- 
 rounded it, people gladly entrusted their sons to the 
 Institute where in time of universal danger the maxi- 
 mum protection was afforded, and every reasonable 
 safeguard thrown about the youth of the South. They 
 knew that the cadets would be subjected to no unneces- 
 sary dangers, and that, since eventually all must bear 
 arms, it were better that the scions of the leading 
 families should be prepared to enter the service with 
 the prestige of a diploma from the most favored insti- 
 tution of the South. With proper military training, 
 their service, though postponed, would be of far more 
 value than it would be as immature conscripts. The 
 Institute, then, was not merely regarded as a haven for 
 the young, but as a certain means of insuring the future 
 career of those subjected to the prescribed course of 
 military training there. 
 
 In order to make up lost time, and better prepare 
 cadets for their future work, it was decided bv the
 
 212 The Military History of 
 
 Board of Visitors that the usual summer encampment 
 would be dispensed with, and examinations for the 
 advancement of the classes held during the last two 
 weeks of Jime. But, in spite of every precaution and 
 the most rigid discipline, resignations and dismissals oc- 
 curred which, before the middle of July, reduced the 
 Corps to a total of but 138 cadets. Over 40 cadets 
 were dropped from the rolls for absenting themselves 
 without leave to join the armies in the field. 
 
 After the examinations proficient cadets were granted 
 brief furloughs to visit their homes, while for all others, 
 academic work was resumed, July 15th, and continued 
 throughout the smnmer. 
 
 Jime 25th, Lieutenant Thomas M. Semmes was pro- 
 moted Captain and Instructor of French, being relieved 
 as Post- Adjutant by T. Henderson Smith, '61. 
 
 The new session was ordered to commence September 
 1st, and late in August, as usual, new cadets began to 
 report for duty. Upon the reorganization of the Corps, 
 over 200 cadets were present, the First Class numbering 
 12, the Second Class 16, and the Third 38, so that again 
 the difficult task of maintaining a high state of military 
 efficiency, with a comparatively green body of cadets, 
 presented itself. And, again, there were constant losses 
 and irregular accessions, to increase the difficulties of 
 the work. 
 
 But the Superintendent and Commandant, as well as 
 every other member of the faculty, essayed their tasks 
 with the utmost seriousness of purpose, fully ap- 
 preciating the importance of the work assigned them, 
 and were favored by a long period of uninterrupted 
 effort, for the fall of 1862, and the following winter were 
 uneventful ones, as far as the Institute, in the con- 
 secutiveness of its work, was concerned. 
 
 The minds of all were of course deeply impressed by 
 the momentous events transpiring in the outer world, — 
 events brought home to Lexington by the frequent days 
 of Thanksgiving promulgated by the President. Then 
 there were the sacred rites which the Corps often per-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 213 
 
 formed in honoring the memory of its gallant eleves 
 who fell in battle, burying with military honors the 
 fallen heroes whose remains were brought back to Lex- 
 ington to be interred, and the mournful celebration of 
 the glorious victory of Second Manassas where many 
 former cadets fell, but where Jackson, and scores of 
 graduates, had distinguished themselves. All these and 
 similar incidents did not fail to heighten the spirit of 
 consecration to duty which pervaded the Institute, and 
 even the most careless and unthoughtful cadet was not 
 free from the influences which they exerted. Verily, 
 the Institute was hallowed by the sacrifices and the 
 libations of blood which those who but recently tenanted 
 its halls were offering up to their country. The spirit 
 animating every officer and cadet is discernible in the 
 following order: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "November 10, 1862. 
 "General Orders- — No. 92. 
 
 "1. The twenty-third (23) anniversary of the Virginia Military 
 Institute occurs to-morrow, November 11th, and, in honor of the 
 day, there will be the usual suspension of Military and Academic 
 duties. 
 
 "2. Each successive year has borne testimony to the increasing 
 usefulness of the Institute. But the united voices of all previous 
 years is faint in comparison with the voice of the single year, now 
 just passed. This year has seen on every battlefield the graduates 
 of the Institute fighting for the independence of our land., as 
 privates in the ranks, or leading to the charge companies, regi- 
 ments, and brigades. And on almost every field the record of their 
 devoted valor is written in crimson lines ; and it is not inappro- 
 priate on this anniversary to remember with allowable complacency 
 that one who is at this moment a Professor of the Institute is one 
 of the most distinguished leaders of the forces of the Southern 
 Confederacy. 
 
 "In after years, the name of General Jackson will be associated 
 with the Anniversary of Southern Independence. 
 
 "3. The customary artillery salute must be omitted — we have 
 not more powder than we may be called upon at any day to use 
 from shotted guns against the invader of our soil. 
 
 "By command of Colonel Preston, 
 
 "A. GovAN Hill, 
 
 "Actg. Adjt., V. M. I."
 
 214 The Military History of 
 
 Twenty-three years of service! It seems almost im- 
 possible that the School had been in existence so brief 
 a period of years at this time, when its services were 
 heralded North and South, as a primary factor in the 
 defense of the Southland. How hard it is to realize that 
 this great institution, which by its achievements had 
 gained a rating as a School of Arms, second only to 
 that of West Point, was after all but an infant, — an 
 Alma Mater the hair of whose oldest son was not yet 
 tinged with gray ! It is almost beyond belief that those 
 sons had not only bled upon the fields of Mexico, but 
 were in 1862 claiming of right a lion's share in every 
 victory of the Southern arms. Yet, when the facts are 
 known, — facts utterly ignored by the historians of 
 the past, — it is clearly seen that the fame of Jackson had 
 been laid upon a foundation of youthful devotion which 
 had its origin in Lexington, and not on the Hudson. 
 Ewell and Garnett and Winder were West Pointers, 
 it is true; but what of the innumerable colonels, and 
 majors, and captains, and scores of subalterns, and 
 dashing staff officers, who rode at the head of the regi- 
 ments, companies and batteries, of the Army of the 
 Valley? 
 
 If ever an army owed its prowess to a single source, 
 it was the army which followed Stonewall Jackson in 
 1862. If ever a leader rested his fame upon a single 
 influence, it was Jackson whose striking sobriquet was 
 won and maintained for him by the blood and valour of 
 his former pupils in the art of war. 
 
 But if the Institute had raised aloft the standard of 
 "Stonewall" Jackson in 1861, and borne his victorious 
 eagles through the Valley of Virginia in 1862, it was 
 in the spring of 1863, that, at last, the immortal leader 
 himself proclaimed to the world in undying words the 
 tribute it had won. 
 
 Never more, let the Institute be charged with rattling 
 the bones of Jackson — the West Pointer. He belongs 
 to the Institute, and is a part of it.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 215 
 
 In the west sally-port of the Barracks of the Virginia 
 Military Institute hangs a bronze tablet dedicated to a 
 great soldier by the men of Maryland who served in his 
 command. Formerly, it hung in the old section-room 
 on the second stoop, in the southwest tower of Barracks, 
 where for many years he taught his classes. 
 
 On the cornice of the chancel in the Chapel dedicated 
 to his memory, are these words which have been pre- 
 served from his lips— "You can be whatever you re- 
 solve to be." 
 
 Before that same sally-port, stands his heroic repre- 
 sentation in bronze, among the very guns which sur- 
 rounded him in battle and, over a half-century ago, 
 bellowed forth the name of "Stonewall" Jackson to the 
 world. 
 
 Beneath that stern monument, and before the muzzles 
 of those ancient pieces, spreads out the martial field oft 
 trodden by his feet ; behind them rise stately walls which 
 inclose a space hallowed by his erstwhile presence; and 
 all about are things which remind us that, interwoven 
 with the history of the Virginia Military Institute, is 
 that of this world-famous soldier. 
 
 Influences, like static forces, when brought togethei' 
 are retroactive; and, so, we may inquire what was the 
 influence exerted upon Jackson by this School, and 
 what was the influence exerted upon this School by 
 Jackson. The latter alone has received the attention 
 of the w^orld. The fame of Jackson has all but eclipsed 
 the part played by others in the making of this story, 
 and their contribution to his fame has been quite ob- 
 scured by the glamour of his name. It is necessary to 
 start at the beginning, if we ate to make a correct 
 analysis of the influences w^hich we have likened unto 
 retroactive forces. 
 
 Let us not disparage Jackson's service to the School, 
 but let us preserve the facts. From 1851 to 1860, Major 
 Thomas Jonathan Jackson was Professor of Natural 
 and Experimental Philosophy. His sole connection 
 with the tactical organization of the School was as In-
 
 216 The Military History of 
 
 striietor of Artillery. He was neither Commandant nor 
 disciplinarian of the Corps, and when the guns of 
 Sumter rang out over the breathless South, the 1,100 
 gradviates and eleves of the Virginia Military Institute 
 who were then living seized their arms and the Drill 
 Manual of William Gilham. 
 
 It was in the stirring spring of 1861 that Jackson 
 first came to the front in connection with the Corps. 
 When it was ordered to Richmond in April to provide 
 the drill-masters for the volunteers of the South, it was 
 Jackson, not Gilham, who led the gallant Battalion of 
 Cadets over the Blue Ridge and far away to unknown 
 fields. Proud of their new leader, and loyal to him as 
 one of their clan, yet, they were not of his making. 
 Rather, had he become a commander through them, 
 than they soldiers through him. It was the prestige 
 which he had won here by years of preparation in our 
 halls that won for him, at the hands of Virginia, his 
 command at Harper's Ferry. 
 
 Before the first shots were exchanged on the soil of 
 Virginia, we find that small army at Harper's Ferry 
 hanmiered into shape, groaning under, but proud of, its 
 discipline. But, it was not Jackson alone who wrought 
 this result. He was but the head — the instrumentalities 
 with which the work was done were the field-officers, the 
 subalterns and the sprightly drill-masters recruited from 
 among the eleves and the cadets of this institution. If 
 there be a doubt in one's mind, let him read the regi- 
 mental and the company rolls of the brigade which gave 
 to its commander at First Manassas the name of "Stone- 
 wall." Then, let us ask if in truth it may be said 
 Jackson made those men the "Stonewall Brigade," or 
 those men made Jackson known to fame, as "Stone- 
 wall." 
 
 During the entire war. West Point contributed 282 
 officers to the Confederate Armies. Of this nimiber, 
 150 were perhaps in the Army in Virginia. The records 
 of the Institute, practically complete now, show that 3 
 major-generals, 18 brigadier-generals, 95 colonels, 65
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 217 
 
 lieutenant-colonels, 110 majors, 306 captains, and 221 
 lieutenants went forth from its halls to the Ijattlefields 
 of the war, and that an unduly large proportion 
 followed the fortunes of Jackson, from first to last. 
 Hence, how absurd is the fallacy of orators, when they 
 declaim of the citizen-soldiery of the South — a soldiery 
 the very backbone of which was trained in a School of 
 Arms second, if at all, to but one other in existence, at 
 the time. Jackson did not win his sobriquet with a 
 mob of raw militia, suddenly, and, as if by the magic of 
 his unknown name, transformed into an efficient fight- 
 ing-machine. On the contrary, he commanded at First 
 Manassas a body of troops which for weeks had been 
 drilled and disciplined by a corps of officers, many of 
 whom were the trained product of a master-hand. For 
 twenty years, the very text of the drill-manual in their 
 hands had been upon their lips. 
 
 One frequently finds the historian alluding to the 
 ability of Jackson to exact extraordinary sacrifices of 
 his officers and men, and endeavoring to analyze his 
 character as a leader, in order to arrive at the reason 
 for this exceptional power on his part. That he pos- 
 sessed a remarkable character, and unusual ability to 
 command, is unquestioned. Indirectly, these traits ex- 
 plain his success ; but there is a more direct explanation. 
 Stonewall Jackson, besides being inherently great, had 
 the good fortune to exercise command over, and to be 
 associated with armies, the very backbone of which con- 
 sisted of young men who had but recently borne to him 
 the relation of the pupil to the beloved tutor. The full 
 import of this fact becomes more apparent when it is 
 recalled that nearly three hundred field-officers alone in 
 the Army of Northern Virginia distributed among the 
 three branches, besides nearly five hundred subalterns, 
 had, for varying periods, been closely associated with 
 him, and subjected to the influence of his personality, 
 before they were called upon to follow and cooperate 
 with him upon the field of war. They were his children, 
 his wards, and knew each and every whim of their leader
 
 218 The Military History or 
 
 for whom only the highest respect was entertained. In 
 him, they reposed that subhme confidence which knows 
 not reservation, content to rely upon the judgment of 
 one who in the closest relations of life had never failed 
 them in the past. Unconsciously, perhaps, but, if so, 
 all the more thoroughly, they had absorbed his teachings, 
 and become able to follow the habit of his mind. And, 
 so, when his first successes crowned him with a halo 
 of military glory, they who had already accorded him 
 the fullest measure of confidence, enthroned him as the 
 special object of their pride. From the very first, Jack- 
 son's success was redolent of glory for a host of followers 
 holding him up to the admiring world as their own 
 tutelary genius. So far as thej^ were concerned, it was 
 not an unknown general whose orders bade them follow, 
 and suffer, and die upon the field of battle. Their leader 
 was Major Jackson, and they were cadets as of yester- 
 day, each vying with the others to merit the reward of 
 his approving eye. The stern, and occasionally harsh, 
 drill-master of former davs was now become a leader of 
 acknowledged ability, and they — the cadets — had be- 
 come the company, the battery, the battalion, the regi- 
 mental, yea, the brigade, leaders, in such numbers as to 
 leaven the entire army, and to transmit to the whole, 
 receptive as it was, their own spirit of pride and de- 
 votion. 
 
 Not only was this true, but to no one was it so well 
 known as to Jackson himself. Conscious of the sincerity 
 of his own purpose, confident of the power he held, and 
 that no demand he might make would fail to elicit the 
 fullest possible response from his men, in this spirit it 
 was at Chancellorsville — the supreme hour of his life — - 
 having given his commands, he viewed with pride the 
 army which swept before him to execute his bidding; 
 and, in the joy of the commander who felt the responsive 
 throb of his army's pulse, exclaimed, ''The Virginia Mili- 
 tary Institute will be heard from to-day." The remark is 
 capable of but one reasonable interpretation. Other 
 constructions may be placed upon it, but the true one is 
 that Jackson, sin*rounded by Rodes, Colston, and
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 219 
 
 Crutchfield, all of whom had been his associates in the 
 faculty, at the Institute, the last his pupil as well, and 
 closely scrutinizing the countenances of his men as they 
 filed past him, saw, in the faces of his youthful but 
 seasoned field officers, something portentous of more 
 than the usual elan of his troops. Yes, from the eyes of 
 the regimental, battalion, and company leaders, a host 
 of whom he had guided to manhood's estate, bearing as 
 they were the burden of his fame, Hashed a mute as- 
 surance that nothing save death would deter them, in 
 obedience to his behest. And, so, when smitten by fate 
 at the hour of his greatest glory, it was his children 
 whose hearts were wrung with anguish as they gazed 
 upon his fallen form. No mere loss of a heroic leader 
 was this to an armv, but a wound which tore the very 
 heart-strings of his men, many of them regarding the 
 blow as prescient of the future. 
 
 Without desiring, in any respect, to detract from the 
 fame of the man, who, deprecating the advent of 
 fratricidal strife, yet could throw away his scabbard, let 
 us ask, where in all the history of war was there another 
 so fortunately circumstanced as was Jackson? From a 
 psychological viewpoint, he was certainly highly 
 favored. 
 
 It has been reiterated by such military philosophers 
 as Billow, Jomini, Willisen, Clausewitz, Moltke, Von 
 der Goltz, Henderson, and Balck, that the moral force 
 is the preponderant one in war. The moral force which 
 gives men the will-power to overcome all obstacles, to 
 shrink from no danger, and to strive for victory at any 
 cost, emanates from those sentiments which inspirit men 
 to become courageous soldiers. "In a general way, these 
 sentiments are, religious zeal, patriotism, enthusiasm for 
 a commander, discipline, and, most of all, confidence re- 
 sulting from experience."* If these be facts, let us 
 apply them to the case under consideration. 
 
 The prestige of Jackson gave him complete moral 
 ascendancy over his men; and that prestige was de- 
 
 •Psychology of War. Eltinge, p. 64.
 
 220 The Military History of 
 
 cidedly the outgrowth of an experience which many 
 of his subordinates had gained with him, his officers com- 
 prising the psychological or suggestive medium, by 
 which the spirit of confidence in and enthusiasm for, the 
 commander, was generated in his army. 
 
 "The best obeyed commanders are neither the best 
 instructed, the most inteUigent, the most paternal, nor 
 the most severe, but are those who have innate or ac- 
 quired prestige. . . . It is because of it that his 
 suggestions take on an irresistible power, that he is able 
 to throw his soldiers against the enemy in an enthusiastic 
 assault, and that he can stop with a gesture the first 
 fugitives, tranforming them into heroes."* 
 
 Now, let us follow him to the field of Chancellorsville, 
 and see if the Virginia Military Institute did not figure 
 in that crowning success of his career. 
 
 The great soldier had led his turning column across 
 the face of Hooker's crouching army. He had recon- 
 noitered the vulnerable flank of Howard's 11th 
 Corps on the extreme right of the Federal position, and 
 his well-formulated orders had been issued with the de- 
 cision for which he was noted. It was then nearly five 
 o'clock. 
 
 While the eager, but silent. Confederates were being 
 deployed, their quick intelligence having already 
 realized the situation, Jackson sat astride "Little Sor- 
 rel" abreast of his first line of battle. With his old 
 slouch hat pulled well forward, and his lips tightly com- 
 pressed, he calmly, but impatiently, awaited the com- 
 pletion of the dispositions for advance. Who shall 
 know what were his feelings during this, the supreme, 
 hour of his life? Certainly, few soldiers, since the world 
 began, have been so situated. Less than half a mile 
 before him lay the exposed flank of his enemy, entirely 
 unprepared to meet the rush of his fiery battalions. It 
 almost seemed that Fame, even had she never favored 
 him before, had already spread over his shoulders the 
 
 ♦Ibid., p. 70. For Psychology of War see "Etudes sur le combat," Dupicq ; 
 Psychology du Combat de I'lnfantere, Loque ; Les Realities du Combat, Dau- 
 dlgnac ; Actual Experience in Warfare, Solaviev.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 221 
 
 cloak of immortality. With that supreme confidence in 
 himself, and a confidence in his men which few leaders 
 have ever experienced in so high a degree, the hawk of 
 the valley was deliberately spreading his pinions for the 
 sudden swoop. On the familiar faces of his leaders he 
 discerned only the expression which gladdened his heart, 
 and forbade thought of failure. There were Rodes and 
 Colston of the Institute faculty, in front, and in their 
 divisions were not less than 200 brigade, regimental, 
 battalion and company leaders, whom he had drilled 
 upon the parade ground at Lexington, for this, the 
 greatest maneuver of his life. On the right, at the head 
 of the leading regiment of cavalry, was the dashing 
 Munford, and in his rear, the brilliant Crutchfield in 
 command of the artillery, both of whom had been his 
 pupils, and the latter his associate in the faculty of Vir- 
 ginia's great School of Arms. Small wonder was it 
 that the inspiration which animated the soul of the 
 chieftain penetrated to the very core of his army! 
 
 In addition to the officers named, many other 
 prominent actors in the battle of Chancellorsville had 
 been cadets under Jackson. General James H. Lane, 
 Captain J. T. Tosh, Colston's Assistant Adjutant-Gen- 
 eral; Colonel Thomas H. Carter, Chief of Artillery of 
 Rodes's Division; Major H. A. Whiting, A. A. G. 
 Rodes's Division; Colonel John M. Brockenbrough, 
 commanding Heth's Brigade; Colonel R. M. Mayo, 
 47th Virginia; Colonel T. S. Garnett, 48th Virginia, 
 commanding brigade; Colonel Frank Mallory, 5.5th 
 Virginia, commanding brigade; Lieutenant-Colonel 
 E. P. Taylor, 22d Virginia Battalion; General R. 
 Lindsay Walker, Chief of Artillery, A. P. Hill's 
 Division; Colonel Briscoe G. Baldwin, Chief of 
 Ordnance, A. N. V. ; Colonel R. W. Carter, 1st Virginia 
 Cavalry; Colonel Thomas H. Owen, 3d Virginia 
 Cavalry; and Colonel W. H. Payne, 4th Virginia 
 Cavalry, were among the graduates of the Institute. 
 Thus, it is seen that all four of Jackson's cavalry regi- 
 ments, two of his divisions, and two battalions of his
 
 222 The Miijtary History of 
 
 artillery were commanded by former pupils, besides his 
 leading Ijrigades, and many batteries and regiments.* 
 With these facts before us, can we wonder that he ex- 
 claimed, as he set his column in motion early in the 
 morning, "The Virginia ^lihtary Institute will be 
 heard from to-day"? 
 
 At five o'clock, Jackson asked General Rodes, "Are 
 you ready?" "Yes", rephed Rodes, who then nodded to 
 the conmiander of the skirmish line. At 5:15 p. m. the 
 signal for the general advance was given, and almost 
 immediately Willis's skirmishers struck the Federal 
 pickets along the pike, who fell back, giving the alarm. 
 The Confederate bugles rang out all along the advanc- 
 ing line like the cry of wild fowl in the teeth of a gale. 
 On, past the foremost skirmishers, dashed Breathed, 
 with the leading section of his battery, and, unlimber- 
 ing on the pike, with each of the two guns, fired a round 
 of shell which raked the road and burst like wind-tossed 
 flecks of spray from the crest of the onrushing wave. 
 
 Again, success crowned Jackson on this day; but 
 while Chancellorsville marked his last feat of arms, it 
 does not spell his final victory. Hooker had been driven 
 across the Rappahannock ; the tide of invasion had again 
 been turned back ; but the bullet which shattered the left 
 arm of his lieutenant, had destroyed the right arm of 
 Lee; for, on May 10th, the mighty Jackson succumbed, 
 eight days after his wounding. But, Death, where was 
 thy sting? 
 
 The story of his last hours on earth is one full of 
 pathos, as well as of the most inspiring lessons for the 
 soldier. In the hour of his death, he was as great as 
 when, upon the various battlefields of his career, with 
 exalted mien and superb composure, he led his men to 
 victory. Concerning his wounding and death. Long- 
 street wrote: "The shock was a very severe one to men 
 and officers, but the full extent of our loss was not felt 
 until the remains of the beloved general had been sent 
 home. The dark clouds of the future then began to 
 
 •In the 2nci Virginia (^avalry. Col. Munford commanding, were 23 officers 
 who had been cadets.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 223 
 
 lower above the Confederates." General Lee, in a 
 note to the wounded general on the 3d, in the midst of 
 the battle, had declared that could he have directed 
 events, he should have chosen, for the good of the 
 country, to have been disabled in Jackson's stead. In 
 closing his message, he congratulated Jackson upon the 
 victory his "skill and energy" had won; but the latter, 
 expressing appreciation of his superior's remarks, de- 
 clared that General Lee should give the praise to God, 
 and not to him. 
 
 Soon after his wounding, he had been removed by 
 order of General Lee to the Chandler house, near 
 Guiney's Station, where Dr. McGuire did all in his 
 power to save him; but on Thursday, the 7th, he de- 
 veloped pneumonia of the right lung, doubtless attrib- 
 utable to a fall from the litter the night he was wounded 
 and carried from the field in the same ambulance with 
 poor "Stape" Crutchfield. Fortunately, for his peace 
 of mind, Mrs. Jackson arrived this day with her infant 
 child, and took the place of his chaplain who had re- 
 mained almost constantly with him. By Saturday, 
 Doctors Hoge, Breckinridge, and Tucker, had joined 
 McGuire in an effort to save him; and, noting their 
 presence, he said to Dr. McGuire: "I see. from the 
 number of physicians that you think my condition is 
 dangerous, but I thank God, if it is His will, that I am 
 ready to go." When informed by Mrs. Jackson at day- 
 light, the next morning, that he should prepare for the 
 worst, he was silent for a moment, and then said: "It 
 will be infinite gain to be translated to Heaven." And, 
 so we see that, although this wonderful man still clung 
 to a hope of recovery, his confidence in the future was as 
 supreme as his self-confidence had been on earth. Never 
 once did he express a doubt of his ability to rise superior 
 to present difficulties, or to meet the future. His sole 
 request was to be buried in Lexington, in the Valley of 
 Virginia, where, as a simple and unassuming professor 
 of the science of war, he had kept the smothered fire of 
 liis genius aglow, while preparing himself, and a host of
 
 224 The Military History of 
 
 his pupils, for the inevitable struggle which he had fore- 
 seen. When told by his wife that before sundown he 
 would be in Heaven, he called for Dr. McGuire, and 
 asked him if he must die. To the affirmative answer he re- 
 ceived, his reply was, "Very good, very good, it is all 
 right." His efforts were then to comfort his heart- 
 broken wife, and when Colonel "Sandie" Pendleton, of 
 Lexington, entered his room about 1 :00 p. m., he in- 
 quired who was preaching at headquarters on this, his 
 last. Sabbath. Being informed that the whole army 
 was prajang for him, he said: "Thank God, they are 
 very kind. It is the Lord's day; my wish is fulfilled. I 
 have always desired to die on Sunday." 
 
 His mind now began to weaken, while his lips 
 frequently muttered commands, as if he were on the 
 field of battle — then words of comfort for his wife. 
 When tendered a drink of brandy and water, he declined 
 it, saying: "It will only delay my departure, and do no 
 good. I want to preserve my mind, if possible, to the 
 last." Again, he was told that but few hours remained 
 for him, and, again, he replied feebly, but firmly: "Very 
 good, it is all right." 
 
 In the delirium which preceded his death, he cried 
 out: "Order A. P. Hill to prepare for action; pass the 
 infantry to the front rapidly; tell Major Hawks" — 
 then, pausing, a smile of ineffable sweetness spread 
 over his pallid face, and with an expression as if of re- 
 lief, he said: "No, no; let us cross over the river and 
 rest under the shade of the trees." Then, without sign 
 of pain, or the least struggle, his spirit passed onward 
 and upward to God. 
 
 Such, were the final moments of the great soldier. 
 With body all but cold in death, as long as his pulse con- 
 tinued, the dictates of his heart were pure. Ahnost to 
 the instant that heart ceased to beat, his mind had given 
 evidence of the quality of the man in the flash of the will, 
 though now sub-conscious, which possessed his spirit. 
 Still, his mind dwelt upon rapid action and the rush of 
 the infantry, which ever filled his soul with joy; but,
 
 COLONEL \Vn.LL\M GILHAM 
 Co:M>rAXDAXT i>i- Cahets 184r.-lSr)j 
 
 I'KOFKSSOI! 1 .S4t!-1 Sfi.j
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 225 
 
 then, even in that last flicker of his intellect, he realized 
 that the flag of truce had been raised by his enemies, and 
 interposing the stay of his final words, "No, no — ,"* he 
 died in the happiness of the earthly victory he had won. 
 
 Let us be thankful that his men were preparing to 
 rest upon their arms and were not engaged in the heated 
 turmoil of the charge, when he bade them farewell. Let 
 us be thankful that this dispensation was granted him 
 by the Maker who gently led him to the shade of the 
 riverside, where rested all those gallant youths who had 
 preceded him. No longer were they his pupils, and his 
 subordinates in war, but his equals in the Eternity of 
 Peace. 
 
 At five o'clock p. m.^ May 12th, the following com- 
 munication was received at the Institute : 
 
 "Adjutant-General's Office, 
 
 "Richmond, Va., May 11, 1863. 
 
 "Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute. 
 
 "Sir — By command of the Governor, I have this day to perform 
 the most painful duty of my official life, in announcing to you, and 
 through you to the Faculty and Cadets of the Virginia Military 
 Institute, the death of the great and good, the heroic and illustrious 
 Lieutenant-General T. J. Jackson, at fifteen minutes past three 
 o'clock, yesterday afternoon. 
 
 "This heavy bereavement over which every true heart within 
 the bounds of the Confederacy mourns with inexpressible sorrow, 
 must fall, if possible, with heavier force upon that noble State 
 Institution to which he came from the battlefields of Mexico, and 
 where he gave to his native State the first years' service of his 
 modest and unobtrusive, but public-spirited and useful, life. 
 
 "It would be a senseless waste of words to attempt a eulogy 
 upon this great among the greatest of the sons who have im- 
 mortalized Virginia. To the Corps of Cadets of the Virginia 
 Military Institute, what a legacy he has left you, what an example 
 of all that is good and great and true in the character of a Christian 
 soldier !' 
 
 "The Governor directs that the highest funeral honors be paid 
 to his memory, and that the customary outward badges of mourning 
 be worn by all the officers and cadets of the Institute. 
 
 "By command, 
 
 "W. H. Richardson, A.-G." 
 
 •According to Captain James Power Smith, .Taclison's last remarks included 
 the two words, no, no, and were not, as usually quoted, without those words. 
 
 15
 
 220 The Military History of 
 
 And, so, but an earthly rite remained to those whom 
 the great soldier had left behind. Far off from the 
 scene of conflict, that youthful band, bound together 
 then as it is now by the traditions of his fame, awaited, 
 with lips compressed and watery eyes, the duty which of 
 riglit they claimed, a privilege ungrudgingly accorded 
 them by the world. 
 
 The news of General Jackson's death came as a shock 
 to the Institute, and to the people of Lexington, where 
 no one had thought seriously of the possibility of losing 
 him. The grief in the community was intense, and 
 everybody was in tears. Men had made an idol of their 
 fellow being, and now God rebuked them. The beauti- 
 ful sky, and the rich perfumed spring air of Lexington, 
 seemed darkened by the oppressive sorrow everywhere 
 to be seen. 
 
 Hear, now. the words which, with faltering voice, the 
 Acting Adjutant read to the assembled Corps: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "May 13, 1863. 
 
 "General Orders- — No. 30. 
 
 "It is the painful duty of the Superintendent to announce to 
 the officers and cadets of this Institution the death of their late 
 associate and Professor, Lieutenant-General Thomas J. Jackson. 
 He died at Guiney's Station. Caroline County, Virginia, on the 
 10th inst., of pneumonia, after a short but violent illness, which 
 supervened upon the severe wound received in the battle of 
 Chancellors ville. 
 
 "A nation mourns the loss of General Jackson. First in the 
 hearts of the brave men he has so often led to victory, there is 
 not a home in the Confederacy that will not feel the loss, and 
 lament it as a great national calamity. But our loss is distinctive. 
 He was peculiarly our own. He came to us in 1851, a Lieutenant 
 and Brevet-j\Iajor of Artillery from the Army of the late United 
 States, upon the unanimous appointment of the Board of Visitors, 
 as Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and In- 
 structor of Artillery. Here, he labored with scrupulous fidelity 
 for ten years in the duties of these important offices. Here, he 
 became a soldier of the Cross, and as an humble, conscientious and 
 useful Christian man he established a character which has developed 
 into the world-renowned Christian hero.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 227 
 
 "On the 21st of April, upon the order of His Excellency, 
 Governor Letcher, he left the Institute in command of the Corps 
 of Cadets for Camp Lee, Richmond, for service in the defense of 
 his State and country ; and he has never known a day of rest 
 until called by Divine command to cease from his labors. 
 
 "The military career of General Jackson fills the most brilliant 
 and momentous page in the history of our country, and of the 
 achievement of our arms, and he stands forth a colossal figure in 
 this War of our Independence. 
 
 "His country now returns him to us — not as he was when he left 
 us. His spirit has gone to God who gave it. His mutilated body 
 comes back to us — to his home, to be laid by us in the tomb. 
 Reverently and affectionately, we will discharge this last solemn 
 duty, and, 
 
 " 'Though his earthly sun is set 
 
 Its light shall linger round us yet — 
 Bright, radiant, blest.' 
 
 "Young gentlemen of the Corps of Cadets, the memory of Gen- 
 eral Jackson is very precious to you. You know how faithfully, 
 how conscientiously he discharged every dut3\ You know that he 
 was emphatically a man of God, and that Christian principle im- 
 pressed every act of his life. You know how he sustained the 
 honor of our arms when he commanded at Harper's Ferry ; how 
 gallantly he repulsed Patterson at Hainesville ; the invincible stand 
 he made with the Stonewall Brigade at Manassas. You know the 
 brilliant series of successes and victories which immortalized his 
 Valley campaign, for many of you were under his standard at Mc- 
 Dowell and pursued the discomfited Banks and Schenck to Franklin. 
 You know his rapid march to the Chickahominy ; how he turned the 
 flank of McClellan at Gaines's Mill; his subsequent victory over 
 Pope at Cedar Mountain; the part he bore in the great victory at 
 Second Manassas; his investment and capture of Harper's Ferry; 
 his rapid march and great conflict at Sharpsburg; and, when 
 his last conflict was past, the tribute of the magnanimous Lee 
 who would gladly have suffered in his own person, could he by 
 that sacrifice have saved General Jackson, and to whom, alone, 
 under God, he gave the whole glory of the great victory at 
 Chancellorsville. 
 
 "Surely, the Virginia Military Institute has a precious in- 
 heritance in the memory of General Jackson. God gave him to 
 us and to his country. God fitted him for his work, and, when 
 his work was done. He called him to Himself. Submissive to the 
 will of his Heavenly Father — it may be said of him that while in 
 every heart there may be some mourning — his will was to do and 
 suffer the will of God.
 
 228 The Militaey History of 
 
 "Reverence the memon' of such a man as General Jackson. 
 Imitate his virtues, and, here, over his lifeless remains, reverently 
 dedicate your service and life, if need be, in defense of that cause 
 so dear to his heart — the cause for which he fought and bled — the 
 cause in which he died. 
 
 "Let the Cadet Battery which he so long commanded honor his 
 memory by half-hour guns to-morrow from sunrise to sunset, under 
 the direction of the Commandant of Cadets.* Let his lecture-room 
 be draped in mourning for the period of six months. 
 
 "Let the officers and cadets of the Institute wear the usual badge 
 of mourning for the period of thirty days ; and it is respectfully 
 recommended to all the Alumni of the Institute to unite in this last 
 tribute of respect to the memory of their late Professor. 
 
 "By command of Major-General Smith, 
 
 "A. G. Hill, 
 
 "Actg. Adjt., V. M. I." 
 
 Thursday evening, May 14th, the body of Jackson, 
 accompanied by his wife and child, his former aide, 
 Captain James Power Smith,** and a number of others, 
 arrived at Lexington on a canal boat, which had trans- 
 ported the remains from Richmond via Lynchburg, f 
 It was met by the Corps of Cadets and all the officers 
 of the Institute, as well as the entire populace of the 
 town, and escorted by the Corps to Barracks where the 
 body was laid in state in the old tower Section Room, 
 Number 39, in which Jackson had said, "If war must 
 come, as a soldier I will welcome war!" That evening, 
 at Retreat, the following order was read: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "May 14, 1863. 
 
 "General Orders — No. 37. 
 
 "1. The funeral of Lieutenant-General Jackson will take place 
 to-morrow. Major Scott Shipp, Commandant of Cadets, will com- 
 mand the military escort, and direct the procession. 
 
 "2. The body will move from the Institute at 11 o'clock a. m. 
 
 "3. Half-hour guns will be fired from sunrise until the pro- 
 cession moves. 
 
 •There were now but five pieces In the battery. One howitzer had been 
 lost in the Potomac by Milledge's Battery on the retreat from Sharpsburg. 
 See report of General Pendleton on Sharpsburg Campaign. Rebellion Records. 
 
 **Llving still, a distinguished minister of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 tCol. .Tames W. Massie was later designated to accompany Mrs. Jackson to 
 her home in North Carolina.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 229 
 
 "■it. The Flags of the State and Confederacy will be displayed 
 at half-mast during the day. 
 
 "By command of Major-General Smith, 
 
 "A. G. Hill, 
 
 "Actg. Adjt., V. M. I." 
 
 It was now, as the cadets with reversed arms and 
 muffled drums, bore the remains of their martial divinity 
 back to Barracks, that they first reahzed that Jackson 
 was dead. 
 
 "Could it be possible? They had believed that he 
 had a charmed life. The Institute had sent a host of 
 magnificent officers to the front. There were Rodes, 
 Mahone, Lindsay Walker, The Patton brothers. Lane, 
 Crutchfield, McCausland, Colston, and many others of 
 lower rank; but 'Old Jack' was, from his shoulders and 
 upwards, tallest among the people, in the estimation of 
 the cadets," 
 
 The Corps furnished sentinels from the Guard to keep 
 the mournful vigil, while the people of the town and 
 county thronged to the Barracks to view the remains. 
 Men, women, and children wept over Jackson's bier as 
 if his death were a personal affliction, and in the great 
 Barracks the voice of the cadet was choked with sorrow. 
 Flowers were piled high about the casket until it was 
 hidden from view; and, the sun set brilliantly beyond 
 the House Mountain, spreading its mellow light over 
 the great parade ground, and piercing the casemate 
 window of the embattled tower with its searching rays; 
 the fragrant lilacs about the bier glistened in the fading 
 hours of day as if wet with nature's tears and those of 
 the heartbroken mourners who had borne them thither. 
 
 How jealously the young soldiers, detailed to guard 
 the bier of Jackson through that night, prized the duty 
 which befell them ! But hundreds are even j^et to come, 
 who, in the still hours of the night, as they saunter back 
 and forth upon the lonely sentry post, will, in spirit, 
 guard the remains of Jackson — the sacred heritage of 
 his erstwhile presence.
 
 230 The Military Histoky of 
 
 Friday, May 15th, the body was again escorted by 
 the Corps, the Cadet Battery which he had commanded 
 for ten years at the Institute, and in battle at First 
 Manassas, comprising the Artillery escort, as ordered. 
 The coffin, draped with the first Confederate flag ever 
 made, presented by President Davis to Mrs. Jackson, 
 was placed on one of the caissons upon which were 
 heaped beautiful wreaths and wild flowers. The horses 
 were led by the servants of the Institute acting as 
 grooms. 
 
 The escort was commanded by the Conmiandant, 
 Major Shipp, a former pupil of Jackson's, and, in ad- 
 dition to the battery, consisted of a regiment of infantry 
 of which the cadets comprised eight companies; de- 
 tached members of the Stonewall Brigade, one 
 company; and a number of convalescent soldiers from 
 the Institute hospital, one company. Two troops of 
 cavalry of Sweeney's Squadron, Jenkins' command 
 (many of its members being from Jackson's native 
 section), by a strange coincidence, happened to be pass- 
 ing through Lexington from the West, just at the hour 
 appointed for the procession to move ! They halted, pro- 
 cured mourning for their colors, and joined the escort. 
 
 The military escort, followed by a great number of 
 people, moved first to the Presbyterian Church where 
 ceremonies, wonderfully pathetic in their simplicity 
 and the strength of their appeal, were conducted, and 
 then to the Cemetery where the remains were interred, 
 with the military honors appropriate for a Lieutenant- 
 General. But the crash of musketry and cannon was 
 lost, for in the ears and hearts of those assembled rung 
 the words of the funeral hymn— 
 
 "How blest the righteous when he dies!" 
 
 How fitting it was that the Chapel in which his life- 
 less body lay in state should be the Section-Room in 
 which for ten long years he set so noble an example! 
 How fitting is was that the hearse which bore to the 
 grave all that was earthly of the great soldier-professor
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 231 
 
 should be a caisson of the battery he had so long com- 
 manded, with which he had trained the Confederate 
 Artillery, and among the flashing guns of which he re- 
 ceived his immortal sobriquet! 
 
 In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, on the gentle emi- 
 nence commanding the loveliest view of the peaceful, 
 picturesque vales bej'^ond, and with the great House 
 Mountain as his headstone, which, like a huge sentinel, 
 stands guard beside the parade ground of his life, 
 tenderly was his body laid to rest by the youthful 
 soldiers he loved so well. But, still with the uncovered 
 blade of immortality, — 
 
 His spirit wraps yon dusky mountain, 
 His memory sparkles o'er each fountain; 
 The meanest rill, the mightiest river, 
 Rolls, mingling his fame with theirs forever.* 
 
 Cadets of yesterday, what privileges were yours! 
 What influences were these that entered into your lives ! 
 How we, to-day, envy you the exalting scenes amid 
 which you wore the coatee, consoled only by the know- 
 ledge that you, and the noblest traditions of your deeds, 
 belong to us, for all time. That you were not un- 
 worthy of your opportunities, your records show, and 
 on the page of one we read : 
 
 "Next day, we buried him with pomp of war, the 
 cadets his escort of honor ; with minute guns and tolling 
 bells, and most impressive circumstances, we bore him 
 to his rest. But those ceremonies were to me far less 
 impressive than walking post in that bare sentry room, 
 in the still hours of night, reflecting that there lay all 
 that was left of one whose name still thrilled the world." 
 
 The burial of Stonewall Jackson made a deep im- 
 pression upon the Corps of Cadets, a body of youth to 
 whom death was no longer strange. For months at the 
 Institute, each day had dawned fraught with messages 
 of blood and loss. Each hour had swelled the list of the 
 Alumni who had fallen in the battles of their country. 
 
 ♦Paraphrase.
 
 232 The Military History of 
 
 Before the summer of 1862, the following record was 
 
 engraven upon the minds of every member of the 
 
 Corps : 
 
 Brig.- Lieut. - 
 
 Gens. Cols. Cols. Maj. Capt. Lieut. Pri. 
 
 Killed or died 1 18 8 4 22 20 13— 86 
 Wounded 3 18 14 11 19 20 85 
 
 Total 4 36 22 15 41 40 13 — 171 
 
 But this list was only indicative of the sacrifice yet to 
 be made, and only partially shows the way in which the 
 Institute was to repay to the State its debt of gratitude.* 
 
 It had been the custom of the cadets, when things 
 went amiss in the army, to say, "Wait until 'Old Jack' 
 gets there; he will straighten matters out." They felt, 
 therefore, that his loss was irreparable. The cold face 
 on which they had looked taught them lessons which 
 the curriculum of no college taught — lessons which even 
 the cadet of to-day pursues with the text-book of 
 tradition in his hand. 
 
 ♦The Class of 1858, with 19 members alone, lost 7 in battle, and 3 lost 
 limbs — Reid, Cutshaw, and Wilson.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 233 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE SUMMER OF 1863. AVERELL^S FIRST RAID A NEW 
 
 SESSION AND NEW ARMS 
 
 After the death of Jackson, many cadets resolved 
 to delay no longer gaining the necessary authority from 
 their parents to enter the army, and some even without 
 taking that step, resigned, or took "French" leave of 
 the Institute, without waiting for the end of the session. 
 
 The annual examinations were ordered to begin June 
 22d, and, upon their termination on June 30th, the 
 Corps was mustered and placed in camp, after a re- 
 view before the Board of Visitors, and a board of army 
 officers detailed by the War Department to inspect the 
 Institute.* The Army Board consisted of Brigadier- 
 Generals A. K. Lawton, A. G. Blanchard, R. E. 
 Colston, and Roger A. Pryor. 
 
 On July 4th, the final exercises were held ; ten cadets 
 were graduated, and furloughs were granted the Second 
 Class. The Corps now numbered 215 cadets, the largest 
 number of old cadets ever mustered at the Institute up 
 to that time. 
 
 Those familiar with the history of this period will not 
 forget that on the 4th of July, 1863, when the final 
 exercises at the Institute were being held, the great 
 battle of Gettysburg had just been fought, and the 
 surrender of Vicksburg was taking place. 
 
 After Lee's retreat from Pennsylvania, the cry for 
 men to fill the depleted ranks was loud. Captain Wil- 
 fred E. Cutshaw, V. M. I., '58, a gallant artilleryman, 
 temporarily incapacitated for active duty by a wound 
 received in the battle of Winchester in 1862, had, under 
 the orders of the War Department, reported for duty 
 at the Institute on June 6th. 
 
 *S. O. No. 140, A. & I. C. O. Tune 12, 1863.
 
 234 The Military History of 
 
 With such an officer present to command the Corps 
 there was no pressing need for the Commandant to re- 
 main during the summer, and, without hesitating, he, 
 together with Lieutenants H. A. Wise, and J. G. 
 Miller, tactical officers, departed to join the army; 
 John E. Roller, and Joseph B. Prince, just graduated, 
 taking the places of the last two, as Assistant Pro- 
 fessors. R. A. Crawford of this Class was later ap- 
 pointed a tactical officer, and subsequently died in the 
 field. 
 
 During the dark days following Gettysburg, Scott 
 Shipp, Commandant of Cadets, formerly Major, 21st 
 Virginia Infantry, served as a private soldier in the 4th 
 Virginia Cavalry.* Later, he was urged by all field 
 officers of his old regiment except one to accept the 
 colonelcy, but the Secretary of War would not allow 
 him to do so as a single field officer would not waive his 
 right to advancement. His sole desire was to serve where 
 most needed. In those perilous times, men paid little 
 heed to superficial marks of rank. Let it be remembered 
 how he, whose frock coat bore the insignia of a field- 
 officer of infantry, sprung into the saddle of the alert 
 vidette to patrol the outposts, when the troops he might 
 have commanded lay bleeding and resting in their 
 camps. Such was the stuff of which this stern soldier 
 was made ; and when the gravest danger had passed, he 
 reluctantly resumed his post at the Institute which a 
 wounded comrade had filled in his absence. 
 
 The monotony of the summer camp, and drilling, was 
 broken in August, when, on the 13th, Captain Cutshaw, 
 the Acting Commandant, was directed at the request of 
 General Colston, to furnish Captain R. D. Lilley (V. 
 M. I.), District Enrolling Officer, with a detachment 
 to round up a party of deserters. 
 
 The detachment consisting of .50 cadets under the 
 command of Lieutenant Wise, who had returned to 
 
 •He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of the Institute, July 7th, 1863 br 
 the Board of Visitors. •' ' ' ■'
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 235 
 
 duty,* was ordered to scour the mountain haunts in 
 the vicinity of Lexington, where many deserters were 
 known to be in hiding. This was dangerous, though 
 ignominious, duty, attended with many hardships and 
 httle prospect of a successful issue. The bold 
 mountaineers were as little apt to surrender to the 
 patrols without desperate resistance, if cornered, as they 
 were to allow themselves to be apprehended in the rug- 
 ged hill country every foot of which they had known 
 since boyhood. The effort to apprehend the deserters 
 and force them back into the ranks, where men were so 
 greatly needed, was abandoned at the end of the second 
 day, without mishap, or success, of any kind. Subse- 
 quently, the Corps was called upon to furnish detach- 
 ments for similar work on a number of occasions. 
 
 Another incident, more stirring than deserter-himt- 
 ing, occurred late in August. 
 
 On the 5th of August, Brigadier-General William W. 
 Averell, commanding the 4th Separate Cavalry Bri- 
 gade, 8th Army Corps, U. S. Army, set out from Win- 
 chester, Virginia, with about 3,500 men and 8 guns, on 
 a raid the object of which was to destroy the various 
 saltpetre works in the western part of Virginia. After 
 skirmishes at Cold Spring Gap and Moorefield, West 
 Virginia, on the 5th and 6th, he destroyed the saltpetre 
 works near Franklin on the 19th, brushed the Con- 
 federate cavalry aside in a skirmish at Huntersville on 
 the 22d, and again near Warm Springs, Virginia, on 
 the 24th. His destination was then Covington, a point 
 less than forty miles from Lexington. 
 
 Having driven the force under Colonel William L» 
 Jackson, consisting of about 900 men, out of Pocahontas 
 County, Averell determined to turn his column toward 
 Lewisburg, in the hope that the movement up to Warm 
 Springs had deceived the Confederates and led them 
 to believe he was heading for Staunton. On the 25th, 
 
 ♦Resignation tendered July 4th, 1863, accepted July 7th, reappointed July 
 27th. 
 
 Colonel Shipp, or "Old Shipp", as the cadets called him. was frequently 
 tendered commands in the field and constantly sought active service, but each 
 time his resignation as Commandant was rejected and the greatest pressure 
 brought to bear to keep him at the Institute.
 
 236 The Military History of 
 
 after detaching a regiment back to Huntersville, he 
 made a rapid march of 25 miles to Callaghan's, 
 in Alleghany Comity, destroying the saltpetre works 
 on Jackson's River, as he passed. From Callaghan's 
 reconnoitering parties were sent out toward Covington 
 and Sweet Springs. The saltpetre works near Coving- 
 ton were also destroyed, and a small wagon train 
 captured. 
 
 On the morning of the 25th, Jackson's infantry was 
 near Old Millboro, and his cavalry pickets near Bath 
 Alum. His plan was, if Averell pressed him, to make 
 a stand at Panther Gap, near Goshen Depot, and en- 
 deavor to hold that position mitil he could receive re- 
 inforcements from Lexington. With this plan in 
 mind, he at once called on Colonel Edmondson, com- 
 manding the Home Guard in Lexington, and the 
 Superintendent of the Institute, to support him. Ac- 
 cordingly, the following order was at once issued : 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "August 25, 1863. 
 "Special Order — No. 165. 
 
 "1. An urgent call having been made by Brigadier-General 
 W. L. Jackson, for reinforcements, and particularly for artillery, 
 to enable him to repel a threatened attack by the enemy, upon the 
 borders of this county, which, if successful, would expose the 
 Institute, and the county, to the outrages of an unscrupulous foe, 
 and the Home Guard of Lexington having promptly responded to 
 this call, the Superintendent deems it his duty to make use of every 
 available man of this Institution in this important defense. He 
 considers this the only effectual means now at command to give 
 safety and security to the public property committed to the charge 
 of the Corps of Cadets. 
 
 "The Acting Commandant of Cadets, Captain W. E. Cutshaw, 
 will immediately make a detail of four detachments of cadets to 
 man four pieces of artillery, and to organize two companies of 
 cadets as an infantry support, and he will march without delay 
 and join the command of General Jackson, for such temporary duty 
 as the emergency calls for. 
 
 "2. The Commissary will supply cooked rations for two days 
 for the command, and additional uncooked rations for five days. 
 
 "3. The Quartermaster of the Confederate Stables has con- 
 sented to supply horses for the Artillery.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 237 
 
 "4. The Surgeon will make all necessary provisions for the care 
 of the sick and disabled. 
 
 "5. The solemn responsibility which again withdraws the Corps 
 of Cadets from their regular duties is an appeal to that patriotism 
 which burns in every Southern heart. The Superintendent con- 
 fidently relies upon the courage and fidelity of this command in 
 all the duties to which they may be called. He shares their dangers 
 and their hardships with them, and he trusts they may soon be 
 privileged to return to their post of duty. 
 
 "By command of Major-General F. H. Smith. 
 
 "A. G. Hill, 
 
 "Actg. Adjt., V. M. I." 
 
 Leaving Lexington about noon on the 25th, with 
 two cadet companies, and the four 6-poimders, Captain 
 Cutshaw bivouacked at Rockbridge Baths, 11 miles, 
 that night, reaching Goshen, 10 miles, early on the 26th, 
 preceded by Colonel Edmondson with two companies 
 of Home Guards, numbering about forty men. 
 
 On reaching Goshen, General Smith, who ac- 
 companied the Corps, was informed by Colonel W. L. 
 Jackson that the enemy had fallen back, the main 
 column to Pocahontas, some cavalry taking the Hot 
 Springs road toward Greenbrier. Later, a dispatch was 
 received from Jackson, who was at Millboro, asking 
 General Smith and Colonel Edmondson to cooperate 
 with him in making a diversion to prevent the enemy 
 from attacking Lewisburg, and begging, especially, that 
 the cadet artillery be loaned him. 
 
 While willing enough to risk battle in the defense of 
 Lexington and the Institute, the Superintendent re- 
 called too well the action of the Governor and the Board 
 of Visitors, in connection with the McDowell affair, to 
 authorize the participation of the cadets in ojffensive 
 field operations. 
 
 To Colonel Jackson's request he, therefore, replied 
 that he did not feel authorized to take the cadets upon 
 any military operations, except in protection of the 
 State property they were supposed to guard; but be- 
 lieving that this protection could best be rendered by 
 the support of the Confederate troops at Panther Gap,
 
 238 The Military History of 
 
 he had promptly moved forward to that point. He 
 also stated that he feared to leave Lexington unpro- 
 tected longer, without the express orders of the Gover- 
 nor, and that a dispatch from Colonel Nadenboush, 
 commanding at Staunton, informed him that General 
 Imboden had sent forward reinforcements. 
 
 Notwithstanding the strong pressure brought to bear 
 on him by the citizens of Bath County and the neighbor- 
 hood of Goshen to let the cadets accompany Jackson, the 
 Superintendent ordered the Corps back that night to 
 Rockbridge Alum Springs, and the Home Guards 
 followed. Bivouacking for the night at the Alum, the 
 Corps reached Barracks at 5 p. m. on the 27th, after a 
 march of twenty miles during that day, and about fifty 
 miles since leaving Lexington on the 25th. 
 
 The Cadet command on this occasion was largely 
 composed of new cadets, the First Class having 
 graduated, and the Second Class being on furlough, and 
 it was miserably armed and shod. 
 
 At Rocky Gap, near White Sulphur Springs, 
 Averell was checked by Colonel Jackson's cormnand, 
 and the First Brigade, Army of Western Virginia, 
 imder the gallant Colonel George S. Patton, V. M. I., 
 '52. After suffering severe loss, the Federal raiding 
 colimin retreated to Beverly, West Virginia, having 
 covered nearly 700 miles in less than thirty days; and 
 the threatened danger to Lexington and the Institute 
 was past.* 
 
 On the 28th of August, Captain Cutshaw received 
 orders to rejoin his command, having been promoted 
 Major of Artillerj^ and Lieutenant-Colonel Shipp, who 
 had returned, resimied his duties as Commandant of 
 Cadets. 
 
 The Corps had marched 50 miles without seeing hair 
 or hide of an enemy. The weather in the mountains in 
 late August is always cool during the nights, but in 
 
 •See Reports of Brigadier-General Averell, Major-General Samuel Jones, 
 Commanding Department of Western Virginia, Col. William L. Jackson, and 
 Col. George S. Patton, Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXIX, Part I, pp. 
 32.52.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 239 
 
 1863 it was unusually so. Poorly shod, and with cloth- 
 ing entirely inadequate for field service at such a season, 
 the cadets suffered extremely from the chillness of the 
 weather, and foimd little in the experience to com- 
 pensate for the hardships they were called upon to en- 
 dure. Nevertheless, the fact that the Corps was 
 regarded by the military authorities as always ready 
 and available for service, was a matter of pride to the 
 cadets and proved a valuable handle to discipline. The 
 experiences of the Corps at Charles Town in 1859, 
 Camp Lee in 1861, McDowell in 1862, and on the oc- 
 casion of Averell's raid in August, 1863, instilled in the 
 body of cadets an esprit de corj^s productive of the best 
 results. Not one of the yomig soldiers but felt the satis- 
 faction of having borne arms in the service of his 
 coimtry, and though they had never yet been in action, 
 as a unit, they knew that they were but temporarily 
 withheld from active duty in the field, in order that soon 
 they might render a higher service as officers, and 
 emulate the noble examples on the field of battle of 
 those who daily went forth to the army from their 
 midst. 
 
 Notwithstanding the drain upon the South for men, 
 and the fact that the cradle was being literally robbed, 
 new cadets continued to report for duty throughout the 
 simimer of 1863; so that when the Corps broke camp, 
 September 1st, it numbered about 275 cadets, this being 
 the largest enrollment in the history of the Institute, 
 up to that time. Of the 500 applicants, only 127 could 
 be received. 
 
 Impressed with the inefficiency of the arms with which 
 the Corps was provided, in the recent field service, the 
 Superintendent, upon his return from Goshen, at once 
 addressed the Adjutant-General on the subject. 
 
 Upon the reorganization of the Corps, January 1, 
 1862, he had urged that 36 horses be provided the 
 Institute for the use of the battery in order that better 
 artillery instruction might be given; but the scarcity of 
 animals had prevented compliance with this wise sug- 
 gestion.
 
 240 The Military History or 
 
 The artillery material of the battery still consisted of 
 the four 6-pomider smooth-bore brass guns, and one 
 12-pounder Howitzer, the other having been lost in the 
 Potomac by Milledge's Battery, as said before, on the 
 retreat from Sharpsburg. The small arms consisted of 
 old smooth-bore muskets. Accordingly he forwarded 
 a requisition for two rifled field guns, such as the Corps 
 had turned over to the Ordnance Officer at Camp Lee, 
 and 200 rifled muskets, with 400 rounds of fixed 
 artillery ammunition, and about 20,000 rounds of 
 musket cartridges. 
 
 "If the Governor has no means within his power to 
 order these munitions from the ordnance department of 
 Virginia, I think it probable a plain statement of the 
 facts of the case would cause the President to order the 
 same from the ordnance department of the Confederate 
 States. 
 
 "Had the enemy continued to force Colonel Jackson 
 towards Panther Gap, the cadets would have given him 
 support at that point. But how unequally would they 
 have been called upon to render the necessary duty? 
 Exposed to the Parrott guns and Enfield rifles of the 
 enemy, this battery would have been disabled before 
 coming within effective range for this service, while the 
 cannoneers would have been picked off by the sharp- 
 shooters, without the means of reply. These mountain 
 passes may be readily guarded; and if my application 
 is favorably and promptly met, this county will be fully 
 guarded."* 
 
 In his report of the part borne by the cadets in the 
 Averell raid, the Superintendent also said: 
 
 "And now, while matters are taking the direction of greater 
 pressure from the enemy, I should be pleased to receive specific 
 directions from the Governor, and Board of Visitors, and Adjutant- 
 General, as to my duty in these emergencies crowding as they do 
 upon us, in a moment of panic. I want to do my whole duty, but 
 before doing it, I must know what that duty i«."** 
 
 ♦General Francis H. Smith, to Adjutant-General of Virginia, August 28, 1863. 
 **Letter of August 27, 1863.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 241 
 
 In reply, the following letter was received: 
 
 "Adjutant-General's Office, Va., 
 
 September 4, 1863. 
 
 "General — Your reports of the 25th, 27th and 28th ultimo have 
 been received, and laid before the Governor by whom I am in- 
 structed to say that he highly approves your prompt and energetic 
 action in moving the Corps of Cadets to the support of Col. William 
 L. Jackson, when pressed by the enemy at a point where their 
 success might have endangered the Institute and public property 
 in your charge, the emergency admitting of no delay for orders. 
 
 "To disembarrass you of all doubts and difficulties which may 
 grow out of the movements of the enemy in that portion of the 
 State, and appreciating in its fullest force the necessity of deter- 
 mining, as you request, what your duty is, or may be, in any 
 contingency, the Governor decides that, although general military 
 service is not due from the Corps of Cadets to the State, yet, that 
 the Corps, to the extent of guarding and defending the Military 
 Institute, and other public property connected with it, being a part 
 of the military establishment of the State, may, and must, be used 
 for that purpose, when the necessity arises ; and whether that 
 defense be necessary upon the spot, or at a distance even of fifty 
 miles, that does not affect or impair the obligation to meet the duty 
 as the guard of the Institution. 
 
 "Emergencies may arise at any time, while a state of war exists, 
 which may compel you to make the defense of the Institute at some 
 other and distant point, or points. Of this, the Governor desires 
 me to say that you must of necessity decide, when there is no time 
 to communicate with the Commander-in-Chief. Your own military 
 attainments and experience, in his estimation, will always enable 
 you, better than he can do at a distance, to determine upon the 
 time, the place, and the measure of such defense as may be needful. 
 It is scarcely necessary to add that needless exposure of the Corps 
 of Cadets shall be carefully avoided. 
 
 "You will act in accordance with these instructions until further 
 orders, unless some legislative action shall otherwise determine. 
 
 "The armament of the Corps of Cadets will be improved to the 
 extent of means at the Governor's control. 
 
 "By command, 
 
 'Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Supt. V. M. Institute. 
 
 'Wm. H. Richardson, 
 
 "Adjt.-General. 
 
 These instructions were broad, and allowed the 
 Superintendent a discretion which, we shall see, was 
 fully exercised. 
 
 ic
 
 242 The Military History of 
 
 Perceiving the danger to which the Institute was ex- 
 posed, and the excellent service it was capable of ren- 
 dering, hi the defense of Lexington, and other exposed 
 points which the forces under Major- General Samuel 
 Jones, commanding the Department of the West, and 
 those under Imboden in the Valley District, were not 
 always capable of guarding, the Governor not 
 only authorized the Superintendent to supplement the 
 efforts of the Home Guard companies which at this time 
 were being encouraged all through the State, but 
 directed the issue of better arms to the Corps. 
 
 Accordingly, two captured, U. S. Ordnance rifled 
 field pieces, and 200 rifled muskets were soon shipped to 
 the Institute from Lynchburg, and, throughout the re- 
 mainder of the war, comprised the armament of the 
 Corps of Cadets. 
 
 During the summer of 1863, other ordnance had also 
 been received at the Institute, but these guns were un- 
 serviceable and procured by the Superintendent merely 
 as ornamental relics. 
 
 For years, there had been stored in the Arsenal at 
 Richmond a nimiber of bronze French guns of the most 
 superb pattern. Cast in the reign of Louis XIV, who 
 was noted for his elaborate ordnance, they had been sent 
 to Virginia by Lafayette with other arms, during the 
 Revolutionary War. In 1862, so scarce was the supply 
 of gim metal that the old French guns were being 
 melted up at the Tredegar Works, and recast into 
 howitzers. Upon learning of this desecration. General 
 Smith, with the aid of General Richardson, secured for 
 the Institute the remaining guns which included two 
 6-pounders, two 9-pounders, and two 24-pounders, all 
 of which were at once mounted on stone pedestals in 
 front of the Cadet Barracks. 
 
 It so happened, and by an odd coincidence, that two 
 other relic guns were also received, these 6-pounder 
 pieces having been cast at the Tredegar Works in 
 March, 1862, from the metal obtained from six of the 
 large French guns referred to. By order of the Gover-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 243 
 
 nor, they were issued to the famous Letcher Battery of 
 Richmond (named in his honor), of which Greenlee 
 Davidson, of Lexington, was the captain, and Charles 
 Elhs Munford, John Tyler, Thomas A. Brander, and 
 Wilham E. Tanner, the lieutenants. They were first 
 used at Mechanicsville, June 26, 1862, next at Malvern 
 Hill where Lieutenant Munford was killed, and one 
 of them was used at Warrenton Springs, Second 
 Manassas, Harper's Ferry, and Fredericksburg. 
 
 The Letcher Battery was rearmed with rifles captured 
 at Harper's Ferry, and, after the gallant death of 
 Captain Davidson at Chancellorsville, the two brass 
 veterans were presented to the Institute by the officers 
 of the battery, as a memorial to their former commander, 
 and mounted side by side with the sister pieces of those 
 from which they were cast. They still remain in front 
 of Barracks.
 
 244 The Military History or 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 GETTYSBURG AND THE V. M. I. IN PICKETT S CHARGE 
 
 LATIMERj THE ^^BOY MAJOR^^ 
 
 Gettysburg! What days were those when the earth 
 reeled and the heavens rocked beneath the blows of the 
 struggling Titans! 
 
 Not alone at First and Second Manassas, throughout 
 the Valley campaign, at Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, 
 and Chancellorsville, had the Institute played a leading 
 role, for, while there was no Jackson left to testify to 
 their deeds, on no battlefield of the war, — Chancellors- 
 ville not excepted, — did the graduates of the Institute 
 play so prominent a part as on that of Gettysburg. 
 
 It would be impracticable to enumerate the deeds of 
 them all. It will suffice to mention a few, and claim for 
 the Institute its just share in what has been said to be 
 the most heroic feat of arms in the great war of 1861-65. 
 
 Accordingly, the organization of Pickett's Division 
 will be given, and the V. M. I. field-officers therein, 
 enumerated. 
 
 Garnett's Brigade. 
 
 8th Virginia, Lieut. -Col. Norborne Berkeley, '48, commanding 
 (after Colonel Eppa Hunton was wounded). 
 18th Virginia, Lieut.-Col. H. A. Carrington, '61, commanding. 
 
 Major Edwin G. Wall, '48. 
 19th Virginia, Col. Henry Gantt, '51, commanding. 
 
 Lieut.-Col. John T. Ellis, '48. 
 
 Major Waller M. Boyd, '61. 
 28th Virginia, Col. Robert C. Allen, '55, commanding. 
 
 Major William L. Wingfield, '59. 
 
 Major Nathaniel C. Wilson, '58. 
 56th Virginia, Col. William D. Stuart, '60, commanding. 
 
 Lieut.-Col. Philip P. Slaughter, '61.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 245 
 
 Armistead's Brigade. 
 
 9th Virginia, Lieut. -Col. Jasper J. Phillips, '53.* 
 Major Mark B. Hardin, '58. 
 
 14th Virginia, . 
 
 38th Virginia, Col. Edward C. Edmonds, '58, commanding. 
 53d Virginia, Lieut. -Col. Edgar B. Montague, '55, commanding. 
 57th Virginia, Col. John B. Magruder, '61, commanding. 
 
 Kemper's Brigade. 
 
 Col. Joseph Mayo, '52, commanding (after 
 General Kemper was wounded). 
 1st Virginia, Col. Lewis B. Williams, '55, commanding. 
 
 Major George F. Norton, '60. 
 3d Virginia, Col. Joseph Mayo, '52, commanding. 
 
 Lieut. -Col. Alexander D. Callcote, '51. 
 Major William H. Pryor, '48. 
 7th Virginia, Col. Waller Tazewell Patton, '55, commanding. 
 Lieut. -Col. C. C. Flowerree, '61. 
 11th Virginia, Major Kirkwood Otey, '49, commanding. 
 24th Virginia, Col. William R. Terry, '50, commanding. 
 Major Joseph A. Hambrick, '57. 
 Capt. J. R. Hammett, '61. 
 
 It will be observed that every one of the fifteen regi- 
 ments of Pickett's famous divisions, except two, the 9th 
 and 14th Virginia, was commanded by a graduate of 
 the Institute; besides Kemper's Brigade, after the 
 wounding of Brigadier-General James L. Kemper. 
 Colonel Eppa Hunton, 8th Virginia, who was not a 
 graduate, was wounded early in the charge. 
 
 Furthermore, it is to be noted that of the large number 
 of field-officers who were struck down eighteen were 
 graduates, namely, — 
 
 Carrington, Gantt, Mayo, Otey, Terry, Phillips, 
 Hambrick,** Norton, and Slaughter (never fully re- 
 covered), wounded; and Ellis, Allen, Stuart, Edmonds, 
 Magruder, Williams, Callcote, Patton, and Wilson, 
 killed; and thirteen commanded regiments in the bloody 
 battle. 
 
 In the fifteen regiments of Pickett's Division, there 
 were twenty-seven field-ofiicers among the graduates, 
 
 ♦Promoted Colonel of 9th, vice Owens killed at Gettysburg. 
 ♦♦Later killed at Drewry's Bluff.
 
 246 The Military History of 
 
 and many captains and lieutenants commanding battal- 
 ions and companies whose names are not given; besides 
 the following named staff officers, to wit: Major 
 Walter H. Harrison, Assistant Adjutant-General, 
 Pickett's Division; Captain William T. Fry, Assistant 
 Adjutant- General, Kemper's Brigade; and Captain 
 William L. Randolph, Ordnance Officer, Armistead's 
 Brigade. 
 
 In Wilcox's, Mahone's, Wright's, Posey's, and 
 Perry's Brigades of Anderson's Division, and Petti- 
 grew's, Brockenbrough's, Archer's, and Davis's Bri- 
 gades of Heth's Division (all of which were partially 
 engaged in the great assault ) , were also many gradu- 
 ates, among whom may be mentioned Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral William Mahone; Lieutenant-Colonel George E. 
 Tayloe, 10th Alabama; Lieutenant-Colonel James A. 
 Broome, 14th Alabama; Major Robert B. Taylor, and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Henry W. Williamson, 6th Vir- 
 ginia; Colonel Joseph H. Ham, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Henry T. Parrish, and Major Richard O. Whitehead, 
 16th Virginia; Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph P. Minetree, 
 and Major Francis W. Smith, 41st, Virginia; Colonel 
 James K. Marshall, commanding 1st Brigade, Heth's 
 Division, Colonel Henry K. Burgwyn, Jr., 26th N. C. ; 
 Colonel J. M. Brockenbrough commanding 2d Brigade 
 Heth's Division, Colonel Robert M. Mayo, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel William J. Green, Major Edward P. Tayloe, 
 and Major Charles J. Green, 47th Virginia; Colonel 
 George S. Patton, and Major Isaac W. Smith, 22d 
 Virginia; and Major J. Q. A. Richardson, 52d North 
 Carolina. 
 
 In the battle of Gettysburg, the following graduates, 
 or ex-cadets, are known to have sealed their devotion 
 with their lives: 
 
 Colonels Robert C. Allen, Henry K. Burgwyn, Jr., 
 William D. Stuart, E. C. Edmonds, John B. Magruder, 
 Lewis B. Williams, Waller Tazewell Patton, James K. 
 Marshall; Lieutenant-Colonels John T. Ellis and Alex- 
 ander D. Callcote; Majors N. Claiborne Wilson and
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 247 
 
 J. Q. A. Richardson; Captain Richard C. Logan; Lieu- 
 tenants W. H. Bray, John C. Niemeyer, and Ed- 
 ward A. Rhodes, and Sergeant Thomas B. Tredway. 
 
 Colonel Patton was not killed outright, although his 
 wound proved to be a mortal one. Shot in the mouth 
 he was carried to the College Hospital, at Gettysburg, 
 where he expired on the 21st of July. During his last 
 days, he could not speak, but wrote with a firm hand 
 upon a slate, "My trust is in the merits of Jesus Christ; 
 my all is intrusted to Him." The prominent thoughts 
 in his mind were his mother, his Saviour, and his 
 Comitry. To his mother this gallant officer, but twenty- 
 nine years of age and a member of the Virginia Senate, 
 wrote, a few days before his death, "My sufferings and 
 hardships during the two weeks that I was kept out in 
 the field hospital were very great. I assure you that it 
 was the greatest consolation, while lying in pain on the 
 cold, damp ground, to look up to that God to whom you 
 so constantly directed my thoughts in infancy and boy- 
 hood, and feel that I was His son by adoption. When 
 friends are far away, and you are in sickness and sor- 
 row, how delightful to be able to contemplate the 
 wonderful salvation unfolded in the Bible! Whilst 
 I have been very far from being a consistent Christian, 
 I have never let go my hope in Jesus, and find it inex- 
 pressibly dear now. I write these things to show you 
 my spiritual condition, and to ask your prayers con- 
 tinually for me." Again he said, "Tell my mother that 
 I am about to die in a foreign land; but cherish the 
 same intense affection for her as ever." He told the 
 young lady who nursed him, that though he was "a 
 young man, and cherished life," he would "cheerfully 
 lay down fifty lives in such a cause if necessary." 
 
 One other act of heroism should be mentioned — the 
 act of an humble lieutenant, John C. Niemeyer of the 
 Class of '61. While moving forward, his regiment, the 
 9th Virginia, was halted three times and dressed under 
 a galling fire. After the last halt, it moved forward 
 in a superb line. The young lieutenant, at the head
 
 248 The Military History of 
 
 of his company, turned and called down the line to a 
 brother officer, and former classmate at the Institute, 
 "John, what a beautiful line!" As he spoke, a bullet 
 pierced his brain, and he fell with a smile upon his hps, 
 no doubt happy in the perfect drill of his men. The 
 body of the gallant lad was never recovered and lies 
 buried at Gettysburg in some unknown grave. 
 
 Such incidents as this illustrate the character of the 
 subalterns who led the troops in Pickett's charge — those 
 humble leaders who reach the flaming breastworks 
 first, but see the laurel crowns on other heads. 
 
 While Colonel Joseph White Latimer took no part 
 in the most dramatic incident of Gettysburg, to write 
 of that battle in such a work as this without referring to 
 his name would be improper, for no more brilliant name 
 illumines the military annals of the Institute. 
 
 Born in August, 1843, he entered the Institute in 
 1859, and was a Third Classman when the Corps was 
 ordered to Camp Lee in 1861. He was at this time as- 
 signed as drill-master to the "Hampden Battery," com- 
 manded by Captain Laurence S. Marye. In September 
 he was assigned as a lieutenant to the Richmond 
 "Courtney Battery," and his first active service was in 
 pursuit of the Federals after Second Manassas, when 
 he with his o\vn boyish hands, but with the intrepidity 
 of the most seasoned veteran, plied a gun throughout 
 the day. That night, as he snuggled to his captain 
 under a single blanket, he said: "Well, Captain, I feel 
 so thankful that I have passed through this fight as well 
 as I have." Thinking he meant that he was glad he had 
 not been hurt, the older officer said that he too was 
 thankful. "Oh, no; I don't mean that; I rather wish 
 I had received a small wound, so I might see how I 
 would bear it. What I meant is this: I was so glad 
 I was able to stay at my post, and do my duty during 
 the fight, and not run away. I have always wondered 
 how I would feel in a fight, and, sometimes, have felt a 
 little afraid that I would not be able to control my- 
 self, perhaps, and might do something that would dis-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 249 
 
 grace me. But I have tried it now, and find that I can 
 stand, and have no uneasiness for the future." Such, 
 was the youthful soldier's reply, — words which evi- 
 denced that sublime moral courage which was to make 
 him famous on many battlefields. 
 
 In the spring of 1862, the men of the battery elected 
 young Latimer first lieutenant. Brevetted for gallantry 
 in action at Cross Keys, he was regularly commissioned 
 captain after the Seven Days' fighting, and major in 
 April, 1863, at the age of nineteen. 
 
 General Jackson, his old artillery instructor, had 
 mentioned him in orders for his gallantry in the Valley 
 Campaign; and General Ewell, who greatly loved him, 
 spoke of the "Boy-Major" as his "little Napoleon." 
 
 In the Gettysburg Campaign, he commanded 
 Andrews's Battahon, Ewell's Corps. On the 2d of 
 July, that battalion occupied an exposed position on the 
 extreme Confederate left, opposite Culp's Hill and the 
 heavy Federal batteries posted on Cemetery Hill. His 
 command was literally torn to pieces in the unequal 
 duel in which it unflinchingly engaged; but ordering 
 the injured guns to the rear, Major Latimer remained 
 with the others. His officers implored him to dismount 
 and seek cover; but this he refused to do, as he wished 
 to be prepared to dash forward with his remaining guns, 
 at the first opportunity. While gallantly cheering on 
 his cannoneers at their desperate work, he fell from his 
 horse with his right arm shattered by a fragment of 
 shell. As he was drawn from beneath his mount, and 
 carried from the field, he held up the stump of his 
 mangled arm, and in a clear and steady voice exhorted 
 his men to fight harder than ever, to avenge his loss. 
 
 After the amputation, which was immediately per- 
 formed, he was taken to Winchester, and from there, 
 on the 22d of July, to Harrisonburg. He lingered 
 until August 1st, "when, just as the morning sun was 
 shedding its light o'er earth and sky, his spirit passed 
 away."
 
 250 The Military History of 
 
 Just before his death, he declared that he was not 
 afraid to die, "for," said he, "my trust is in God." The 
 day before this, he was asked by the chaplain upon what 
 be based his hopes for the future. "Not on good works," 
 he replied, "but on the merits of Jesus Christ alone." 
 
 So passed away as noble a spirit as ever dwelt in 
 human frame, a spirit worthy of that of Jackson. It is 
 consoling to believe that in Heaven the "Boy-Major" 
 has received his reward, resting side by side with his im- 
 mortal tutor-in-arms. His life on earth was life but 
 just begun; for, surel}^ there is no death for one so pure, 
 so gallant and so young. 
 
 The artillery appealed with special force to the 
 graduates of the Institute. In that branch of the serv- 
 ice, the Institute produced Brigadier-General R. 
 Lindsay Walker, Colonel Stapleton Crutchfield, 
 Colonel Thomas H. Carter, Colonel John R. Waddy, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Francis W. Smith, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Wilfred E. Cutshaw, Colonel Briscoe G. 
 Baldwin, Lieutenant-Colonel J. Jaquelin Smith, Lieu 
 tenant-Colonel Robert Preston Chew, Major A. R. H. 
 Ranson, Major Daniel Trueheart, Major James W. 
 Thomson, Major P. B. Stanard, Major Marcellus N. 
 Moorman, Major D. W. Flowerree, Major J. McD. 
 Carrington, and other field officers of note, most of 
 whom were senior in rank to JMajor Latimer, but none of 
 whom could boast a more gallant career than that of 
 the "Boy-Major," who was, perhaps, the youngest 
 artillery field-officer in either army. 
 
 On the brow of Cemetery Hill there stands to-day a 
 monmnent designed to mark for posterity the high-tide 
 level of the Confederacy. Swelling upward until it 
 flooded over the hostile boimdary, the great Southern 
 tide surged forward until it reached that height, and 
 then, subsiding, bore back with the wash of the waters 
 the flotsam of an army wrecked on the reef of fate. 
 And, as they look upon that fateful reef, stained with 
 the blood of Pickett's men, where now a hundred tombs 
 remain like the jetsam of the wreck, let V. M. I. men
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 251 
 
 draw inspiration from the scene, and recall that it was 
 not Pickett, not Armistead, not Garnett, not Kemper, of 
 West Point, alone, who, with its full set sails, drove the 
 Confederate ship upon that shore; but Allen, Stuart, 
 Burgwyn, Edmonds, Magruder, Williams, Patton, 
 Ellis, Marshall, Callcote, Wilson, Richardson, and the 
 others who perished in the storm, and a host of their 
 Institute comrades among the other field-officers of that 
 gallant army. Armistead and Garnett were of heroic 
 mold; but history can not forget they were but two of 
 many. Nor can it be successfully denied that Pickett's 
 charge was actually led by graduates of the V. M. I.; 
 for the soldier knows that it is the colonels and the 
 majors and the captains, who carry their men through 
 the confusion of the cannon-swept field, however, in- 
 spiring the presence of the general may be before the 
 charge is launched. 
 
 With such facts before us as those given, may we 
 ask, is it conceit for the Institute to read between the 
 lines which the historians of Gettysburg have written, 
 the real story of Pickett's charge? And may we not 
 point out to future historians that the volunteer troops 
 which reached the sunmiit of Cemetery Hill, July 3, 
 1863, were commanded by officers trained in a School of 
 Arms ; second in the quality of its graduates to no other 
 in existence? 
 
 Another great fact is to be noted from the part of the 
 V. M. I. graduates in the battle of Gettysburg, and 
 that is, they were not dependent on Jackson for military 
 opportunity. After Jackson's death, the army was re- 
 organized into three Corps, commanded by Longstreet, 
 Ewell, and A. P. Hill, respectively; yet, in Pickett's 
 Division — the very flower of the army, — the first divi- 
 sion of the first corps, practically every regiment v/as 
 commanded by a graduate of the Institute !
 
 252 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE FALL AND WINTER OF 1863 — AVERELL^S SECOND 
 
 RAID A NEAR BATTLE 
 
 After the terrible tragedy of Gettysburg, the Con- 
 federate Government rehed more than ever before upon 
 the Institute to supply trained officers for the lower 
 grades in which the greatest need of efficient officers was 
 felt. As the war wore on, the brigades and divisions 
 were, perhaps, better commanded than in the early 
 stages. Political appointees were gradually eliminated, 
 and the trained soldiers succeeded them in high com- 
 mand. But hundreds of superb officers^ like those who 
 fell at Gettysburg, and who had comprised the field 
 and staff of the line regiments, were unreplaceable. 
 
 When the war broke out, the Institute had actually 
 graduated, up to July, 1860, but 412 cadets. In the 
 South, in 1861, there were, perhaps, 1,000 men who had 
 attended the Institute one or more years, including the 
 142 cadets graduated in July and December of that 
 year, less those who had died. The field-officers in 
 Virginia were, in large measure, originally drawn from 
 those who had graduated prior to 1856, all of whom 
 were men from twenty-five to forty years of age. Com- 
 paratively few of these men became general officers, at 
 the beginning, because there were not over 100 
 graduates, capable of bearing arms, past thirty years 
 old. Up to July, 1849, there had been but 137 
 graduates. Some of this number were beyond military 
 age, and others had died. The growth of the School 
 in 1850-1860 led to the graduation, in the second decade 
 of its existence, of 275 cadets, or just double the number 
 in the preceding ten years. Therefore, it is fair to con- 
 clude, taking the average age at graduation as twenty- 
 one years, that at least two-thirds of the 412 graduates
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 253 
 
 to July, 1860, were not over thirty years of age; and 
 such was correspondingly true in the case of the non- 
 graduates. 
 
 With 282 graduates of West Point, and innumerable 
 militia officers already in the service of the various 
 States, and himdreds of politicians clamoring for pre- 
 ferment, it is readily understood why there were com- 
 paratively so few general officers among the graduates 
 of the Institute up to 1861. Throughout the war, there 
 were but twenty actually commissioned, in the C. S. A., 
 and the reason is very clear. Before the original ap- 
 pointees were killed off, or otherwise eliminated, 200 or 
 more graduates, including over 50 of the original field- 
 officers, who would in the natural course of events have 
 received high promotion, had been killed in battle, leav- 
 ing out about 200 graduates past the age of twenty-five, 
 and about fifty past the age of thirty years. Had the 
 war continued several years longer than it did, large 
 numbers of the youthful field-officers in 1864 would 
 have become general officers, because the supply of 
 West Pointers had been entirely cut off since 1861, and 
 those who had fallen were being rapidly replaced by 
 Institute men when the war closed. 
 
 After Gettysburg, the main pressure was exerted by 
 the Federals in eastern Virginia, for Lincoln, failing 
 to perceive that the main hostile army was his true ob- 
 jective, persisted in his effort to seize the capital of his 
 enemy. It was necessary, therefore, since the Federals 
 would not follow up Lee, for Lee to constantly inter- 
 pose his army between them and Riclmiond. But, 
 meanwhile. Federal troops were kept in West Virginia, 
 threatening at all times to press in upon the Confederate 
 rear. 
 
 It is fortunate for the South (or unfortunate, if we 
 choose now to consider a speedier termination of the 
 war to have been desirable), that Grant, the Charles 
 Martel of the North, was not placed in command of the 
 Army of the Potomac immediately after Gettysburg, 
 instead of in Februarv, 1864; for, had he then com-
 
 254 The Military History of 
 
 menced to grapple with Lee, while the active Sheridan 
 operated in the valley, it seems almost certain the long- 
 drawn-out war would have ended, one way or the other, 
 before April, 1865. Had Lee defeated Grant in 1863, 
 or early in 1864, the peace party of the North would 
 probably have triumphed. Had Grant commenced his 
 operations a year earlier, even attaining the same re- 
 sults he did in 1864, the surrender would have occurred 
 at an earlier date. 
 
 Averell, however, was not Sheridan ; nor was the force 
 placed at his disposal adequate to accomphsh decisive 
 results. He was more of an annoyance than a real 
 enemy. But Lincoln and Halleck kept him galloping 
 back and forth, frittering away good men and horses 
 in fruitless expeditions, instead of pursuing, with all the 
 strength they could muster, a comprehensive plan to 
 crush the Confederate forces in Virginia. 
 
 By the middle of October, General Averell had as- 
 sembled 5,000 men at Huttonsville, West Virginia, 
 from which point he again threatened the upper Valley. 
 So obvious were his intentions to set out on another raid, 
 that on October 17th, Colonel Nadenbousch, still in 
 command at Staunton, notified General Imboden, com- 
 manding the Valley District, of the danger. Imboden 
 was at the time moving on Charles Town, which he sur- 
 prised and recaptured the next day, but with the in- 
 tention of moving up the valley himself as soon as 
 possible to cooperate with General Samuel Jones, of 
 the Western District, in driving back Averell. 
 
 Averell' s threatened raid into Virginia was post- 
 poned, for one reason or another, imtil, under date of 
 October 26th, he received specific orders to proceed to 
 Lewisburg, in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, and 
 to attack and capture, or drive away, the Confederate 
 force there assembled under Colonel William L. Jack- 
 son.* After accomplishing this task, he was directed 
 to leave his infantry at Lewisburg and push on to 
 Union, in Monroe County, and thence to New River, 
 
 *"MudwaU" Jackson, a cousin of Stonewall Jackson. The sobriquet here 
 given him simply to avoid confusion. He was a gallant and enterprising officer.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 255 
 
 where he was to destroy the bridge of the Virginia and 
 Tennessee Railroad. 
 
 Pursuant to these orders, Averell left Beverly No- 
 vember 1st, with two regiments of infantry, three regi- 
 ments of moimted infantrjs one regiment of cavalry, 
 and four batteries of artillery. 
 
 Moving along the Staunton pike to Greenbrier 
 Bridge, Averell' s command reached Hunters ville, in 
 Pocahontas County (a point about 25 miles west of 
 Warm Springs, Virginia) at noon, on the 4th, where, 
 learning that a force of about 600 Confederates, under 
 Colonel Thompson, were at Marling's Bottom, he im- 
 mediately took steps to cut it off from Lewisburg. 
 Colonel Thompson, however, retired toward Mill Point, 
 and effected a junction with the other troops of Jack- 
 son's command, which retired rapidly to the summit 
 of Droop Mountain where, about 4,000 strong, it took 
 up a strong defensive position across the main road to 
 Lewisburg, 20 miles distant. 
 
 On the evening of the 4th, General Imboden was in- 
 formed of Averell's movement through Huntersville, 
 and, at daybreak on the 5th, left his camp near Bridge- 
 water, and moved to Buffalo Gap. 
 
 During the late afternoon of the 5th of November, 
 rumors sifted into Lexington by the invisible wire that 
 Avei-ell with 7,000 men was between Jackson's force 
 and Warm Springs, and about 7 p. m. a courier arrived 
 from Colonel Jackson requesting that the Corps of 
 Cadets and Home Guards be sent at once to his support. 
 
 Immediately, Colonel Massie summoned the Home 
 Guard companies of the county, in the organization of 
 which he had exhibited the utmost zeal and efficiency, 
 to assemble; and the following order was issued by the 
 Superintendent of the Institute : 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "November 5, 1868. 
 
 "Special Orders — No. 212. 
 
 "I. Intelligence having been received that the enemy in strong 
 force are again threatening this County, the Superintendent deems
 
 256 The Military History of 
 
 it his duty^ under the orders of the Governor, to make use of every 
 available man of this Institution as an auxiliary force to repel this 
 invasion, and to place them in position without delay, at or near 
 California Furnace. 
 
 "II. The Commandant of Cadets, Lt.-Col. Shipp, will imme- 
 diately make details of detachments of cadets to man two or four 
 pieces of artillery, as he may deem expedient, and organize com- 
 panies of cadets as an infantry support, and he will take command 
 in person, and march without delay to California Furnace, and 
 place himself in communication with the officer commanding the 
 Confederate forces in that vicinity, and give such support to him 
 as may be required by existing exigencies, and to the extent em- 
 braced in the general instructions from the Governor of Virginia, 
 as communicated to the command. He will make a detail of officers 
 and cadets as a Guard to the Institute. 
 
 "III. The Commissary will supply cooked rations for two 
 days for the command, and additional uncooked rations for five 
 days. He will report to Lt.-Col. Shipp for orders. 
 
 "IV. The Quartermaster of the Confederate States will supply 
 transportation and horses by order of the Commandant of the Post 
 of Lexington. 
 
 "V. The Surgeon will make all necessary provision for the 
 care of the sick and disabled. 
 
 "VI. The solemn responsibility which withdraws the Corps of 
 Cadets from their regular duties is an appeal to that patriotism 
 which burns in every Southern heart. The Superintendent con- 
 fidently relies upon the courage and fidelity of this command, in 
 all the duty to which they may be called. He shares their dangers 
 and their hardships with them, and he trusts they may soon be 
 privileged to return to their post of duty. 
 
 "By command of Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison, 
 
 "A. A., V. M. I." 
 
 The entire night following the publication of this 
 order was spent preparing for the march, and at day- 
 break the Corps of Cadets, four companies, with the 
 rifled section of artillery, 225 strong, the whole com- 
 manded by the Commandant, and the artillery by Lieu- 
 tenant T. H. Smith, set out for California Furnace, 
 followed by Colonel Massie with about 575 men of the 
 Home Guard. 
 
 The command reached the furnace (which is about 
 three miles south of Rockbridge Alum Springs), dur-
 
 MAJOR THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON 
 
 'UOIKSSdR. IXSTErCTOl! OF AltTI I.I.EUY TACTICS 1850-1863
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 257 
 
 ing the late afternoon, after a march of seventeen miles, 
 and went into bivouac for the night. Meanwhile, efforts 
 were being made to get into communication with the 
 Confederate forces; but for the time being California 
 Furnace was safe. 
 
 That morning, with about 600 men and a section of 
 artillery, General Imboden moved through Goshen 
 and halted for the night at Bratton's in Bath County, 
 some ten miles north of CaHfornia Furnace. 
 
 During the morning, Averell had attacked Jackson's 
 force, and at 3 P. M. succeeded in driving it from its 
 position on Droop Mountain, in Greenbrier County, 
 West Virginia, about thirty miles west of Bratton's and 
 California Furnace. 
 
 Imboden resumed his march at dawn on the 7th, and, 
 moving westward along the Huntersville road, passed 
 through Warm Springs at 1 p. m., where he was in- 
 formed of the battle between Jackson and Averell, the 
 preceding day. Learning also that the Confederates 
 (badly defeated) had fallen back through Lewisburg 
 towards Monroe, and that Averell, who had been re- 
 enforced by General DufRe at Lewisburg with four 
 regiments and some artillery, was pursuing, he re- 
 solved to fall upon the Federal rear. With that object 
 in view, he now changed his course down Jackson's 
 River toward Covington, after sending orders to 
 Colonels Shipp and Massie (whom he believed to be 
 at Millboro), to march at once to Clifton Forge, and 
 there unite with him. 
 
 Leaving their camp about noon on the 7th, the Corps 
 and Home Guard marched along the direct road from 
 California Furnace to Clifton Forge, which follows the 
 valley running due southwest along the border of Alle- 
 ghany and Rockbridge counties. That night those 
 commands, after paralleling Imboden's route some 
 miles to the west, bivouacked half a mile north of the 
 Lucy Salina (now called the Longdale) Furnace, hav- 
 ing marched about ten miles. The next day, Sunday, 
 the 8th, they marched nine miles to Clifton Forge, go- 
 
 17
 
 258 The Military History of 
 
 ing into Camp oh the banks of Jackson's River, thirteen 
 miles distant from Imboden who had reached the neigh- 
 borhood of Covington. After midnight, Imboden 
 dispatched orders to Colonel Massie and General Smith 
 (the latter, with Colonel Preston, having joined the 
 cadets at Clifton Forge) , to move forward to Covington 
 at daybreak. 
 
 That morning, Averell, had set out for Dublin, but 
 was compelled to order Duffie's command back to 
 Meadow Bluff, because of its complete exhaustion, and 
 to dispatch two regiments of infantry and a battery 
 back to Beverty with his wounded, prisoners, and 
 captured property. With his mounted men and a 
 battery, he then pressed on through White Sulphur 
 Springs to the neighborhood of Callaghan's where, on 
 the morning of the 9th, he was informed that Imboden 
 with a force of from 900 to 1,500 men was at Covington, 
 on his way to reinforce Echol's at Union, and that large 
 reinforcements from Lee's Army were near at hand. 
 He, therefore, dispatched two squadrons of the 8th 
 West Virginia Mounted Infantry, under Major Slack, 
 to drive Imboden from his line of march. 
 
 Imboden, with his own command, had taken up a 
 position on the crest of a mountain one and a half miles 
 west of Covington; and when the two Federal 
 squadrons (about 400 strong) had driven in his pickets 
 and approached to within 1,200 yards of his position, he 
 opened on them with his two guns, and then sent for- 
 ward two troops of cavalry to strike the enemy while 
 scattered. The Federals retreated rapidly to Callag- 
 han's where they rejoined the main column, over 3,000 
 strong, and moved ofP with it. 
 
 As soon as Imboden learned that Averell had with 
 him a battery of seven pieces of artillery, and believing 
 that he would attack in earnest, he withdrew to a very 
 strong position on a hill one mile east of Covington, 
 aftei- sending orders to Colonels Shipp and Massie to 
 hurry up to the new position where he intended to give 
 battle.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 259 
 
 Leaving their bivouacs at daybreak on the 9th, the 
 Corps of Cadets and the Home Guard joined Imboden 
 in his nevr position soon after he had occupied it. and 
 were deployed in hne of battle. Colonel Shipp care- 
 fully placed the guns in position; but, in spite of much 
 random firing in their front, neither the cadets, nor any 
 part of Imboden's force, were engaged. 
 
 How anxiously the young soldiers peered over the 
 fence rails piled up into a rude protection; how they 
 longed for just one chance to fire upon the enemy, — 
 only those present will ever know; but again they were 
 doomed to be disappointed, for soon the Cavalry 
 pickets reported that Averell had left the Warm 
 Springs road, and moved off toward Huntersville. 
 
 Believing that this might be a ruse on the enemy's 
 part, and that he might swing around Warm Springs 
 to Millboro, and thence to Lexington, Imboden, with 
 his own command, set out from Clifton Forge to 
 Goshen, sending out scouts to watch Averell's move- 
 ments, and dismissing the Lexington forces about noon 
 on the 9th. 
 
 At Goshen, which point he reached after a march of 
 40 miles in little over 24 hours, Imboden learned from 
 his scouts that Averell had moved rapidly northward by 
 Gatewood's, along the Back Creek Road, with a part 
 of his force, the main body proceeding via Hightown, 
 and a single regiment via Monterey. All danger was, 
 therefore, apparently over; but on the 11th he moved 
 to Buffalo Gap. Upon arriving there he ascertained 
 that a fresh force of 800 men from Petersburg would 
 form a junction that evening with Averell at Monterey, 
 or Hightown ; but, instead of moving toward Staunton, 
 Averell ordered Colonel Thorburn's reinforcements 
 back to Petersburg, and proceeded himself to New 
 Creek, where he arrived on the 17th.* 
 
 Although Imboden inflicted no appreciable damage 
 on the enemy, his prompt movements, after learning 
 of Jackson's and Echols's defeat, undoubtedly saved the 
 
 •Rebellion Records, Series I. Vol. XXIX, pp. 498-549.
 
 260 The Military History of 
 
 six or eight blast furnaces in the western parts of Rock- 
 bridge and Botetourt counties from destruction, 
 plants which at the time were of incalculable value to 
 the Confederate Bureau of Ordnance. Without the 
 support of the Corps of Cadets and the Home Guard, 
 he would never have attempted the movements he 
 actually undertook, for it was his knowledge of their 
 presence that enabled him to make the threat on 
 Averell's rear, the morning of the 9th, causing him to 
 withdraw, for fear of the large force on his line of re- 
 treat. 
 
 Averell had been informed that heavy reinforcements 
 were being dispatched by General Lee to Imboden, and 
 seems to have been misled into believing that the cadets 
 and Home Guard were the advance of such reinforce- 
 ments. Thus, they not only emboldened Imboden to 
 show fight across Averell's path, but served a better 
 purpose in causing the latter to retreat precipitately. 
 
 The Corps of Cadets and Home Guard reached Lex- 
 ington, via direct road, late on the 11th, and, says Mrs. 
 Preston in her diary, "Everybody expected a fight, and 
 I think there was general disappointment that there was 
 only a skirmish. For the present, the forces (cadets 
 and Home Guard) have returned, and gone to their 
 homes; with the expectation, however, that an^^ time 
 they may be recalled."* 
 
 The 11th of November, the day upon which the Corps 
 of Cadets returned, was the 24th anniversary of the 
 founding of the Institute. How well had been fulfilled 
 the expectations of those devoted men who assembled 
 in Lexington to cast Virginia's flag to the breeze over 
 the infant School of Arms, November 11, 1839! Within 
 a quarter of a century, the very anniversary of 
 Founder's Day was to see the Corps of Cadets actually 
 in the field defending the Arsenal, which it had been 
 created to guard. 
 
 ♦Life and Letters of Margaret Junkin Preston, by Elizabeth Preston Allan, 
 p. 171. This book contains many interesting and contemporaneous letters 
 irom which many facts concerning the cadets have been ascertained.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 261 
 
 General Smith had preceded the Corps to Lexington, 
 and, before it arrived, pubhshed the following order: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "November 11, 1863. 
 
 "General Orders — No. 88. 
 
 "I. This day is the anniversary of the Virginia Military 
 Institute. Twenty-four years have rolled away since the proud 
 Flag of Virginia was first waved over the Corps of Cadets. What 
 an eventful period do these years embrace ! This anniversary, 
 unlike those which have preceded it, finds the cadets in the field, 
 enduring the hardships of an arduous march, in aid of efforts to 
 repel an unscrupulous and relentless foe. This duty has been 
 patiently and cheerfully discharged in the midst of privations and 
 discomforts which a veteran might even shrink from, and a spirit 
 has been exhibited by the Corps of Cadets which reflects the 
 highest honor upon themselves, and upon the accomplished oflScer 
 who has the high responsibility of their command (Lieut.-Colonel 
 Scott Shipp). The Superintendent returns his thanks to the 
 officers and cadets for the prompt and faithful discharge of duty 
 in the expedition, and it will be his pleasure, as well as duty, to 
 communicate a report of their conduct to his Excellency, the 
 Governor. 
 
 "II. The Anniversary Celebration designed for the day will 
 be observed to-morrow, and a salute of ten guns will be fired at 
 6:30 A. M., under the direction of the Commandant of Cadets. 
 
 "By command of Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison, 
 
 "A. A., V. M. I." 
 
 November 12th was a day of rest, but the experiences 
 of the past few days had shown the Commandant the 
 necessity of familiarizing the Corps with the new arms. 
 Accordingly, academic duty was suspended on the 13th, 
 and the day was devoted to the needed instruction. 
 
 On the 21st, the following order was received and 
 published at the Institute: 
 
 "Headquarters, Valley District, 
 
 "SiMwiLLis Creek, Rockingham Co., Va., 
 
 "November 18, 1863. 
 
 "General Orders — No. 12. 
 
 "The General commanding the Military District takes great 
 pleasure in announcing that in his recent expedition with a detach-
 
 262 The Military History of 
 
 ment of his command to Covington, in Alleghany County, to resist 
 the large raiding forces of the enemy, should they attempt to 
 penetrate the Valley, or reach important public works in that 
 section of the State, he was most opportunely and efficiently sup- 
 ported by the Corps of Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, 
 under the command of the accomplished Superintendent, Major- 
 General Francis H. Smith, and the 'Rockbridge Home Guard,' 
 under the command of that gallant and tried soldier, Colonel 
 James W. Massie. Information of the movements of the enemy 
 through Pocahontas was not received in Lexington until 7 p. m. on 
 the 5th inst., when with a promptitude that reflects the highest 
 honor on the Institute and the noble people of Rockbridge, the 
 whole night was spent in preparing for the field, and by the follow- 
 ing evening 800 patriotic men and youths, under the leadership of 
 brave and skillful officers, were many miles on their dreary march 
 into the mountains to meet the advancing columns of the enemy. 
 Owing to the rapidity of our own movements, the uncertainty of 
 the enemy's object, and the difficulty of frequent communication 
 between us, General Smith and Colonel Massie had to rely mainly 
 upon their own judgment in selecting their line of march, so as to 
 gain the point of probable attack, which they accomplished with 
 the most perfect success, and with a celerity not surpassed during 
 the war, even by the veterans of the Confederacy. They were in 
 ample time to have taken part in the general engagement which 
 seemed imminent at Covington on Monday the 9th inst. 
 
 "It is a most pleasing duty to acknowledge gratefully the 
 spontaneous volunteer movement from the glorious old County of 
 Rockbridge, and from that Institution in her midst which has 
 contributed so largely to the national defense, in the number of 
 accomplished officers in our Army educated within its walls. 
 
 "All honor to the brave men and chivalrous youths who so 
 gallantly came to our assistance! If every County in this Military 
 District will emulate the example here set them, the Commanding 
 General will never have occasion to call on General Lee for aid to 
 repel any probable invasion of the interior of this beautiful valley, 
 that may hereafter be attempted by the marauding bands that hang 
 upon its borders. Here, at home, we shall have, ever ready, a 
 bulwark of defense in those, who, like the 800 of Rockbridge and 
 the Institute, will fly to the rendezvous at the first sound of the 
 tocsin, or blaze of the signal on the summit of their own blue 
 mountains. 
 
 "By command of J. D. Imboden, Brigadier-General commanding, 
 
 "F. B. Berkeley, 
 
 "Captain and A. A. -General."
 
 The Vibginia Military Institute 263 
 
 In his official report of these operations, General 
 Imboden savs: 
 
 "I beg leave to add my testimony to the admirable spirit dis- 
 played by the people of Rockbridge in coming to my assistance. 
 At 7 p. M. on Thursday, the 6th (5th), the news reached Lexington 
 of this raid. By 7 p. m., the next day, 800 men were twelve miles 
 on their march to support me. My thanks are especially due 
 Colonel J. W. Massie, Commanding Home Guards, and General 
 F. H. Smith, Commanding Cadets, for the energy and zeal they 
 manifested and the skill with which they moved their commands so 
 rapidly through the mountains."
 
 264 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 AVERELL^S THIRD RAID CADETS CALLED OUT AGAIN 
 
 A WEEK OF SEVERE FIELD SERVICE 
 
 The results accomplished by Averell in November, 
 1863, evidently did not fulfill the expectations of Wash- 
 ington; for he had hardly reached his base at New 
 Creek, West Virginia, when he was informed that his 
 command would be required to take the field again, at 
 an early date. 
 
 December 6th, Averell received instructions from the 
 Department Commander to proceed on the 8th via 
 Petersburg, Franklin, and Monterey to the Virginia 
 and Tennessee Railroad at Bonsack's Station, in Bote- 
 tourt County, or to Salem, in Roanoke County; or, by 
 dividing his command, to both points, and to destroy 
 all the bridges, water stations, depots, and as much of 
 the roadbed and track in those localities as possible. 
 After accomplishing his task, he was directed to return 
 to the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, between 
 New Creek and Harper's Ferry.* 
 
 Pursuant to these most definite instructions, Averell's 
 plan for their execution contemplated the presence of 
 Brigadier-General Scammon with the Kanawha Valley 
 forces at Lewisburg, on December 12th, for the purpose 
 of intercepting any Confederate force moving upon the 
 rear of the raiding column from the north. A small 
 force was also to reach Marling's Bottom on the 11th, 
 to feint against the Confederates in the neighborhood 
 of Lewisburg. Brigadier-General Sullivan, command- 
 ing the forces in the Shenandoah Valley, was to assume 
 active operations on the 11th, while Colonel Thorburn's 
 command was to move forward from Monterey toward 
 Staunton, with a view to keeping the enemy's attention 
 fixed on the Parkersburg pike. 
 
 •Rebellion Record, Series I, Vol. XXIX, Part 1, p. 933.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 265 
 
 It was thought by Averell that the demonstrations 
 of the Kanawha and Shenandoah commands would en- 
 able him to pass southward without difficulty, and that 
 the operations ordered in the direction of Lewisburg 
 and Union, if conducted with vigor, would divert op- 
 position to the return of his own wearied column. 
 
 Leaving New Creek at dawn, December 8th, with 
 three regiments of mounted infantry, a regiment and a 
 half of cavalry, and one battery of artillery, Averell 
 reached Petersburg on the 10th where he was joined 
 by Colonel Thorburn's command of 700 mounted men. 
 Arriving at Monterey on the 11th, Colonel Thorburn 
 proceeded towards McDowell, and Averell's column 
 resumed its march on the 12th down Back Creek. 
 
 The storm continued unabated throughout the next 
 four days, so that Averell found Jackson's River im- 
 fordable, when he arrived at Callaghan's in Alleghany 
 County, on the 14th. At that point he learned that 
 Scammon had successfully occupied Lewisburg, and 
 that the small Confederate brigade under Echols had 
 fallen back upon Union, under orders from Major- 
 General Samuel Jones. 
 
 On the 12th, Jones, the Department Commander, had 
 received information from Echols and Jackson that the 
 enemy was moving from the Kanawha and Beverly on 
 Lewisburg ; and, having directed Echols to fall back be- 
 hind the Greenbrier River, he ordered McCausland who 
 was at the Narrows with his brigade to unite with 
 Echols, and telegraphed Colonel Jackson to proceed to 
 Callaghan's. At the same time, he called upon General 
 Lee for support. 
 
 On the night of the 14th, Echols and McCausland 
 formed a junction near Union. 
 
 Major-General Fitz Lee's Cavalry Division had by 
 good fortune left the army on the Rapidan on the 11th, 
 and arrived in Charlottesville on the 12th, with the in- 
 tention of going into winter quarters there. On the 
 12th, two brigades of this command, under Fitz Lee 
 himself, were dispatched to the Valley to interpose be-
 
 266 The Military History of 
 
 tweeii the enemy and Staunton, arriving at Mount 
 Crawford, via Brown's Gap, the morning of the 15th. 
 Finding Sulhvan inactive at Strasburg, he turned up 
 the Valley to assist Imboden, who was confronting the 
 enemy at Shenandoah Mountain, six miles from 
 Staunton. That night, Major-General Early arrived 
 at Stamiton, and assumed command. 
 
 Late on the 14th, news had reached Lexington of 
 Averell's movements, and again the Superintendent and 
 Colonel Massie took prompt steps to aid in the defense 
 of the County. 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "December 11, 1863. 
 "Special Orders — No. 242. 
 
 "I. Intelligence having been received that the enemy in strong 
 force are again threatening this County, the Superintendent deems, 
 it his duty, under the orders of the Governor, to make use of every 
 available man of this Institution, as an auxiliary force to repel this 
 invasion, and to place them in position without delay, at or near 
 Goshen, Virginia. 
 
 "By command of Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison, 
 
 "A. A., V. M. I." 
 
 Leaving Lexington at dawn on the 15th, the Corps 
 of Cadets, four companies, and the section of rifled field 
 guns, 180 strong, Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Shipp, 
 commanding, followed, as before, by Colonel Massie 
 and the Home Guard, bivouacked that night about a 
 mile and a half short of Rockbridge Baths. 
 
 At 2 A. M. that morning Averell had resumed his 
 march, arriving at Sweet Springs during the forenoon. 
 There he learned that Scammon had retired from Lewis- 
 burg and that Echols's Brigade was near Union. Re- 
 suming his march at 1 p. m., he passed through New 
 Castle during the night, after sending out a squadron 
 towards Fincastle for the purpose of deceiving the 
 enemy, and arrived within four miles of Salem at day- 
 break of the 16th. There, he first learned of Fitz Lee's
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 267 
 
 movement from Charlottesville to intercept his return 
 march. 
 
 December 16th the Corps of Cadets proceeded to 
 Bratton's Rmi, which they found practically impassable, 
 and camped on its banks with the Home Guard that 
 night. Late that night, Early ordered Fitz Lee to pur- 
 sue Averell with all haste, while Jones, who had learned 
 of Averell's presence at Salem, ordered Colonel Jackson 
 to take up a good position near Clifton Forge, while 
 Echols was directed to occupy one on the mountain near 
 Sweet Springs, with a view to cutting Averell off. 
 
 On the 17th, Colonel Massie, who was near Goshen 
 with the Home Guard, received by courier the following 
 communication :* 
 
 "Buffalo Gap, 
 
 "December 17, 1863. 
 
 "Col. J. W. Massie, 
 
 "Commanding Forces. 
 
 "Col. — Major-General Early directs that you proceed to Lex- 
 ington at once to protect that place. Send your mounted men 
 rapidly. Gen. Imboden is moving on Lexington from this place, 
 and you will communicate with him on the Brownsburg road. 
 Major-General Fitz Lee is also moving from Staunton on 
 Lexington. 
 
 "Averell has reached Salem on the Virginia and Tennessee Rail- 
 road, and may move down the Valley. 
 
 "Send some men posthaste to the bridge over Buffalo Creek 
 beyond Lexington, with directions to scout towards Buchanan, and 
 burn that bridge in case Averell approaches. 
 
 "I am, Colonel, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "A. S. Pendleton, 
 
 "Lt.-Col. and A. A.-G."** 
 
 Marching day and night Fitz Lee's command reached 
 Lexington before noon on the 18th, uniting at that 
 point with Imboden and the Home Guard. Colonel 
 Massie immediately dispatched a large patrol, under 
 Lieutenant T. Henderson Smith of the Institute, in the 
 direction of Buchanan, for the purpose of observing the 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Series I. Vol. XXII, Part 1, p. 962. 
 **Frora the original dispatch in Gen. Shipp's possession.
 
 268 The Military History of 
 
 enemy's movements in that direction, and to destroy the 
 Pattonsburg bridge over the James, and the one over 
 Buffalo Creek, if necessary, to prevent Averell from 
 reaching Lexington. 
 
 "December 16th. Again the cadets and Home Guard 
 are summoned out ; they started yesterday ; and Mr. P. 
 [Major Preston] went early this morning. It is a cold, 
 raw day and they will find marching and bivouacking 
 in the open air very disagreeable. The reports are the 
 enemy is advancing upon the Valley from four points. 
 When will these alarms cease? I am in despair about 
 the war." Such is the contemporaneous entry in the 
 diary of Mrs. Preston, the wife of Major Preston of the 
 Institute, a record which throws much light on these 
 stirring times. And again: 
 
 "December 18th: Went on the street to hear some 
 news ; found that a dispatch had been received ordering 
 a body of men to go on to Pattonsburg to burn down 
 the fine bridge over the James River, to prevent 
 Averell's escape; Averell is at Salem with 4,000 men. 
 
 "At 11 o'clock Imboden's cavalry and artillery passed 
 through. It is the first time I have seen an army. Poor 
 fellows! with their broken-down horses, muddy up to 
 the eyes, and their muddy wallets and blankets, they 
 looked like an army of tatterdemalions: the horses 
 looked starved. Then came the Home Guard, drenched 
 and muddy as if they had seen hard service, though they 
 had only been out four days; but such weather! it rained 
 terribly, the rain part of the time freezing as it fell; 
 and they were out in it all; stood round their fires all 
 night, or lay down in the puddles of water. At 3 p. m.. 
 General Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry (2,700) passed 
 through. Their horses were in better condition ; all the 
 men in both divisions looked in fine spirits, and cheered 
 vociferously as the ladies waved scarfs and handker- 
 chiefs on their passing. People brought out waiters of 
 
 eatables to the poor tired men 
 
 All went on to Collierstown last night. Brother W.* 
 
 ♦Rev. William F. Junkin, father of Mrs. Nichols, wife of the present 
 Superintendent of the Institute.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 269 
 
 is Lieutenant-Colonel of the Home Guard. They were 
 all sent in for the protection of Lexington last night, it 
 being supposed Averell would advance upon us from 
 Salem. An exciting day indeed. 
 
 "At night, my husband came; the cadets were water- 
 bound; some of them waded to their waists in water, 
 building bridges for artillery. Mr. P. says he saw one 
 marching along in his naked feet. This is a glorious 
 war! 
 
 On the 17th before Colonel Massie had been recalled, 
 and intelligence of the enemy's whereabouts had been 
 received, the Commandant determined to cross Bratton's 
 Run which had foiled his passage the night before. By 
 the most heroic efforts on the part of the cadets, the 
 guns and baggage wagons were finally transferred, and 
 the Corps of Cadets pressed on to Cold Sulphur 
 Springs, where it bivouacked that night. 
 
 Late on the 18th, the Commandant received the 
 following commimication from the Superintendent: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "December 18. 1863. 
 "12 M. 
 
 "Lt.-Col. S. Shipp, 
 
 "Commandant of Cadets. 
 
 "Col. — As you might have anticipated, the heavy rain and high 
 water delayed my joining you to-day. 
 
 "Gen. Fitz Lee is now here, and under his instructions you are 
 directed, as soon as you can cross Bratton's Run, to march with the 
 cadets to this point, with the view of moving immediately to 
 Buchanan. Gen. Lee marches to-day to Clifton Forge, and Coving- 
 ton, and hopes to intercept the line of retreat of Averell. The 
 object is to place the cadets at Buchanan with the line of scouts 
 put out to watch the movement of the enemy, and in the event of 
 his turning back from the road by which he entered towards Salem, 
 under the apprehension of being intercepted, to anticipate his effort 
 to come down the Valley, by crossing the James at Buchanan. 
 
 "Further instructions will be given you on your reaching here. 
 Inform me what supplies you will require, for it may be necessary 
 to move to Buchanan without delay. 
 
 "I am, Colonel, 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "F. H. Smith.
 
 270 The Military History of 
 
 "Three brigades passed here to-day, General Wiekham, General 
 Iraboden, and one other. J. W. Massie is just in. The bakery is 
 being used to make bread for General I.ee's command which it was 
 important to move on with dispatch. I shall not be able to send 
 bread. 
 
 "F. H. S."* 
 
 Pursuant to this dispatch, the Commandant marched 
 back to Wilson's Spring at the east end of Goshen 
 Pass, and bivouacked there the night of the 18th. 
 
 Averell had marched the last eighty miles in thirty 
 hours; and, while his men busied themselves on the 16th 
 destroying depots, railway cars, the water station, turn- 
 table, and a large supply of bridge timber and repairing 
 material at Salem, his horses were allowed to rest. 
 After destroying a number of small storehouses, and 
 cutting and destroying the telegraph wires, he quitted 
 his work about 4 P. m., and having circulated the report 
 that he would return, via Buchanan, he turned north 
 along Craig's Creek, arriving at New Castle at dusk 
 on the 18th, after tremendous exertions and many diffi- 
 culties in fording the stream at the many points it 
 crossed his route, especially with his battery. 
 
 That night Fitz Lee camped at Collierstown, ten 
 miles west of Lexington, en rontc with Imboden to 
 Clifton Forge, and there received a dispatch from 
 Lynchburg that the enemy was returning to Salem, 
 and begging that he proceed to Buchanan. 
 
 After midnight, the Superintendent wrote the Com- 
 mandant, then in camp at Wilson's Springs on the re- 
 turn march, as follows: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "1 o'clock at night, 
 
 "December 18-19. 
 "Lt.-Col. S. Shipp, 
 
 "Commandant of Cadets. 
 
 "Col. — Intelligence has just reached us by ray returned courier 
 from Buchanan, that the enemy had been delayed in re-crossing the 
 Craig River, by the freshets. This is confirmed by another courier 
 from General Early. A courier from General Lee is also just in, 
 
 *Prom the original in General Shipp's possession.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 271 
 
 with dispatches to me that it is all important that the cadets be 
 pressed on to Buchanan as rapidly as possible. You will determine 
 whether this can best be done by a night march, or an early move- 
 ment in the morning. I have had fifteen extra horses impressed to 
 replace such as may be broken down, and have had meat and bread 
 prepared — also all the shoes that can be had. General Lee was at 
 CoUierstown on his way to Covington. I have sent two couriers 
 out to-night to convey the intelligence, just in from Buchanan, that 
 our forces were disputing the crossing of the Craig with the enemy. 
 I feel greatly gratified at the noble conduct of the cadets, and I 
 desire that you will make this known to them, and that I have 
 communicated your dispatch to the Adj.-Gen., that the Governor 
 might know to what hardships they liad been exposed, and how 
 cheerfullj^ they have borne them, and asked him to purchase at my 
 cost 250 overcoats and pairs of shoes to be sent up by special 
 messengers. Gen. Richardson has received my telegram and 
 answered they will be sent up immediately. I will try to have 
 every comfort ready for you when you arrive. 
 "I am, Colonel, 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Superintendent."* 
 
 Upon reaching New Castle, Averell was informed 
 that Fitz Lee was at Fincastle, and that Jones was be- 
 tween him and Sweet Springs. At 9 p. m., he moved 
 out in the direction of Fincastle to deceive the enemy, 
 and soon changed his course towards Sweet Springs. 
 Before midnight, he was confronted with the possibility 
 of having to fight his way to Sweet Springs. Two ways 
 were now open to him to avoid a contest. He might 
 move to the southwest, around Jones's right, through 
 Monroe and Greenbrier counties ; the other, or the most 
 direct, way, being via Covington over the Fincastle pike, 
 which route he took. Marching thirty miles through the 
 forest, he reached the Fincastle pike, fifteen miles from 
 Covington, about noon on the 19th. Upon reaching a 
 point eight miles from Covington, he was met by a force 
 of 300 Confederates which he dispersed and followed up 
 so closely they were unable to destroy the bridges over 
 the Jackson River, although every arrangement had 
 been made to burn them. The Federals, therefore, 
 
 *From the original in General Shipp's possession.
 
 272 The Military History of 
 
 were able to cross the unf ordable stream by these bridges 
 about 9 p. M., and the most carefully laid plans of Early, 
 Jones, Imboden, Echols, McCausland, Fitz Lee, and 
 Jackson to cut him off, were frustrated. 
 
 Averell had hardly crossed the river when Jackson 
 assailed his colunm which was over four miles long ; but 
 during the night his force was concentrated at Cal- 
 laghan's, and the bridges were destroyed by the Federals 
 to check pursuit. This left a single regiment on the 
 enemy's side of the river, which, upon being attacked, 
 was compelled to swim the stream. At this point, 
 Averell managed to save his column, with the loss of 
 but 124 officers and men captured and a few killed and 
 wounded. 
 
 Meanwhile, Fitz Lee had reached a point between 
 Buchanan and Fincastle, believing Averell to be near 
 Salem. It was not until he arrived at Fincastle, on the 
 20th, that he learned of Averell's crossing at Covington, 
 the night before, whereupon, he iinmediately took up 
 his pursuit. 
 
 Marching early on the 19th, the Corps of Cadets 
 reached Lexington during the afternoon, after an ab- 
 sence of five days, and at once preparations were mider- 
 taken for an early start on the 20th for Buchanan. 
 Starting out in that direction, news was soon received 
 during the day of Averell's crossing at Covington, the 
 night before, and the Commandant was directed by 
 Fitz Lee to join Colonel Jackson's force, the exact 
 whereabouts of which were unknown to Colonel Shipp. 
 Accordingly, he dispatched Lieutenant Prince to 
 Clifton Forge, who vainly sought to locate Jackson, 
 throughout the day. The Corps bivouacked that night 
 at the furnace eight miles from Clifton Forge, and 
 from the latter point, Prince succeeded in opening com- 
 munications with Colonel Jackson.* 
 
 "December 19th The cadets are to go 
 
 to Buchanan to-morrow morning. The weather is 
 bitterly cold, the roads very bad and hard frozen. 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXIX, Part 1, p. 966.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 273 
 
 "Sunday, December 20th. An order from Imboden 
 for the cadets to march to Buchanan. They started 
 this morning. Mr. P. [Major Preston] went at noon. 
 A very cold day."* 
 
 Averell marched on the night of the 19th, and the 
 following day, by a road over the Alleghanies to 
 Anthony's Creek between the White Sulphur Springs 
 and Huntersville, and from that point to the Green- 
 brier which he reached and crossed on the 21st, opposite 
 Hillsborough, camping for the night at the northern 
 base of Droop Mountain, and reached Beverly several 
 days later, without opposition. 
 
 Fitz Lee reached Covington on the 21st, and, after 
 passing Callaghan's, learned that there was no other 
 force in Averell's front, so turned off to Warm Springs, 
 striking the Virginia Central Railroad at Goshen. "For 
 thirty hours," wrote Averell in his report, "after my 
 column left Callaghan's, the enemy made great efforts 
 to intercept my force, but generally took wrong 
 roads."** 
 
 "December 21st: Averell has escaped! To-day 
 Mr. P. [Major Preston] returned; also Eben; all are 
 terribly chagrined at the escape of Averell. 
 
 "December 24th: The Moncuresf came back at 
 night, worn out with their bootless marching. They 
 blame E. with the miscarriage of the expedition against 
 Averell."! 
 
 But the Moncures were not the only ones who blamed 
 General Early for the miscarriage of the plan to 
 capture Averell. The disposition of the Confederates 
 had been prompt and skillful. Rosser's brigade had 
 crossed the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg on the 
 14th, and, passing through Ashby's Gap, had succeeded 
 in cutting off the column from Harper's Ferry, which 
 Averell had expected to create a diversion in his favor. 
 Early's division had left Hanover Junction on the 15th, 
 arrived at Staunton that same night, marched to Buffalo 
 
 ♦Life and Letters of Margaret Junkin Preston. Allan, pp. 174-175. 
 ♦♦Rebellion Records. Series L Vol. XXIX, Part 1, p. 931. 
 1 James Dunlap and Marshall Ambler, bi'others, former cadfets. and then mem- 
 bers of Fitz Lee's Cavalry. 
 ±Mrs. Preston's Diarv'. 
 
 18
 
 274 Tpie Military History of 
 
 Gap the ensuing day, thence to Warm Sprmgs and 
 Millboro. Fitz Lee's two brigades leaving Charlottes- 
 ville on the 14th, reached Collierstown on the 18th, and 
 Fincastle on the 20th, while Imboden had moved with 
 great dispatch from near Staunton to the neighborhood 
 of Lexington, and McCausland, Jackson, and Echols 
 had been quickly thrown by Jones across Averell's 
 homeward path. 
 
 The whole plan seems to have miscarried, as a result 
 of the false reports of Averell's presence on the 19th 
 at Buclianan, which point his main column never ap- 
 proached. The inexperienced Confederate scouts mis- 
 took the detachment ordered to feint in that direction 
 for the main body, and upon such imperfect imforma- 
 tion Early was misled into ordering Fitz Lee from 
 Collierstown to Buchanan on the night of the 18th, 
 when Averell was actually on his way back from Salem, 
 via New Castle and Covington, thus paralleling Fitz 
 Lee's route in an opposite direction. 
 
 In his official report, Fitz Lee wrote, "Had my march 
 across North Mountain not been changed by dispatches 
 received, and the conviction that if I interposed between 
 the enemy and myself a stream represented as likely to 
 be impassable for some days, I would leave the route by 
 Buchanan open and expose Lexington, or enable him 
 to retire on south of Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, 
 or through Giles and Monroe counties, without moles- 
 tation, I should have arrived at Covington three hours 
 ahead of him; or had Colonel Jackson destroyed the 
 bridge over Jackson's River, or interposed any ob- 
 structions to his march, Averell's command must have 
 been captured. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 "My especial thanks are due to General F. H. Smith, 
 of the Virginia Military Institute, for the promptness 
 with which he moved his command, and the eagerness 
 he evinced for the capture of the enemy."* 
 
 Late on the 21st the Corps of Cadets returned to 
 Lexington, again much disappointed by the failure of 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXIX, Part 1, p. 972.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 275 
 
 the expedition. The week the cadets had spent in the 
 field was by long odds the most severe field service they 
 had yet experienced. It had rained and sleeted almost 
 continuously, and in the intermissions of the storm the 
 weather had been intensely cold. The soft dirt roads 
 were either ankle-deep in mud, or frozen hard, making 
 marching most difficult; and on one occasion it had 
 been necessary to cut the tent ropes and walls upon 
 breaking camp, where they had frozen to the ground. 
 The cadets were inadequately provided with heavy 
 clothing and shoes for such conditions, and the Superin- 
 tendent had been compelled to purchase shoes wherever 
 possible, in order to supply their needs. Yet, there was 
 practically no sickness, and hardly a cadet fell out of 
 ranks, throughout the entire week. 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "December 21, 1863. 
 
 "General Orders — No. 92. 
 
 "I. The severe tour of duty in the field to which the Corps 
 of Cadets has been recently called makes it proper that academic 
 duties should be suspended to-morrow, that time may be afforded 
 for cleaning arms, etc.. so as to be in a state of preparedness for 
 any other calls. The regular academic exercises will be resumed on 
 Wednesday morning. 
 
 "II. The cheerful alacrity with which the cadets have responded 
 to this call of their country, and the patient endurance with which 
 they have borne the severe exposure to which they have been sub- 
 jected, constitute the highest tests of character of the true soldier. 
 
 "By command of Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison, 
 
 "A. A., V. M. I." 
 
 The following day it was announced that the accounts 
 of cadets would, upon the authority of the Adjutant- 
 General, be credited with the cost of the shoes and other 
 clothing procured for them during the expedition, and 
 that the Chief of Ordnance had honored a requisition 
 for 250 pairs of army shoes for the cadets and the 
 musicians who had accompanied the Corps in the field, 
 and that he had also detailed three regular shoemakers 
 to the Institute to keep the cadets properly shod in the 
 futui'e.
 
 276 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS 
 
 The winter of 1864 was an uneventful one for the 
 Corps, for no further field service was exacted of the 
 cadets until late in the spring. 
 
 The monotony of the routine was broken only by the 
 coming and going of dashing young officers who clanked 
 their spurs about Barracks, and recounted marvelous 
 tales of the service, to an interested audience. Wounded 
 or paroled officers from distant homes frequently spent 
 their periods of inactivity visiting their friends in the 
 faculty and sub-faculty. There was "Sheep" Flower- 
 ree of Vicksburg, '61, Colonel of the gallant 7th Vir- 
 ginia, who had been desperately wounded at Fredericks- 
 burg, but with bandages almost wet had ridden up 
 Cemetery Hill at the head of his regiment, 
 after Colonel W. T. Patton, \55 (whom he succeeded in 
 command), had been wounded, and who now came to 
 visit his old classmate, Captain Wise. Then, there were 
 "Bute" Henderson, '59, "Tige" Harding, '58 
 (wounded at Fort Harrison), "Marsh" McDonald, '60, 
 paroled at Vicksburg, all of whom, at one time or an- 
 other during the war, turned up at the Institute. To 
 the outside world, they were Colonels, Majors, etc.; at 
 the Virginia Military Institute, they were "Sheep" and 
 "Bute" and "Tige", just as the permanent officers of 
 the Institute were "Old Spex" Smith, "Old Bald" 
 Preston, "Old Jack" Jackson, "Old Polly" Colston, 
 "Old Tom" Wilhamson, "Old Gill" Gilham, "Chinook" 
 Wise, and "Old Shipp". Everybody connected with 
 the Institute from the smallest "rat" to the most vener- 
 able professor, has always had his appropriate nick- 
 name, and generally an extraordinarily appropriate 
 one. Who gives them, how they originate, — no one
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 277 
 
 knows; but they invariably attach themselves with a 
 persistence which never relaxes with time. 
 
 Many a day out of study hours, from the lips of the 
 visiting officers the cadets drank in the stories of how 
 Meagher's Irish Brigade was repulsed at Marye's 
 Heights; or, how Hayes made his stand at Hamilton's 
 Crossing; or, Pender at the Railroad; or, how Pelham 
 raked Franklin's Corps on the Rappahannock Flats. 
 Then, there were the stories of little Joe Latimer, the 
 "Boy-Major," at Gettysburg; and of Bob Chew and 
 Jimmie Thomson, and their marvelous charges with 
 their horse battery in the Valley, and how "Tige" Hard- 
 ing seized General Lee's bridle rein at the Wilderness 
 and led him from the head of the column ; and of Patton, 
 and Allen, and the others — all graduates — at Cemetery 
 Hill. Indeed, very few youngsters ever had such 
 practical lessons in the art of war. 
 
 The dullness of Lexington was also enlivened by the 
 presence of Rosser's celebrated "Laurel Brigade" 
 which wintered in 1864 at Buffalo Forge, only a few 
 miles from town. The Institute was constantly visited 
 by Rosser and his staff officers who brought the cadets 
 in touch with the army, as nothing else had done. The 
 bold cavaliers jangled their spurs through the sally- 
 port, laughed loudly in the "subs" quarters, and rode 
 about as if they carried the world in a sling, singing 
 merrily the song of Stuart's men — "If you want to 
 have a good time, jine the Cav-al-ry!" 
 
 These welcome neighbors afforded the cadets unend- 
 ing enjoyment. 
 
 During February, the Corps learned that Grant had 
 been transferred to command in the east; and soon that 
 the Valley was to be cleaned up in such a way that a 
 crow traversing the fair region of the Shenandoah would 
 have to carry his rations with him. This all spelled an 
 early resumption of active service ; and many of the 280 
 cadets present during the winter resigned, to join the 
 army.
 
 278 The Military History of 
 
 "Good boys became bad boys for the express purpose 
 of getting 'shipped', parents and guardians having re- 
 fused to permit them to resign. The stage coaches for 
 the raih'oad stations at Goshen and Staunton stopped 
 at the sally-port, on nearly every trip, to take on cadets 
 departing for the front. Many a night, samitering back 
 and forth on the sentry-beat in front of Barracks, catch- 
 ing sounds of loud talk and laughter from the officers' 
 quarters, or pondering upon the last joyous squad of 
 cadets who had scrambled to the top of the departing 
 stage, my heart longed for the camp; and I wondered 
 if my time would ever come."* 
 
 In January, Captain Marshall McDonald was de- 
 tailed by the War Department as Assistant Professor ; 
 and Lieutenants Prince and Roller departed for the 
 Army. Others soon took their places ; and so the winter 
 passed away. 
 
 Late in March, orders were received by Rosser to 
 break camp and move, as soon as the roads permitted, 
 to the lower Valley. As a farewell compliment to the 
 distinguished officer and his command, the Superin- 
 tendent tendered him the compliment of a review of the 
 Corps, on April 2d. 
 
 April 11th, Rosser broke his winter camp at Buffalo 
 Forge, and before departing, requested the privilege of 
 presenting the Corps with a handsome Federal Flag, 
 which the 11th Virginia Cavalry (Colonel Funston 
 commanding) of his brigade had captured from the 
 enemy at Sangster's Station. Accordingly, the Com- 
 mandant was ordered to form the Corps at 2 p. m. for 
 the ceremony. Promptly, Rosser's horsemen came 
 ambling, trotting, galloping, prancing, upon the parade 
 ground, their mounted band playing, and their little 
 guidons fluttering. 
 
 A squadron of 11th Virginia Cavalry was quickly 
 formed into line facing the Cadet Battalion, while 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Matt Dulaney Ball, commanding, 
 presented the trophy. Rosser, whose escort on this 
 
 *End of an Era, John S. Wise, "64. p. 286.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 279 
 
 occasion was decked with leaves of mountain laurel — 
 the evergreen badge which the brigade had adopted — 
 with the rest of his command, witnessed the ceremony 
 from the edge of the parade ground. 
 
 To the speech of presentation, Lieutenant-Coloiiel 
 Scott Shipp, the Commandant, who was notoriously 
 diffident in public speaking, handsomely replied, as 
 follows : 
 
 "Allow me, sir, in behalf of the Corps of Cadets, to ac- 
 cept, and to return their acknowledgments for, this beau- 
 tiful trophy. To be thus distinguished by those deeds 
 of high daring which have won the plaudits of a grate- 
 ful people, is indeed a proud distinction. We will re- 
 ceive and transmit it as a token of remembrance of the 
 brave deeds of brave men ; admiration of the valor which 
 won it will arouse the enthusiasm, and strengthen the 
 resolves of the young preparing to enter upon the path 
 of glory; and when grim-visaged war shall have 
 smoothed its wrinkled front, and peace and prosperity 
 succeed the tmnult and destruction of battle, it will be 
 pleasant to contemplate this as an evidence of the suc- 
 cess of our defenders against our country's foe. For 
 that peace you have fought and bled, and by your valor, 
 with God's assistance, it will be accomplished. But, in 
 the meantime, the dread Moloch demands more heca- 
 tombs of human victims. The war cloud will again 
 burst in its fury upon you; those brave bosoms must 
 again be bared to the pelting of the stones of battle; 
 the banner of your gallant chieftain will soon be spread, 
 and his war-crj'^ be heard cheering you on to victory and 
 to glory. The proud crest of your enemy must again 
 be lowered, and his standard trailed in the dust. But 
 your past achievements give an earnest of future suc- 
 cess; our comitrv's honor can be entrusted to vou, with 
 assurance that by you it will be maintained, and the 
 justice of the common cause vindicated. 
 
 "Young gentlemen of the Corps of Cadets, you re- 
 ceive this trophy at the hands of the gallant squadron 
 that wrested it from the grasp of the enemy in a mid-
 
 280 The Military History of 
 
 night assault upon a stockaded fort. Treasure it as 
 an evidence of their prowess; and thank God that He 
 has given you such defenders. But, remember that you 
 are preparing to go forth to battle in your own behalf. 
 It behooves you, then, to cultivate and cherish those 
 military virtues, and the love of glory, which inspire that 
 generous ambition that leads to honor and renown. 
 Courage is not an imborn quality; it is not natural, but 
 artificial. True courage does not consist in insensibility 
 to danger, but in boldly confronting and bravely meet- 
 ing it. This can be attained, not by the medium of a 
 cold, calculating reason which regards life as the great- 
 est blessing, the more precious in its eyes since without 
 it we can have no other; but it must be sought under 
 the guidance of those high and noble passions — the love 
 of right, the love of country, the love of glory — senti- 
 ments which none but the noble and generous ex- 
 perience. Let the love of glory, then, direct you, and 
 let the example of the brave stimulate that love; and in 
 your time you may hope to take your stand amongst 
 the proudest of your country's defenders."* 
 
 After this formal acceptance of the flag, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Ball led his squadron below the parapet, and, 
 forming it in line perpendicular thereto, abreast the 
 western end of the parade ground, presented the Corps 
 with the thrilling spectacle of a headlong charge, with 
 drawn sabers and the shrill battle cry of the Confeder- 
 ates. At the Mess Hall, the troopers abruptly drew 
 rein and dismounted; whereupon, they were tendered 
 a sumptuous repast by the Superintendent. Poor 
 hungry fellows! One can well imagine the speed with 
 which they traversed the approaches to those groaning 
 boards. 
 
 Now, the sequel of these heroics leads us from the 
 sublime to the ridiculous. It forms no part of the war- 
 time history of the Institute; but it must, nevertheless, 
 be narrated, in order to preserve the facts. In doing 
 so, it should be understood, at the outset, that the writer 
 
 *From the original transcript in the possession of General Shipp.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 281 
 
 regards as preposterous any suggestion that Rosser, or 
 any of his officers, acted in any way in bad faith, or 
 with any motive but the highest. 
 
 But, the truth is, soon after the presentation of the 
 flag to the Corps of Cadets by the 11th Virginia Cavalry 
 the rumor got abroad that the flag was not "wrested 
 from the grasp of a vahant foeman," but was found by 
 the victors at Sangster's Station in a captured baggage 
 wagon. This led to a certain amount of ridicule, not- 
 withstanding the fact that the trophy was taken as a 
 result of the prowess of the Confederate cavalrymen in 
 a most gallant action. 
 
 Very naturally, such criticism dampened the en- 
 thusiasm of the Commandant and the cadets over the 
 trophy concerning which, if the truth be known, the 
 latter had never been over-appreciative. "We felt 
 ashamed," wrote a cadet, "of having flags captured for 
 us by others." But there is no suggestion that all did 
 not appreciate the motives of the gallant soldiers who 
 had presented the Corps of Cadets with the captured 
 colors. 
 
 In 1883, when it was proposed by the Board of Visi- 
 tors, of which Colonel Joseph P. Minetree, '59, was 
 President, and Colonels Robert M. Mayo, '57, E. E. 
 Portlock, J. H. Sherrard, J. B. Raulston; Majors J. A. 
 Frazier, and R. H. Hooper, Judge George W. Ward, 
 '64, Judge M. B. Wood, '64, and W. H. Rivercomb, 
 Esq., were members, which is known as the "Read- 
 juster Board," to return the captured flag to the city 
 of New York, with befitting ceremony, the Comman- 
 dant informed them of the report about the manner of 
 its seizure, and warned them that there was danger of 
 its not being received by the people of New York in the 
 spirit expected by the Board. Little notice, however, 
 was taken of this suggestion. 
 
 The final exercises were held at the Institute as usual, 
 with the exception that the Diplomas were not granted 
 there. On the 30th of June, the Corps, which then 
 numbered little over one hundred cadets, accompanied
 
 282 The Military History of 
 
 by the Board of Visitors and the Superintendent, left 
 for New York by special train, all expenses being de- 
 frayed by Governor Cameron out of his contingent 
 fund. 
 
 Arriving in New York City on the 2d of July, the 
 Corps was quartered in the old 69th Regiment Armory, 
 near Cooper's Union. On the 4th, it was marched with 
 colors flying to the Fifth Avenue Hotel where arms 
 were stacked in the lobby and the cadets assembled in 
 the large reception room above. Here, President 
 Arthur, after a brief speech, delivered the Diplomas to 
 the Graduating Class. His remarks were not inspired 
 with that enthusiasm which it had been expected the 
 occasion would elicit, for, imfortunately, that morning, 
 the New York Herald, apprised of the mission of the 
 Corps, had fully presented the facts concerning the 
 capture of the flag from the New York Regiment. Ap- 
 preciating the motives of the Board and of the cadets, 
 it refrained from irony, but, nevertheless, in a delicate 
 way, stated the facts of the case. 
 
 Now, anyone knows that a battle flag captured in a 
 baggage wagon does not possess the same interest for 
 the world that a stand of colors taken in action does; 
 and, while everyone accorded the 11th Virginia Cavalry 
 full credit for their daring on the field of Sangster's 
 Station, feeling was universal that the trophy, being re- 
 turned to the City of New York, from whose troops it 
 had been taken, lacked something essential to the in- 
 spiration of real enthusiasm over the event. The officers 
 and cadets of the Institute over-sensitive, perhaps, felt 
 that their position was an absurd one; but the generous 
 conduct of the Mayor and other officials engaged in the 
 reception of the flag (all of whom entered into the 
 affair with the proper spirit) did much to reassure them. 
 
 From the Fifth Avenue Hotel the Battalion was 
 marched down Broadway to the City Hall where the 
 Superintendent, attended by his staff and the members 
 of the Board, conveyed the trophy to the Mayor's 
 Office, and presented the flag with a few appropriate
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 283 
 
 remarks ( after accidentally smashing the costly chande- 
 lier fixtures with the pike-head of the staff) to the Chief 
 Executive of the great metropolis. 
 
 Mayor Fernando Wood, a most distinguished gentle- 
 man, gracefully received the flag ; and, in an appropriate 
 speech of acceptance, expressed the sincere gratitude of 
 the people of the City of New York, showing not the 
 least suggestion of a lack of appreciation on their part. 
 
 After the presentation, the Corps was tendered by 
 the Mayor a sumptuous repast, spread in the spacious 
 lower apartments of the City Hall, the Commandant 
 just arriving on the scene in time to check the danger- 
 ously generous libations of New York's best champagne, 
 which were being poured out, to the delectation of the 
 youthful soldiers. 
 
 So, ended an affair, if not farcical, certainly the most 
 unwelcome one in which the Corps of Cadets, in its 
 military capacity, has, perhaps, ever engaged; for, in 
 spite of the appreciative manner in which the flag was 
 received by official New York, the Herald had unin- 
 tentionally given the whole affair the semblance of an 
 opera houffe. 
 
 But the incident was valuable, in that it pointed two 
 morals which will long be remembered at the Institute; 
 first, no military organization should receive the 
 captured flags of another command; and second, let the 
 command which takes them, return its own trophies!
 
 284 The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 BRECKINRIDGE ORDERS OUT THE CORPS THE MARCH 
 
 DOWN THE VALLEY 
 
 When Grant undertook the execution of his plan to 
 take Richmond, in the spring of 1864, he assigned 
 Major-General Franz Sigel, commanding the Depart- 
 ment of West Virginia, the task of overrunning the 
 Valley with the 25,000 men at his disposal. This rich 
 section had been regarded as the granary of Lee's Army 
 throughout the war, and many futile efforts had been 
 made to gain complete possession of it. 
 
 Imboden learned early in the spring of Sigel's orders, 
 which were to press up the Valley with about 8,000 
 men, with a view to seizing Staunton and Lynchburg, 
 while Crook with a somewhat larger force was to make 
 a raid through southwest Virginia and destroy the Vir- 
 ginia and Tennessee Railroad as he moved eastward 
 towards Lynchburg, where it was expected the two 
 columns would form a junction. 
 
 Leaving the Kanawha on May 2d, Crook penetrated 
 as far as Union, where he united with Averell, and 
 then fell back, after having defeated Jenkins at Cloyd's 
 Mountain on the 9th, again at New River on the 11th, 
 and after cutting the railroad. 
 
 On May 1st, Sigel commenced his march upon 
 Staunton, which was intended to be a diversion in favor 
 of Crook. In the Valley, Imboden, with less than 3,000 
 men, alone stood across his path, but, on the 2d, broke 
 camp and advanced from Mount Crawford to meet 
 Sigel, after calling upon the Home Guards in Rocking- 
 ham and Augusta counties to prepart to assist him. 
 He also requested General Smith to place the Corps of 
 Cadets in readiness to march to his support.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 285 
 
 During the late winter, the cadets had been unusually 
 restless. On one occasion they had held a mass meeting 
 and passed resolutions tendering their services as a 
 military unit to General Lee, an action, which, late in 
 April, led the Superintendent to make such an offer 
 through proper channels, for the experiences of the fall 
 and winter convinced him that serious and uninter- 
 rupted application to academic work was impossible, 
 with raiding columns galloping around the county and 
 threatening, at all times, to reach Lexington. 
 
 The day Imboden directed the cadets to be held in 
 readiness, the following letter from General Lee to the 
 Adjutant- General was received by the Superintendent: 
 
 "April 25, 1864. 
 
 "Major-General Wm. H. Richardson, 
 
 "Adjutant-General of Virginia, Richmond. 
 
 "General — Your letter of the 22d inst., inclosing that of Gen- 
 eral Francis H. Smith, in which he proposes to tender the services 
 of the Corps of Cadets of the Virginia Military Institute for the 
 approaching campaign, is received. 
 
 "I desire to express my appreciation of the patriotic spirit that 
 actuates General Smith in making this proposal, and my gratifi- 
 cation at finding that it meets with your concurrence. I do not 
 think, however, that it would be best, at this time, for the Corps to 
 be called to this Army. It is now in a situation to render valuable 
 aid in defending our western frontier, which may be menaced 
 simultaneously with the general advance of the enemy in the east. 
 It will thus prevent the necessity of detaching troops from this 
 Army. I think it would be advisable for General Smith to hold the 
 command in readiness to co-operate with General Breckinridge and 
 General Imboden, in case of necessity, and to notify those officers 
 of the fact. Should it at any time become necessary, or expedient, 
 to have the service of the cadets with this Army, it is ver}^ gratify- 
 ing to me to know that they are so freely placed at my disposal. 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "R. E. Lee, 
 
 "General." 
 
 Upon receiving this letter, the Adjutant-General for- 
 warded it to the Superintendent, directing him to pre-
 
 286 The Military History of 
 
 pare the Corps for the field and to communicate with 
 Breckinridge and Imboden, which he did, as follows : 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "May 2, 1864. 
 "Major-General John C. Breckinridge, 
 
 "Commanding Dept. of Western Virginia, Dublin Depot. 
 
 "General — I have the honor to inclose herewith a letter from 
 General R. E. Lee, commanding Army of Northern Virginia, ad- 
 dressed to the Adjutant-General of Virginia, also a copy of in- 
 structions from the Governor of Virginia, communicated by the 
 Adjutant-General, defining my duty as Superintendent of the Vir- 
 ginia Military Institute. Under these instructions and suggestions, 
 I now respectfully report to you for such orders as the emergencies 
 of the approaching campaign may call forth. The Corps of Cadets 
 number an aggregate of 280, of whom 250 may be relied upon for 
 active duty, leaving 30 as a necessary guard to the Institute, and as 
 disabled. The command is organized as a battalion of four com- 
 panies, and is usually accompanied by a section of artillery. It is 
 fully equipped, except in horses, and these are impressed in case of 
 need. We have abundance of ammunition, tents, knapsacks, 
 shovels, and picks, and will be prepared to march at a moment's 
 notice. Brigadier-General Imboden is about constructing tele- 
 graphic communication between the Institute and Staunton. This, 
 he hopes to have in operation by the middle of May. In the mean- 
 time, he will communicate with us by signals. Any orders, or 
 intelligence from Dublin Depot, had better be forwarded to General 
 Imboden, at Staunton, with instructions to be immediately (trans- 
 mitted) to me. 
 
 "I remain. General, 
 
 "Very respectfully. 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "Francis H. Smith, 
 "Brevet Major-General and Superintendent."* 
 
 The following prompt reply was received from 
 Breckinridge: 
 
 "Headquarters, Department of West Virginia, 
 
 "Dublin Depot, May 4, 1864. 
 "General Francis H. Smith, 
 
 "Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va. 
 
 "General — I have just received your letter of the 2d inst., 
 concerning one from General Lee to the Adjutant-General of 
 Virginia, also a copy of the instructions to you from the Governor. 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records. Series I. Vol. XXXVTT, Part 1. pp. 707-708.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 287 
 
 "I am gratified to learn that a battalion of cadets 250 strong, 
 with a section of artillery, will be ready to move on a moment's 
 notice. This force will be very effective in assisting to repel, or 
 capture, destructive raiding parties. 
 
 "The limits of my department have not been defined in the east, 
 and I have been unable to adopt many precautions east of Monroe 
 and Greenbrier. I have, however, thrown up a work at the railroad 
 bridge over the Cow Pasture, another at the bridge over Jackson 
 River, and a line of rifle pits at Island Ford. Col. Wm. I.. Jackson 
 is covering the approaches to these points, and to Rockbridge, from 
 that general direction. It may be necessary for you to move in 
 that quarter, or to protect the Iron Furnace in Botetourt, or in 
 Buchanan. I will try to send the earliest intelligence through 
 General Imboden, as you suggest, or if it should be beyond reach 
 of telegraph, by special courier. 
 
 "General Imboden will, of course, apprise you of my movements 
 in direction of Millboro, Staunton, etc. 
 
 "Fully appreciating your patriotic feelings, and those of the 
 young gentlemen you command, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "John C. Breckinridge." 
 
 While the Corps remained in restless ignorance of 
 the probability of the early call which the foregoing 
 communication indicated to the authorities, the follow- 
 ing letter was forwarded to the Superintendent by the 
 Governor, who directed that the flag mentioned be 
 hoisted, as requested: 
 
 "March 6, 1864. 
 
 "His Excellency, William Smith, 
 "Governor of Virginia. 
 
 "Sir — I have received from Mr. H. Sheddon, of Liverpool, the 
 enclosed letter, and the accompanying flag manufactured by him to 
 be hoisted over the grave of the lamented Jackson. As the remains 
 of the deceased hero repose in the immediate vicinity, if not actually 
 within the precinct, of the Virginia Military Institute, a State 
 institution with which he was connected as an honored professor, I 
 have thought it most appropriate to commit the flag to the custody 
 of your Excellency, feeling assured that you will take pleasure in 
 carrying out the wishes of the generous donor. 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "James A. Sedden, 
 
 "Secretary of War."
 
 288 The Military History of 
 
 (inclosure) 
 
 "10 Waffling, Liverpool, 
 
 "25th January, 1864. 
 
 "To THE Right Honorable, the Secretary of War, 
 "Confederate States of America, 
 "Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 "Sir — Having read in some of the English papers that a flag is 
 kept permanently hoisted over the grave of the late lamented 
 General Stonewall Jackson, may I beg your acceptance of one I 
 send with this letter to replace the one now in use when it shall 
 have become worn out, as some slight expression of my admiration 
 for the character and heroism of General Jackson, and also of my 
 best wishes for the success of the Confederacy. 
 
 "I remain, sir, with much respect, 
 
 "Yours obediently, 
 
 "Hugh Sheddon." 
 
 Accordingly, on May 9th, the Superintendent 
 directed that the Corps be formed at 9 a. m. the follow- 
 ing day, which was done; and the handsome flag was 
 hoisted over his grave in the Lexington Cemeteiy by 
 the Corps, on the First Anniversary of the death of 
 Lieutenant- General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, late 
 Professor, Virginia Military Institute, amid the plau- 
 dits of a great gathering of citizens. 
 
 How singular it was on that very day Breckinridge 
 issued his order calling on the Corps of Cadets to take 
 the field in his support! 
 
 On May 4th, Breckinridge, who had succeeded Jones 
 in command of the Department of West Virginia in 
 February, had been informed by President Davis that 
 Sigel was advancing up the Valley against Imboden, 
 and was requested to hasten to the defense of Staunton. 
 May 6th, he set out from Pulaski County with Echols's 
 Brigade, consisting of the 22d Virginia, the 26th 
 Battalion, and the 23d Battalion, the 51st Virginia, 
 Clarke's Battalion, 30th Virginia, of Wharton's Bri- 
 gade ; and Chapman's Battery, aggregating about 4,000 
 men. Reaching Staunton on the 8th, in advance of his 
 troops, Breckinridge at once took charge of affairs. 
 
 Sigel's movements since the 2d had been characterized 
 by the utmost slowness. Two flank columns of cavalrv
 
 
 a 
 
 /5
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 289 
 
 which he had sent out from Winchester had been de- 
 feated; but, on the 9th he was joined at Cedar Creek by 
 Sulhvan's division, and, after a skirmish on the 10th, 
 reached Woodstock. It was at this juncture that 
 Breckinridge determined to call upon the Corps of 
 Cadets, and early that day he dispatched his order by 
 courier to General Smith. 
 
 "It was the 10th of May. 
 
 "Nature bedecked herself that springtime in her 
 loveliest garb, battalion drill had begun early, and the 
 Corps had never been more proficient at this season of 
 the year. 
 
 "The parade ground was firm and green. The trees 
 were clothed in the full livery of fresh foliage. The 
 sun shone on us through pellucid air, and the light 
 breath of May kissed and fluttered our white colors, 
 which were adorned with the face of Washington. 
 
 "After going through the maneuvers of battalion 
 drill, the Corps was drawn up, near sundown, for dress- 
 parade. It was the time of year when townsfolk drove 
 down and ranged themselves upon the avenue to witness 
 our brave display ; and groups of girls in filmy garments 
 set off with bits of color, came tripping across the sod; 
 and children and nurses sat about the benches at the 
 Guard-Tree. 
 
 "The battalion was put through the manual. The 
 first sergeants reported. The adjutant read his orders. 
 The fifes and drums played down the line in slow time, 
 and came back with a jolly, rattling air. The officers 
 advanced to music, and saluted. The sun sank beyond 
 the House Mountain. The evening gun boomed forth. 
 The garrison-flag fell lazily from its peak on the 
 barracks' tower. The four companies went springing 
 homeward to the gayest tune the fifes knew how to 
 play. Never, in all its history, looked Lexington more 
 beautiful. 
 
 "Never did sense of secluded peacefulness rest more 
 soothingly upon her population. In our leisure-time, 
 after supper, cadets strolled back and forth from 
 
 19
 
 290 The Military History or 
 
 Barracks to the 'Limits' gate, and watched the full- 
 orbed moon lift herself from the mountains. Perfume 
 was in the air, silence in the shadows. Well might we 
 quote :— 
 
 " 'How beautiful this night! 
 The balmiest sigh that vernal zephyrs breathe in evening's ear, 
 Were discord to the speaking quietude 
 That wraps this moveless scene. Heaven's ebon vault, 
 Bestudded with stars unutterably bright, 
 Through which the moon's unclouded 
 Splendor rolls, seems like a canopy which 
 Love hath spread, to shelter its 
 Sleeping world.' " 
 
 "And so, tranquil, composed by the delightful scenes 
 around us, three hundred of us closed our eyes, and 
 passed into happy dreams of youth and springtime. 
 
 "Hark! the drums are beating. Their throbbing 
 bounds through every corner of the Barracks, saying to 
 the sleepers, 'Be up and doing'. It is the long roll. 
 
 "Long roll had been beaten several times of late, 
 sometimes to catch absentees, and once for a fire in the 
 town. Grumblingly the cadets hurried down to their 
 places in the ranks, expecting to be soon dismissed, and 
 to return to their beds. A group of officers, intently 
 scanning by the light of a lantern a paper held by the 
 adjutant, stood near the statue of George Washington, 
 opposite the arch. The companies were marched to- 
 gether. The adjutant commanded, 'Attention!' and 
 proceeded to read the orders in his hands."* 
 
 Breckinridge's dispatch had been received and was 
 as follows: 
 
 "Staunton, May 10, 1864. 
 
 "General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Commandant of Cadets, Virginia Military Institute, 
 "Lexington, Virginia. 
 
 "Sigel is moving up the Valley, was at Strasburg last night. 
 I can not tell yet whether this is his destination. I would be glad 
 to have your assistance at once, with the cadets, and the section of 
 artillery. Bring all the forage and rations you can. 
 
 *End of an Era, John S. Wise.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 291 
 
 "Have the reserves of Rockbridge ready, and let them send here 
 for arms and ammunition, if they can not be supplied at Lexington. 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "John C. Breckinridge^ 
 
 "Majoi--General." 
 
 And then followed the Superintendent's midnight 
 order : 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "May 11, 186i. 
 "General Orders — No. 18. 
 
 "I. Under the orders of Major-General John C. Breckinridge, 
 Commanding Department of West Virginia, the Corps of Cadets 
 and a Section of Artillery will forthwith take up the line of march 
 for Staunton, Virginia, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Scott Shipp. The cadets will carry with them two days' rations. 
 
 "II. Captain J. C. Whitwell will accompany the expedition as 
 Assistant Quartermaster and Commissary, and will see that the 
 proper transportation, etc., is supplied. 
 
 "III. Surgeon R. L. Madison and Assistant Surgeon George 
 Ross will accompany the expedition, and attend to the care of the 
 sick and wounded. 
 
 "IV. Colonel Shipp, on arriving at Staunton, will report in 
 person to Major-General Breckinridge, and await his further 
 instructions. 
 
 "V. Captain T. M. Semmes is assigned to temporary duty on 
 the staff of the Commanding Officer. 
 
 "By command, Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison, 
 
 "A. A., V. M. I." 
 
 " 'Parade's dismissed', piped the adjutant. The ser- 
 geants side-stepped us to our respective company- 
 parades. 
 
 "Methinks that, even after thirty-three years, 1 once 
 more hear the game-cock voices of the sergeants detail- 
 ing their artillery and ammunition squads, and ordering 
 us to appear with canteens, haversacks, and blankets at 
 four A. M. Still, silence reigned. Then, as company 
 after company broke ranks, the air was rent with wild 
 cheering at the thought that our hour was come, at last. 
 
 "Elsewhere in the Confederacy, death, disaster, dis- 
 appointment may have by this time chilled the ardor of
 
 292 The Military History of 
 
 our people; but here, in this httle band of fledghngs, 
 the hope of battle flamed as brightly as on the morning 
 of Manassas. 
 
 "We breakfasted by candle-light, and filled our 
 haversacks from the mess-hall tables. In the gray of 
 morning, we wound down the hill to the river, tramped 
 heavily across the bridge, ascended the pike beyond, 
 cheered the fading turrets of the School; and sunrise 
 found us going at a four-mile gait to Staunton, our 
 gallant little battery rumbling behind."* 
 
 It rained intermittently throughout the day, but the 
 Corps reached Midway, about 18 miles from Lexington, 
 that afternoon, where it bivouacked for the night. 
 
 Meantime the Superintendent had forwarded the 
 following communication to Breckinridge: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "May 11, 1864, 6 a. m. 
 "Major-General J. C. Breckinridge, 
 
 "Commanding Department of Western Virginia. 
 
 "General — Your dispatch of yesterday by courier was received 
 by me at 9 p. m. Immediately gave orders to Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Shipp, commanding cadets, to have his battalion in readiness to move 
 this morning at 7 o'clock. They are now forming and will reacli 
 Bell's, sixteen miles, to-day and be in Staunton to-morrow. I have 
 issued to them rations for two days, and will send with them 500 
 pounds of bacon and as much beef as I can find transportation for. 
 I have sixty-four barrels of flour near Staunton. I send 100 bushels 
 of corn for forage. The cadets are armed with Austrian rifles and 
 take 40 rounds of ammunition. The section of artillery will consist 
 of 3-inch iron rifles, and the ammunition chests of the limbers will 
 be filled. I have ten or twelve 6-pounder brass pieces here mounted 
 and one 12-pounder howitzer, if any should be needed. Horses 
 have been impressed for the artillery and transportation, but horses 
 are slow in coming in. The artillery have orders to reach the 
 infantry battalion to-night. 
 
 "I have ordered four companies of reserves to rendezvous here. 
 I will arm and equip them, and hold them in readiness to move at a 
 moment's notice. No commanding officers have been appointed to 
 this battalion. I will direct the commander of the post of Lexington 
 to supply rations, should they be called out. Your dispatch finds 
 me very unwell, but I shall hope to be with you to-morrow. 
 
 *End of an Era, .T. S. Wise.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 293 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Shipp has orders to report to you on reach- 
 ing Staunton. If the reserve companies are required to move to 
 Staunton, I will have them in readiness to move to-morrow, and 
 shall get transportation for 6,000 pounds of bacon from the Com- 
 missary. Confederate States, here. 
 
 "Francis H. Smith, 
 
 "Brevet Major-General."* 
 
 "May 11th. We surely 'dwell in the midst of alarms'. 
 We were roused from our beds this morning at five 
 o'clock by an order for the impressment of our horses 
 to haul the institute cannon: then came Frank (Captain 
 Preston, tactical officer, V. M. I.), Preston Cocke, and 
 William Lewis (cadets), for a hurried breakfast, and 
 provisions for their haversacks; ordered towards Win- 
 chester, where is Sigel with a large Yankee force. They 
 left at 7 o'clock; all the Home Guard is ordered out 
 too; so Lexington is left without men. Last night, fir- 
 ing was heard by a great many persons, more distinctly, 
 they say, than ever before. They suppose it to be at 
 Richmond. I'm thankful my husband is away on the 
 errand of God's Church, and so escapes going to Win- 
 chester. He will regret it no little!"** 
 
 May 12th the Corps reached Staunton. "We were in 
 every way fitted for this kind of work by our hard drill- 
 ing, and marched into Staunton in the afternoon of the 
 second day, showing little effects of travel. We found 
 a pleasant camping-ground on the outskirts of the town, 
 and thither the whole population flocked for inspection 
 of the Corps, and to witness dress-parade, for our fame 
 was widespread. The attention bestowed upon the 
 cadets was enough to turn the heads of much humbler 
 persons than ourselves."! 
 
 Evening found the Confederate forces in Staunton 
 in the shadow of impending battle, for couriers hourly 
 arrived reporting Sigel's approach. Breckinridge, how- 
 ever, bold to the point of rashness, but no doubt count- 
 ing much on the dullness of his adversary, determined 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXXVII, Part 1, p. 730. 
 
 •♦Diary of Mrs. Preston, p. 179. 
 
 tEnd of an Era, .1. S. Wise. The camp was just north of the town.
 
 294 The Military History of 
 
 to move out the next morning to meet the enemy, and 
 published the following order, which was read to the 
 cadets at dress parade: 
 
 "Headquarters, Valley District, 
 
 "Staunton, Va., May 12, 1864.. 
 
 "General Orders — No. 1. 
 
 "I. The command will march to-morrow morning promptly at 
 6 o'clock, on turnpike to Harrisonburg. 
 
 "The following Order of March will be observed: 
 "Wharton's Brigade, 
 "Echols's Brigade, 
 "Corps of Cadets, 
 "Reserve Forces, 
 
 "Ambulances and Medical Wagons, 
 "Artillery, 
 1 rams. 
 "n. The artillery will, for the present, be united and form a 
 battalion, under the command of Major McLaughlin. 
 
 "The trains will move behind the artillery in the order of their 
 respective commands. 
 
 "IH. Brigadier-General Echols will detail two companies under 
 the command of a field-officer as guard for the trains. 
 "By command of Major-General Breckinridge, 
 
 "J. Stoddard Johnston. 
 
 "A. A.-G." 
 
 To the various commanding officers the following 
 circular was issued: 
 
 "Circular, May 12, 1864. 
 
 "I. The troops of this command will be ready to move at day- 
 light to-morrow morning, with two (2) da)^s' cooked rations. At 
 least five (5) days' rations will be taken in the wagons, and more 
 if possible. 
 
 "II. Commanding officers are directed to take sufficient steps to 
 prevent the wagons from being overloaded with superfluous articles. 
 No knapsacks, blankets, etc., etc., will be carried in the wagons, 
 or on the pieces or caissons. 
 
 "By command of Major-General Breckinridge, 
 
 "W. B. Myers, 
 "A. A.-G."* 
 
 ♦From the original in General Shipp"s possession.
 
 The Virginia Miijtary Institute 295 
 
 That night, Hke Brussels on tlie eve of Waterloo, the 
 town was hilarious. The cadets were in great demand 
 at the dances which had been arranged for their enter- 
 tainment. "The adoration bestowed upon us by the 
 young girls disgusted the regular officers. Before our 
 coming, they had things all their own way. Now, they 
 fomid that fierce mustaches and heavy cavalry boots 
 must give place to the downy cheeks and merry, twink- 
 ling feet we brought from Lexington. A big blond 
 captain, who was wearing a stunning bunch of gilt 
 aiguillettes, looked as if he would snap off my head 
 when I trotted up and whisked his partner away from 
 him. They could not, and would not, understand why 
 girls preferred these little untitled whippersnappers 
 to officers of distinction. Veterans forgot that youth 
 loves youth. 
 
 "All this on the eve of a battled Yes, of course. 
 Why not? To be sure, everybody knew there was go- 
 ing to be a fight. That was what we came for. But 
 nobody among us knew, or cared, just when or where 
 it was coming off. Life is too full of trouble for petty 
 officers, or privates, or young girls, to bother themselves 
 hunting up such disagreeable details in advance. That 
 was the business of generals. They were to have all the 
 glory; and so we were willing they should have all the 
 solicitude, anxiety, and preoccupation."* 
 
 On the 13th, the command went into camp at Mount 
 Crawford, near Harrisonburg, while Sigel sent forward 
 from Woodstock three regiments of infantry, 900 
 cavalry, and six guns, under Colonel Moor to feel for 
 Imboden. Numerous couriers reported the advance of 
 the enemy. 
 
 "Headquarters, Valley District, 
 
 "Mount Crawford, May 13, 1864. 
 "General Orders — No. 2. 
 
 "I. The command will move on the mam road to Harrisonburg 
 and New Market at daylight, to-morrow, in the following order: 
 "Echols's Brigade, 
 "Wharton's Brigade, 
 
 ♦End of an Era, .T. S. Ayise.
 
 296 The Military History of 
 
 "Corps of Cadets, 
 "Artillery, 
 
 (trr\ 
 
 1 rain. 
 
 "II. Col. Harman will keep his wagons and move in rear, but 
 marching as fast as possible. 
 
 "Ambulances and medical wagons will move immediately in rear 
 of their respective commands. 
 
 "Ammunition wagons will move in rear of the artillery. It will 
 be regarded as a standing order that the wagons move in the order 
 of their commands. 
 
 "III. Brigadier-General Wharton will detail two companies, 
 with a field-officer as guard for the train. 
 
 "IV. The order of march must be closer than it was to-day, and 
 the trains must be kept well closed up. Straggling and wandering 
 into houses and grounds on the roadside by the officers and men will 
 be stopped at once. Commanding officers will require the medical 
 officers to march with their commands in their proper positions, and 
 allow no one to fall behind but upon surgeon's certificate. 
 
 "V. Commanding officers will throw out small pickets on the 
 roads leading to their encampments. 
 
 "By command of Major-General Breckinridge, 
 
 "J. Stoddard Johnston, 
 
 "A. A.-G."* 
 
 "Pressing on through Harrisonburg, which we 
 reached early in the morning, we camped the second 
 night (14th) at Mount Tabor, in Shenandoah; rain had 
 set in, but the boys stood up well to their work, and but 
 few lame ducks succumbed."** 
 
 During the day Moor's force gained contact with 
 Imboden's brigade near Mount Jackson, and, forcing 
 it across the Shenandoah, seized the bridge, then fol- 
 lowed the retreating Confederates seven miles up the 
 Valley to New Market. 
 
 "Evidences of the approach of the enemy multiplied 
 throughout the day. We passed a great many vehicles 
 coming up the Valley with people and farm products 
 and household effects, and a number of herds of cattle 
 and other livestock, all escaping from the Union troops ; 
 now and then a weary or wounded cavalryman came by. 
 Their reports were that Sigel's steady advance was only 
 
 *From the original in General Shipp's possession. 
 ••End of an Era. J. S. Wise.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 297 
 
 delayed by a thin line of cavalry skirmishers, who had 
 been ordered to retard him as best they could, until 
 Breckinridge could march his army down to meet him. 
 
 "Towards evening, we came to a stone church and 
 spring, where a cavalry detail with a squad of Union 
 prisoners were resting. The prisoners were a gross, 
 surly-looking lot of Germans, who could not speak 
 English. They evidently could not make us out. They 
 watched us with manifest curiositj^ and talked in un- 
 intelligible, gutteral sounds among themselves. 
 
 "When we reached camp, the rain had stopped and 
 the clouds had lifted, but everything was wet and 
 gummy. Looking down the Valley, as evening closed 
 in, we could see a line of bivouac fires, and were un- 
 certain whether they were lit by our own pickets, or by 
 the enemy. At any rate, we were getting sufficiently 
 near to the gentlemen whom we were seeking to feel 
 reasonably certain we should meet them. 
 
 "Night closed in upon us ; for a little while the wood- 
 land resounded with the axe-stroke, or the cheery halloos 
 of the men from camp-fire to camp-fire ; for a while the 
 fire lights danced, the air laden with the odor of cook- 
 ing food; for a while the boys stood around the camp 
 fires for warmth, and to dry their wet clothing ; but soon 
 all had wrapped their blankets around them and lain 
 down in silence, unbroken save by the champing of the 
 Colonel's horse upon his provender, or the fall of a pass- 
 ing shower."* 
 
 Thus bivouacked the command from which the 
 next day so many were called to their final sleep. Boys 
 they may have been who dozed off to Nature's lullaby 
 that night, on the damp pallet of the soft fields — a 
 couch, as we have seen, by no means unfamiliar to them 
 — but ere another sunset they had grown to the stature 
 of men — heroic men — to whom the veterans no longer 
 sang "Rock-a-bye, Baby," as they had done upon the 
 arrival of the Corps in Staunton. 
 
 ♦End of an Era, J. S. Wise. Most of the cadets slept in the stone church 
 at Mount Tabor.
 
 298 The Military History of 
 
 Moor's success in driving Imboden back upon New 
 Market was Sigel's undoing, for having first determined 
 to make the stand at JMount Jackson, on the night of 
 the 1 4th, he found his army divided by a distance of 
 nineteen miles, one part at Woodstock and the other at 
 New Market. Early the next morning he ordered his 
 remaining troops to advance, and by 10 a. m. they 
 reached Slount Jackson. At this point he received dis- 
 patches from Moor advising him of the excellent posi- 
 tion at New 3Iarket, seven miles up the Valley. He now 
 wavered, and then decided to strike out for New Market, 
 reaching that point himself about noon, but soon per- 
 ceived that he would not be able to consolidate his com- 
 mand in time to use its full strength during the day. 
 He, therefore, faltered again, and, instead of fighting 
 a delaying action in the position Moor held, ordered his 
 advance-guard commander to fall back slowly, in the 
 hope of effecting a speedier junction between the two 
 parts of his army. It seems clear now that he should 
 either have allowed Moor to show a firm front, or have 
 ordered him to retire rapidly to Mount Jackson, thereby 
 reaping the advantages of disorder among the pursuers. 
 
 "In 1864, the town of New Market consisted of two 
 or three rows of houses built along the turnpike which 
 runs northeast through the Shenandoah Valley. It 
 possessed a certain strategic importance, in that it lay 
 at the intersection of the Valley Turnpike and the road 
 which runs to Luray. To the west of the pike is the 
 north fork of the Shenandoah. At the river there are 
 high bluffs from which the land slopes gradually down 
 towards the pike; while from New Market the coimtry, 
 rising slowly to the north and abruptly to the southwest, 
 culminates in two hills, on which, at one time or another, 
 the opposing armies made their stand. To the south 
 the Confederates were posted on Shirley's Hill, to the 
 north the Federal forces occupied Bushong's Hill, and, 
 at the close of the battle, Rude's Hill, some distance to 
 the rear. In 1864, these hills were pastures and wheat 
 fields, intersected now and then bv fences and stone
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 299 
 
 walls. Between Shirley's Hill and Bushong's Hill, in 
 one place there was a shallow ravine. The scene which 
 was closed by the river bluffs on the west, was shut in 
 on the east by the Massanutten Mountain, a mile or 
 more to the east of the pike, approach to which was 
 rendered difficult by intervening marches and wood- 
 lands. Between the pike and the moimtain, Smith's 
 Creek, a small stream, flows northward to empty into 
 the Shenandoah. On the west, then, was the river, on 
 the east the moimtain ; to the north and to the south the 
 hills seized ])y the hostile forces; down the middle ran 
 the turnpike, and in the center lay the town of New 
 Market. 
 
 "During the day preceding, May 14th. the Con- 
 federates under Imboden had been resisting the ad- 
 vance of the Federal troops ; but, after sharp skirmishes, 
 they had been forced to fall back before what they re- 
 ported as overwhelming numbers, and the van of the 
 Federal Army had crossed the river. This was while 
 Imboden, going to meet General Breckinridge, had left 
 Colonel George H. Smith of the 62d Virginia in com- 
 mand.* Imboden says that the advance of the Federals 
 had been so cautious that he did not believe that Sigel 
 would cross the Shenandoah on the 14th. When this 
 occurred, however, he galloped back with orders to hold 
 the town at all hazards. He found that Colonel Smith 
 had admirably disposed his troops. New Market was 
 held during the day, and an artillery duel maintained 
 with the enemy. On the evening of the 14th, Breckin- 
 ridge ordered Imboden to continue falling back, hoping 
 thus to lure Sigel on to attack the Confederate Army 
 in some strong position south of New Market. In this 
 he failed, for, by morning of the 15th, the Federal forces 
 had occupied the town, and from thence advanced no 
 farther, except that the skirmish line was sent a little 
 to the south. That Breckinridge still desired to be at- 
 tacked is shown by the fact that he ordered Imboden 
 forward to charge the enemy and then retreat, hoping 
 
 ♦Colonel Smith was graduated from the Institute in the Class of '53.
 
 300 The Military History of 
 
 thus to lure them into a pursuit. Imboden tried it a 
 number of times, but in vain. That being so, Breckin- 
 ridge, true to the plan which he had so far followed, 
 took the initiative once more, and made ready for attack 
 on the enemy in their own position."* 
 
 "An hour past midnight the sound of hoofs upon 
 the pike caught my ear, and in a few moments the 
 challenge of the sentry summoned me. The newcomer 
 was an aide-de-camp bearing orders for Colonel Shipp 
 from the commanding General. When I aroused the 
 Commandant he struggled up, rubbed his eyes, muttered 
 something about moving at once, and ordered me to 
 arouse the camp without having the drums beaten. 
 Orders to fall in were promptly given, rolls were rattled 
 off, the Battalion formed, and we debouched upon the 
 pike, heading in the darkness and mud for New 
 Market." 
 
 Before taking up the march the Commandant re- 
 quested Colonel Gilliam, who had accompanied the 
 Corps as a representative of the Superintendent, to de- 
 liver a prayer, but Colonel Gilham suggested that 
 Captain Preston be called upon to do this. A cadet who 
 was present describes the incident as folloAvs: 
 
 "Before the command to march was given, a thing 
 occurred which made a deep impression upon us all — 
 a thing which even now may be a solace to those whose 
 boys died so gloriously that day. In the gloom of the 
 night. Captain Frank Preston, neither afraid nor 
 ashamed to pray, sent up an appeal to God for His pro- 
 tection of our little band; it was an himible, earnest 
 petition that sunk into the heart of every hearer. F(iw 
 were the dry eyes, little the frivolity, when he had ceased 
 to speak of home, of father, of mother, of country, of 
 victory and defeat, of hfe, of death, of eternity. Captain 
 Preston had been an officer in Stonewall Jackson's com- 
 mand; had lost an arm at Winchester; was on the re- 
 tired list; and was sub-professor of Latin, and tactical 
 officer of B Company; those who, a few hours later, 
 
 *The New Market Campaign, Edward Raymond Turner.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 301 
 
 saw him commanding his company in the thickest of the 
 fight, his ah'eady empty sleeve attesting that he was no 
 stranger to the perilous edge of battle, realized fully the 
 beauty of the lines which tell that 'the braA-est are the 
 tenderest, the loving are the daring.' 
 
 "Day broke gray and gloomy upon us toiling onward 
 in the mud. The sober course of our reflections was 
 relieved by the light-heartedness of the veterans. We 
 overtook Wharton's Brigade, with smiling 'Old Gabe,' 
 like Echols, a Virginia Mihtary Institute 'boy,' at their 
 head. They were squatting by the roadside cooking 
 breakfast as we came up. With many good-natured 
 gibes they restored our confidence; they seemed as 
 merry, nonchalant, and indifferent to the coming fight 
 as if it were their daily occupation. A tall, round- 
 shouldered fellow, whose legs seemed almost split up 
 to his shoulder-blades, came among us with a pair of 
 shears and a pack of playing cards, offering to take 
 our names and cut love-locks to be sent home after we 
 were dead; another inquired if we wanted rosewood 
 coffins, satin-lined, with name and age on the plate. In 
 a word, they made us ashamed of the depressing 
 solemnity of our last six miles of marching, and renewed 
 within our breasts the true dare-devil spirit of soldiery. 
 
 "Resuming the march, the mile posts numbered four, 
 three, two, one mile to New Market ; then, the mounted 
 skirmishers hurried past us to their position at the front. 
 We heard loud cheering at the rear, which was caught 
 up by the troops along the line of march. We learned 
 its import as General John C. Breckinridge and staff 
 approached; and we joined heartily in the cheering as 
 the soldierly man, mounted magnificently, galloped 
 past, uncovered, bowing, and riding like a Cid. It is 
 impossible to exaggerate the gallant appearance of 
 General Breckinridge. In stature he was considerably 
 over six feet high. He sat his blood-bay thoroughbred 
 as if he had been born on horseback; his head was of a 
 noble mould, and a piercing eye and long, dark, droop- 
 ing mustache completed a faultless military presence.
 
 302 The Military History of 
 
 "Deplojxd along the crest of an elevation in our front, 
 we could see our line of mounted pickets and the smoul- 
 dering fires of their last night's bivouac. We halted at 
 a point where passing a sliglit turn in the road would 
 bring us in full view of the position of the enemy. 
 Echols's and Wharton's brigades hurried past us. 
 'Forward!' was the word once more, and, turning the 
 point in the road. New Market was in full view, and the 
 whole position was displayed."* 
 
 Thus did the Corps of Cadets actually arrive on its 
 third field of battle ; but this time it was not to be denied 
 a glorious reward for the hardships it had borne, though 
 dear was the price it paid. 
 
 *Bnd of an Era, J. S. Wise.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 303 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE BATTLE OF NEW MARKET, MAY 1 0, 1864 
 
 "The battle of New Market may be divided into 
 three parts: first, the struggle between the Confederates 
 and the first, or advanced, position of the Federal Army, 
 for the most part an artillery duel, lasting for an hour 
 or more, just before midday; second, the struggle be- 
 tween the advancing Confederates and the larger part 
 of the Federal Army posted in the chosen position of 
 Bushong's Hill, to the north of the town ; and third, the 
 pursuit of the Federal forces to Rude's Hill, and after- 
 wards until they had crossed the Shenandoah River. 
 
 "In the arrangement and handling of his troops, 
 Breckinridge displayed dexterity and judgment. While 
 yet upon Shirley's Hill, he marched and counter- 
 marched his men in sight of the enemy, with the pur- 
 pose, it would seem, of magnifying his numbers. 
 Having made his army seem more numerous than it 
 really was, he completed the deception by arranging his 
 troops in three lines. The first line consisted of the 
 51st Virginia Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Wolfe), 
 and the 30th Virginia Battalion and 62 d Virginia Regi- 
 ment (Colonel George H. Smith), these regiments be- 
 ing under the command of Brigadier- General Gabriel C. 
 Wharton; the second line was made up of the 22d Vir- 
 ginia Regiment (Colonel George S. Patton), and the 
 23d Virginia Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Clarence 
 Derrick) ; the third and last line comprised the 26th 
 Virginia Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel George M. 
 Edgar), and the Cadets of the Virginia Military Insti- 
 tute (Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Shipp)."* 
 
 "The battle began with the firing of artillery and the 
 advance of the Confederate skirmishers, the 30th Vir- 
 
 *Smith, V. M. I., '53 ; Wharton, V. M. I., '47 ; Patton, V. M. I., '52 ; Edgar, 
 V. M. I., '56; Shipp, V. M. I., '59; Echols, V. M. I., '43.
 
 304 The Military History of 
 
 ginia Battalion of Colonel Lyle Clarke, and sharp- 
 shooters, who gradually drove in the Federal skirmishers 
 from their advanced position to the south of New 
 Market. Meanwhile some of the Confederates were en- 
 gaged in throwing up a hasty breastwork of rails, brush, 
 and earth, at right angles to the pike, so that there might 
 be a Hue back of which to rally in case of need."* 
 
 As the Corps of Cadets came upon the field, a thrill- 
 ing panorama spread out before it."** 
 
 "It was Sunday morning at eleven o'clock. In a 
 picturesque little Lutheran churchyard, under the very 
 shadow of the village spire and among the white tomb- 
 stones, a six-gun battery was posted in rear of the in- 
 fantry lines of the enemy. Firing over the heads of 
 their own troops, that battery opened upon us the 
 moment we came in sight. 
 
 "Away off to the right, in Luray Gap, we could see 
 our Signal Corps telegraphing the position and numbers 
 of the enemy. Our cavalry was galloping to the cover 
 of the creek to attempt to turn the enemy's left flank. 
 Echols's Brigade, moving from the pike at a double- 
 quick by the right flank, went into line of battle across 
 the meadow, its left resting on the pike. Simul- 
 taneously, its skirmishers were thrown forward at a run, 
 and engaged the enemy. Out of the orchard and on the 
 meadows, puff after puff of blue smoke rose as the 
 sharpshooters advanced, the pop, pop, pop of their rifles 
 ringing forth excitingly. Thundering down the pike 
 came McLaughlin with his artillery. Wheeling out 
 upon the meadows, he swmig into battery, action left, 
 and let fly with all his gims. 
 
 "The cadet section of artillery pressed down the pike 
 a httle farther, turned to the left, toiled up the slope in 
 front of us, and, going into position, delivered a plung- 
 ing fire in reply to the Federal battery (Von Kleiser's) 
 in the graveyard. We counted it a good omen when, 
 at the first discharge of our little guns, a beautiful blue- 
 white wreath of smoke shot upward and hovered over 
 
 ♦Turner. 
 
 **End of an Era, J. S. Wise.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 305 
 
 them. The town, which a moment before had seemed to 
 sleep peaceably upon that Sabbath morning, was now 
 wrapped in battle-smoke and was swarming with troops 
 hurrying to their positions. We had their range beauti- 
 fully. Every shell hit some obstruction, and exploded 
 in the streets, or on the hillsides. Every man in our 
 army was in sight. Every position of the enemy was 
 plainly visible. His numbers were uncomfortably 
 large; for, notwithstanding his line of battle already 
 formed seemed equal to our own, the pike beyond the 
 town was still filled with his infantry."* 
 
 "The Federal forces in their first, or advanced, posi- 
 tion, in and about New Market, were commanded by 
 Colonel Augustus Moor, and consisted of the 1st New 
 York Cavalry; the cavalry of Colonel John E. Wyn- 
 koop, numbering about 300, and made up of detach- 
 ments of the 15th New York, 20th Pennsylvania, and 
 22d Pennsylvania ; the 34th Regiment of Massachusetts 
 Infantry, Colonel George D. Wells; the 1st West Vir- 
 ginia, Lieutenant- Colonel Jacob Weddle; and the 123d 
 Ohio Regiment, Major Horace Kellogg. There were 
 also two sections of Battery B, Snow's Maryland 
 Artillery, comprising four guns."** 
 
 The Cadet Battalion was deployed under cover of the 
 rear crest of Shirley's Hill, by the left flank from the 
 pike, and, moving out at double-quick, was soon in line 
 of battle, with its right resting near the road, and con- 
 cealed from the enemy by the crest of the hill in front. 
 It was while in this position that General Breckinridge 
 with his staff rode by and gave the Commandant of 
 Cadets his orders to the effect that his command would 
 form the reserve, and suggested that he dismount, as 
 that was what all the field-officers would do. The Com- 
 mandant then took occasion to express his hope that 
 the cadets, after so much marching and so many 
 previous disappointments, would not be denied a chance 
 to take part in the action. Whereupon, the command- 
 
 •Consiilt map of battlefield from now on. 
 ♦♦Turner. 
 
 20
 
 306 The Military History of 
 
 ing general said he did not wish to expose them un- 
 necessarily, but would use them very freely, were de- 
 velopments such as to justify it. 
 
 "The command was given to strip for action; knap- 
 sacks, blankets — everything but guns, canteens and 
 cartridge boxes was thrown upon the ground. Every 
 lip was tightly drawn, every cheek pale, but none with 
 fear. With a peculiar, nervous jerk, we pulled our 
 cartridge boxes round to the front, laid back the flaps, 
 and tightened belts. Whistling rifled shells screamed 
 over us, as tipping the hill crest in our front, they 
 bounded past."* 
 
 Under the acciu'ate and effective fire of the Con- 
 federate guns. Von Kleiser's Battery was soon com- 
 pelled to withdraw from the graveyard up the pike. 
 "The 18th Connecticut Regiment had now come up to 
 Moor's assistance, and, shortly after, Major-General 
 Stahel with the remainder of the cavalry. There was 
 some fighting in the streets of New Market and about 
 the town, but shortly after noon. General Sigel arrived 
 upon the scene and decided to form his lines upon the 
 hill (Bushong's) north of the town. Accordingly, the 
 Federal troops abandoned their first position. This 
 part of the engagement was followed by heavy artillery 
 firing on both sides, which lasted for some time, but did 
 comparatively little damage."* 
 
 The Confederate Artillery consisted of Chapman's 
 Battery, two 6-pounder guns and four 12-pounder 
 howitzers; two sections of Jackson's Battery, four 6- 
 pounder guns ; McClannahan's six 3-inch rifles ; and the 
 Cadet 3-inch rifled section under Cadet Collier H. 
 Minge of A Company, all under the command of Major 
 William McLaughlin. This was the first time a cadet 
 had commanded the artillery of the Corps in the field, 
 Captain Semmes, or Captain T. H. Smith, having been 
 detailed in charge of the section by the Commandant on 
 previous occasions. 
 
 ♦End of an Era, J. S. Wise. This is an error. The Battalion did not strip 
 for action at this point as we shall see. 
 ** Turner.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 307 
 
 The second stage of the battle was marked by the 
 advance of the Confederates, between 1 and 2 p. m., to 
 the attack of the new Federal position on Bushong's 
 Hill. 
 
 As the original Confederate left and center which had 
 been formed on the face of Shirley's Hill pressed for- 
 ward, the 26th Battalion moved from the third into the 
 second line, forming on the left of the 62d Regiment, 
 leaving the cadets alone in the third line as reserve. As 
 the attack developed, the 26th Battalion, due to the wid- 
 ening of the front and the contraction of the line of 
 battle towards the center, worked its way into the first 
 line on the left of the 51st Regiment, and moved along 
 Indian Hollow next to the river. 
 
 "Up to this time, although the Cadet Artillery had 
 done good service in helping to silence the Federal 
 battery in New Market, the Cadet Corps had taken 
 no part, but had been held in the rear. . . . Now, 
 however, when the Confederate commander marshalled 
 his scanty numbers, it was impossible for him to spare 
 any of his forces, and the cadets were ordered to the im- 
 mediate rear of the main lines, so that as the army went 
 forward they also came under fire. This order they had 
 awaited eagerly, as there were few of them who did 
 not burn to take part in the fight."* 
 
 " *At-ten-tion-n-n! Battalion forward! Guide Cen- 
 ter-r-r,' shouted Shipp, and up the slope we started. 
 From the left of the line, Sergeant-Ma j or Woodbridge 
 ran out and posted himself forty paces in advance of the 
 colors, as directing guide, as if we had been upon the 
 drill-groimd. That boy would have remained there, 
 had not Shipp ordered him back to his post; for this 
 was no dress parade. Brave Evans, standing six feet 
 two, shook out the colors that for days had hung limp 
 and bedraggled about the staff, and every cadet leaped 
 forward, dressing to the ensign and thrilling with the 
 consciousness that this was war. 
 
 ♦Turner.
 
 308 The Military History of 
 
 "Moving up to the hill crest in our front, we were 
 abreast of our smoking battery, and uncovered to the 
 range of the enemy's guns. We were pressing towards 
 him at 'arms port', moving with the light, tripping gait 
 of the French infantry. The enemy's veteran artillery 
 soon obtained our range, and began to drop shells under 
 our very noses along the slope. Echols's Brigade rose 
 up, and was charging on our right front with the well- 
 known rebel yell. 
 
 "Down the green slope we went, answering the wild 
 cry of our comrades as their muskets rattled in opening 
 volleys. 'Double time!' shouted Shipp, and we broke 
 into a long trot. In another moment, a pelting rain of 
 lead would fall upon us from the blue line in our 
 front."* In a few minutes a shell from one of Carlin's 
 guns on Bushong's Hill burst just in front of the line, 
 and Captain A. Govan Hill, Tactical Officer of C 
 Company, and four cadets, Corporal Wise, J. S., D 
 Co., Private Woodlief, P. W., Jr., B Co., and Privates 
 Merritt, J. L., and Read, C. H., Jr., of C Co., were 
 struck to the ground. 
 
 Breckinridge's left and center were now in echelon, 
 with its left against the river bluff, slightly overlapping, 
 and several himdred yards in advance of the left of the 
 center echelon, the right of which extended toward the 
 pike. As the Corps of Cadets moved forward from 
 under the cover of Shirley's Hill and down its forward 
 face, it found itself well behind the left of the rear 
 echelon, but rapidly closed up the distance as it swung 
 forward down Shirley's Hill. Across the turnpike, be- 
 yond the center, or the second echelon, were the 23d and 
 18th Virginia Regiments, McNeill's Rangers, two 
 sections of McClannahan's Battery, and various small 
 detachments of Imboden's Cavalry, while McLaughHn 
 moved forward along the pike abreast of the battle 
 line, with the fourteen guns under his immediate com- 
 mand, firing from successive. positions. 
 
 •End of an Era, J. S. Wise.
 
 The Virginia Militaey Institute 309 
 
 In the first stage of the battle, then, Breckinridge 
 formed his line as follows : 
 
 51st Va., 30th Va., 62d Va. Artillery, 
 
 22d Va., 23d Va. 
 26th Va., Cadets. 
 
 Upon moving to the attack of Bushong's Hill, the 
 following formation was taken up : 
 
 61st Va., 30th Va., 62d Va. 
 
 NEW MARKET 
 
 26th Va., 22d Va., Artillery, 
 
 (4 guns), 23d Va., 18th Va. Cavalry, 
 Cadets. 
 
 The Federals had occupied a position of great natural 
 strength along the brow of Bushong's Hill, with the 
 right resting on the precipitous wooded river bluff, and 
 the left resting near the pike and partly protected by 
 thick cedar thickets and woods occupying the space be- 
 tween the pike and Smith's Creek, and extending on be- 
 yond to the base of the steep mountain side. The field 
 of fire to the front was almost unobstructed from right 
 to left, and stone fences afforded partial cover for the 
 infantry. The approach to the Federal center was 
 across a large wheat field, deep with mud. In front 
 of the left center were numerous scattered scrub cedars. 
 
 Four hundred yards to the front of his main position, 
 Sigel placed the 123d Ohio and 18th Connecticut, of 
 Moor's Brigade, the left of the former resting on the 
 pike and the latter prolonging the line to its right ; Von 
 Kleiser's 30th New York Battery, with six 12-pounder 
 Napoleons, took position across the pike, and abreast 
 of Moor's right. 
 
 In the second, or main line, D Battery, 1st West Vir- 
 ginia, Captain John Carlin, and B Battery, Maryland, 
 Captain Alonzo Snow, each with six 3-inch rifled guns, 
 occupied the high ground near the river bluff ; and, then, 
 in order, to the left were posted the 34th Massachusetts,
 
 310 The Military History of 
 
 the 1st West Virginia, the a4th Pennsylvania, Cx 
 Battery, 1st West Virginia, Captain C. T. Ewing, with 
 four 3-inch rifles. A company of the 34th Massachusetts 
 was assigned as a support for CarHn's and Snow's 
 Batteries; the 12th West Virginia was held in reserve, 
 some distance behind the artillery group, and Stahel's 
 cavalry guarded the left rear, beyond the pike and over 
 by Smith's Creek. The 28th and 116th Ohio Regiments 
 were near Mount Jackson, and B Battery, 5th U. S. 
 Artillery, Captain H. A. du Pont, remained in position 
 at the crossing of the river. 
 
 No sooner did the Confederate infantry come into the 
 open than the well-served Federal batteries opened 
 upon it with vigor and accuracy. But the echelons 
 moved forward rapidly, while Imboden reconnoitered a 
 route by which to move his cavalry across Smith's Creek, 
 under cover of the thicket intervening between Stahel's 
 Cavalry and the extreme Confederate right. Finding 
 such a path, Imboden led the 18th Virginia Cavalry and 
 McClannahan's four guns down the Luray road over 
 the creek; and, from the crossing under cover of a low 
 hill, he gained a position immediately upon Stahel's left 
 flank. At this point, the guns were unlimbered and 
 opened a rapid fire at short range upon the opposing 
 horsemen bej^ond the creek; whereupon, the Federal 
 Cavalry retired in haste. McClannahan now opened a 
 long range enfilading fire upon Von Kleiser's Battery 
 and Moor's left near the pike, which was most discon- 
 certing, as such a fire is well calculated to be. 
 
 In the meantime, the Confederate infantry west of 
 the pike had resolutely pressed forward, and now drove 
 Sigel's advanced line, under Moor, from its position. 
 The regiments composing this line fled precipitately 
 upon the approach of the Confederates, carrying con- 
 fusion to those posted at the main position, and Von 
 Kleiser was compelled to limber up with his battery, 
 which had inflicted severe loss upon the assailants. The 
 23d Virginia Battalion now occupied the space between 
 the pike and the creek, beyond which Imboden's Cavalry
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 311 
 
 and McClannahan's two sections remained. The Con- 
 federate right and center had reached a point just be- 
 yond Moor's abandoned position, and ahnost abreast 
 of the Bushong House, in rear of which stood an 
 orchard. West and north of the orchard was the large 
 wheat field extending from the house to the main 
 artillery group. By the time the main Confederate line 
 reached Moor's abandoned position, the cadet battalion 
 had descended the north face of Shirley's Hill, and was 
 under cover in the deep ravine running westward from 
 New Market. Here the battalion halted for some time, 
 stripped for action, and filled canteens at a spring be- 
 side the road. 
 
 Before progressing to the third stage of the action, 
 Breckinridge, perceiving the enemy's artillery position 
 to be the key of Sigel's whole line, reinforced the first 
 echelon with the 26th Virginia Battalion, which he 
 moved from the left of the rear echelon to the left of 
 the 51st Virginia. In the subsequent advance, the 51st 
 and 26th Virginia moved to the left of a wooded tongue 
 of highland which jutted forward from the bend of the 
 river abreast of the Bushong House, parallel to, and at 
 a distance of half a mile from, the pike. 
 
 With the 23d Battalion extended in line of skir- 
 mishers, supported by McLaughlin's guns holding the 
 cavalry of the Federal left at bay, Breckinridge now 
 ordered the final assault. 
 
 As the line advanced, the 26th Battalion moved for- 
 ward along Indian Hollow on the left of the 51st Regi- 
 ment beyond the wooded hill; but the flat narrowed so 
 rapidly it was soon compelled to follow the 51st. Pro- 
 tected by the wood and the high ground at first, the 
 51st Regiment finally reached open ground, where it 
 met a galling fire from the sharpshooters on the river 
 bluff, from Carlin's and Snow's guns, and the company 
 of the 34th Massachusetts supporting them. Here, 
 farther advance was checked. Meantime, Colonel 
 Patton with the 22d Virginia and the 62d Virginia, like 
 the regiments on the left, had been checked and his
 
 312 The Military History of 
 
 men were lying under cover of a deep fold in the ground 
 between the Bushong House and the pike. 
 
 It has been shown how the Confederate center and 
 left had been brought to a standstill. We shall now take 
 the words of Dr. Turner as to what happened, and the 
 reader, if he be a soldier, will reach his own conclusion 
 as to the importance of the part played by the Corps of 
 
 Cadets. 
 
 "It appeared as though Breckinridge had been over- 
 bold and had run upon disaster. The enemy was un- 
 shaken ; there was a break in the Confederate line, and 
 some of the men were beginning to rush away to the 
 rear. It was at this critical juncture that the cadets, 
 who had been appointed to act as a reserve, moved for- 
 ward into the forefront of the contest and filled up the 
 gap. They took position between the 51st Virginia 
 Regiment and part of the 30th Battalion, which was 
 fighting with (and on the left of) the 62d Virginia. 
 They had now become part of the first line of battle. 
 
 "The movements of the cadets at this time are known 
 somewhat in detail. They had preserved their order 
 splendidly during the heavy cannon fire, and had 
 pressed forward in such beautiful alignment as to excite 
 the admiration of all who saw them. It was remarked 
 by a Southern officer who watched them from a point 
 of vantage that they kept their course as if marching 
 on dress parade. After ascending the hill at the base 
 of which they had halted, they came to an open field, 
 muddy from the rains and exceedingly difficult to cross. 
 A slight confusion was caused by the ends (wings) of 
 the Battalion advancing faster than the center and so 
 beyond it, thus causing the line hitherto straight to be- 
 come curved ; but here was displayed admirable coolness 
 and discipline, for, in the midst of a terrible artillery 
 fire, the line soon rectified, after which they proceeded 
 in as perfect order as before.* 
 
 *In advancing from the ravine tlie Battalion was now and then protected 
 by folds in the ground from the direct Are of the enemy. From the ravine 
 to the close of the Bushong House is about half a mile. The cadets were 
 exposed to direct fire the last half of this distance, losing three killed at 
 this stage of their advance, the number including First Sergeant Cabell of 
 D Co., and Privates Stanard and McDowell of B Co.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 313 
 
 "At the edge of the field was a frame house with other 
 buildings, known b}^ the name of the owner, Bushong. 
 Beyond was an orchard, and then a plateau, which 
 formed the top of the hill, and which was also an open 
 field. When the house was reached, the cadets divided. 
 Companies A and B passing to the right, Companies C 
 and D to the left. After the line was reformed on the 
 other side, they found the grimmest part of their task 
 before them; and it was here that their most terrible 
 losses occurred. From the Federal position beyond, the 
 artillery had perfect range, and poured in a fire of 
 canister and shrapnel, incessant and terrific. Moreover, 
 the distance was now short, and masses of Federal 
 infantry played upon them with incessant volleys. Ac- 
 cordingly, for a time the advance was halted." 
 
 It was at this point of the advance, after he had cor- 
 rected the alignment of the Battalion by marking time, 
 just beyond the Bushong House, that the Commandant, 
 always in front, was struck on the left shoulder by a 
 heavy but spent fragment of shell, and literally swept 
 from his feet. For a time he was apparently stunned, 
 though he was not wounded except very slightly in the 
 face, probably by a tiny piece of shell. 
 
 "The position of Sigel's Army was so well chosen, 
 and so well defended, that for a while it seemed im- 
 possible to force it. During some time the Confederate 
 advance was checked, and certain regiments were rolled 
 back and thrown into confusion. The front lines melted 
 away under the terrific fire. Echols's men were still 
 occupied on the right ; some of Wharton's command fell 
 into disorder. From the Federal lines, the tide of battle 
 seemed to be running strongly against the Confederates. 
 Sigel afterwards described this part of the action as a 
 very sharp conflict, in which the enemy charged re- 
 peatedly and with determination, but were as often re- 
 pulsed by the bravery and coolness of his infantry on 
 the right. It is the opinion of an officer who watched 
 the struggle that had Sigel hurled his cavalry into the 
 opening in the advancing line, that is, between the .51st
 
 314 The Military History of 
 
 and 62d regiments, at this critical moment, the Con- 
 federates would have been put to total route."* 
 
 It is well here to note what had liappened to the 
 Federal Cavalry. Not only had Stahel been compelled 
 to retire his command out of range of McClannahan's 
 gims, but it had been severely pmiished by McLaugh- 
 lin's artillery earlier in the day, and was in no condition 
 to be massed in the open. Cavalry simply can not with- 
 stand the fire of artillery, nor is it expected to do so. 
 It was created for other work, and must leave the 
 infantry to face the gims. When the Confederate right 
 reached the town, the men became somewhat disordered 
 in the streets, and, seeing their confusion, Stahel formed 
 some of his men in columns of platoons, on the pike 
 north of the town, and ordered them forward at the 
 gallop to clear it of the Confederates. He had failed 
 to observe McLaughlin's advance with the infantry, and 
 as the troops pressed up the pike, the men of Derrick's 
 command scrambled to the sides of the road and gave 
 the guns a clear field of fire. 
 
 "Heavens! what a blizzard McLaughlin gave themf 
 They staggered, wheeled and fled. The road was filled 
 with fallen men and horses. A few riderless steeds came 
 galloping towards our lines, neighed, circled and re- 
 joined their comrades. One daring fellow, whose horse 
 became unmanageable, rode straight at our battery at 
 full speed, passed beyond, behind, and around our line, 
 and safely rejoined his comrades — cheered for his 
 courage by his enemies. This was the end of the cavalry 
 in the fight."** 
 
 After this incident, Stahel held his cavalry im- 
 mediately in rear of the Federal left, until Imboden's 
 enfilade fire compelled it to be again retired, as ha& 
 been shown. 
 
 •Turner. 
 
 ••End of an Era, J. S. Wise.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 315 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE CHARGE OF THE CADETS 
 
 Returning to the stage of the main conflict in which 
 the Confederate Hne of battle was shown to have reached 
 a point from which it seemed unable to advance, let us 
 again quote Turner: 
 
 "It is known now that the Southern soldiers stood 
 their ground stoutly. Where the wavering was at its 
 worst, most of them seem to have held their own under 
 the cannonade ; and from what has come down concern- 
 ing this stage of the battle, the conduct of the several 
 divisions (commands) seems to have been replete with 
 heroic incidents. Nevertheless, here was a moment of 
 greatest danger. 
 
 "When the cadets reformed their line on the north 
 side of Bushong's house, they filled in the gap between 
 the 51st Virginia Regiment on their left and the 52d 
 Virginia Regiment, with the attached companies of the 
 30th Virginia Battalion, on their right. They were in 
 the van of the battle, and at one time seem to have been 
 in advance of the other commands. To each side their 
 comrades were suffering heavily, especially the 62d Vir- 
 ginia, to the right. While the veterans around them 
 were wavering, \\\ey also suffered fearfully from the 
 combined artillery and musketry fire. The young 
 soldiers were falling right and left, and for a while it 
 seemed that they could go no farther. 
 
 "This was one of the most critical moments in the 
 battle of New Market. Breckinridge was in danger of 
 defeat. He had boldly taken the aggressive, and, so 
 far, success had attended his efforts, for he had pushed 
 a portion of the Federal Army out of New Market, and 
 his right wing had driven back the Federal left, while 
 Imboden had gained a position on the Federal flank.
 
 316 The Military History of 
 
 But Imboden's men were practically useless where they 
 were, and the towTi was untenable so long as the Federal 
 forces remained on the heights beyond. To drive them 
 out, Breckinridge had launched all his remaining 
 strength in a frontal attack, and this attack seemed to 
 be meeting with failure. On the right, Echols's com- 
 mands (22d Regiment, Col. Patton, and 23d Battalion, 
 Major Derrick) had made little progress; on the left, 
 Wharton's men had advanced farther to within strik- 
 ing distance of the enemy, but, with the exception of 
 the 26th Battalion, had suffered so heavily as to be com- 
 pelled to fall back. 
 
 "It was at this deadly moment that the cadets of the 
 Virginia Military Institute pushed out into the orchard 
 beyond Bushong's House."* 
 
 Here, let us interpolate that Colonel Edgar (whose 
 26th Virginia Battalion had been crowded out of the 
 front line on the left of the 51st before the latter came 
 out into the open on the crest of the wooded tongue of 
 highland, beyond which it had progressed to a point 
 several hundred yards short of the Bushong House) 
 was now leading his men up out of Indian Hollow to 
 Wharton's line, to the left and rear of the cadets.** 
 
 The 62d Virginia had been compelled to fall back 
 shghtly, and seeing its movement to the rear, Sigel had 
 ordered Von Kleiser's Battery (which Imboden, Der- 
 rick and McLaughlin had driven from the town) into 
 action on the summit of Bushong's Hill, at the very 
 northern end of the wheat field and opposite the cadets, 
 for that was the very key-point of the Federal position. 
 Wliile the Corps of Cadets was yet moving into position 
 behind the fence forming the northern boundary of the 
 orchard and the southern boundary of the wheat field, 
 Woodson's company of Missourians moved forward 
 again from the left of the 62d Virginia, and heroically 
 assailed Von Kleiser's Battery. But while their ac- 
 curate musketry fire temporarily drove the cannoneers 
 
 •Turner, p. 81. 
 
 **See Turner, pp. 50-51.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 317 
 
 from their places, their numbers were inadequate to the 
 task they had essayed, and their heroism only led to the 
 annihilation of the gallant company which lost six killed 
 and 54 wounded, out of a total of 76 men, in a few 
 minutes. 
 
 By this time, the cadets had reached the cover of the 
 fence, and Von Kleiser's guns resumed their fire. 
 Woodson's effort, of course, had had no effect upon the 
 fire of Carlin's and Snow's batteries, which had fired 
 continuously upon the cadets while moving past the 
 Bushong House and through the orchard. 
 
 "Close to them (cadets) now was Sigel's Army shoot- 
 ing from the fences and cedar groves, wliile nearer still 
 were the Federal batteries which had already wrought 
 such havoc in the advancing lines. The cadets seemed 
 to have rushed into certain destruction. The artillery 
 concentrated upon them its fire, continuous and terrific, 
 hurling shells into the orchard and tearing the trees to 
 pieces. Their Commandant, Lieutenant-Colonel Shipp, 
 was womided by a piece of shell; whereupon, there be- 
 gan a wavering and confusion among them. Some one 
 gave the order to lie down. They obeyed, and began 
 firing from the ground, crouching behind a worm fence 
 along the northern edge of the orchard. But the firing 
 of the cannon in front of them continued with fearful 
 effect, until at last the cry arose that they should fall 
 back and rally on the veterans to the rear. Fortunately, 
 this was not done, hut the cadets continued to fire from 
 their exposed position, though all the while they were 
 being riddled f* 
 
 "The men were falling right and left. The veterans 
 on the right of the cadets seemed to waver. Colonel 
 Shipp went down. For the first time, the cadets ap- 
 peared irresolute. Some one cried out, 'Lie down!' and 
 all obeyed, firing from the knee — all but Evans, the 
 ensign, who was standing bolt upright, shouting and 
 waving the flag. Some one exclaimed, 'Fall back, and 
 rally on Edgar's Battalion!' Several boys moved as if 
 
 *Turner, pp. 81-82. Parentheses are the writer's.
 
 318 The Military History of 
 
 to obey. Pizzini, the first sergeant, of B Company, with 
 his Corsican blood at the boihng point, cocked his rifle 
 and proclaimed that he would shoot the first man who 
 ran. Preston, brave and inspiring in command of B 
 Company, smilingly lay do^vn upon his remaining arm, 
 with the remark that he would at least save that. 
 Colonna, cadet captain of D, was speaking low to the 
 men of his company words of encouragement, and 
 bidding them shoot close. The Corps was being 
 decimated."* 
 
 The obvious effect of the resolution of the Corps of 
 Cadets in clinging to their advanced position was to 
 cause the Federal artillery which had up to this time 
 been dividing its attention between the cadets and the 
 51st Regiment, on their left, to concentrate on the 
 cadets, which relieved the pressure on the 51st Regiment 
 and 26th Battalion, to their left rear, thus enabling them 
 to reform and engage at an advantage with the infantry 
 company of the 34th Massachusetts supporting the 
 Federal artillery group. The men of this company had 
 been thro^^^l out as sharpshooters along the wooded bluff 
 overhanging the river, on the extreme Confederate left 
 and on the right of the Federate batteries. 
 
 "At this opportune moment (the crisis of the cam- 
 bat), when victory seemed within his reach, Sigel 
 launched the counter-attack upon the enemj^ before him. 
 The 34th Massachusetts with the adjoining regiments 
 (forming the line to the left of the batteries at the north 
 end of the wheat field and beyond the scrub cedars be- 
 tween the wheat field and the turnpike) sprang forward 
 at the 51st, the cadets, and the 62d. Had the charge 
 been well directed and firmly pressed, it might have de- 
 cided the day. The 54th Pennsylvania fought well, but 
 was forced to retreat (by the 22d Virginia on the right 
 of the 62d Virginia), while the 1st West Virginia 
 suffered heavily (at the hands of the 62d Virginia and 
 the right wing of the Cadet Battalion), and halted al- 
 most at once. The 34th Massachusetts, however, 
 
 *End of an Bra. J. S. Wise. Observe how this account corresponds almost 
 exactly with Turner's. It was written years before the latter.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 319 
 
 charged down nearly to the fence, behind which the 
 cadets had their position. Could they have done this 
 somewhat earlier, before the cadets occupied the gap, 
 they would have found the jjlace unoccupied, and it 
 may he woidd have broken the Confederate line. This 
 was where the cadets did their best service. With the 
 men to the right and left of them, they held the place 
 with stubborn resolution (the troops on their flanks 
 were in rear of their position), and after a sharp 
 struggle the 34th was driven back to the position which 
 it had left just before."* 
 
 Again describing the crisis of the combat and Sigel's 
 counter stroke, Turner says: 
 
 "As a matter of fact, however, the Federal success 
 was only temporary. The Confederates were not de- 
 moralized; except for the heavy artillery fire from both 
 sides, there was for a short time a lull in the battle in 
 this part of the field. The Confederate line was being 
 strengthened and rectified once more. (Edgar was 
 moving the 26th Battalion up to the line of the 51st 
 Virginia, the cadets were moving up into the gap, and 
 the 62d on their right, having fallen back to slight cover, 
 was being reformed ) . 
 
 "The men of the 62d were undaunted by the disaster 
 which had just occurred. Indeed they had retired 
 partly for the purpose of waiting until the other com- 
 mands should come up with them. (The truth is, they 
 were unable to remain in the open in advance, and were 
 compelled to seek cover in a hollow in their rear, until 
 their flanks were prolonged hy the cadets on the left 
 and the 22d Virginia on their right) . The gap between 
 the 62d and 51st was being filled by the cadets in the 
 course of a brilliant movement. To the left, the 51st 
 had recovered its order (due to shifting of the fire of the 
 Federal batteries upon the cadets), and was ready to 
 go forward again. To the right of the 62d, the 22d 
 Regiment, under Colonel Patton, was hastening up to 
 
 ♦Turner, p. 53. The italics and parenthetical remarks are those of the 
 writer and not of Turner.
 
 320 The Military History of 
 
 complete the line. (His position was between the hol- 
 low in which the 62d lay under cover of the ground, and 
 the turnpike, abreast of Imboden's position beyond the 
 bend in the creek, which at this point was about 500 
 yards east of the turnpike. The interval on his right 
 was occupied by Derrick's 23d Battalion, while 
 McLaughhn's artillery occupied positions on the high 
 ground along the pike some 400 yards in rear of the 
 22d and 23d, and engaged Ewing's Battery, east of the 
 pike on the Federal left, at a range of 800 yards, and 
 Snow's, Carlin's, and Von Kleiser's batteries, obliquely 
 to the left, at a range of about 1,000 yards. 
 
 "This was the time chosen by Sigel for the Federal 
 countercharge. Perhaps it had no chance to succeed, 
 although the result might have been different had this 
 charge been made immediately after the repulse of the 
 Confederates, and had the Federal left been holding 
 its own. (By repulse is meant the confusion of the .51st, 
 on the extreme left, when it emerged into the open, after 
 ascending and crossing the wooded hill, and the falling 
 back of the 62d to the hollow.) 
 
 "Now, there was little hope. As the Federal soldiers 
 moved do^vn the slope (of Bushong's Hill against the 
 51st, Cadets, 62d, and 22d) they were met by a terrible 
 fire. Curiously enough, what happened to the Con- 
 federates a little before, now befell their opponents. 
 The 54th Pennsylvania, and probably the 1st West 
 Virginia, halted in confusion, and turned back, leaving 
 the 34th Massachusetts (opposite the cadets) to ad- 
 vance alone. The men of this command charged 
 gallantly toward the fence of Bushong's yard (behind 
 which the cadets alone lay), but were repulsed in dis- 
 order, partly, (wholly?) because of the splendid fighting 
 of the cadets. Accordingly, they retreated with heavy 
 loss. In some respects, the repulse of Sigel's counter- 
 charge was the critical point in this part of the engage- 
 ment, for the tide of battle now changed. (If the tide 
 changed, this was certainly the very crisis of the com- 
 bat, and, inasmuch as Sigel would have broken the Con-
 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL RALEIGH E. COLSTON, C. S. A. 
 
 Assistant Professor 
 Professor 1854-1 Sf>5
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 321 
 
 federate line, had the 34th Massachusetts pressed home, 
 the troops which repelled its advance saved the day.) 
 The 22d Virginia Regiment, which formed the left of 
 the hinder echelon, had now come up upon the right of 
 the 62d Virginia. Together they formed a solid line of 
 eight hundred veteran troops. (Here it is to be ob- 
 served some of the veteran troops were in the 'hinder 
 echelon' when the crisis of the combat was passed, the 
 cadets being in the most advanced position.) A for- 
 ward movement was begun immediately, leaving the 
 shaken Federal troops no time to recover." 
 
 "The cadets also, under Captain Henry A. Wise, and 
 the other Professor-Captains (Colonel Shipp, the Com- 
 mandant, having been disabled), sprang forward with 
 heroic enthusiasm, their boyish cheers arousing the 
 veterans on both sides of them. The 51st Virginia, to 
 the left of the cadets, had recovered from its earlier 
 confusion, and had been fighting vigorously. It also 
 took part in the general forward movement; so that, 
 substantiall5% the entire Confederate Army swept up 
 toward the Federal position. By this time, Edgar had 
 completed his work of turning the Federal right; the 
 troops posted along the river had been driven back, and 
 the artillery (Snow's and Carlin's batteries) were 
 hastening to move off. Over on the left, the Federal 
 attack had been repulsed, and there the Confederate 
 right was driving the enemy back. In fact, the Federal 
 line was breaking up now, and Breckinridge encoun- 
 tered no serious resistance. The 54th Pennsylvania, 
 and the 1st West Virginia, hotly pressed and in danger 
 of being flanked, gave way. The 34th Massachusetts 
 was thus left in a perilous position. The 62d and the 
 22d were driving away its support, on the left ; the 26th, 
 the 51st, and the cadets were driving off the artillery, 
 on the right ; while it was being assailed in front by part 
 of the Cadet Battalion, the 30th Virginia, and part of 
 the 62d. It fought stubbornly and well, and sustained 
 heavy losses, but could not retrieve the day. As it was. 
 
 2]
 
 322 The Military History of 
 
 it lacked little of ])eing cut off. Thus, both the right 
 and the center of the Federal Army were broken."* 
 
 The movements of the cadets in this charge have been 
 graphically described. Turner has shown in the fore- 
 going account that they assaulted the position of the 
 battery, notwithstanding his doubts, later expressed, as 
 to whether they could have done it. The sole question 
 is really as to the number of guns they took. A witness 
 writes : 
 
 "Manifestly, they, the cadets, must charge or fall 
 back. And charge it was; for, at that moment, Henry 
 Wise ('Old Chinook', beloved of every boy in the com- 
 mand) sprang to his feet, shouted out the command 
 to rise up and charge, and, moving in advance of the 
 line, led the Cadet Corps forward to the guns. The 
 battery was being served superbly. The musketry fairly 
 rolled, but the cadets never faltered. They reached the 
 firm greensward of the farmyard in which the guns 
 were planted. The Federal infantry began to break 
 and run behind the buildings. Before the order to 
 limber up could be obeyed by the artillerymen, the 
 cadets disabled the teams, and were close upon the guns. 
 The gunners dropped their sponges, and sought safety 
 in flight. Lieutenant Hanna hammered a gunner over 
 the head with his cadet sword. Winder Garret outran 
 another and lunged his bayonet in him. The boys 
 leaped upon the guns, and the battery was theirs. 
 Evans, the color-sergeant, stood wildly waving the cadet 
 colors from the top of a caisson. 
 
 "A straggling fire of infantry was still kept up from 
 the gully, now on our right flank (left of 34th Massa- 
 chusetts), notwithstanding the masses of blue retiring 
 in confusion down the hill. The Battalion was ordered 
 to reform, mark time, and half -wheel to the right ; then, 
 it advanced, firing into the cedars as it went, and did 
 not pause again until it reached the pike, having driven 
 the last enemy from the thicket. The broken columns 
 of the enemy could be seen hurrjdng over the hills, and 
 
 ♦Turner, pp. 56-60.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 323 
 
 down the pike towards Mount Jackson, hotly pressed 
 by our infantry (22d and 23d) and cavalry."* 
 
 This account seems to be accurate. Turner has al- 
 ready stated that in the final charge the cadets assaulted 
 Von Kleiser's Battery. Yet, on page 71 of his book we 
 read : 
 
 "It has usually been asserted that the cadets took Von 
 Kleiser's Battery, but they could scarcely have done 
 this, since Von Kleiser's Batterj^ was not captured. No 
 Federal battery was captured at New Market. Sigel 
 lost five or six cannon. Two of these were captured by 
 the Confederates from the batteries near the river, while 
 another they found afterwards abandoned in a pond. 
 Von Kleiser lost two guns, one of which, there is no 
 doubt, was taken by the cadets when the Federal line 
 gave way, and they may have captured the other. But 
 they did not capture a battery."** 
 
 Now, this whole tangle is easy to straighten out. 
 Upon the near approach of the cadets. Von Kleiser, see- 
 ing that he was unsupported on his right, from which 
 quarter Snow and Carlin had withdrawn their batteries, 
 and that the infantry beyond the 34th Massachusetts, 
 still supporting him on the left, but obviously unable to 
 withstand the assault of the cadet right wing and the 
 62d Virginia, ordered his battery to limber up. Four 
 of his guns got away, but the other two were taken by 
 the cadets who swarmed in among his confused teams 
 and cannoneers, as described. When the various writers 
 described the capture of the battery, they referred more 
 to the seizure of its position, than to the actual number 
 of guns taken. The fact that the two contemporaneous 
 accounts, the official report of the Commandant and a 
 letter of Captain Preston, do not enumerate the number 
 of guns actually seized by the cadets does not mean 
 they captured no guns. Both writers specifically stated 
 the position of the hostile battery was charged and over- 
 run. The seizure of the guns was in tlieir accounts in- 
 
 *Eiid of an Era, J. S. Wise. 
 **Tumer, p. 73.
 
 324 The Military History of 
 
 eluded in the taking of the position occupied by the 
 battery. 
 
 Turner's lack of perception of these points is clearly 
 expressed in the statement which he makes, following 
 closely upon his account of the action of the cadets in 
 filling the gap, holding their position in advance of the 
 Confederate line, when confusion reigned, according 
 to his own account, on both sides of them, and repulsing 
 the coimtercharge of the 34th Massachusetts, which, he 
 says, was the turning point of the battle. 
 
 "Not less exaggerated have been the assertions about 
 the result of the action of the cadets. There has been 
 a tendency to maintain that they saved the day and won 
 the battle, and that Breckinridge acknowledged that 
 they had done so. As a matter of fact, there is no 
 ground for such assertion, and it is grossly unjust to the 
 veteran soldiers who bore the brunt of the fighting. The 
 cadets made up about one-sixteenth of the Confederate 
 Army, so that it would have been physically impossible 
 for them to have turned the tide of battle."* 
 
 This is really pitiful. He has said that if the 34th 
 Massachusetts had penetrated the gap, the day would 
 have been won for Sigel, and it no doubt would have 
 been. Would Turner, in such event, have contradicted 
 himself, and said that the 34th Massachusetts could not 
 have won the battle, because it was but one-sixteenth of 
 Sigel's Army? Since when have the importance of 
 tactical maneuvers been measured by the number of men 
 engaged in a particular movement? A brigade of 
 cavalry in the rear of a line of battle will decide the 
 issue, when an army corps is at a standstill in its front. 
 Can any one deny that the Stonewall Brigade won the 
 battle of First Manassas ? Yet its action there was rela- 
 tively very similar to that of the cadets at New 
 Market. Dr. Turner is hopelessly lost in the fog which 
 he has done more to create than any previous historian 
 of the battle. Fortunately, he again contradicts him- 
 self, after having declared Mr. Wise's account inac- 
 
 *Turner, p. 72.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 325 
 
 curate, for on page 83 he confirms that account abso- 
 hitely, and writes: 
 
 "After the fall of Lieutenant-Colonel Shipp, the 
 command of the cadets had devolved upon Professor- 
 Captain Henry A. Wise. He says that he believed that 
 the longer the cadets lay inactive behind the scanty 
 shelter under the enemy's fire, the less would be their 
 courage, and the more impossible would it be for them 
 to do anything. At the moment, it seemed, there were 
 two possible courses: either to fall back, as had been 
 suggested, or to rise and continue the advance. He 
 felt instinctively that this was the decisive moment of 
 the battle; and that if the cadets fell back and opened 
 a gap in the center of the line it might mean the loss 
 of the day. Moreover, he thought that to fall back under 
 an artillery fire like that to which they had been sub- 
 jected, would entail nearly as much hazard as a 
 charge right at the enemy's guns. The chance was a 
 terrible one, but he made his decision instantly. His 
 comrades still recall how he sprang to his feet and 
 shouted the charge. At once, the magnificent training 
 of the cadets asserted itself: they rose as a man, got 
 over the fence, and moved forward across the field, 
 straight for the enemy's guns. (This is what Turner 
 seems to think they could not have done, yet he describes 
 how they did it ! ) There is no doubt that at this moment 
 the 62d and the 22d had begun their charge (on the 
 right of the cadets), but the influence of the cadets 
 stirred to enthusiasm the adjacent commands (51st, 
 30th and 26th) on their left rear, and the whole Con- 
 federate line rushed forward. The Federal troops from 
 their position saw the movement, and prepared to hold 
 their ground. 
 
 "Unfortunately, it is not possible for the historian to 
 feel that he can narrate exactly the details of what 
 followed, such vivid, contradictory, and exaggerated ac- 
 counts have been given. It is probable that some shells 
 were bursting over the field as the Corps advanced; but 
 they kept their ranks and j^i'essed forward. The in-
 
 326 The Military History of 
 
 cessant rains of the morning and the day preceding, had 
 drenched the whole country. The ground over which 
 they were toihng was a wheat field not long since 
 ploughed, now sodden, and ankle-deep in mud. At 
 times, the cadets found it an heroic task even to drag 
 their feet out of the slough into which they sunk, and 
 in many cases shoes and even socks were pulled off as 
 they struggled along. Furthermore, the rain, which had 
 ceased, had ceased only for a while. A black thunder- 
 cloud which had gathered hung low, and now, when the 
 charge began, burst over the field, in torrents. The air 
 was dim with the driving ram and the darkness, and 
 murky with the volumes of smoke which drifted along 
 the ground; so that it was difficult to see twenty paces 
 ahead, save for the lightning flashes and the fire where 
 the riflemen were shooting. The elements themselves 
 seemed at war."* 
 
 After reading this vivid account, which is undoubt- 
 edly correct, it is a simple matter to explain how the 
 Cadet Corps was able to traverse the wheat field in the 
 face of Von Kleiser's guns. A plunging fire is of all 
 others the most inaccurate, especially when the target 
 is moving towards the guns. Coupled with this element 
 of inaccuracy, were the facts that the gimners could see 
 the advancing line but imperfectly; that some of the 
 guns must have been limbering up to escape; that it 
 took not over two minutes for the Corps to traverse the 
 wheat field ; that in that time no gun could have possibly 
 fired over five rounds; that fuses were wet and inac- 
 curately cut ; that firing that rapidly the pieces could not 
 possibly have been accurately laid upon a rapidly-mov- 
 ing target, even had the gunners been at target practice, 
 instead of laboring under the intense excitement of re- 
 pelling an infantry charge — and we have before us facts 
 constituting a full explanation of the success of the 
 charge. Nothing more is needed. Physically, the deed 
 was by no means impossible. On the contrary, it seems 
 physically impossible for the battery to have repelled 
 
 ♦Turner, pp. 83-86.
 
 The Vikginia Military Institute 327 
 
 the charge. Moral factors might have offset the 
 physical advantages of the assailants, but that is just 
 what did not happen ; and so the position of the battery 
 was reached and overrun. This, Turner himself tells 
 us: 
 
 "But there was no faltering. The distance to be 
 traversed grew less, and soon the audacity of their 
 courage told. The Federal soldiers were too much 
 shaken, and too hard pressed, to make a stout resistance. 
 There was some attempt; but on the cadets came, and 
 then at last in the midst of a wavering in the enemy's 
 ranks, they dashed up to the Federal lines with wild 
 enthusiasm, and shot down the horses of one of the 
 guns. There was a brief hand-to-hand struggle, but 
 the Federal Army was already giving way. The cadets 
 ran here and there capturing prisoners. The color- 
 bearer sprang upon the gun carriage and waved his 
 flag. The position had beefi stoi^med." 
 
 Von Kleiser's Battery went into action immediately 
 on the left of Sigel's original artillery group. Just be- 
 fore the general charge commenced, the pressure of the 
 26th, 51st and Cadet Corps compelled Snow and Carlin 
 to limber up and pull out with their batteries, Carlin 
 abandoning three of his guns to which he could not get 
 his teams without losing them. While the center of 
 the Cadet Battalion was overrunning Von Kleiser's 
 position, the extreme left swept over the ground 
 formerly occupied by Carlin's Battery, and there found 
 his abandoned pieces. 
 
 It is possible, of course, that either 5 1st or 26th had 
 already passed Carlin's position (as claims by both for 
 the capture of the three pieces have been advanced). 
 But what probably happened was the men of these two 
 commands mingled with the left wing of the Cadet 
 Battalion, reached the guns nearly at the same time, 
 and hence each has conscientiously asserted its claim of 
 priority. There is nothing strange about that. It had 
 happened many times before. But one thing is certain : 
 the cadets secured the pieces which they found, as well
 
 328 The Military History of 
 
 as from 80 to 100 prisoners, a precaution which, it seems, 
 the veteran troops (contrary to their custom) failed to 
 take. That fact certainly gives the cadets a tremendous 
 advantage, in the eye of the military critic. 
 
 Of the charge of the cadets upon Von Kleiser's 
 Battery, Major Theodore S. Lang, of Sigel's staff, 
 wrote : 
 
 "I must «ay that I never witnessed a more gallant ad- 
 vance and final charge than was given by those brave 
 boys on that field. They fought like veterans; nor did 
 the dropping of their comrades by the ruthless bullets 
 deter them from their mission, but on they came, ravines 
 or fences, or shot or shell, were all the same to those 
 brave boys, who faltered not until they waved their 
 battle flag over the captured battery of Captain Von 
 Kleiser." 
 
 Captain Franklin E. Town, Chief Signal Officer of 
 Sigel's Armj^ wrote: 
 
 "Standing on the crest of this slope, after a short 
 time I observed a line forming in the ravine at the foot 
 of the hill, which seemed about like a regiment in ex- 
 tent, but so 'smart' and 'natty' in appearance as 
 instantly to suggest our own pet 'Seventh Regiment' of 
 New York City. They appeared more like militia on 
 parade than troops in campaign. We were soon able 
 to identify the command as the Battalion of the Virginia 
 Military Institute, and certainly a more soldiery-ap- 
 pearing Corps never faced an enemy. 
 
 "After perfecting their alignment, this yomig regi- 
 ment advanced toward our battery. It approached only 
 a short distance when it halted and turned back toward 
 the ravine. There was no apparent disorder, nor did 
 it seem that they were falling back in panic, but rather 
 as if by some change of plan, and in pursuance of 
 orders.* 
 
 ♦This was when, after passing the Bushong House, the Commandant gave the 
 command, as shown, to "mark time," and then halted the Battalion behind 
 the fence.
 
 The Virginia ^Iilitary Institute 329 
 
 "The Battalion remained but a short time in the 
 ravine, and again advanced. They came on steadily 
 up the slope, swept as it was by the fire of these guns. 
 Their line was as perfectly preserved as if on dress 
 parade, or in the evolutions of a review. As they ad- 
 vanced, our guns played with utmost vigor upon their 
 line; at first with shrapnel, then, as they came nearer, 
 with canister, and finally, with double loads of canister. 
 As the Battalion continued to advance, our gunners 
 loaded at the last, without stopping to sponge; and I 
 think it would have been impossible to eject from six 
 guns more missiles than these boys faced in their wild 
 charge up that hill. But still they advanced steadily, 
 without any sign of faltering. I saw, here and there, 
 a soldier drop from their line and lie where he fell, as 
 his comrades closed up the gaps and passed on. Their 
 pace was increased from a quick step to a double time, 
 and, at the last, to a charge, as through the fire they 
 came on, and up to the guns which they surrounded and 
 captured; our artillerymen giving away when the 
 bayonets, having passed the guns, were at their 
 breasts."* 
 
 This account was written thirty-four years after the 
 event. The fact that the cadets did not seize all the guns 
 of the battery does not vitiate the evidence in the mind 
 of a soldier. With the smoke and confusion about 
 him, watching the charge intently, it was impossible for 
 Captain Town to observe everything that happened. 
 Four of Von Kleiser's guns may have pulled out at the 
 last moment, when an observer was most apt to be seek- 
 ing cover. 
 
 "This charge of the cadets upon the Federal position 
 at New Market is one of the most remarkable episodes 
 of the Civil War, or, indeed, of any war. That a body 
 of youths, ranging in age from fourteen to twenty, 
 should conduct themselves well in battle would in itself 
 have been sufficiently creditable. But that in the first 
 
 ♦"An Eye Witness From The Other Side," Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 
 24, 1898.
 
 330 The Military History of 
 
 battle in which they had ever served, they should do 
 what they did is almost be^^ond belief. That, called 
 from the quiet seclusion of a military school, they 
 should have endured long, fatiguing marches for three 
 days (five days?) over muddy roads and miry fields; 
 that, wearied with their journey and yet roused from 
 their sleep on the night before the battle and sent on- 
 ward, they should have chafed at being held in a 
 sheltered position, and insisted on pressing forward into 
 the front and central part of the battle ; that they should 
 have borne their part steadily; that they should have 
 stood their groimd under a withering fire when veteran 
 regiments were hard pressed;* and that, finally, in the 
 crisis of the struggle, they should have met the shock 
 of the enemy, mimoved ; all of these facts are as astound- 
 ing as they are true. The battle of New Market was a 
 small battle, and, relatively speaking, the Cadet Bat- 
 talion was a mere handful; but what these boys did is 
 comparable with what older troops have done in some 
 of the most famous battles in the world. It may be that 
 the words of incautious admirers have served to cast 
 doubt upon their exploits. They did not rally the Con- 
 federate Army, or stem a rout, or capture unaided a 
 powerful battery under impossible circumstances. But, 
 at a critical moment, they did conduct themselves in a 
 manner beyond all praise, and what they did had much 
 to do with determining the issue of the battle."** 
 
 The foregoing summary displays as amazing a lack 
 of familiarity with his subject on the part of the writer, 
 as one purporting to contribute a critical narrative to 
 history has ever been guilty of. 
 
 In the first place, the average age of the cadets en- 
 gaged in the battle of New Market was as great as that 
 of the younger Confederate conscripts of 1864. The 
 matriculation books would have shown Dr. Turner that 
 the average age of the cadets in the battle of New 
 Market was very close to seventeen and a half years. 
 
 •Turner has previously declared the veterans were in disorder, but he must 
 fit his facts to his conclusions. 
 **Turner, pp. 86-88.
 
 The Virginia Militaky Institute 331 
 
 There were some over twentj^-one, numbers over twenty, 
 and more over nineteen than under sixteen. 
 
 The quiet seclusion from which the Corps was called 
 has been fully set forth in previous chapters. It will 
 be recalled that the Corps had not only engaged in the 
 severe McDowell campaign in 1862, and hunted de- 
 serters in the mountains the following summer, but had 
 taken part in three separate expeditions to repel 
 Averell's raiding columns in August, November and 
 December, 1863, respectively. In December, the Corps 
 had spent an entire week in the field in bitterly cold 
 weather and rain storms which made the spring showers 
 of May 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th, 1864, seem mild 
 indeed. In its previous field service marches were made 
 which far exceeded those of the New Market campaign, 
 both with respect to the hardships encountered and miles 
 covered. There was no more comparison between the 
 spring marches from Lexington to New Market with 
 those of the November and December expeditions, from 
 the standpoint of exposure and fatigue, than there 
 ordinarily is between a fifteen-mile march over a turn- 
 pike, on a mild May day, and an equally long one over 
 unimproved mountain dirt roads, in the rain and sleet 
 of November and December, poorly shod, lightly 
 clothed, and bivouacking in the open, with the ther- 
 mometer at the freezing point.* 
 
 From the writer's knowledge of the present-day 
 cadet, as compared with the character of men similar 
 to those who comprised the rank and file of Breckin- 
 ridge's Army, he feels secure in the assertion that the 
 well-disciplined and physically fit cadets under Colonel 
 Shipp were able to stand for a short period the experi- 
 ences of the New Market campaign better than the 
 regular soldiers, and that fewer of them suffered from 
 fatigue. Youths of their age and training are not given 
 to weariness in a space of four days. Then, there was 
 the novelty of the experience to buoy them up and carry 
 
 *I venture the assertion that Turner never heard of these expeditions. In 
 the McDowell campaign of 1862 the cadets marched 44 miles one day.
 
 332 The Military History or 
 
 them on, entirely lacking in the case of the regular 
 soldier. 
 
 From the standpoint of morale, there was, perhaps, 
 not a command engaged in either army in any battle 
 of the Civil War that compared, man for man, with the 
 Corps of Cadets. The overwhehiiing majority of the 
 cadets were born gentlemen, possessing all the instincts 
 of courage and daring of their race, cherishing the 
 noblest military traditions of the South, and burning 
 with all the ardor of youth, after no fewer than four 
 previous disappointments, to engage the enemy in bat- 
 tle. The Cadet Battalion was a corps of incipient 
 officers, most of whom might have commanded regular 
 troops, had they chosen, or had they been allowed, to 
 join the army. If there were a battalion on earth that 
 would have stood the Federal fire and charged Von 
 Kleiser's guns on May 15th, it was that one which in- 
 spires the wonderment of Dr Turner, for in the Corps 
 of Cadets there was not a j^outh but whose career would 
 have been blighted forever, had he abandoned his colors, 
 and the officers who led them were veterans of many 
 other fields.* 
 
 Their deeds were heroic, but when we come to study 
 them with all the facts, physical and moral, which must 
 be taken together to explain military exploits, the latter 
 no less important than the former, there was absolutely 
 nothing marvelous or verging upon the impossible, in 
 them. Had this body of highly trained and socially 
 elite youth failed to do what they did, when hundreds 
 of country boys no older than themselves, and with none 
 of the many social and educational advantages of the 
 cadets, were fighting by their sides and on a hundred 
 other fields, there would have been something indeed to 
 marvel at. 
 
 ♦The Commandant had served in the distressing West Virginia campaign of 
 1861, and had led Jackson's skirmish line in the Romney campaign, and then 
 engaged in the most dangerous of all fighting or the cavalry affairs after the 
 Gettysburg campaign. Captain Wise had displayed great heroism at Roanoke 
 Island, where he was captured and paroled. Captain Preston had lost an arm 
 at Winchester. Captains Robinson and Hill had seen hard active service in 
 the Army.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 333 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 victory and laurels RICHMOND AGAIN AND BACK TO 
 
 LEXINGTON 
 
 After the 34th Massachusetts ahandoned its position, 
 retiring in good order, the pursuit was checked by the 
 belated arrival of the 28th and 116th Ohio Regiments, 
 and Du Font's Regular Batter}^ which took up a 
 position on Rude's Hill near the river crossing. 
 
 Although a section of McClannahan's Batter}^ under 
 Lieutenant Carter Berkeley, dashed down the pike and 
 shelled the fleeing masses, while McLaughlin caused the 
 other guns to fire from successive positions, there were 
 no reserves or organized cavalry with which to turn the 
 withdrawal into a rout. 
 
 Before the infantry could be reformed and cartridge 
 boxes replenished, with a view to the assault of Rude's 
 Hill, Sigel had commenced to withdraw his rear guard 
 across the river, burning the bridge behind him, after 
 crossing over his last troops, and so the fighting came 
 to an end about 6 p. m. 
 
 "As evening fell, the clouds passed away, the sun 
 came forth; and when night closed in, no sound dis- 
 turbed the Sabbath calm, save that of a solitarv Na- 
 poleon gun pounding away at the smouldering ruins of 
 the bridge." 
 
 The Corps of Cadets had taken part in the general 
 pursuit, at the beginning of which it had been rejoined 
 by Colonel Shipp, his face streaming with blood from a 
 slight wound on the cheek, but sufficiently recovered 
 from the stunning blow he had received in the orchard 
 to resume command. 
 
 Just before the Corps of Cadets left its position at 
 the base of Rude's Hill, where it had been reformed for 
 the assault, an officer rode up, some say accompanied
 
 334 The Military History of 
 
 by his stag, and was saluted by the Battahon, where- 
 upon the officer, who was thought to be General Breck- 
 inridge, is said to have politely raised his hat and given 
 expression to the following words: "Young gentle- 
 men, I have to thank you for the result of to-day's 
 operations." General Shipp remembers no such inci- 
 dent, and General Charles J. Anderson of Richmond, 
 a cadet in the battle, positively asserts that the officer 
 who made the remark was Major J. Stoddard John- 
 ston, Breckinridge's Chief-of-Staff, and that he said: 
 "Young gentlemen, General Breckinridge has you to 
 thank for the result of to-day's operations." Now the 
 truth is the Battalion was extended over a considerable 
 distance when in the position at the bottom of Rude's 
 Hill. It is, therefore, possible that both the General 
 and his Chief-of-Staff passed by the cadets and made 
 acknowledgments to them and that all the cadets did 
 not see or hear both officers in the general excitement. 
 Again, General Anderson's explanation seems a good 
 one, that is, Johnston was mistaken for Breckinridge. 
 Whoever the officer referred to actually was. General 
 Breckinridge subsequently on numerous occasions ex- 
 pressed his belief that the action of the cadets exercised 
 a decisive influence on the issue of the day. He person- 
 ally told the Superintendent that had he not used the 
 cadets very freely the result would have been different.* 
 
 When the pursuit was given up the cadet section of 
 artillery went into bivouac with the rest of McLaugh- 
 lin's command at beautiful Mount Airy, while the main 
 body of the Confederate troops bivouacked along the 
 pike about a mile below New Market. The cadets were 
 allowed to break ranks and seek shelter in the town 
 wherever it could be had in order to avoid further ex- 
 posure. 
 
 An inventory of losses now showed Sigel that he had 
 lost over 800 of the 6,000 Federals engaged; while 
 Breckinridge's loss was abovit 600 out of an armj^ of 
 4,500. 
 
 *See also Turner, pp. 88-89, for letters of Colonna. Kirk and Ross.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 335 
 
 In the Corps of Cadets the loss was tremendous. 
 There were positively not over 279 cadets engaged, in- 
 cluding the artillery detachment. There were probably 
 fewer, but it can be absolutely demonstrated that there 
 were not more. Of this number, 5 were killed outright, 
 4 mortally wounded, 48 others wounded, only one slight 
 casualty occiu'ring in the artillery detachment. The 
 loss was, therefore, over twenty per cent of the com- 
 mand. 
 
 But, in spite of their losses, the camp-fires twinkled 
 no more brightly that night than the spirits of the 
 dauntless cadets, for, at last, they had been in battle and 
 borne themselves with such credit as to have elicited the 
 acknowledgments of the Commanding General him- 
 self. 
 
 "Shortl}'^ before sundown, after having my head 
 sewed up and bandaged, and having rendered such serv- 
 ice as I could to wounded comrades, I sallied forth to 
 procure a blanket and see what was to be seen. When 
 we stripped for action, we left our traps unguarded; 
 nobody would consent to be detailed. As a result, the 
 camp followers had made away with nearly all of our 
 blankets.* 
 
 "I entered the town, and found it filled with soldiers, 
 laughing and carousing as light heartedly as if it were a 
 feast, or a holiday. In a side street, a great throng of 
 Federal prisoners was corralled; the}^ were nearly all 
 Germans. Every type of prisoner was there, some 
 cheerful, some defiant, some careless, some calm and de- 
 jected. One fellow in particular afforded great merri- 
 ment by his quaint recital of the manner of his capture. 
 Said he, 'Dem leetle tevils mit der vite vlag vas doo 
 mutch fur us; dey shoost smash mine head ven I was 
 cry zurrender all de time'. A loud peal of laughter 
 went up from the bystanders, among whom I recognized 
 several cadets. His allusion to the white flag was to our 
 
 *This Is a mistake. Cadet Goodykoontz had been detailed by the Com- 
 mandant to remain with the equipment, etc., and stayed with it until the 
 morning of the 16th, until which time the fact that he had not been relieved 
 was forgotten.
 
 336 The Military History or 
 
 colors. We had a handsome Corps flag with a white 
 and gold ground and a picture of Washington; it dis- 
 concerted our adversaries not a little. Several whom I 
 have met since then tell me that they could not make us 
 out at ail, as our strange colors, diminutive size, and 
 unusual precision of movement, made them think we 
 must be some foreign mercenary regulars.* 
 
 "The jeers and banterings of the veterans had now 
 ceased ; we had fairly won our spurs. We could mingle 
 with them fraternally, and discuss the battle on equal 
 terms; glorious fellows, those veterans were. To them 
 was due ninetj^-nine one-hundredths of the glory of the 
 victory, yet they seemed to delight in giving all praise 
 to 'dem leetle tevils mit der vite vlag'. The ladies of 
 the place also overwhelmed us with tenderness, and as 
 for ourselves, we drank in greedily the praise which 
 made us the lions of the hour. 
 
 "Leaving the village, we sought the plateau where 
 most of our losses had occurred. A little above tlie 
 town, in the fatal wheat field, we came upon the dead 
 bodies of three cadets; one wearing the chevrons of a 
 first sergeant lay upon his face, stiff and stark with out- 
 stretched arms. His hands had clutched and torn up 
 great tufts of soil and grass. His lips were retracted: 
 his teeth tightly locked; his face as hard as flint, with 
 staring glassy ej^es. It was difficult indeed to recognize 
 that this was all that remained of Cabell, who a few 
 hours before had stood first in his class, second as a 
 soldier, and the peer of any bo}" in the command in 
 every trait of physical and moral manliness. A short 
 distance removed from the spot where Cabell fell, and 
 nearer to the position of the enemy, lay McDowell. It 
 was a sight to rend one's heart! That little fellow was 
 lying there asleep, more fit indeed for a cradle than a 
 grave; he was about my own age (17), not large, and 
 by no means robust. He was a North Carolinian; he 
 had torn open his jacket and shirt, and, even in death, 
 lay clutching them back, exposing a fair white breast 
 
 *The cadets were not small as a whole, but their tight-fitting jackets made 
 them appear so then, as they do now, in comparison with other troops.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 337 
 
 with its red wound. We had come too late. Stanard 
 had breathed his last but a few moments before we 
 reached the old farmhouse where the battery had stood, 
 now used as a hospital. His body was still warm, and 
 his last message had been words of love to his room- 
 mates. 
 
 • ••«•••• 
 
 "A few of us brought up a limber-chest, threw our 
 dead across it, and bore their remains to a deserted store- 
 house in the village. The next day we buried them with 
 the honors of war, bowed down with grief at a victory 
 so dearly bought."* 
 
 It should here again he mentioned that of the nine 
 cadets who lost their lives in this battle, Cabell, Atwill, 
 Crockett, Haynes, Jefferson, Jones, McDowell, 
 Stanard and Wheelwright, but five were killed outright, 
 Cabell, Crockett, Jones, McDowell, and Standard. At- 
 will died of lockjaw, the following week, in Staunton; 
 Wheelwright, in Harrisonburg, June 2d; Jefferson, in 
 New JNIarket on May 18th, and Haynes, in the 
 Powhatan Hotel Hospital, in Richmond, June loth. 
 Until recent years, the fatality of Haynes's wound had 
 not been known. 
 
 In IMay, 1866, the remains of five cadets killed in the 
 battle were removed to Lexington, where they were 
 reinterred in the Cadet Cemetery. In 1913, they were 
 placed in copper caskets and deposited beneath Ezekiel's 
 monument, "Virginia Mourning Her Dead," dedicated 
 June 23, 1903, as a memorial to the New Market 
 Corps.** 
 
 ♦End of an Era, J. S. Wise. 
 
 **The bodies of Cadets Atwill. Jones, Jefferson. McDowell, and Wheelwright 
 were removed to I>exingt()n in May. 1866. and interred on tlie second anniversary 
 of the battle, May ]r)th, in the Cadet Cemetery created for the purpose of receiv- 
 ing them. 
 
 At this time a traditional custom originated which has been carefully pre- 
 served and continued to the present time. On the 15th of May. the names of 
 the nine cadets who lost their lives at the battle of New Market are called by 
 the sergeants in the roll of their respective companies at every foi-mation during 
 the day, and a cadet, designated in advance for the purpose, steps two paces 
 to the front, salutes, and answers: "Died on the field of honor!" 
 
 This inspiring custom had its origin in France. 
 
 LATOT^R D'AlJVERGNE entered the military service of France in 1T67 and 
 fought with distinction throughout the early years of the Revolution in the 
 armies of the Alps and the I'yrennes. Time and again he distinguished himself 
 in battle, and was offered promotion, Init each time he refused it. As a simple 
 captain, he led 8,000 grenadiers, known on account of their murderous bayonet
 
 338 The Militaky History of 
 
 It is here proper to mention the heroism of a httle 
 woman of New Market, EHza Catherine Chnedinst, 
 afterwards Mrs. Crim. She was a fair yomig woman, 
 who, amidst the stirring scenes of the Valley, in the oft- 
 trodden path of the two armies, worked away faithfully 
 in her mother's home at her trade as the village milliner ; 
 while her sturdy brother, a lieutenant in the "Stonewall" 
 Brigade, fought for his country.* 
 
 Many conflicting accomits have been published of 
 Eliza Clinedinst's heroism during the battle of New 
 Market. The writer can not here undertake to correct 
 the mistaken versions of her conduct. That she ren- 
 dered valiant service in nursing Cadet Jefferson, who 
 was carried to her mother's home, is certainly true, but 
 she herself denied that she went on the field during the 
 battle. She, like the other good women of New Mar- 
 ket, did all she could to alleviate the suffering of the 
 wounded. It is not disparaging to one to give credit to 
 others for what they all did. 
 
 It might be proper to add here that Cadet Thomas 
 Garland Jefferson was born January 1, 1847, and was 
 
 charges as the Infernal Column. He left the army in 1795, but re-enlisted as 
 a substitute for the only son of an old friend in 1799, and fought with Massena 
 in Switzerland. Again he declined promotion, but Napoleon, in 1800, caused 
 him to be officially borne on the rolls as the "First Grenadier of France." He 
 was killed on the 22d of June of that year in Bavaria, whereupon the whole 
 French army mourned for him three days. His heart was embalmed, placed 
 in a silver vase carried by his company, and his saber was placed in the Church 
 of the Invalides. Every morning until the close of the Empire, at the roll call 
 of his regiment, his name was called and the eldest sergeant replied : "Mort 
 sur le champ de I'honneur." 
 
 The writer regards this ceremony at the Institute on the 15th of May as by 
 far the most impressive and inspiring one he has ever witnessed. 
 
 It is impossible to estimate the influence it exerts upon the emotions and the 
 character of the youthful cadet. Having been first sergeant of D Company In 
 his Second Class Year, the writer recalls the rivalry which existed among the 
 cadets of his company for the honor of answering for D Company's fallen 
 heroes. As captain of that same company, a year later, he recalls how he was 
 appealed to by those on the sick list, begging that they might slip into ranks to 
 be with the colors when the anniversary salute was fired by the Battalion over 
 the graves in the Cadet Cemetery. 
 
 Who that has been a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute but can recall 
 the hot tear that welled unbidden to the eye in response to the fervent prayer of 
 the chaplain on this annual occasion? Is not the memory of Cabell, Atwill, 
 McDowell. Stanard, Jefferson. Jones, Crockett, Wheelwright, and Haynes, in- 
 delibly burned into the souls of all old cadets? Who of us but can see, standing 
 there beside those boyish graves, in the soft evening light of springtime, with 
 head uncovered and dampened cheek, the veteran figure of Pendleton, Poague, 
 Cutshaw, or Lee himself, when a resident of Lexington? 
 
 How distressed many old cadets will be when they learn that the Cadet 
 Cemetery has been abandoned, and that those simple little graves are no longer 
 to be seen in the shady grove where for forty-seven years they remained un- 
 disturbed. No monument can be half so imposing as were those little clumps of 
 sod ; and one of the most touching features of "New Market Day" is gone with 
 the graves. 
 
 *John Clinedinst is to-day one of the most respected citizens of New Market, 
 and was recently mayor of the town. Clinedinst, the artist, who painted the 
 picture of the battle of New Market, is his kinsman.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 339 
 
 therefore seventeen years, four months and two weeks 
 old at the time of his death. When he was wounded two 
 of his comrades fell out of ranks to run to his aid. In 
 words which should be made immortal the stricken 
 youth said to them: "You can do nothing for me; go 
 to the front; there is the place for you!" From the field 
 he was conveyed by his comrades to the field hospital 
 near the Hupp House, and from thence the next day 
 to the residence of Mrs. Clinedinst, where he expired in 
 the arms of his comrade, Cadet Corporal Moses Ezekiel, 
 who had borne him from the field and nursed him 
 through the weary hours until Wednesday morning, the 
 18th of May. 
 
 At the commencement following the occasion of the 
 unveiling and dedication of the "New Market Monu- 
 ment" at the Institute, the survivors of the Battle Corps 
 were presented by the V. M. I. Alumni Association with 
 handsome bronze medals of honor; and one was pre- 
 sented by the survivors of the Battle Corps to Mrs. 
 Crim, which she now wears with the utmost pride. 
 
 Breckinridge won a splendid victory at New Market, 
 and the news which Lee, locked in the death-grapple 
 with Grant in the Wilderness, received the morning 
 after the battle was most comforting to him, for the 
 success which had been attained in the Valley rendered 
 his flank safe, and saved his granary for the time being. 
 
 The 16th and 17th of May were devoted to caring 
 for the wounded, the Corps of Cadets going into camp 
 in some woods just below the town and north of the 
 pike. 
 
 On the 16th, the Commandant received an order from 
 General Breckinridge to report to General Imboden, 
 with the request on the part of General Breckinridge 
 that the Corps be relieved from further duty at that 
 time, and be ordered back to the Institute.* The cir- 
 cimistances of General Imboden's situation were such, 
 however, as to render its detention for a time necessary. 
 
 *S. O. No. 9. Headquarters, Valley District. Original in General Shipp's 
 possession.
 
 340 The Militaey History of 
 
 "Headquarters, Valley District, 
 
 "New Market, Va., May 16, 1864. 
 
 "Colonel — I am directed by Major-General Breckinridge to 
 convey, in parting with the Corps of Cadets, to you and to them, his 
 thanks for the important services you have rendered. He desires 
 also to express his admiration for their meritorious conduct, as 
 exhibited in their soldierly bearing on the march, and tlieir distin- 
 guished gallantry on the field. 
 
 "With sentiments of high personal regard, I am. Colonel, 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "J. Stoddard Johnston, 
 "Major and Acting Adjutant-General. 
 
 "Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Shipp, 
 
 "Commanding Corps of Cadets." 
 
 "Headquarters, Valley District, 
 
 "New Market, Va., May 16, 1864. 
 "(Circular). 
 
 "An approximate return of Killed and Wounded and a summary 
 field return, showing total effective and aggregate present, will be 
 made out and forwarded to these headquarters immediately. 
 "By command of Major-General Breckinridge, 
 
 "J. Stoddard Johnston, 
 
 "Acting Adjutant-General. 
 "Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Shipp, 
 "Commandant." 
 
 "Headquarters, First Brigade, 
 
 "Rude's Hill, May 16, 1864. 
 
 "Dear Colonel — I have directed Captain Catlett to call upon 
 you for a report of the operations of your command on yesterday in 
 the battle of New Market. I can not refrain, Colonel, in this un- 
 official manner, from expressing my high admiration of the conduct 
 of your noble boys in the fierce conflict of yesterday, and my deep 
 sympathy with you all on account of the many casualties which, I 
 understand, you will have to record. I shall always be provid to 
 have had you and your Corps under my command; no man ever led 
 a more gallant band. Nobly have you illustrated the history of 
 your State, and the great institution which you have represented. 
 
 "I am. Colonel, most truly, 
 
 "John Echols, 
 
 "Brigadier-General. 
 "Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Shipp, 
 
 "Commanding Corps of Cadets."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 341 
 
 On the 18th, the Superintendent telegraphed Brig- 
 adier-General Imboden as follows: 
 
 "Cadets are ordered to Richmond. Move them on to Staunton 
 to-morrow."* 
 
 That same day, the following orders were published: 
 
 "Headquarters, Valley District, 
 
 "Staunton, Va., May 16, 1864. 
 "General Orders — No. 4. 
 
 "The Major-General Commanding takes pleasure in communi- 
 cating to the troops of his command the following dispatch from 
 General Lee in which he tenders thanks due only to them. 
 
 " 'Spottsylvania C. H., May 16, 186i. 
 
 " 'General J. C. Breckinridge, 
 
 " 'I offer you the thanks of this Army for your victory over 
 
 General Sigel. 
 
 " 'R. E. Lee.' 
 
 "To receive such a testimonial from such a source will be grate- 
 ful to the hearts of every true soldier. 
 
 "By command of Major-General Breckinridge, 
 
 "J. Stoddard Johnston, 
 
 "A. A. -General."** 
 
 The morning of the 19th, the Commandant received 
 the following communication: 
 
 "Headquarters, Valley District, 
 
 "May 19, 1864. 
 "Col. Shipp, Commanding, 
 "Corps Cadets. 
 "Col. — I enclose you a dispatch received at a late hour last 
 night. It explains itself. You will proceed to Staunton, without 
 delay, and report to Gen. F. H. Smith. 
 
 "With sincerest good wishes for the future success and safety 
 of the Corps of gallant youths under your command, and of your- 
 self, personally, I am Col., very truly, 
 
 "Yours, 
 
 "J. D. Imboden, 
 
 "Brig.-Gen'l."^ 
 
 •Original in General Shipp's possession. 
 
 **Same. 
 
 tProm the original in General Shipp's possession.
 
 342 The Military History of 
 
 "That day, we started on our return march up tlie 
 Valley, crestfallen and dejected. The joy of victory 
 was forgotten in distress for the friends and comrades 
 dead and maimed. We were still young in the ghastly 
 game, but we proved apt scholars. On our march up 
 the Valley, we were not hailed as sorrowing friends, but 
 greeted as heroes and victors. At Harrisonburg, 
 Staunton, Charlottesville — everywhere, an ovation 
 awaited us, such as we did not dream of, and such as has 
 seldom greeted any troops. The dead, and poor fellows 
 tossing on cots of fever and delirium, were almost for- 
 gotten by the selfish comrades whose fame their blood 
 had bought."* 
 
 The Corps marched into Harrisonburg on the 20th, 
 where some of the more seriously wounded cadets were 
 placed in the hospital, and arrived at Staunton on the 
 21st. The night before its arrival the Commandant 
 received the following communication : 
 
 "Hqrs., Va. Mil. Inst., 
 
 "Staunton, Va., May 20, 186i. 
 "Lt.-Col. Scott Shipp, 
 "Com'd of Cadets. 
 
 "Col. — Your dispatch of this date is just received. I regret to 
 learn that the shoes are worthless. If the Scotch shoes can be had 
 there, I will buy as many as may be required. Anticipating the 
 need of socks, I have with me 10 dozen pairs, and have ordered 
 20 dozen more to meet the cadets in Richmond. I had also tele- 
 graphed the Adj. -General to have 100 pr. pants ready in Richmond 
 to meet the wants of the most destitute. I first tried to get them 
 here, but the order of the Q. M. General was required. 
 
 "The cadets will move on by train on Sunday morning (22d). 
 The battery and horses will go with the cadets. I am expecting our 
 subsistence stores to-morrow. I made requisition for the Enfield 
 Rifles, but not to be had. I will renew the requisition in Richmond. 
 
 "The cadets will be engaged in guarding one of the main ap- 
 proaches to the city. I shall endeavor to get the Brook Turnpike, 
 or Meadow Bridge, or Mechanicsville Road. 
 
 "I have ordered Col. Gilliam to proceed at once to Lexington, 
 and have the clothes of the cadets carefully collected and placed in 
 charge of Capt. Semmes whom I have ordered to take them by 
 packet to Richmond Sunday evening, so as to meet us there. 
 
 *Bnd of an Era. .T. S. Wise.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 343 
 
 "The ladies have provided most sumptuous repasts for the 
 cadets. I should desire you to arrange your entrance into town not 
 earlier than 9 a. m. I have selected for camp ground tlie hill imme- 
 diately above the Depot, the same ground occupied by Echols's 
 Brigade. 
 
 "I send you the battle flag, which I had ordered three weeks ago, 
 and which only arrived at Lexington Friday. 
 
 "I will attend to your trunk. 
 
 "I remain, Col., very resp., 
 
 "Francis H. Smith, 
 
 "Major-General."* 
 
 According to a report of the Superintendent, fully 
 one-third of the Corps was practically barefooted upon 
 reaching Staunton. On the 19th, he dispatched Captain 
 T. M. Sermnes to Lexington to pack up the effects of the 
 officers and cadets and to convey them with a supply of 
 Quartermaster and Subsistence stores to Richmond.** 
 
 Upon the arrival of the Corps, the following order 
 was published: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "Staunton, May 21, 1864. 
 
 "General Orders — No. 19. 
 
 "I. The Superintendent communicates the following dispatch 
 received from the Adjutant-General: 
 
 "'Richmond, Va., May 16, 186i. 
 
 " 'Major-Gen'al F. H. Smith. 
 
 " 'March the cadets to Richmond and report to Secretary of War. 
 " '(Copy of his letter of to-day to the Governor.) 
 
 " 'The signal victory just achieved by General Breckinridge in 
 the Valley culminated in the retreat of the enemy's forces that 
 lately threatened along the line of the Virginia and Tennessee 
 Railroad, and relieved forces acting as reserves in that quarter, 
 while, on the other hand, all reserve forces at command would be 
 entirely serviceable in strengthening our defense and enabling us 
 to send veteran troops to the battlefield. Under these circum- 
 stances I have thought the gallant Corps of Cadets at the Institute 
 might be most advantageously summoned here. Where else could 
 they more appropriately signalize their valor and patriotism than 
 in the defense of the Capital of their native State? 1, therefore, 
 
 ♦From original. 
 
 ♦*S. O. No. 121, V. M. I.. Staunton, Va.. May 1ft, 1864.
 
 344 The Military History of 
 
 venture on the suggestion and make the request, that they may be 
 called here to aid in defense of the Capital, and within the entrench- 
 ments, or in guarding some of our most important lines of com- 
 munication, as circumstances may require. 
 
 " 'J. A. Seddon, 
 
 " 'Secretary of War. 
 " 'By command of W. H. Richardson, 
 " 'Adjutant-General.' 
 
 "II. As soon as the command can reach Staunton, and trans- 
 portation can be furnished, the Infantry Battalion and Section of 
 Artillery of the Corps of Cadets will be moved to Richmond. 
 
 "III. Two days' cooked rations will be taken. 
 
 "IV. Subsistence stores have been brought from the Institute 
 to accompany the command. 
 
 "V. The wagons, ambulance and unnecessary servants will be 
 relieved, and ordered back to Lexington. 
 
 "VI. Surgeon Madison will remain with the wounded and sick 
 cadets and see that they are properly cared for. Supplies are left 
 in Staunton to meet their wants. 
 
 "VII. The Superintendent has no words to express his sense 
 of the gallant conduct of the Corps of Cadets in the decisive but 
 sanguine battle of New Market on the 15th inst. 
 
 "The patriotic heart of the Commonwealth and Confederacy 
 respond with proud and grateful emotion at the fortitude, courage 
 and gallant bearing of these brave sons of the South. 
 
 "We have to mourn the loss of the dead — but the names of 
 Cabell, Stanard, Jones, Crockett, McDowell and Jefferson [Atwill, 
 Wheelwright and Haynes had not yet died], will be honored among 
 the most valued heroes of this eventful struggle, and the scarred 
 bodies of the wounded will be trophies of valor and patriotism of 
 which the Virginia Military Institute will ever be proud. The 
 Superintendent would return his thanks to I^t.-Col. Shipp, and all 
 the Officers and Cadets, for their conduct in this trying service. 
 
 "By command, Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison, 
 
 "A. A., V. M. Inst." 
 
 Sunday the 22d, after a triumphant entry into 
 Staunton, and the most tremendous ovation the Corps 
 had ever received, the Battahon and Section of Artillery 
 with the impressed Rockbridge horses, entrained for 
 Richmond, under the orders of the Secretary of War. 
 In the meantime, Breckinridge's command had been 
 transferred to the North Anna, where Lee found it
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 345 
 
 upon arriving there on the 22d. The battle of Yellow 
 Tavern had been fought between Sheridan and Stuart 
 on the 10th, and, while the former did not succeed in 
 reaching Richmond, it was only by the merest chance 
 that the Confederate cavalry, with the loss of the heroic 
 Stuart, drove him back after he had carried the outer 
 works. At this time, there were few troops to guard 
 the extended lines about Richmond, and the constant 
 threats of Sheridan's cavalry upon the works north of 
 the city made it imperative to order the cadets to Rich- 
 mond to assist at this critical juncture in manning the 
 works. They were not merely ordered there to be 
 decorated with laurels as seems to be believed by some. 
 "We were ordered to Richmond. All our sadness 
 disappeared. What mattered it to us that we were 
 packed into freight cars; it was great sport riding on 
 the tops of the cars. We were side-tracked at Ashland, 
 and there, lying on the ground by the side of us, was 
 Stonewall Jackson's division. We had heard of them 
 and looked upon them as the greatest soldiers that ever 
 went into battle. What flattered us most was that they 
 had heard of us. While waiting at Ashland a very dis- 
 tinguished-looking surgeon entered the car, inquiring 
 for some cadet. He was just returning from the battle- 
 field of Spottsylvania. I heard with absorbed interest 
 his account of the terrible carnage there, and when he 
 said he had seen a small tree within the 'bloody angle' 
 cut down by the bullets, I turned to Louis and said, 'I 
 think that old fellow is drawing a long bow.' The per- 
 son speaking was Dr. Charles Macgill. I afterwards 
 learned that what he said was literally true. At the 
 moment, when we were lying there at Ashland, the 
 armies of Grant and Lee, moving by the flank, were 
 passing, the one about us, the other within a few miles 
 of us, from the battlefields of Spottsylvania Court 
 House and Milford Station to their ghastly field at 
 Second Cold Harbor. We could distinctly hear the fir- 
 ing in our front. We reached Richmond that after- 
 noon, and were quartered in one of the buildings of the
 
 34<t) The Military History of 
 
 Fair Grounds, known as 'Camp Lee.' It is impossible 
 to describe the enthusiasm with which we were received. 
 "A week after the battle of New Market, the Cadet 
 Corps, garlanded, cheered by ten thousand throats, in- 
 toxicated with praise unstinted, wheeled proudly around 
 the Washington Monument at Richmond, to pass in re- 
 view before the President of the Confederate States, 
 to hear a speech of commendation from his lips, and to 
 receive a stand of colors from the Governor of Virginia. 
 
 "No wonder that our band, as we marched back to 
 our quarters, played lustily: 
 
 " 'There's not a trade that's going 
 Worth showing or knowing 
 Like that from glory growing, 
 
 P'or the bowld soldier boy. 
 For to right or left you go, 
 Sure you know, friend or foe, 
 He is bound to be a beau. 
 
 Your bowld soldier boy.' " 
 
 Crowds of people assembled all along the route to 
 cheer the cadets, of whose prowess marvelous tales had 
 spread over the State. On reaching Richmond late on 
 the 23d, the Corps was met at the Virginia Central 
 Depot by a great concourse of citizens. Orders were 
 there received directing the Commandant to march his 
 command to Camp Lee. The day of its arrival, the 
 Second Congress of the Confederate States of America 
 passed a unanimous resolution of thanks to the Corps of 
 Cadets for its heroic services at New Market. 
 
 The next morning the following order was published : 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "Richmond, May 24, 1864. 
 "Special Orders — No. 122. 
 
 "The Corps of Cadets will be reviewed this afternoon on the 
 Capitol Square by His Excellency, the President of the Confederate 
 States, in the presence of the Governor of the State, and the 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 "The Battalion of Infantry and Section of Artillery will be 
 formed, accordingly, and marched to the Capitol, subject to the 
 orders of the Governor."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 347 
 
 Upon reaching the Capitol, the President dehvered 
 a stirring address to the Corps, referring to its eon- 
 duct at New Market as one of the most heroic deeds in 
 the annals of war. Using the incident as one of special 
 appeal to the people of the South at large, in the dark 
 hour which had come upon them, when every encourag- 
 ing example was of value in bestirring them to make 
 even greater sacrifices than they had already made, he 
 concluded by thanking the cadets in the name of the 
 Confederate States of America. 
 
 Governor Smith then presented the Corps with a 
 handsome stand of colors, and, after expressing the hope 
 that they would be borne as worthily as had the old ones, 
 he thanked the Corps in the name of the Commonwealth 
 of Virginia. 
 
 The next day, the Commandant received the follow- 
 ing letter : 
 
 "House of Representatives, 
 
 "Confederate States Congress, 
 
 "May 25, 1864. 
 
 "Colonel Scott Shipp, 
 
 "Commandant of Cadets. 
 
 "Sir — The House of Representatives has passed a Resolution in 
 relation to the participation of the Corps of Cadets in the victory 
 over Sigel, gained by our forces near New Market, on the fifteenth 
 instant, and I have been requested to communicate this Resolution 
 to you. 
 
 "Had I known that you would have been in the city yesterday I 
 would have availed myself of the opportunity to perform that duty. 
 Please let me know when the Corps will be again in the City. 
 
 "Very truly and respectfully, 
 
 "Thomas S. Bocock, 
 "Speaker, House of Representatives." 
 
 Accordingly, arrangements were at once made for 
 the reappearance of the Corps at the Capitol on the 
 28th, when Mr. Speaker Bocock of the Confederate 
 House of Representatives, publicly communicated to 
 the Corps the Resolution of Congress in the presence of 
 the Senate and the House assembled.
 
 348 The Military History of 
 
 S. O. No. 121, A. and I. G. O., Richmond, Va., May 
 25, 1864, directed the Commandant to report to Major- 
 General Ransom, Commanding the Department of 
 Richmond, for assignment to duty with Brigadier- Gen- 
 eral G. W. C. Lee, commanding the Local Defense 
 Troops of Richmond. On the 26th, General Ransom 
 requested General Lee (no doubt upon the solicitation 
 of the Superintendent) to have the Corps ordered into 
 Camp on the Brooke Turnpike, until further orders.* 
 
 It was not, however, until the 28th, in order that the 
 ceremony narrated might be held, that the Corps left 
 Camp Lee, moving into its new Camp on Carter's farm 
 on the intermediate line midway between the Brooke 
 and Meadow Bridge Roads.** 
 
 On the 26th, it had been announced by S. O. No. 123, 
 V. M. I., that all Assistant Professors assigned to duty 
 as Tactical Officers would thereafter hold the rank of 
 Captain. The annual examinations were postponed in- 
 definitely, all charges against the cadets for the period 
 of their absence from the Institute in the field were re- 
 mitted, and July 4th was fixed as the date for the gradu- 
 ation of the First Class. 
 
 The Corps was now acting under the immediate 
 orders of the Confederate States of America, and the 
 position of the Commandant as a tactical commander 
 M^as an anomalous one. On the 31st, however, the 
 Superintendent secured from the Secretary of War the 
 promise of an order turning the Corps over to the State 
 authorities, an on the 4th, S. O. No. 130, A. and I. 
 G. O., directed that the 23 horses which had been im- 
 pressed in Lexington for gun and caisson teams be re- 
 turned to their owners forthwith. f To carry this 
 
 * "Hd. Qrs. Dept. Richmond. 
 
 "May 26, 1864. 
 "General — the Major-General Comd'g desires you to have the Corps of Cadets 
 camped on the Brooke Turnpike until further orders. 
 
 "Yours very resp"y, 
 
 "T. O. Chestney, 
 
 "A. A. G."* 
 ♦•Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXXVII, Part 1, p. 752. 
 tReport of Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Shipp. July 4, 1864, Including report 
 of battle. Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXXVII, Part 1, p. fll. 
 
 ♦Prom original in possession of General Shipp.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute S-IQ 
 
 order into execution, the Superintendent directed that 
 Captain T. M. Semmes should proceed at once to Lex- 
 ington with the Section of Artillery, the horses, and all 
 surplus baggage, via the Danville and Southside Rail- 
 roads as far as Lynchburg. 
 
 While the Corps was in camp on Carter's farm, the 
 President took occasion to appoint three cadets from 
 Mississippi, Watson, McConnico, and Greer, under the 
 authority conferred upon him by Congress. 
 
 On June 2d, the Corps, upon the request of his father, 
 and under the authority of the Department Com- 
 mander, furnished a funeral escort for the remains of 
 Lieutenant Peyton Johnston, Jr., of the Richmond 
 Fayette Artillery, a graduate of the Institute, who was 
 killed at Cold Harbor. But while posted in the works, 
 and performing regular field service as a part of the line 
 of defense, no active duty was required of the cadets, 
 for Lee had successfully interposed between Grant and 
 Richmond, and Sheridan had been driven off to the 
 flanks of the Federal Army. Nevertheless, the service 
 they performed at this time was most important, and 
 comprised their seventh tour of duty in the field. 
 
 "Hqrs., Va. Mil. Inst., 
 
 "Richmond, June 6, 1864. 
 "Lt.-Col. S. Shipp, 
 
 "Comd't of Cadets. 
 
 "Colonel — General Bragg informed me last night that our 
 forces had been badly whipped below Staunton (Piedmont), Gen- 
 eral W. E. Jones being killed. The command now devolves upon 
 General A. J. Vaughan (V. M. I., '51) who commands a Tennessee 
 brigade of infantry. He has fallen back upon Staunton, and, it was 
 apprehended, would not be able to hold it. 
 
 "General Bragg informed me that troops Avould be immediately 
 forwarded to drive them. It is possible the order may embrace the 
 Corps of Cadets, but do not know this, and I feel it to be my duty 
 to give you this information that you may be in readiness for a 
 move. 
 
 "Governor Smith is of opinion that tlie cadets should be imme- 
 diately sent back, that the public property at Lexington may be 
 protected. The order will be of no avail unless suitable reinforce- 
 ments are sent.
 
 350 The Military History of 
 
 "I send by Cadet Clarkson 6 gross of Cadet buttons, which the 
 Q'r. M'r. can issue to those needing them, etc. 
 
 "1 remain. Col., very resp't, 
 
 "F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Supt." 
 
 "CONFIDENTIAL" 
 
 "Headquarters, Va. Mil. Institute, 
 
 "Richmond, June 6, 1864. 
 "Lt.-Col. S. Shipp, 
 
 "Com'd of Cadets. 
 
 "Colonel — I enclose you an order from General Bragg, which 
 is made after arrangements had been made for reinforcements to 
 be sent to the Valley. 
 
 "These reinforcements will consist of Breckinridge's division, 
 which will move to South Anna Bridge, then march to Beaver Dam 
 and there take cars. 
 
 "If command can be moved in by 5 to take the train to Lynch- 
 burg this evening, it will be important to do so, and I will endeavor 
 to send transportation for you. 
 
 "I remain. Colonel, very resp't, 
 
 "F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Supt. 
 
 "You will have to notify the Q'r. M'r. here immediately, that he 
 mav make arrangements for the cars. 
 
 "F. H. S."* 
 
 "Adjutant-General's Office, 
 
 "Richmond, June 6, 1864. 
 "Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute. 
 
 "General — The Corps of Cadets having been by order of the 
 President turned over to the State Authority and the movements of 
 the enemy appearing to involve the safety of the Institute, and 
 other public property, at Lexington, the Governor directs that you 
 cause the Corps to be returned to the Institute by railroad, via 
 Lynchburg, or other route if found more practicable. 
 
 "The Governor approves the order of Ex-Governor Letcher of 
 4th September, 1863, and adopts it, so far as at present applicable. 
 
 "Should the public property at the Institute be found unmolested, 
 and practicable to be reached and defended, you will adopt proper 
 measures for that purpose. 
 
 ♦Originals of foregoing letters in possession of General Shipp.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 351 
 
 "In the event of difficulty, or peril, in making that defense except 
 by co-operation with the troops of tlie Confederate Government, it 
 will be needful to afford the co-operation, at least to such an extent 
 as the security of the Military Institute may require, of which you 
 must of necessity be the judge. Bearing in mind, however, always, 
 that the Corps be not further exposed in battle than absolute neces- 
 sity may require. 
 
 "By command, 
 
 "Wm, H. Richardson, 
 
 "Adj't.-Gen'l." 
 
 The Commandant lost no time in making his prepara- 
 tions for the move, and leaving Richmond the morning 
 of the 7th, arrived in Lynchburg at 11 p. m. on the 8th. 
 Proceeding immediately from that point by canal boat 
 to Lexington, the Corps reached the Institute at 3 
 p. M. on the 9th, after an absence of one month, lacking 
 two days. During the 28 days of its absence, the Corps 
 had marched from Lexington to New Market, 85 miles, 
 in 5 days; fought a battle in which it lost nearly a 
 quarter of its members; marched from New Market to 
 Staunton (47 miles) in 3 days, almost without shoes; 
 moved to Richmond by rail; received the public thanks 
 of the Confederate Congress, the President, and the 
 Governor of Virginia, and a stand of colors; spent two 
 weeks in the works of the intermediate line of defense ; 
 and returned to Lexington to save the Institute, if 
 possible; and actually coming under the enemy's fire 
 within 48 hours after its arrival.
 
 352 The Militaky History of 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 HUNTEB^S RAID^DESTRUCTION OF THE INSTITUTE IN 
 
 TPIE TRENCHES AT LYNCHBURG FURI-OUGHED 
 
 When the Corps returned to the Institute, it found 
 Barracks tenanted by seven new cadets who had just 
 matriculated when the BattaHon was ordered to take 
 the fiekl in ^lay; being entirely ignorant of military 
 duty they had been drafted to remain behind, much to 
 their chagrin and sorrow.* A number of the wounded, 
 including Captain Hill, had also been received at the 
 hospital. Colonel Preston who had returned on the 
 23d of May had (with Colonel Massie) remained in 
 charge. 
 
 The past fortnight had been a period of constant 
 alarm for the residents of Lexington. 
 
 May 21st, Major-General David Hunter superseded 
 Sigel in command of the Department of West Virginia. 
 Arriving at Martinsburg on that date, he joined the 
 troops turned over to him by Sigel at Cedar Creek on 
 the 26th, and soon completed his preparations to march 
 up the Valley. 
 
 Meantime, Crook's colunm, which had defeated the 
 Confederates at Cloyd's Mountain on the 9th, burned 
 the important railroad bridge spanning New River on 
 the 10th, and then returning to Meadow Bluff for sup- 
 plies, had been joined by Averell with the cavalry force 
 which had been previously detached to operate towards 
 Wji;heville. On the 30th, Crook moved towards 
 Staimton. 
 
 June 5th, Hunter met the force under W. E. Jones 
 at Piedmont, defeating it, killing Jones, and capturing 
 1,500 prisoners. The next day, his army entered 
 
 ♦Included among these was the present distinguished TJ. S. Senator from 
 Virginia, T. S. Martin.
 
 brigadip:u-gp:xekal scott shipp 
 
 Assistant Professou ] 859-1862 
 Commandant of Cadets 1862-1890 
 
 Superintendent 1 890-1907 
 Superintendent Emeritus 1907-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 3.53 
 
 Staunton, where he was joined by Crook on the 7th and 
 8th. After destroying the raih'oads in the vicinity, the 
 collected supplies for the Confederate Arm}^ and all 
 the manufacturing establishments in the city, the 
 united forces advanced on Lexington, June 10th, the 
 day after the Corps arrived there. 
 
 Hunter's Army now consisted of the forces which 
 Sigel, Crook, and Averell had formerly commanded. 
 It included two large infantry divisions of three bri- 
 gades each, with a total of 22 regiments; two divisions 
 of cavalry, with a total of fifteen regiments ; and 7 bat- 
 teries of artillery. The whole command must have 
 numbered about 20,000 men. Among the officers were 
 Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, commanding the 1st 
 Brigade, 2d Infantry division; Major William McKin- 
 ley; and Captain Henry A. du Pont of the 5th U. S. 
 Artillery, commanding the four batteries attached to 
 the cavalry. The first two subsequently became Presi- 
 dents of the United States, and Captain du Pont is the 
 present distinguished United States Senator from 
 Delaware. 
 
 From Staunton, Hunter marched his army up the 
 Valley in four columns, by parallel roads. The infantry 
 division under General Crook, and the cavalry division 
 under General Averell, moving by the most western 
 route, were opposed by McCausland with about 1,400 
 mounted men and a battery. 
 
 McCausland was easily driven back from the succes- 
 sive positions be sought to hold, and it was soon ap- 
 parent that Lexington was doomed, a fact all the more 
 bitter because in Hunter's Army were the very troops 
 which the cadets had helped defeat less than a month 
 before, at New Market. 
 
 On the night of the 10th, McCausland was joined by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Shipp, who bivouacked with him 
 at the junction of the Goshen and Staunton roads. 
 Early that morning, the Confederate cavalry pickets 
 came scurrying in with the news that a large column of 
 the enemy was proceeding towards Lexington from 
 
 28
 
 354 The Military History of 
 
 Brownsbiirg, and other reports soon arrived that every 
 road leading up the Valley was in possession of 
 Hunter's columns. McCausland's small force could not 
 even compel them to deploy. 
 
 AVhen the report reached Lexington on the 6th, that 
 the enemy was at Millboro, and on the 7th, that Averell 
 was at Jordan's Furnace, but thirty miles distant, with 
 not a Confederate soldier between the enemy and Lex- 
 ington, Colonel Preston, in charge at that time, had set 
 about the task of packing up everything movable at the 
 Institute. The next day, he issued orders for one of 
 the wounded cadets who was not expected to live to be 
 moved to his quarters, upon the approach of the enemy, 
 and to be concealed to save him from capture. 
 
 Besides the four 6-pounder guns and the 12-pounder 
 howitzer of the Cadet Battery, there were at the Insti- 
 tute four brass 6-pounders, the two 3-inch rifles returned 
 from Richmond, and a large amount of artillery am- 
 munition. This material, as well as all quartermaster 
 and conmiissary stores, the Superintendent caused to 
 be loaded and six canal boats with a view to sending 
 them on to LjTichburg.* He also took precautions to 
 secure the more vital records but it was impossible, in 
 the limited time available, to remove the scientific ap- 
 paratus and equipment, and the large and valuable col- 
 lection of books in the library of the Institute. 
 
 The Superintendent, perceiving the futility of op- 
 position to such a force as that with which Hunter was 
 advancing, protested from the first against any at- 
 tempt at defending Lexington, which would, in his 
 opinion, only expose the town and the Institute to 
 retaliatory measures, on the part of the enemy. 
 
 On the 10th, he wired Breckinridge, through Gen- 
 eral Bragg, as follows: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "June 10, 1864, 6 p. m. 
 
 "General Breckinridge — I have just left McCausland's camp 
 two miles from Lexington. He has been fighting Averell's cavalry, 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXXVII, Part 1, pp. 730-97.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 355 
 
 estimated at 5,000 strong, all day, from one and a half miles this 
 side Staunton to Brownsburg, and his scouts report that Crook 
 entered Fairfield this afternoon, with upward of six regiments of 
 infantry and 200 cavalry. If pursued by either column, Mc- 
 Causland will not be able to hold Lexington. The plans of the 
 enemy are developed; they camp to-night at Cedar Grove, nine 
 miles from Lexington, and at Fairfield, twelve miles from Lex- 
 ington. 
 
 "F. H. Smith, 
 
 *^ Superintendent."* 
 
 All during the night of the 10th, however, the Corps 
 was lield under arms, and, upon the return of the Com- 
 mandant from McCausland's headquarters, the cadet 
 howitzer was ordered down to the bridge in East Lex- 
 ington, and a company of cadets under Captain Wise 
 posted on the hillside in rear, as a support, with in- 
 structions to burn the bridge, while the howitzer blew 
 out the piers, upon the approach of the enemy. 
 
 "Resistance to a force like Hunter's being out of the 
 question, we were ordered to prepare for the evacuation 
 of Lexington. A detail of sappers was sent forthwith 
 to the bridge across the North River, with directions to 
 load it with bales of hay saturated with turpentine, leav- 
 ing space just sufficient for the passage of McCaus- 
 land's retreating forces. Before sunrise, the main body 
 of our troops came streaming down the hills across the 
 river; and, half a mile behind them, their rear guard 
 emerged from the woods along the hilltops, skirmish- 
 ing with, and hotly pressed by, the enemy. At the 
 river, after crossing the bridge, McCausland deployed 
 a force upon the bluffs above and below the bridge, to 
 cover the crossing of the rear guard."** 
 
 But long ere this, the young professor commanding 
 the Confederate troops knew that it was beyond his 
 power to save the Institute to which he was attached 
 with the devotion peculiar to its graduates. 
 
 "The rear guard, called in, rallied at a run to the 
 bridge ; and the Union skirmishers, emboldened by their 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXXVII. Part 1, pp- 7.56-57. 
 **End of an Era, J. S. Wise.
 
 356 The Military History of 
 
 quick movements, dashed after them down the hills. 
 Coming too near to the force behind the bluffs, they 
 were compelled to retreat under a heavy fire upon 
 Hunter's advance-guard, which was now coming up. 
 A battery of Union artillery, under Captain Henry A. 
 du Pont, galloped out upon the hills overlooking Lex- 
 ington from the north side of the river, and opened 
 fire upon the Institute. A section of McCausland's 
 artillery came up, after crossing the bridge, took 
 position at the northeast corner of the parade ground, 
 to respond to du Pont. As soon as our troops were 
 across the bridge, it was fired, and a column of black 
 smoke rolled heavenward. Our sappers, their task per- 
 formed, hurried back at double time to rejoin their re- 
 spective companies. Along the pike in the valley, in 
 front of the Institute, the cavalry, weary and depressed, 
 was retiring to the town. 
 
 "The whole panorama, front and rear, was visible 
 from the Institute grounds, and made a very pretty 
 war scene. 
 
 "When the Union battery opened, the Corps was 
 drawn up in front of the Barracks awaiting orders. It 
 was of course invisible to the enemy from his position 
 directly in rear of Barracks. If his guns had been 
 aimed at the center of the building, his shells would have 
 exploded in our midst. But the massive parts were at 
 the corners, where the towers were grouped, and thither 
 the fire was directed. The first shell that struck crashed 
 in the hall of the Society of Cadets, sending down 
 showers of brickbats and plaster when it exploded. 
 Thereupon, we were ordered to pass over the parapet 
 in front of the Barracks, and thence were marked west- 
 ward until clear of the building, so as to avoid the 
 splinters and debris. It was very well; for while several 
 of his guns turned their attention to our section of 
 artillery on the parade ground, Captain Harry filled 
 the air with fragments as he povmded away at our 
 quarters."* 
 
 *To-day (1914) may be seen two solid shot imbedded in the central tower of 
 the East wing of Barracks.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 357 
 
 "In our new position under the parapet, about op- 
 posite the Guard Tree, although fully protected, we 
 were nearly in the line of fire of the shots directed at 
 our battery. A number of shells struck the parade 
 ground, some exploding there, and others ricochetting 
 over our heads." 
 
 One can imagine the infinite satisfaction the Federal 
 witnesses derived from this bombardment of the "Hor- 
 net's Nest" in Lexington. Hunter, Crook, Hayes, and 
 McKinlev were too well informed not to understand the 
 infinite value to the Confederacy of Virginia's School 
 of Arms, and du Pont, at New Market, and Averell, 
 on three former occasions, had had personal experience 
 with the Young Guard of Virginia. 
 
 "With heavy hearts, we passed through the town, 
 bidding adieu to such of the residents as we had known 
 in happier days." 
 
 It had been expected that horses would be impressed 
 for the Cadet Battery, but finding this impossible, at 
 the last moment, the five venerable pieces had to be 
 abandoned to the enemy, for lack of teams to draw them 
 off. They were left in the gun shed, with their caissons 
 and equipment. 
 
 "No words would describe our feelings as we rested 
 on the roadside. . . . The place was endeared by 
 a thousand memories, but above all other thoughts, it 
 galled and mortified us that we had been compelled to 
 abandon it without firing a shot." 
 
 Thinking that the Federal cavalry would attempt to 
 cut off the retreating column from L\Tichburg, the Com- 
 mandant led the Corps out of Lexington by the boat 
 yard road, across North River, some distance east of 
 the town. The first halt was made about four miles out 
 at a cherry tree which a kind old farmer turned over to 
 the cadets and from which many of them ate their fill. 
 That old cherry tree still stands beside the road, but it 
 has never afforded more real enjoyment than it did to 
 those hungry pedestrians on June 11, 1864.
 
 358 The Military History of 
 
 The Corps reached Balcony Falls where the North 
 River enters the James, that evening, and soon it was 
 reported that the enemy was pursuing. The gorge 
 through which the James River rushes at Balcony Falls 
 extends eastward for some miles and offers many de- 
 fensible positions. The Commandant, accordingly, fell 
 back down the pass about two miles, and placed the 
 Corps in the position in which he could offer the greatest 
 resistance. Pickets were thrown forward, and all that 
 night cadets rested on their arms, and until noon the 
 following day, Sunday, the 12th. "Then, we as- 
 certained that General Hunter had passed up the 
 Valley to the approaches to Lynchburg, by way of the 
 Peaks of Otter." The Corps proceeded on its route to 
 the Rope Ferry, four miles below Balcony Falls. 
 
 On the 12th, Averell had dispatched a column of 200 
 mounted men from Lexington across the Blue Ridge, 
 to reconnoiter in the direction of Lynchburg, via Am- 
 herst Court House. Learning the next day of their 
 presence east of the mountains, Breckinridge, who was 
 moving with his division by forced marches from Rock- 
 fish Gap to Lynchburg, directed Imboden at the latter 
 point, to cooperate with him in cutting off their escape, 
 and, with that end in view, to hold the Corps of Cadets 
 at Rope Ferry.* Accordingly, Imboden dispatched 
 the following communication to the Superintendent who 
 was with the cadets : 
 
 "Lynchburg, 12 m. (noon), June 14., 1864. 
 
 "General F. H. Smith, 
 "Comd'g, etc. 
 
 "Gen. — Hold your position at the Rope Ferry. I have ordered 
 MeCausland to Waugh's Ferry. General Breckinridge is closing 
 upon the enemy from Lovingston. I am moving to cut him off 
 from all the gaps north of you. If his escape can be prevented, we 
 will capture his whole force. 
 
 "Yours resp't'y, 
 
 "J. D. Imboden, 
 
 "Brig.-Ge7i'l., 
 
 "Com'd'g."** 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Series 1, Vol. XXXVII, I'art 1, p. 157. 
 •♦Original in General Shipp's possession.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 3.59 
 
 The Corps remained at the Rope Ferry from Satur- 
 day evening until Wednesday the 15th, being detained 
 there all that time not only to hold the pass, but to guard 
 the property of refugees who collected in the pass from 
 various parts of the Upper Valley. Apprehending 
 danger from Hmiter's advance which McCausland was 
 powerless to stay. General Smith ordered the Com- 
 mandant, on the 15th, to move the Corps by canal 
 boats to Lynchburg. While on the way, a courier met 
 the Superintendent with a dispatch from Breckinridge, 
 ordering the cadets to move immediately to that city by 
 the north side of the river, and stating that the force of 
 raiders had circled around Lynchburg, and were mov- 
 ing on the south side to join Hunter. When this 
 dispatch was received, the cadets had passed Waugh's 
 Ferry, so that the danger of a coUison with the raiders 
 was past. They arrived in Lynchburg at 8 a. m. on the 
 16th, as Breckinridge's troops were arriving, while the 
 raiders joined Averell about noon the same day at 
 Liberty (Bedford City). 
 
 Returning to Lexington, we shall let Mrs. Preston 
 describe the entrance of the enemy on the lltli: 
 
 "Evening: Our fears have all been realized; the 
 enemy is upon us, and is in pursuit of McCausland, who 
 left the town about an hour before they entered. About 
 ten o'clock this morning, McCausland burned the bridge 
 as the enemy approached it; he then began to fire upon 
 them. We have been shelled in reply all day; one shell 
 exploded in our orchard, a few yards beyond us, — our 
 house being just in their range, as they threw them at 
 the retreating Confederates. The cadets, my husband 
 among them, remained on the Institute hill, till shot 
 and shell fell so thick that it was dangerous; the cadets 
 then retreated, and are several hours ahead. But they 
 are infantry and this is a cavalry force. Mr. P. is just 
 two hours ahead of them." Colonel Preston, it should 
 be interpolated, had been placed in charge of the 
 flotilla of barges, on which the movable property had 
 been packed, and ordered to proceed down the canal 
 with them to Lynchburg.
 
 360 The Military History of 
 
 "The i^eople from the lower part of the town fled 
 from their dwelhngs, and our house was filled with 
 women and children."* 
 
 "Just in the midst of the thickest shelling the poor 
 wounded boy from the Institute hospital was carried 
 here, surroimded by a guard of cadets. He has borne 
 the removal well. I have distributed some of J.'s 
 [Jackson's] blackberry wine, which I have always for- 
 borne to open, among the frightened and almost faint- 
 ing ladies. About 4 o'clock the head of the Yankee 
 colimm came in sight. I went out and watched them 
 approach; saw six of our pickets run ahead of them 
 some ten minutes. For two hours there was one con- 
 tinuous stream of cavalry, riding at a fast trot, and 
 several abreast, passing out at the top of the town. 
 (South end.) Then the infantry began to pour in; 
 these remained behind, and, with cavalry who came 
 after, flooded the town. They began to pour into our 
 yard and kitchen, half a dozen at a time, and I hesitated 
 not to speak in the most firm and commanding tone to 
 them. At first, they were content to receive bacon, two 
 slices apiece; but they soon became insolent; demanded 
 the smokehouse key, and told me they would break the 
 door miless I opened it. I protested against their 
 pillage, and with a score of them surrounding me, with 
 guns in their hands, proceeded to the smokehouse and 
 threw it open, entreating them at the same time, by the 
 respect they had for their wives, mothers, and sisters, 
 to leave me a little meat. They heeded me no more than 
 wild beasts would have done; swore at me; and left me 
 not one piece. Some rushed down the cellar steps, 
 seized the newly-churned butter there, and made off. 
 I succeeded in keeping them out of the house. We had 
 no dinner; managed to procure a little supper; we had 
 
 •This was a dwelling on the college grounds, formerly occupied by Dr. 
 Junkin, President of Washington College, and the father of Mrs. Preston. 
 Being a Northern sympathizer, he removed from Virginia at the outbreali of 
 the war ; but Mrs. Preston remained loyal to the sentiments of her husband. 
 The house was also occupied by Jackson while a professor after his marriage 
 to Mrs. Preston's sister. His first wife died about a year after her marriage, 
 and about two years later Jackson married Miss Morrison, of Charlotte, N. C, 
 and removed to a large brick house in Lexington, now become the Stonewall 
 Jackson Memorial Hospital.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 361 
 
 nailed up all the windows. I wrote a polite note to 
 General Averell asking for a guard ; none was sent. At 
 ten, we went to bed, feeling that we had nothing be- 
 tween these ravagers and us, but God's protecting 
 arm." 
 
 Now, here, it should be remarked, this is the evidence 
 of a noble. Christian woman, a Northerner by birth and 
 rearing, contemporaneously recorded. It must, there- 
 fore, be accepted as true, and nothing that could be 
 written could so well illustrate the lack of discipline of 
 Hunter's troops which his better officers were powerless 
 to restrain. The men took their tone from Hunter, in 
 whom there was none of the magnanimity of the victor 
 so generally characteristic of the leaders in both armies. 
 Small wonder that his Lexington relatives have dis- 
 owned him and refer to him to-day, after all trace of 
 sectional bitterness has died out, as the Renegade 
 Vandal, for what occurred at the residence of Mrs. 
 Preston happened in almost every other house in 
 Lexington. 
 
 "Sunday Morning, June 12th: A day I will never 
 forget. I slept undisturbed during the night, but was 
 called downstairs early this morning by the servants who 
 told me the throng of soldiers could not be kept out of 
 the house. I went down and appealed to them as a lone 
 woman who had nobody to protect her. I might as well 
 have appealed to the bricks. I had left the smokehouse 
 door open to let them see that every piece of meat was 
 taken. . . . They came into the dining room, and 
 began to carry away the china, when a young fellow 
 from Philadelphia (he said) took the dishes from them 
 and made them come out. I told them I was a Northern 
 woman, but confessed I was ashamed of my Northern 
 lineage, when I saw them come on such an errand. 
 They demanded to be let into the cellar, and one fellow 
 threatened me with the burning of the house, if I did 
 not give them just what they demanded. I said, 'Yes, 
 we are at your mercy — burn it down, — but I won't give 
 you the key.' They then demanded arms; we got the
 
 362 The Military History of 
 
 old shot guns and gave them; these they broke up, and 
 left parts of them in the yard; broke into the cellar; 
 carried off a firkin of lard hidden there; a keg of mo- 
 lasses, and whatever they could find. They asked me 
 if we had no more than this. I answered, 'Yes, but it is 
 in the mountains.' Sent to General Crook for a guard 
 — At last, they pressed into the house, and began to 
 search my dressing room. What they took I don't know. 
 They seized our breakfast, and even snatched the 
 toasted bread and egg that had been begged for the 
 sick man's breakfast. My children were crying for 
 something to eat; I had nothing to give them but 
 crackers. They set fire to the Institute about 9 o'clock ; 
 the flames are now enveloping it ; the towers have fallen ; 
 the Arsenal is exploding as I write. Governor Letcher's 
 house has been burned down, and they told me that all 
 the V. M. I. Professors' houses were to be burned, 
 Colonel Preston's among them. At last old Dr. Mc- 
 Clung came, and Phoebe* asked him to go to Averell's 
 headquarters with her (Averell had his headquarters in 
 Dr. White's yard) ; she went; did not see the General, 
 but found a young man there (from Philadelphia) who 
 came back with her and ordered the men off. By and 
 by, an officer came, and asked for me; told me he had 
 heard we were annoyed; said he was mortified and 
 would send a guard, though he had no authority to do 
 so. . . . Let me note here, and I do it with chagrin 
 and shame, that the only really civil men have been 
 those from Western Virginia and those two Philadel- 
 phians. Invariably, those from Virginia were polite; 
 one offered silver for some bread. I had nothing but 
 crackers, which I gave him, remarking that he was on 
 the wrong side for a Virginian. He looked decidedly 
 ashamed. 
 
 "It was 12 o'clock before we could get any breakfast. 
 They carried off the coffee pot and everything they 
 could lay their hands on, and while a 'guard', a boy of 
 IT, was walking around the house, they emptied the 
 
 ♦Colonel Preston's eldest daughter.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 363 
 
 corn crib. I asked Dr. P. to take the library for his 
 medical stores, which he agreed to do; he was really 
 polite. We asked him if he were going to burn our 
 house; he said, 'Not if it is private property.' General 
 Hmiter has ordered the burning of all the V. M. I. Pro- 
 fessors' houses. Mrs. Smith pled for hers to be spared, 
 on account of her daughter who lies there desperately 
 ill (in child birth) ; that alone saved it. 
 
 "Hunter has his headquarters in it. This has been 
 an awfid day, and it may be worse before night. One 
 cavalryman told me that if they all talked as I did, they 
 would fire the entire town. 
 
 "12 o'clock: We have just heard that General Smith, 
 Colonel Williamson, and Colonel Gilliam, with some of 
 the cadets, have been taken prisoners! 
 
 "Three o'clock p. m. : I am in despair. Forty 
 thousand troops are marching upon Richmond through 
 here; eight thousand more left in Staunton, as an in- 
 telligent guard told us. Richmond must fall — how can 
 it withstand such numbers? . . . 
 
 "Monday Morning, June 13th: . . . We were 
 told the house was to be searched as some of our neigh- 
 bors' had been. I delivered up all the sporting guns, 
 but forgot that I had hidden Jackson's sword in a dark 
 loft above the portico. At one o'clock last night, I 
 crept up there as stealthily as a burglar, and brought it 
 down, intending to deliver it up to Lt. B. ; but running 
 up the back way to Dr. White's gate, and consulting 
 him, he said he had his old sword which had never been 
 in service, and advised me to keep it as long as I could. 
 I have hidden it in Anna Jackson's piano. We hear 
 that we are to be searched in the morning ; almost every 
 house in town has been, and but for the interest this Lt. 
 has taken in us, I believe we should have been too. 
 
 "General Smith's house has not been burned, they 
 have not yet discovered our wounded man. . . . 
 We hear many times this morning tliat the cadets have 
 lieen captured."
 
 364 The Military History of 
 
 A number of the cadets had stored their trunks in 
 Colonel Preston's house before departing. These were 
 now opened and the contents destroyed upon the advice 
 of the friendly officer, for fear they might be discovered, 
 for, by an oversight, or through the design of the officer, 
 the provost-marshal had included the house in his list 
 which he certified had been searched. "I became so 
 alarmed that I thought it time he, the Lieutenant, should 
 know the wounded man was here, so I said, 'Come in 
 and see the wounded cadet !' He seemed surprised, but 
 came in, and talked very civilly; the cadet lay pale and 
 motionless, never opening his eyes. The guard asked 
 if we did not need help in sitting up with him at night, 
 and talked so kindly that quiet tears began to steal down 
 the poor wounded boy's face, — for he is only seventeen. 
 Phoebe began to weep too; the guard looked on a mo- 
 ment, and then said, 'Well, in the other world there will 
 be surely somebody made to suffer for all this !' I take 
 time to note this. It is an incident worth preserving. 
 
 "There was still Jackson's sword. With great 
 trouble we carried it under our clothes — that sword that 
 had flashed victoriously over many a battlefield, — and 
 finally concealed it in an outhouse. . . . 
 
 "The experience of our neighbors has been in some 
 instances worse, in some better, than ours; but all have 
 suffered. Some idea of our absorption of thought may 
 be imagined, when I record that since last Friday till 
 yesterday, we actually forgot to have any dinner gotten ; 
 we forgot to eat; four days we went from morning till 
 dark without food." 
 
 We shall now let General Hunter describe his oc- 
 cupation of Lexington.* 
 
 "Having rested, and reorganized the combined forces 
 under my conmiand, I started on the 10th toward Lex- 
 ington, moving up the Valley in four cohmins by roads 
 nearly parallel. The infantry division under General 
 Crook, and the cavalry division under General Averell, 
 
 *See his Report, Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXXVII, Part 1, pp. 
 9fi-103.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute SQ5 
 
 moving on the right-hand road, were opposed by Mr. 
 McCausland, with about 2,000 mounted men and a 
 battery. 
 
 "He was easily driven, however, and, on the 11th, 
 took refuge in the town of Lexington, behind the North 
 River, a tributary of the James. Generals Crook and 
 Averell arriving about midday, on the 11th, found the 
 bridge across the stream burnt, and the crossing dis- 
 puted by sharpshooters and artillery. The infantry 
 division under General Sullivan, which moved on the 
 road to the left, and which I accompanied in person, 
 had met with no enemy thus far, but, at the sound of 
 Crook's guns, moved rapidly forward, and took position 
 in front of the town. I found the enemy's sharpshooters 
 posted among the rocks and thickets of the opposite 
 cliffs, and in some storehouses at the bridge, and also 
 occupying the buildings of the Virginia Military Insti- 
 tute, which stood near the river. Their artillery was 
 screened behind the buildings of the town, and on some 
 heights just beyond it the whole position was completely 
 commanded by my artillery (thirty guns). This un- 
 soldierly and inhuman attempt of General McCausland 
 to defend an indefensible position against an over- 
 whelming force, by screening himself behind the private 
 dwellings of women and children, might have brought 
 justifiable destruction upon the whole town, but as this 
 was not rendered imperative by any military necessity, 
 I preferred to spare private property, and an unarmed 
 population. Instead of crushing the place with my 
 artillery, I sent General Averell with a brigade of 
 cavalry to cross the river some distance away, and fall 
 upon the enemy's flank and rear. Before this move- 
 ment was completed, the enemy proceeded and hastily 
 retired on the road toward Buchanan. The Battalion 
 of Cadets, about 250 muskets, took part in the defense 
 and retired by the Balcony Falls road towards Lynch- 
 burg. I was told that Colonel Smith, Principal of the 
 Institute, and commanding the cadets, protested 
 against the attempted defense as entirely futile, pur-
 
 366 The Military History or 
 
 poseless and unnecessarily exposing the town and its 
 helpless inhabitants to danger and destruction. In oc- 
 cupying this place, a few prisoners were taken; five 
 pieces of cannon, with numerous caissons and gun car- 
 riages, some small arms, and a quantity of ammunition 
 fell into our hands and were destroyed ; six barges laden 
 with commissary stores, artillery ammunition, and six 
 pieces of cannon were captured on the James River 
 Canal near the town. A number of extensive iron works 
 in the vicinity were burned. 
 
 "On the 12th, I also burned the Virginia Military 
 Institute, and all the buildings connected with it. I 
 found here a violent and inflammatory proclamation 
 from John Letcher, lately Governor of Virginia, incit- 
 ing the population of the country to rise and wage 
 guerilla warfare on my troops, and ascertaining that 
 after having advised his fellow-citizens to this course, 
 the Ex-Governor himself had ignominiously taken flight. 
 I ordered his property to be burned, under my order 
 published May 24th, against persons practising, or abet- 
 ting, such uncivilized warfare. Having had information 
 that a train of 200 wagons, loaded with supplies and 
 guarded by two regiments of infantry, was en route 
 following our march, I delayed one day in Lexington 
 to allow it time to overtake us. I had also begun to 
 feel anxious in regard to Duifie from whom I had not 
 definitely heard for two days." 
 
 Such is the official lie of the vandal Hunter. The 
 proclamation of John Letcher, to which he referred, 
 was a natural appeal to the patriotism of the people to 
 aid in the defense of the Upper Valley, one which any 
 man in his position would have made, under similar 
 circimistances. One who knows the character of 
 "Honest John" at once discards the mere suggestion of 
 guerilla warfare on his part, as a palpable impossibility. 
 Yet, his property, which incidentally included his house 
 and home, was ruthlessly given over to the flames. The 
 patriotism of the Ex-Governor did not change the 
 private character of that property.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 387 
 
 Lincoln had specifically prohibited the destruction of 
 private property. In total disregard of that injunction, 
 Hunter did not confine himself to the demolition of the 
 Institute, as a military post, but caused the private 
 possessions of the defenseless professors to be burned. 
 Lincoln's inhibition also included Educational Insti- 
 tutions; but Hunter, unable to perceive the value such 
 things would have in settling the conquered country, 
 ordered the educational equipment of the Institute to 
 be given to the flames, along with the buildings. This 
 equipment embraced a priceless mineralogical collection 
 donated to the school by General Cocke, a large and 
 valuable library, including the irreplaceable collection 
 of scientific works, which had been purchased from 
 Colonel Claude Crozet, and the complete scientific ap- 
 paratus and laboratories of the Engineering, Chemistrj^ 
 and Agricultural departments, and an exceptionally 
 valuable telescope. 
 
 Among the brave officers whom chance had con- 
 signed to the command of so unworthy a leader was 
 Captain Henry A. du Pont, of Delaware. In order 
 to show what were the sentiments of the officers of 
 Hunter's Army, it is here noted that in 1913 Senator 
 Henry A. du Pont introduced a bill in the United 
 States Senate providing for the reimbursement of the 
 Virginia Military Institute, in the sum of $214,000, for 
 the unlawful and unjustifiable destruction of its 
 educational plant by General Hunter, June 12, 1864. 
 It should be added that the burning of the Barracks 
 and of the strictly military part of the institution has 
 never been claimed to be improper or unjustifiable as 
 a war measure.* 
 
 The information contained in the following deposition 
 which was taken as evidence by the Senate Claims Com- 
 mittee is very interesting at this point, though it omits 
 an important fact : 
 
 ♦To the writer's knowledge, Major McKinley in later years often expressed 
 regret for the destruction of the Institute. Senate Bill 544, Sixty-Third Con- 
 gress, Second Session, and the evidence of Senator du Pont and Major-General 
 Leonard Wood, Chief-of-StaflP. U. S. Army, given at the Hearing before the 
 Committee on Claims, is included in full in the appendix.
 
 368 The Military History or 
 
 State of Pennsylvania 
 
 ss. 
 County of Alleghany 
 
 On this 10th day of March, A. D., 1914i, personally appeared 
 before me the subscriber, a Notary Public, J. M. Schoonmaker, of 
 Pittsburg, Pa., who being duly sworn according to law, doth depose 
 and say: 
 
 I was Colonel of the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, in command 
 of the First Brigade of Averill's Cavalry Division, and led the 
 advance of General Hunter's army when he moved south from 
 Staunton on June 11, 1864, on what is known as Hunter's raid on 
 Lynchburg. On arriving at the outskirts of Lexington there was 
 some firing from skirmishers, which halted us until General Hunter 
 came to the front, and ordered the shelling of the Virginia Military 
 Institute, but with no response following same, and my recollection 
 is that I was the first one to enter the Institute building, finding the 
 cadets' school books open on their desks and diagrams partly 
 finished on blackboard, and no trace of the building having been 
 occupied by Confederate forces, placed it and the Washington 
 College buildings under guard. Some time after General Hunter 
 advanced his main army into Lexington and sent for me, taking me 
 severely to task for not having burned the Institute, which he did 
 the following day, and it was my understanding at the time that 
 General Hunter also intended burning the Washington College 
 buildings. I have no hesitation in stating that I considered at the 
 time the burning of the Institute for military reasons unnecessary 
 and unwarranted. 
 
 And furtlier the deponent sayeth not. 
 
 J. M. Schoonmaker. 
 
 Sworn and subscribed before me the day and year first above 
 written. 
 
 Wm. F. Brunner, 
 
 Notary Public. 
 My commission expires January 19, 1915. 
 
 The omission referred to is that Colonel Schoon- 
 maker, according to his own statement at the Institute, 
 where he delivered an address on the occasion of the 
 Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Celebration, June 24, 1914, 
 was not only taken to task by Hunter for not destroying 
 the Institute immediately upon entering Lexington, 
 but was relieved of command pending the investigation 
 of what his senior deemed a neglect and while other 
 hands unwillingly applied the torch. The fact that
 
 The Vikginia Military Institute 369 
 
 Hunter thus sought to discipline Schoonmaker gave 
 currency and credence to the report that a number of 
 officers were placed in arrest for refusing to execute 
 Hunter's orders to burn the Institute. His action with 
 respect to Schoonmaker, his advance guard commander, 
 was, undoubtedly designed to make him more wanton 
 and reckless of the property rights of the enemy and the 
 hostile inhabitants along the route. Hunter simply de- 
 sired all his subordinates to take their cue from him 
 and act in certain matters without explicit orders, for 
 orders, especially when written, have an unpleasant 
 way of springing up when least expected. 
 
 Hunter did not cause the five pieces of the Cadet 
 Battery which his men found at the Institute to be 
 destroyed, as stated in his report. These pieces, to- 
 gether with the six old French guns, and the two bronze 
 guns of the Letcher Battery, which had been mounted 
 in front of the Barracks, and Hubard's bronze replica 
 of Houdon's Washington Statue, were seized bj^ him, 
 and sent with other captured property to Wheeling, 
 West Virginia, where they were received as trophies of 
 war by Governor Pierpoint, the Federal appointee, with 
 great glee. Thus, did Hunter seek to impress his 
 political friends at home with the grandeur of his mili- 
 tary exploits!* 
 
 In his annual report to the Board of Visitors, 
 rendered at its meeting in Richmond, July 15, 1864, 
 the Superintendent recounted Hunter's proceedings in 
 detail, as follows: 
 
 "Every species of public property was removed, or 
 wantonly destroyed; and among the most serious losses 
 are to be named our valuable library, — the accumulated 
 care of twenty-five years, — and the philosophical ap- 
 paratus, so long used by our late distinguished professor 
 
 *In 1865, at the instance of the Superintendent, and Gen. T. T. Munford, 
 V. M. I., '52, the Cadet Battery, superbly re-mounted and re-equipped, the 
 Washington Statue, the two 24-pounder and the two 6-pounder French guns, and 
 the two Letcher Battery guns, were gracefully returned to the Institute, by order 
 of the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton. La Lazarde and L'Aurore, the two 
 9-pounder French guns, could not be found for a long time, but were finally 
 located at Fortress Monroe, and returned by (lenoral William F. Barry, the post 
 commander, under the propei- authority. 
 
 24
 
 370 The Miijtary History of 
 
 of Xntural and Experimental Philosophy, Lieiitenant- 
 General Thomas J. Jackson. The apparatus and many 
 of the valuable books had been removed to Washington 
 College, under the presumption that this venerable insti- 
 tution might afford a shelter and protection to them. 
 But the work of destruction went on. The College 
 })uilding was sacked; the hbraries of both institutions 
 were destroyed, and every particle of philosophical ap- 
 paratus broken to pieces. Shavings had been prepared 
 to fire the College buildings also, and the design was 
 only prevented by the representations of the Trustees, 
 setting forth the purely civil organization of the Col- 
 lege, and that it was the recipient of the bounty of 
 Washington himself. 
 
 "Our hospital was first rifled of all its most valuable 
 medical stores, and was then burnt, although one 
 severely wounded cadet and one sick cadet, dependent 
 upon both for comfort and almost for life, had to be 
 removed from the building at great risk, in the midst 
 of the shelling and the rifle balls of the sharpshooters. 
 
 "The families of Colonels Williamson and Gilham 
 were required by rude officials to vacate their quarters; 
 and, although they were allowed the privilege of re- 
 moving their furniture, in part, through the kind inter- 
 position of the Hon, S. McD. Moore, few facilities were 
 afforded them to do so ; and the torch was applied, while 
 helpless females were endeavoring to save their little 
 stores, and their quarters, and many of their personal 
 effects were destroyed. 
 
 "Every public document connected with the operation 
 of the Institute, found in my office (and there were 
 many copies of the various annual reports and 
 registers), were destroyed or removed. My private 
 library was rifled of many of its most valuable and 
 portable volumes, and the portraits of Ex- Governors 
 JNIcDowell, Wise, and Letcher, which occupied promi- 
 nent positions in it, were removed. 
 
 "The houses of our poorest operatives, including 
 seamstresses, laundresses, and laborers, were searched,
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 371 
 
 in common with those of the citizens generally, and some 
 of those persons were left in destitute, and almost 
 starving, condition. The kindness of friends in Lex- 
 ington had opened their homes to receive the trmiks and 
 effects of cadets. Such houses were made the peculiar 
 objects of vindictive spoliation. 
 
 "Our shoe shop was despoiled of all its leather, and 
 unfinished work; and the shoe lasts, implements and 
 benches were there wantonly destroyed. 
 
 "The bell attached to our public clock was taken down 
 and removed, and the beautiful bronze copy of 
 Houdon's Washington, by the gifted and lamented 
 Hubard, after being mutilated in the effort to take it 
 from its pedestal, was removed.* 
 
 "All the regular negro servants of the institution 
 showed a marked fidelity. Our trusty baker, Anderson, 
 the property of the Institute, was stripped of every- 
 thing, and on being asked whether he had made him- 
 self known as belonging to the State, promptly replied, 
 'No, indeed, — if I had told the Yankees that, they 
 would have burnt me up, with the other State 
 property.' " 
 
 In discussing the lack of justification for Hunter's 
 acts, the presentation of the Superintendent can hardly 
 be improved upon. He wrote: 
 
 "It was to have been expected that the cadets should 
 be pursued, that they might be either killed or captured. 
 They asked no immunities from the rigors of war meted 
 to others. The arms and munitions of war were proper 
 subjects for capture or destruction. Its public build- 
 ings might have been held by the enemy as a barracks 
 or hospital, and the school itself dispersed. But modern 
 history is appealed to in vain for a like instance of 
 desolation, as marked the track of the invader here. 
 The cities of Europe have often been held by hostile 
 armies, and have often been given up to sack and 
 
 *William J. Hubard, the sculptor-artist was blown up in February, 1862, 
 while experimenting with a highly explosive compound of his own invention, 
 in his foundry in Richmond, which he had turned over to the service of the 
 Confederate Bureau of Ordnance.
 
 372 The Militaky History of 
 
 pillage; but institutions of learning, whether military 
 or not, have been usually protected from the devasta- 
 tion attendant upon the entrance of armies into forti- 
 fied towns. Even in civil war, Oxford and Cambridge 
 were alternately held by the contending armies; but 
 their halls and their courts, their libraries and their 
 archives, were preserved and still remain, to show how 
 civilization may ameliorate the rigors of war. True, 
 the School of Engineers at Mezieres, in which the cele- 
 brated Monge taught, and that of Artillery at La Fere, 
 in common with all the Schools of France, from the Uni- 
 versity down, were destroyed by the madness of the un- 
 restrained Republican mobs. Lavoisier was murdered, 
 as the republic had no need of chemists. But these law- 
 less acts were not excused, or justified, by the leaders of 
 the French Revolution themselves. On the contrary, 
 they were made the argument by which Monge and 
 Fourcay established the Polytechnic School, and begged, 
 for the purpose, the use of the old Palais Bourbon for 
 the inauguration of their truly revolutionary School. 
 But General Hunter commanded an organized army 
 of the United States, whose professed mission was the 
 'restoration of the Union' ; and, yet, it was by his order, 
 and against the remonstrances of some of his own gen- 
 eral officers, that the public buildings of the Virginia 
 Military Institute were committed to the flames; and the 
 threat was made by him that the University of Virginia 
 should soon share a like fate. He is not only responsible 
 for an act deliberately executed, ])ut for the effort 
 clearly manifested to consign to utter destruction every 
 record that could mark the character of history or be- 
 ing, of the Virginia Military Institute." 
 
 After the destruction of the Institute, Hunter sent 
 Averell on to Buchanan on the 13th, with orders to 
 drive McCausland out of the way, and secure the bridge 
 over the James River at that place. On the 14th, hear- 
 ing that Breckinridge had reached Rockfish Gap, and 
 that Early was moving to the Valley, he left Lexington 
 with his whole force for Buchanan. On the 15th, he
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 373 
 
 marched over the Bkie Ridge by the Peaks of Otter 
 road toward Lynchburg. 
 
 From June 3d to 6th the desperate battle of Cold 
 Harbor was fought. Late on the 12th, Early, then m 
 command of the 2d, or Ewell's Corps, received orders 
 to proceed with it to the Valley to oppose Hunter's 
 progress. When he left his position near Gaines's Mill, 
 about 2 A. M. the 13th, Grant had already put his army 
 in motion to cross the James River below Richmond. 
 With the 8,000 men of his Corps, and Nelson's and 
 Braxton's Battalions of Artillery, Early reached 
 Charlottesville, a distance of over 90 miles, on the 16th. 
 Upon reaching Charlottesville, he learned by a dispatch 
 from Breckinridge, who with his division had made a 
 forced march from Rockfish Gap to Lynchburg, that 
 Hunter was marching on that point. At sunrise on the 
 17th, about half of Early's command started by train 
 on cars collected during the night, for Lynchburg, 60 
 miles distant. Rodes's, and a part of Gordon's di- 
 visions, and the artillery, started by road. When Ram- 
 seur's division and one of Gordon's brigades reached 
 the city late the afternoon of the 17th, Hunter was 
 rapidly approaching, opposed only by Imboden with a 
 mere handful of cavalry. Breckinridge had been un- 
 able, b}^ reason of injuries received at Cold Harbor, to 
 exercise active command since his arrival, but under 
 the direction of Generals D. H. Hill and Havs (who 
 happened to be in the city), a line of hasty intrench- 
 ments had been thrown up on College Hill, covering the 
 turnpike and Forest roads from Liberty. This line 
 had been occupied by the infantry of Breckinridge's 
 division as it arrived, and the dismounted cavalry of 
 Jones's command, which had been defeated at Pied- 
 mont, on the .5th, while the Corps of Cadets, the Re- 
 serves, and a number of military casuals from the 
 hospitals and shops, were placed in small works in other 
 quarters. 
 
 Early decided that the defensive lines which had been 
 hastily established were too close, and, that resistance
 
 374 The Military History of 
 
 offered in them would only bring about the destruction 
 of the city. But he had little time to construct others. 
 Finding Imboden in a work on Diamond Hill, about 
 five miles west of the city, strongly intrenched and op- 
 posing Averell, he decided to move his troops, which 
 were fast arriving, out to Imboden 's position near the 
 Quaker Church. Averell, however, attacked about 4 
 p. M.^ and drove Imboden from his works. 
 
 Early now established a line across the road over 
 which Averell was advancing, about two miles west of 
 the city, where a redoubt had been constructed, and 
 ordered up the two brigades of Ramseur's division, and 
 the one of Gordon's which had reached Lynchburg. 
 These troops arrested the progress of the Federals, who 
 contented themselves the rest of the day with a can- 
 nonade. 
 
 Hunter's advance troops camped on the battlefield 
 that night, having captured a gun, and 70 of Imboden' s 
 men. 
 
 The Federal commander now learned of the presence 
 of Breckinridge's division, and inferred from the con- 
 stant running of trains, and the cheering of troops, dur- 
 ing the night, that reinforcements were arriving. The 
 next morning he learned that Early's division had ar- 
 rived, and erroneously estimated the numbers of tlie 
 force opposed to him at between 10,000 and 15,000 
 men. 
 
 On the morning of the 18th, Early placed Breckin- 
 ridge's division in the front line of works, consisting of 
 a redoubt on each road, with connecting rifle pits, along 
 which there was much artillery firing and skirmishing. 
 In the afternoon, and before Rodes's division had ar- 
 rived, DufRe's brigade on the extreme Federal left at- 
 tacked just to the right of the Forestville road, while 
 Averell sent a small force of cavalry to demonstrate 
 against the Campbell Courthouse road, on the extreme 
 right. The attack was repulsed about 2 p. m. Although 
 Hunter says himself that he ordered this attack, he 
 describes the affair as a "bloody repulse" for Breckin-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 375 
 
 ridge who, he says, was discouraged from further activi- 
 ties that day. 
 
 As soon as the remainder of his infantry arrived, 
 Early completed his arrangements for attacking 
 Hunter, at daybreak on the 19th. 
 
 Up to this time, the cadets, in a drizzling rain, had 
 remained in position in a graveyard, near the present 
 residence of Mr. John Langhorne, in the secondary line 
 close behind the point of Duffie's attack, a renewal of 
 which the following morning, was confidently ex- 
 pected. About 10 o'clock that night, orders came for 
 the Corps to move to the front, to relieve the troops in 
 the salient in their front, who had been under fire since 
 midday. 
 
 "When the Corps was formed in line. Colonel Shipp, 
 in low tones, explained the nature of the service, and 
 the importance of silence. We were warned not to 
 speak, and, as the night was very black, each man was 
 instructed to place his left hand upon the cartridge box 
 of the man in front of him, so as to keep distance and 
 alignment. Thus formed, we proceeded to the bastion, 
 and entered it in gloomy silence. The troops occupying 
 it were drawn up as we entered, and glided out after 
 we were in, like shadows out of darkness. 
 
 "The place was horrible. The fort was new, and 
 constructed of stiff red clay. The rain had wet the 
 soil, and the feet of the men who had been there had 
 kneaded the mud into dough. There was no place to 
 lie down. All that a man could do was to sit plump 
 down in the mud, upon the low banquette, with his 
 gun across his lap. I could not resist peeping over the 
 parapet, and there, but a short distance from us, in a 
 little valley, were the smouldering camp-fires of the 
 enemy. Wrapping my blanket about me, its ends 
 tucked under me, so as to keep out the moisture from 
 the red clay as much as possible, I fell asleep, hugging 
 my rifle, never doubting that there would be work for 
 both of us at daybreak. 
 
 "I must have slept soundly, for when I awoke it was 
 broad daylight. The men were beginning to talk aloud,
 
 376 The Military History of 
 
 and several were exposing themselves freely. No 
 enemy aj^peared in our front. He was gone."* 
 
 The writer has been told by a number of those in the 
 Corps at this time that the night they spent in that 
 dark bastion, almost in speaking distance of the enemy, 
 was by long odds the most trying ordeal they experi- 
 enced during the war— certainly while cadets. 
 
 Believing that a force of 20,000 Confederates was 
 confronting him, Hunter, ere night fell, determined to 
 retire. Leaving a line of pickets in contact with the 
 enemy until midnight, to screen his movements, he 
 commenced his withdrawal as soon as it was dark, and 
 did not halt until his main body reached a point 18 
 miles west of Lynchburg. 
 
 Although the withdrawal of the Federals was dis- 
 covered by Early shortly after midnight, he was unable 
 to fathom the meaning of the movement, but at day- 
 break took up the pursuit, and overtook Hunter's 
 rear-guard at Liberty {Bedford City), just before 
 night. 
 
 From Liberty, Hunter retreated across the Blue 
 Ridge through Buford's Gap which he entered on the 
 morning of the 20th, and then proceeded b}^ Bonsack's 
 Station to Salem, where he arrived next day. 
 
 Ramseur had followed closely upon the heels of 
 Hunter's flying army and, attacking his rear-guard at 
 Salem, secured 8 pieces of artillery abandoned by the 
 enemy. From Salem, Hunter's route lay through 
 Catawba Valley, New Castle, Greenbrier White 
 Sulphur Springs, Lewisburg, Meadow Bluff, and 
 Gauley, to Charleston. The haste with which he moved 
 is shown by the fact that he reached New Castle on the 
 22d, Lewisburg on the 25th, and Gauley on the 27th, 
 arriving at Charleston on the 30th. McCausland had 
 hung upon, and harassed, his rear to the limit of the 
 endurance of his men and horses; but the pursuers were 
 simply outmarched.** 
 
 ♦End of an Era, J. S. Wise. 
 ., **V,R'?° arriving at the White Sulphur Springs, Hunter gave orders to destroy 
 the buildings, but Captam du Pont, knowing that a protest would be of no avail, 
 resorted to the clever scheme of suggesting that the place be saved as a possible 
 Cavalry post. This suggestion alone saved it.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 377 
 
 Thus ended the expedition which, by combining the 
 colmnns of Hunter and Sheridan at Lynchburg, was 
 expected to destroy Lee's communications, and enable 
 the two forces to join Grant. Hampton, by defeating 
 Sheridan at Trevilian's, on the 11th and 12th of June, 
 prevented the junction of the two forces at Lynchburg, 
 and Early, though greatly outnumbered by Hunter, 
 sent him flying back to the Kanawha, almost without 
 a fight. Like all vandals. Hunter was better at destroy- 
 ing defenseless homes than assaulting breastworks. 
 
 The cadets took no part in the pursuit of Hunter, 
 and leaving Lynchburg on the 24th, arrived in Lex- 
 ington by canal boats on the 25th. 
 
 The Institute was a charred ruin, so that the Corps 
 was temporarily quartered in the buildings of Wash- 
 ington College, which were kindly loaned for the 
 purpose. 
 
 The cadets found the ruins of the Institute so de- 
 pressing that after their first inspection, they carefully 
 avoided the place. Not satisfied with the complete 
 desolation of Virginia's School of Arms, certain men of 
 Hunter's command from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New 
 York, and Massachusetts, wrote obscene and insulting 
 messages over their names upon the walls of the de- 
 molished buildings, conduct inspired by their bitter rec- 
 ollection of the cadets at New Market, less than one 
 month before. Nor was this spirit confined to the en- 
 listed men of Hunter's Army, for the coarsely-defaced 
 and mutilated record book of the Dialectic Literary 
 Societ}'- was found with the following note, among 
 others, written in pencil, after the entry of the pro- 
 ceedings of May 7, 1864: 
 
 "Headquarters, U. S. Dept. of W. Va., 
 
 "Lexington, June 12^ 1864. 
 
 "The next meeting of the Di was probably interfered with by 
 the threatening advance of the Yankees under Sigel, who marched 
 up the Valley of Virginia against them. The cadets and other 
 Southern forces defeated Sigel at New Market, but three weeks 
 afterwards, in a battle at Piedmont, near Wever's Cave, Gen.
 
 378 The Military History of 
 
 Hunter, Sigel's successor, utterly routed their force, and took 
 1,000 prisoners. At this moment, the Virginia Military Institute 
 is a mass of flames. 
 
 "John R. Meigs, 
 "1st Lt. Corps of Eng'rs, U. S. A., and Chief Eng., 
 
 "Dept. of W. Va." 
 
 Jolui Rodgers Meigs, of Washington, D. C, was 
 a graduate of West Point, in the Class of 1863. It is 
 stated in official records that he was killed by partisans 
 October 3, 1864, near Harrisonburg, Virginia. It is 
 difficult to believe that he could have merited the brevet 
 he received for gallant and meritorious service at the 
 battle of Fisher's Hill, in September, and we can not 
 refrain from comparing him in our minds with the 
 noble, chivalrous Colonel "Sandy" Pendleton, of Lex- 
 ington, who forfeited his life in that same battle. 
 Magnanimity is a virtue which we expect of soldiers, 
 more especially of officers. We should have thought 
 his admiration for the institution where Jackson had 
 served, and his personal observation at New Market 
 of the heroism of the cadets, would have touched the 
 sympathy, rather than aroused the bitter passions, of 
 an officer of Meigs's training. 
 
 Now as a matter of fact, Meigs was not killed by 
 partisans. The following account of his death will 
 throw more light on his character. It is taken from the 
 Confederate Veteran of Marcli, 1914, and is written 
 by J. K. Taliaferro of Remington, Virginia. 
 
 "Having noticed in the December number of the Veteran a copy 
 of a report from General Sheridan from Woodstock, October 7, 
 1864, in which he states that Lieut. John R. Meigs, his engineer 
 officer, was murdered near Dayton, in consequence of which he had 
 all houses within an area of five miles burned, I consider it due our 
 cause that the readers of the Veteran and public should be informed 
 as to how Lieutenant Meigs came to his death. He was shot and 
 killed by Private George W. Martin, a true and brave soldier of 
 Company H, 1th Virginia Cavalry (Black Horse Company, of this 
 county), in a hand-to-hand fight after Martin was shot by Meigs 
 through his right lung and was supposed to be mortally wounded. 
 
 "The circumstances, as stated by F. M. Campbell, a member 
 of the same company, who was frequentlj^ sent out from brigade
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 379 
 
 lieadquarters to ascertain and report the location and movements 
 of the enemy, were as follows : 
 
 "Campbell selected young Martin and a member of the 1st 
 Virginia Regiment of Cavalry to accompany him on this occasion. 
 It was a misty, raw morning, and they all had on their overcoats 
 and were either inside or very near the enemy's lines. They 
 observed three cavalrymen approaching, and as they met each 
 selected his man to fight or capture. Martin faced Meigs, as the 
 other two did his attendants, and demanded a surrender. All threw 
 up their hands ; and when Meigs was supposed to be taking off his 
 arms he shot Martin from under his cape. While falling from his 
 horse Martin returned the fire and instantly killed him. Martin 
 was desperately wounded and suffered from the effects of the 
 wound to the day of his death, which occurred about ten years ago. 
 
 "Shortly after the surrender General Meigs, the father of the 
 Lieutenant, no doubt influenced by General Sheridan's statement, 
 offered a reward of $1,000 for the delivery to him of young Martin, 
 in consequence of which Martin went to a secluded section of 
 Missouri and remained there until the war excitement had subsided 
 and General Meigs had been satisfied by statements of those who 
 knew the circumstances that his son lost his life in a fair conflict. 
 
 "I write this in justice to the memory of an intimate friend and 
 comrade whose courage and coolness never faltered in facing a foe, 
 but who never sought to take a life without giving an opportunity 
 for surrender or defense." 
 
 On the 27th, the fourteen members of the First Class 
 were graduated, and the Corps was furloughed and 
 ordered to report for duty in Lexington, September 1st. 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "June 27, 186i. 
 "General Orders — No. 20. 
 
 "I. Under the authority of the Board of Visitors, all cadets 
 now on duty with the Institute, who have it in their power to go 
 to their homes, or to the homes of their friends, are placed on 
 furlough until the first of September, from this date. 
 
 "II. Those cadets who are unable to go to their homes, or to 
 the homes of their friends, will be cared for by the Institute, and, 
 to this end, they will immediately report to the Commandant of 
 Cadets that they may be duly organized and placed in camp, and 
 they will constitute under the law the guard of the public property. 
 
 "III. The Commissary and Steward will report to the Super- 
 intendent for instructions relative to the subsistence of the Guard, 
 and of the employees of the Institute. 
 
 "By command of Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison. 
 
 "A. A., V. M. Inst."
 
 380 The Military History of 
 
 By a subsequent order of the Board of Visitors, all 
 members of the New Market Corps who did not re- 
 turn to the Institute were granted diplomas, so that 
 the number of graduates for 1864 was 259, of which 
 number 14 were First Classmen, 64 Second Classmen, 
 and 181 Third and Fourth Classmen. 
 
 The Cadet Officers for 1864-65 were announced, as 
 follows : 
 
 Staff — Adjutant, Woodbridge; Quartermaster, Davenport; 
 Sergeant-Ma j or, Henry; Quartermaster-Sergeant, Crichton. 
 Captains — I. Ross. 2. Stuart. 3. Evans. 4. Pizzini. 
 First Lts. — 1. Shaw. 2. Echols. 3. Wise, L. 4. Nelson. 
 Second Lts. — 1. Duncan. 2. Douglas. 3. Martin, W. 4. Patton. 
 
 Orderly Sergeants — 1. Hayes, T. 2. Royster. 3. Glazebrook. 
 
 4. Marshall, A. 
 
 Sergeants — 1. Wood, J. 2. Ridley, R. 3. Barney. 4. Din- 
 widdie. 5. Barton. 6. James, J. 7. Atwill.* 8. Lee, F. 
 
 9. Tunstall, J. 10. Jarratt. 11. Triplett. 12. Penn. 13. Davis, A. 
 14. Wise, J. 15. Ezekiel. 16. Thomson, P. 
 
 Corporals — 1. Cocke, P. 2. Cocke, W. 3. Smith, W. 4. Stacker, 
 
 5. Dillard. 6. Smith, F. 7. Crawford. 8. Marks. 9. Kennedy. 
 
 10. Taylor, W. 11. Taylor, C. 12. McCorkle. 13. Redwood. 
 14. Washington. 15. Moorman. 16. Johnson, P. 
 
 ♦Died later from wound received at New Market.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 381 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 INSTITUTE REOPENED IN RICHMOND ON THE LINES 
 
 THE NEW ALMSHOUSE IN THE TRENCHES AGAIN 
 
 No sooner had the cadets been furloiighed on the 
 Washington College campus than the Superintendent, 
 with that indomitable will which characterized him, set 
 to work to prepare for the reopening of the Institute, 
 September 1st. 
 
 "Perish the thought," wrote he, "that the Virginia 
 Military Institute is destroyed, or that bricks and 
 mortar constituted the great military school of Vir- 
 ginia. That, thank God, still lives in the heart and af- 
 fections of the South, — and in the vigor and manhood 
 of its noble sons, and in the confidence and power of 
 the State of Virginia which established it. It was no 
 more in the power of General Hunter to destroy the 
 Virginia Military Institute than it has been in the 
 power of his government to destroy that under which 
 we live. Both remain, as providentially preserved and 
 designed, to vindicate the cause of truth and right."* 
 
 These are noble words and express the same senti- 
 ment contained in the letter which General Robert E. 
 Lee addressed to the Superintendent, shortly after he 
 learned of Hunter's act of vandalism. 
 
 "Camp Petersburg, July 4, 1864. 
 
 "I have grieved over the destruction of the Military Institute. 
 But the good that has been done to the country can not be destroyed, 
 nor can its name or fame perish. It will rise stronger than before, 
 and continue to diffuse its benefits to a grateful people. Under 
 your wise administration, there will be no suspension of its use- 
 fulness. The difficulties by which it is surrounded will call forth 
 greater energies from its officers and increased diligence from its 
 pupils. Its prosperity I consider cei'tain. 
 
 "With great regard, yours very truly, 
 
 "R. E. Lee. 
 "Gen. F. H. Smith." 
 
 ♦Report to Board of Visitors, July 15. 1^64.
 
 382 The Military History of 
 
 No wonder, with such an assurance of the expecta- 
 tions of the great Lee himself, that the Superintendent 
 called a meeting of the Board of Visitors for July 15th, 
 at which to consider the matter of reopening the 
 Institute. 
 
 In his report to the Board, the Superintendent wrote: 
 
 "The necessity of making immediate provisions for 
 carrying on the institution, and of devising ways and 
 means for accommodating the cadets, ad interim^ pre- 
 sents great difficulties, and the whole subject requires 
 mature consideration. The question is so nearly allied 
 to that of the permanent reorganization of the School, 
 that the two must necessarily be considered together; 
 and in this light I have viewed them." 
 
 And again: 
 
 "The Board of Visitors meets to-day to discharge 
 their high function in giving vigor to the institution, and 
 speedy restoration to whatever has been destroyed. I 
 have been diligently engaged, in obedience to its orders, 
 in preparing outlines of thought for their consideration ; 
 and although 25 years of almost unintermitted toil in 
 building up and superintending this great School, have 
 exhausted in a great degree the vigor of manhood, I am 
 ready to devote whatever of health or of strength may 
 be left or vouchsafed me to the work of restoration, 
 until the Virginia Military Institute is placed in all 
 its pristine glory. 
 
 "Should the institution be rebuilt on its present loca- 
 tion, the public interest would be promoted by having 
 its temporary organization at some convenient point in 
 this neighborhood. In this event, the Rockbridge 
 Baths, the Rockbridge Alum Springs, and the Lexing- 
 ton Hotel have been suggested; and any of these estab- 
 lishments, it is presumed, may be rented as barracks for 
 the cadets. Each has some conveniences, particularly 
 in tableware and furniture, which would greatly 
 facilitate the operations of the School, while each has 
 its drawbacks to balance against its advantages. As
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 383 
 
 an alternate proposition, it has been suggested, that 
 log or plank huts be constructed, either on the grounds 
 of the Institute, or at some other locality convenient to 
 wood and water. If an established building can not 
 be readily secured, the plan is practicable, and may be 
 combined with tents, and give ample provision for the 
 accommodation of the cadets. Rooms may be rented 
 for lecture purposes, and for storeroom and hospital; 
 and this plan may be found the most available, under 
 present circumstances, if the institution shall be located 
 here. 
 
 "Should it be determined to give another location to 
 the permanent reorganization of the institution, the 
 Lynchburg College, the Montgomery White Sulphur 
 Springs, and the Buckingham Female Institute, have 
 been named as suitable places for a temporary occup- 
 ancy, while the buildings of Randolph-Macon College 
 have been kindly tendered to us by its president, the 
 Rev. W. A. Smith, D. D. Expense of living would 
 oppose a temporary establishment, in time of war, in 
 the vicinity of a large town; and with this principal 
 regulating the decision, any large establishment, af- 
 fording sufficient houseroom, with tableware and furni- 
 ture at command, and, at the same time, affording full 
 facilities of wood and water, would answer our wants." 
 
 General Smith then presented a detailed plan for the 
 restoration of the Institute, and the reorganization of 
 the School along the broadest imaginable lines, with an 
 enumeration of the many reasons for its reestablishment 
 in Lexington, and a statement that the people of Lynch- 
 burg were willing to advance the funds for the erection 
 of the necessary buildings, should the Institute be re- 
 built in that city. It is difficult to understand how one 
 whose life had been for a quarter of a century a struggle 
 against apparently insurmountable difficulties, could be 
 as optimistic as General Smith. It can only be ex- 
 plained by the fact that his heart was in his work, and, 
 that being so, the will would make the way.
 
 384 The jNIilitary History of 
 
 Until late in the summer, he cherished the hope that 
 arrangements could be made for > the resumption of 
 academic duties in Lexington; but by the middle of 
 August, he was compelled to recognize that this could 
 not be done at the time appointed. The following order 
 was then published and widely circulated: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "Lexington, Va., August 13, 1864. 
 
 "General Orders — No. 22. 
 
 "I. The exercises of this Institution will be resumed at 
 Lexington on the 1st day of October, on which day all officers and 
 furloughed cadets will promptly report for dmty. 
 
 "II. As the supplies of the Institution, embracing clothing, 
 books, and subsistence stores, were destroyed by the public enemy, 
 it is essential that each cadet shall bring with him a full supply 
 of underclothing, one grey jacket, one pair of grey pants, one over- 
 coat, two pairs of shoes, single mattress and bedding, four towels, 
 comb, hairbrush, and toothbrush, and also a knife and fork. 
 Mattresses can be bought here. 
 
 "III. If grey cloth can be bought by the cadets, the clothes 
 can be made up at the Institute. 
 
 "IV. Each cadet will bring with him a list of his clothing to 
 be filed with the Quartermaster. 
 
 "V. The difficulty, if not impossibility, of securing full supplies 
 of meat, suggest the necessity of each cadet bringing with him 100 
 pounds of bacon. The amount brought will be credited to his 
 expense account at the Government rates. 
 
 "VI. Each cadet will also bring with him the class books 
 which may be required, as far as practicable. In the 4th Class, 
 Smith's or Bourdon's Algebra, Legendre's Geometry, Levizac's 
 French Grammar and Gil Bias. In the 3d Class, Smith's Analytical 
 Geometry, and Davies' Descriptive Geometry. In the 2d Class, 
 Courtnay's Calculus, are the books needed. 
 
 "VII. Temporary brick cabins are now in course of con- 
 struction for the accommodation of the cadets. The wanton de- 
 struction of the barracks and other public buildings by the enemy, 
 will deprive the cadets of the usual conveniences supplied them, but 
 the patriotic spirit which animates the whole people will make 
 them clieerfully endure many discomforts, until the Institution can 
 be restored to its original condition. 
 
 "By command of Major-General F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison, 
 
 "A. A., V. M. I."
 
 »w- , . : fc*-, , 
 
 ■. ^ ♦«.* ,   ,:~. *** "..' .. kfc*   ..' ■; • »■ 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ROBERT EDWAKD K()1>E8. C. S. A. 
 
 Assistant 1'uofessor 1848-18ri1 
 Professor 1860-1864
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 38.5 
 
 But as fall approached, it was obvious even to the 
 energetic and optimistic Superintendent that he could 
 not, with the facilities available, conduct the School in 
 Lexington, even were the cabins referred to completed 
 on time.* There were more insurmountable difficulties 
 than the lack of suitable quarters, among which were 
 those of securing supplies, and the exposed position of 
 Lexington, for the Confederate troops in Virginia were 
 now concentrated about Richmond and Petersburg, with 
 the exception of Early's command in the Valley, which 
 was opposed by a greatly superior force, under 
 Sheridan. In the event of Early's defeat by Sheridan 
 the Valley would be open again to the invaders; and, 
 as Grant had transferred Sheridan to the command of 
 the Federal Army in the Valley, with the avowed 
 purpose of overrunning it and reducing it to a state of 
 utter desolation, the prospect of an uninterrupted oc- 
 cupation of Lexington was not a bright one. The idea 
 of expending a large amount of money upon new build- 
 ings and equipment, under such circumstances, was out 
 of the question. 
 
 Accordingly, the Board, at the persistent requests of 
 the Confederate Government, directed that the Corps 
 be reassembled on the postponed date, October 1st. at 
 Camp Lee, instead of at Lexington, while arrangements 
 for the resumption of academic work were being com- 
 pleted. 
 
 Colonels Preston, Gilham, Williamson, and Massie 
 of the permanent faculty were on hand at the time ap- 
 pointed, and the Board fixed November 1st as the date 
 for the resumption of academic duties. Meantime, the 
 Corps was to be reorganized and reequipped, during the 
 month of October. 
 
 Although it had been understood by the Board of 
 Visitors and the Superintendent that the Corps of 
 
 ♦These cabins were small two-storied brick structures erected on the hillside 
 between the site of Barracks and the Mess Hall. There were four of them. 
 They were torn down in 1003 and 1900, when the present Administration Build- 
 ing and Maury-Brook Hall were erected, respectively. It was in them that the 
 cadets were quartered when the Institute was reopened after the war, September 
 10, 1866. 
 
 25
 
 386 The Military Histoky of 
 
 Cadets would be placed under the nominal command of 
 General Kemper, commanding the Reserve Forces of 
 Virginia, they had believed that the cadets would be 
 exempted from field service, so that serious application 
 to academic work might be secured. But almost im- 
 mediately upon the appearance of the first cadets at 
 Camp Lee, the following order was issued: 
 
 "Headquarters, Reserve Forces. 
 
 "October 3, 1864. 
 "Special Orders — No. 102. 
 
 "The commencement of the next regular session of the Virginia 
 Military Institute having been postponed until the 1st of November 
 next, all cadets who are not under seventeen years of age and not 
 already assigned to duty in the field by orders from the War De- 
 partment, or from these headquarters, are hei*eby required to report 
 without delay to Maj. T. G. Peyton, commandant of the camp of 
 instruction at Camp Lee, near Richmond, for immediate and 
 temporary field-service. Cadets under seventeen years of age are 
 also earnestly invited to report at once for assignment to duty. 
 
 "All furloughs and exemptions, heretofore granted to cadets, are, 
 by command of the Secretary of War, revoked. 
 
 "The cadets will be released from field-service by or before the 
 commencement of the session of the Institute. 
 
 "By order of Major-General Kemper, 
 
 "R. H. Catlett, 
 
 "Assistant Adjutant-General." 
 
 Upon the publication of this order, the Superin- 
 tendent, alarmed by what he deemed an arbitrary as- 
 sumption of authority over the Corps of Cadets, 
 addressed a protest to the Adjutant- General of 
 Virginia. 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "October 8, 1864.. 
 
 "Major-General William H. Richardson, 
 " Adj utant-General. 
 
 "General — I have this moment seen Special Orders No. 102, 
 from the headquarters of the reserve forces, dated October 3, 1864, 
 a copy of which I herewith enclose. The authority exercised by 
 the Confederate authorities over the cadets of the Virginia Military 
 Institute, under these orders, is directly in conflict with the in-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 387 
 
 structions which I have received from the Governor of Virginia, 
 under your order of October 14, 1862, and of the Special Order 
 given to me personally by His Excellency, Governor Smith, in June, 
 1864. I feel myself embarrassed in my duty under the circum- 
 stances which surround the case. I extract the closing paragraph 
 of vour order of October 14, 1862. 
 
 " 'The Governor, in view of all these important facts, feels it 
 to be incumbent upon him to direct the Superintendent of the Vir- 
 ginia Military Institute not to surrender any cadet who may be 
 claimed as a conscript by the Confederate authority, until the 
 constitutionality of the act of Congress, called the "Conscript Law," 
 shall have been tested, the legislative will of the State ascertained, 
 or until further orders.' 
 
 "The authorities of the Virginia Military Institute have no dis- 
 position to withhold the cadets from the service of the country in 
 this hour of its peril and need. They have promptly sanctioned 
 their service, without stint and at costly sacrifice of blood, to the 
 cause of the country. But the State, through its Military Institute, 
 stands as a guardian, in her sovereign capacity, to these young 
 soldiers, and it seems to be but just and proper that when their 
 services are required on the field of battle they should be sent 
 forth under the authority of the State whose servants they are, that 
 the care and protection which has been assumed and promised to 
 them may be rendered. Where thus rallied around the standard of 
 the country, they will present an organized Virginia command which 
 may be extended to embrace many others who would promptly 
 rally around the Virginia Military Institute, and by their efficiency 
 render valuable service, without detriment to their morals. 
 
 "If Special Orders, No. 102, be persisted in, the organization 
 of the Military Institute will be destroyed, and I apprehend the 
 worst of consequences to the individual members of the Institute. 
 
 "I remain. General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Francis H. Smith, 
 "Brevet Major-General and Superintendent."* 
 
 Upon receipt of this protest the Adjutant-General 
 of Virginia obtained assurances from the Secretary of 
 War that no intention of dispersing the cadets, or inter- 
 fering with the conduct of the Institute, was entertained, 
 and that the Corps would only be used under the most 
 emergent conditions. 
 
 Prompt steps were now taken by the Secretary of 
 War and General Kemper to reassemble the tactical 
 officers of the Institute. Captains Henry A. Wise, 
 
 •Rebellion Records. Series IV. Vol. III. pp. 722-723.
 
 388 The Military Histoby of 
 
 Frank Preston, and T. B. Robinson, were ordered to 
 report for duty with the Corps of Cadets,* and on the 
 14th of October the Secretary of War reassigned Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Scott Shipp to duty as Commandant.** 
 On the 22d, First Lieutenant C. Y. Steptoe, Adjutant 
 44th Virginia Infantry, was detailed by the Secretary 
 of War, to complete the tactical staff, f 
 
 New cadets had reported in large numbers, and in 
 addition to the appointment of many Confederate 
 Cadets, the Secretary of War assigned no less than 
 seven young conscripts to duty with the Corps at one 
 time. But very few of the cadets furloughed at Lex- 
 ington on June 27th rejoined, for most of them had 
 found berths in the various armies of the Confederacy. 
 The record of those who returned is imperfect. Late 
 in Januarj^ there were but 50 cadets in the Third Class, 
 and in March there were but 22 in the Second Class; so, 
 in all probability, not more than 100 old cadets reported 
 for duty October 1, 1864; but before the end of the 
 month not less than 150 new cadets had matriculated. 
 
 Academic work in camp was out of the question, but 
 in this the Confederate Government was not particu- 
 larly interested. Its purpose in urging the reorganiza- 
 tion of the Corps was a strictly military one. So long 
 as the art of war was taught, and military training im- 
 parted to a large number of Southern youth, its ex- 
 pectations were fulfilled. This it demanded with an 
 insistence which is the best evidence of its regard for the 
 work of the institution in the past, from which it had 
 profited so much. Besides, there were many military 
 duties the cadets could perform, and they were in 
 constant demand for such purposes. 
 
 The Corps had hardly begun to assemble when it was 
 called upon by General Ewell, commanding the De- 
 partment of Richmond, to furnish details on October 
 5th and 7th to receive about a thousand paroled Con- 
 
 *S. O. No. Ill, Reserve Forces of Va., Oct. 14, 1864; S. O. No. 117. Oct. 
 
 ' **S. O. No. 244, A. & I. G. O., Oct. 14, 1884. 
 fS. O. No. 251, A. & I. G. O.. Oct. 22, 1864.
 
 The Virginia JNIilitary Institute 389 
 
 federate prisoners at Cox's wharf in Rocketts, under a 
 flag of truce.* 
 
 On the 27th of October, the Army of the Potomac, 
 leaving only sufficient men in the trenches around 
 Petersburg to maintain them against Lee, moved by 
 the Confederate right. The Second Corps, followed by 
 two divisions of the Fifth Corps, with the cavalry in 
 advance and covering the Federal left flank, forced a 
 passage over Hatcher's Run, and moved up south of 
 it toward the South-Side Railroad, until the Second 
 Corps, and part of the cavalry, reached the Boydton 
 Plank Road where it crosses Hatcher's Run. At this 
 point, the Federals were but six miles distant from the 
 railroad which Grant had expected to reach and hold. 
 But A. P. Hill met Hancock's Corps, and, after a 
 desperate conflict, the Federals returned to their works 
 about Petersburg. 
 
 In support of this movement, General Butler was 
 directed to make a demonstration on the north side of 
 the James, and attacked the enemy on the Williamsburg 
 Road, and also along the York River Railroad. In the 
 latter quarter, the Federals succeeded in taking a 
 work which was soon abandoned.** This attack ex- 
 tended from the Darbytown Road to the Yorktown 
 Road, the main fighting being near Fair Oaks. Butler 
 states in his report that he kept the column of the 10th 
 Corps, under Terry, and the column of the 18th Corps, 
 under Weitzel (which assaulted Longstreet's lines on 
 the 27th), in position, inviting attack until noon of the 
 next day.t 
 
 It was during the fighting on the 27th, that the 
 Secretary of War directed the Commandant to report 
 with the Corps of Cadets to Lieutenant-General 
 J. C. Pemberton, commanding the artillery defenses. J 
 Pemberton who had organized the departmental em- 
 ployees into a reserve force, at once directed Colonel 
 
 ♦Original orders in possession of General Shipp. 
 
 ♦•Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XLVI. Part 1, p. 31, Report of Gen. U. S. 
 Grant. 
 
 tRebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XLII, Part 1, p. 23. 
 
 tS. O. No. 256, A. & I. G. O.. October 27, 1864. Original in Gen. Shipp's 
 possession.
 
 390 The Military History of 
 
 Shipp to march out to the junction of the WiUiams- 
 burg Road and the intermediate hue of works, and to 
 report to Lieutenant-Colonel Atkinson, commanding 
 the First District, Artillery Defenses. 
 
 Upon arriving at Poe's farm, it was learned by the 
 cadets that the enemy had been repulsed. Field's 
 Division of Longstreet's Corps having taken seven 
 stands of colors; but the Corps of Cadets was ordered 
 to go into permanent camp as an infantry support for 
 the nearby battery.* 
 
 Wliile in this camp the service of the cadets con- 
 sisted of daily drills and the usual picket and guard 
 duty of a command in the field. The season was a 
 severe one, and the discomforts experienced at Poe's 
 farm were exceptionally trying. The Corps was 
 sheltered in tents without walls or flies, and it became 
 necessary as the winter approached to bank the tents 
 with earth, and build fireplaces and chimneys with bricks 
 and mortar. As the cadets were not skilled chimney 
 builders, the occupancy of these tents was very disagree- 
 able in cold weather, when green wood had to be used 
 for fuel. 
 
 It should be noted here that the Corps of Cadets now 
 comprised a part of the Confederate forces of the De- 
 partment of Richmond, Lieutenant-General Ewell 
 commanding, and was under the direct control of the 
 Secretary of War. It had not been subject to the State 
 authority since its departure from Camp Lee where 
 it had been held in camp as a part of the Reserve Forces 
 of Virginia. 
 
 November 10th, the District Commander requested 
 the Commandant to furnish him with five cadet drill- 
 masters for King's company of Reserve Artillery. For 
 the next two weeks this command was drilled by the 
 cadets detailed for the purpose from 2:30 to 3:30 p. m., 
 daily. 
 
 During the summer of 1864, a tremendous effort was 
 made by the War Department to cause the States to 
 
 ♦Lee's Official Dispatch, Oct. 27, 1864.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 391 
 
 create reserve forces for garrison and other special 
 duties, in order that the regular hne regiments might 
 be freed from such demands, and enabled to join the 
 armies in the field. Accordingly, South Carolina 
 undertook the organization of a command known as the 
 Foreign Battahon, of which the men were recruited 
 from among the foreigners in the various cities of the 
 State. Some of these men were Federal prisoners who 
 were willing enough to serve in either army, so long as 
 their pay was forthcoming. Great difficulty had been 
 experienced in securing officers able and willing to 
 command these "Galvanized Yankees," as they were 
 called. At the outset they mutinied and attempted to 
 murder their officers. They were mingled in regard 
 to nationality and showed no desire to fight. The ex- 
 pedient of securing young officers from the Institute 
 for the Battalion was adopted by Lieutenant-Colonel 
 I. G. Tucker, commanding, and during the summer the 
 Commandant was requested to recommend a number 
 of recent graduates for the office of Captain of Compan- 
 ies F, G, and H, First Foreign Battalion. Early in 
 November, he was informed that five more companies 
 were to be formed and urged to forward his recom- 
 mendations which included among others Collier H. 
 Minge, B. A. Colonna, Cary Weston, and W. C. 
 Hardy, all of whom had been cadet officers in the New 
 Market Battalion, graduating June 27, 1864. 
 
 All of those recommended were duly elected No- 
 vember 17th, and their certificates of election for- 
 warded to the Commandant. 
 
 Under date of November 30th, the Commandant re- 
 ceived a communication from Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Tucker in which the following appeared : 
 
 "Your cadets who have reported have more than come 
 up to the expectations the Colonel had formed, and 
 give universal satisfaction. Bully for the old V. M. I."* 
 In December, the Secretary of War, in order to com- 
 plete the commissioned personnel of the First Foreign 
 
 ♦Original correspondence in possession of General Shlpp.
 
 392 The Military History of 
 
 Battalion, which had been organized in Cokimbia, as- 
 signed thereto J. G. Penn, a Confederate cadet, as 
 Second Lientenant Company G.* The Second For- 
 eign Battahon was recruited in Aiken. The First 
 BattaHon was commanded by Colonna from the time of 
 his arrival in South Carolina, and the experiences and 
 exploits of this remarkable man furnish material for a 
 separate volume. 
 
 The Superintendent had chafed with exceeding- 
 impatience, throughout the month of November, over 
 the detention of the Corps of Cadets in the field, and 
 had endeavored in vain to have some other command 
 substituted at Poe's farm for it. At last it seemed he 
 was to carry his point, when on November 28th, he 
 secured the order of the Secretary of War for the cadets 
 to be relieved and turned over to the State authorities 
 for the purpose of resuming academic work, December 
 1st.** 
 
 But it was not to be, for a movement of the enemy was 
 that day detected, and the operation of the order was 
 at once suspended, t This was most exasperating to the 
 Superintendent, but he was not discouraged, for he 
 recognized the military exigencies of the situation. 
 December 10th, however, the Corps of Cadets was 
 finally relieved from duty in the trenches and again 
 ordered to report to the Superintendent. J: 
 
 General Smith had meantime been verj^ active in ar- 
 ranging for the reopening of the Institute. 
 
 The City of Richmond had at this time a very fine 
 new Almshouse, erected just as the war broke out. 
 The people were so poor in 1864, that none could give 
 to its support, and the great building stood vacant, and 
 had never been used. Knowing this, the resourceful 
 Superintendent secured the spacious establishment for 
 the use of the Institute, as it was quite suitable to its 
 purposes. When the Corps was turned over to him 
 he was thoroughl}^ prepared to receive it. 
 
 •S. O. No. 288, A. & I. G. O.. Dec. 5, 1864. 
 **S. O. No. 282, A. & I. G. O., Nov. 28, 18(54. 
 tS. O. No. 283, A. & I. G. O., Nov. 28, 1864. 
 jS. O. No. 29.3, A. & I. G. O., Dec. ll>. 1864.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 393 
 
 That day, the Commandant received at Poe's farm 
 the following orders : 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "Richmond, December 10, 1864. 
 
 "Special Orders — No. 126. 
 
 "I. The Corps of Cadets, having been relieved by the Secre- 
 tary of War from their duty in the field and turned over to the 
 authorities of the State, will be moved into the Alms House, Rich- 
 mond, early Monday morning. 
 
 "II. Witli the view of enabling those cadets who have not 
 been supplied with their outfit of clothing, etc., to visit their homes 
 to procure the same, a furlough of 10 days will be allowed to all 
 who will give the Superintendent satisfactory evidence that such 
 an indulgence is desired by the parent or guardian, and can be 
 availed of for the purpose. 
 
 "III. It is believed that cadets on furlough, under existing 
 circumstances, will be entitled to transportation on the railroads 
 at the same rates as soldiers on furlough, viz., half price. 
 
 "By command of Major-Gen'l F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison, 
 
 "A. A., V. M. I." 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "Richmond, Va., December 10, 1864. 
 
 "General Orders — No. 23. 
 
 "I. The Board of Visitors having directed the temporary 
 organization of the Institute at the Alms House, City of Richmond, 
 immediate preparations will be made for the occupancy of the same. 
 
 "II. The Acting Asst. Quartermaster will appropriate the 
 western wing of the building for the accommodation of the Pro- 
 fessors and Officers of the Institute, allowing to each quarters 
 according to his rank, and in proportion to the room at his disposal. 
 He will designate rooms for the Quartermaster and Commissary 
 Stores, for the Adjutant's Office, and a separate room for the stores 
 in charge of the Steward, and will see that the keys of each room 
 be turned over to the officer in charge of the same, and for which, 
 he will be held accountable. 
 
 "The mess-room and kitchen, with the rooms and pantries con- 
 nected therewith, will be turned over, in like manner, to the 
 Steward. 
 
 "After consultation with the Surgeon, one or more rooms will be 
 selected in the western wing of the building for hospital purposes, 
 and turned over to that officer, and ten rooms in the same wing will
 
 394 The Military History of 
 
 be set apart for Recitation Rooms. Rooms will also be assigned to 
 the servants and will be required by them to be kept in good order. 
 
 "III. All the rooms in the central building, except those other- 
 wise specially appropriated, will be placed at the disposal of the 
 Commandant of Cadets, for the accommodation of the Corps of 
 Cadets, under such arrangements and regulations as he may pre- 
 scribe, and for this purpose all the keys and public property in 
 these rooms will be turned over to the Commandant of Cadets by 
 the Acting Asst. Quartermaster. 
 
 "IV. As soon as the cadets are moved into the Alms House, all 
 the regulations of police and discipline of the Virginia Military 
 Institute will be enforced. 
 
 "V. The building now temporarily to be used for the exercises 
 of the Institution has been secured by the liberal courtesy of the 
 City Council of Richmond, and every care will be taken, on the 
 part of the officers and cadets, that no mutilation, defacement, or 
 other injury, be committed in any part of the same. Full pecuniary 
 indemnity will not only be required for all such damage, but the 
 party, if a cadet, will be subjected to such punishment as may be 
 prescribed by the regulations. 
 
 "VI. Every precaution will be made to guard against fires, and 
 no wastage of fuel or gas or water will be permitted. 
 
 "By command of Major-Gen'l F. H. Smith, 
 
 "J. H. Morrison, 
 
 "Act. Adjt., V. M. I." 
 
 Most of the Virginia cadets took advantage of the 
 furlough authorized, and on December 30th academic 
 exercises were ordered to commence the following 
 Monday. 
 
 The prescribed instruction for the various classes was 
 as follows: 
 
 1st Class 
 
 Rhetoric, alternate days, 3 to 4 p. m. 
 
 Moral Philosophy, alternate days, 3 to 4 p. m. 
 
 Engineering, daily, 9 to 10 a. m. 
 
 Natural Philosophy, daily, 11 to 12 a. m. 
 
 Ordnance and Gunnery, daily, 1 to 2 p. m. 
 
 2d Class 
 
 Mathematics, three sections, 9 a. m. to 12, daily. 
 Latin, three sections, 12 to 3 p. m., daily. 
 Chemistry, whole class, 3 to 4 p. m., daily. 
 Infantry Tactics, daily.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 395 
 
 3d Class 
 
 Mathematics, five sections, 9 a. m. to 12, daily. 
 Latin, four sections, 12 to 4 p. m., daily. 
 French, four sections, 12 to 4 p. m., daily. 
 
 4th Class 
 
 Mathematics, eight sections, 9 a. m. to 12, daily. 
 French, eight sections, 12 to 4 p. m., daily. 
 Geography, four sections, alternate days, 2 to 4 p. M. 
 
 The military routine was as follows: 
 
 Reveille, 6 a. m. 
 
 Troop, 7:30 a. m. 
 
 Breakfast Roll Call, 8:30 a. m. 
 
 Dinner Roll Call, 4 :30 p. m. 
 
 Retreat, sunset. 
 
 Call to Quarters, 9 a. m., and one hour after Retreat. 
 
 Tattoo, 9 p. M. 
 
 Taps, 10 p. M. 
 
 Study hours from Reveille to Troop, from 9. a. m. to 
 
 4 p. M., and from Evening Call to Quarters to Tattoo. 
 Church Roll Call, 9:30 a. m. 
 
 There were but two meals served, and full duty was 
 prescribed for Saturdays. But four cadets from each 
 company were allowed passes each day. The cadet 
 limits were fixed as the grounds surrounding the Bar- 
 racks and the side walk surrounding the Cemetery, in 
 front thereof. 
 
 Upon the resumption of academic work the faculty 
 consisted of General Smith, and Colonels Preston, 
 Williamson, Gilham, Massie, and Shipp, and Captains 
 Semmes, Wise, Robinson, Preston, Hill, and Morrison, 
 Officers of the Institute, and Colonel J. D. H. Ross, 
 and Lieutenant C. Y. Steptoe, both of whom were 
 suffering from wounds. They were attached by order 
 of the Secretary of War. 
 
 With a knowledge of the foregoing provisions, one 
 could have little doubt that serious work was con- 
 templated by the Superintendent. Verily, was the 28th 
 of December, 1864, a day of triumph for him. For
 
 396 The Military History of 
 
 twenty-two years, he had labored incessantly building 
 up Virginia's great School of Arms, only to see war 
 threaten, in 1861, to disperse forever his scholars. Again 
 in 1862, he had reorganized the institution and built 
 it up upon a foundation of incalculable usefulness to 
 the South. Ainid all the surrounding dangers he had 
 held steadfastly to his purpose, and as occasion had re- 
 quired, the cadet had cast aside the text-book to sally 
 forth to the defense of his lecture halls, each time re- 
 turning to pick up the work of education where it had 
 been dropped. And, then, pressing on with the avowed 
 purpose of destroying the School, the enemy could no 
 longer be denied; Virginia's great institution had then 
 been desolated by the invader. But only the School in 
 its physical form could be prostrated. The spirit which 
 had created and maintained it still burned as brightly 
 as before, and now, with facilities beyond all expecta- 
 tions, a full faculty reassembled, and nearly 300 youths 
 from every section of the nation, testifying by their 
 presence to the high esteem of the Southern people, 
 and the respect with which the Confederate Government 
 held this indispensable adjunct of its military establish- 
 ment, the West Point of the Confederacy was again to 
 open its academic halls. This result, though meeting 
 with the wishes of all, was accomplished by the in- 
 domitable will of a single individual — Francis Henney 
 Smith. 
 
 What could be more fitting than that we should here 
 let that faithful servant of his country speak as he 
 spoke to the assembled officers and cadets, and the many 
 distinguished soldiers, officials, and citizens, who gath- 
 ered together at the Almshouse, December 28th, 1864, 
 to celebrate the resumption of the academic duties of the 
 Institute.* 
 
 *The following is the introductory lecture read before the Corps of Cadets 
 on this memorable occasion by the Superintendent. It was published in 
 pamphlet form in 1865 by order of the Board of Visitors, and the only copy 
 of that paper ever seen by the writer, or known bv him to exist, was presented 
 to him in 1013 by Mrs. Crawford, of Williamsburg (nee Elizabeth Ewell Scott). 
 a kinswoman of General Ewell. commanding the Department of Richmond 
 in December. 1864, to whom in the handwriting of General Smith it was in- 
 scribed. It is here inserted in full, not only to preserve the text, but because 
 it is one of the most remarkable papers ever written concerning the Institute.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 397 
 
 "Many days of memorable interest are traced in un- 
 dying characters through the brief annals of the Vir- 
 ginia Military Institute. 
 
 "That cold and blustering eve, on the 11th of No- 
 vember, 1839, when a squad of young Virginians un- 
 furled the banner of their State from the Arsenal 
 building at Lexington, as the standard of the 'V. M. I. 
 Cadet,' will never be forgotten by any who participated 
 in that interesting ceremony. 
 
 "The 4th of Julv, 1842, was the birthday of the First 
 Graduating Class, — the pioneers in the great work to 
 which the institution had been dedicated b}^ its founders. 
 
 "When on the 4th of July, 1850, General Philip St. 
 George Cocke, as President of the Board of Visitors, 
 laid with impressive ceremonials the corner-stone of 
 that magnificent building, erected by the liberality of 
 the State of Virginia, all felt that that day permanently 
 fixed the State policy in support of the Virginia Mili- 
 tary Institute. Ten hard probationary years had rolled 
 away — the test of experiment in its severest ordeal had 
 been applied,— and, with the plaudit 'well done!', the 
 Commonwealth of Virginia adopted as her own the 
 bantling of 1839. 
 
 "Who can ever forget that turbulent crowd — eager 
 for the fray — which sought, under the plea of a fancied 
 insult, to give vent to the revolutionary fires that burned 
 within. The State of Virginia had actually seceded, 
 but her independence was not publicly known — and that 
 Saturday afternoon, in April, 1861, was nigh witnessing 
 a sanguinary drama, the prelude to the struggle which 
 soon followed.* 
 
 "Ah, what memories cluster around the loth of May, 
 1864 ! The battlefield had been familiar to most of those 
 trained in this nursery of patriot soldiers. But that 
 day was signalized by the conspicuous gallantry of the 
 Corps of Cadets as a battalion — and the dead — and the 
 wounded — and the living — bear testimony to the glory 
 
 *Gen. Smith hei'e refers to the flag raising in Lexington. See previous 
 chapter.
 
 398 The Militasy History 
 
 \ji' 
 
 which encircles the brow of all who participated in that 
 brilliant victory of New Market. 
 
 "Just one month later, and the clouds of heaven re- 
 flected the conflagration which made the cherished home 
 of the cadet a mass of ruins! 
 
 "Memorable days ! all of these ! And now, once more, 
 to-day, in this building, appropriated as an asylum for 
 the destitute and the homeless, we are to add another 
 to the many eventful days in our memorable history. 
 
 "Truly, every cadet is to realize now the character 
 and the destiny of the soldier-scholar. He finds him- 
 self in a beleaguered city. The roar of the cannon 
 awakes him in the morning — and lulls him to sleep at 
 night. He has to study with his armor on, and his 
 musket by his side, ready for the lecture room or the 
 battlefield, as duty may call. Cadets! Soldier- 
 scholars ! you are to make this day memorable, as illus- 
 trating by your valor on the one hand, and by your 
 assiduity on the other, the spirit of the institution which 
 aims to train you, amid these surroundings, for the crisis 
 of your country's history. 
 
 "It is sm-ely not necessary for me, at this time, to 
 refer to the many and serious difficulties which em- 
 barrass an institution like this, in its efforts to continue 
 its operations under the circumstances which surround 
 it. There is scarcely a comfort that may be required for 
 you, as a soldier or a scholar, that has not been procured 
 and preserved, at great labor and with much un- 
 certainty. Even the house which now shelters you was 
 the only available one at command, and this has been 
 secured, with all its inconveniences and want of adapted- 
 ness, under discouragements and serious hindrances. 
 There must then have been good and substantial reasons 
 with the governing authorities of the institution to order 
 its continuance, at such a time and under such circmn- 
 stances. It is proper that these reasons should be 
 distinctly set before you to-day. 
 
 "And the first and paramount motive was — a sense 
 of the essential importance of this mihtary school to the 
 military defense of our suffering and bleeding country.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 399 
 
 When the Confederate Army was first organized, on 
 the opening of the war, most persons felt the importance 
 of mihtary education. The graduates of the U. S. 
 Mihtaiy Academy at West Point, of the Virginia Mih- 
 tary Institute, and of the various mihtary schools of 
 the South were promptly and eagerly sought for, to 
 take commanding positions in this army. 
 
 "Some eight hundred of those who have been 
 educated at this institution were placed in com- 
 mission — and many of them occupied stations of high 
 rank and responsibility. It is estimated that one-tenth 
 of the Confederate Army, in 1862, was mider the com- 
 mand of officers who had been trained in arms here. 
 Even the cadets were brought into requisition at once 
 as drill-masters, and here, at Camp Lee — in a continued 
 and laborious service of nearly three months — drilled 
 1.5,000 (20,000) of the gallant army that achieved the 
 First Battle of Manassas. 
 
 "And the country reaped the benefits of this provi- 
 dential supply of well-qualified officers. The signal 
 success which crowned our arms, especially in Virginia, 
 was earned by the valor of our troops, under the train- 
 ing and discipline of such commanders. 
 
 "But other views, in the progress of the war, gained 
 ground. It has been thought that the battlefield is the 
 place to tutor officers — and that, now that our whole 
 country has been made one military camp, the lessons 
 which shall qualify the soldier for command, are only 
 properly to be acquired there. Legislation has followed 
 the popular idea; appointments to command are made 
 by popular election; popularity, or supposed fitness, 
 secures advancement in many cases, to the rejection of 
 the educated military talent of the country. 
 
 "It is not to be denied that military genius is not to 
 be tied down to any routine, and that the camp and the 
 battlefield are emphatically the positions to test and de- 
 velop the military qualities of an officer. Many of our 
 most distinguished leaders have received only this 
 practical training. But, after making the fullest al-
 
 400 The Military History of 
 
 lowances for these exceptional cases, and giving the 
 fullest credit to the importance of that experience which 
 public service alone can give, I am prepared to say 
 that our country is now reaping the consequences of 
 grave error on this point, and that the disasters which 
 have attended our arms have been mainly due to 
 the lack of that discipline and drill which it is the special 
 province of military schools to impart. Men may be 
 never so brave; they may be led by officers who know 
 no fear ; but unless' they are moved in the order, and 
 with the conmiand which educated discipline gives, the 
 army suffers under defeat, and hard-earned victories 
 are thrown away, and turned into disasters. 
 
 "Need I cite instances to illustrate this truth? From 
 Shiloh to the unfortunate disaster at Cedar Creek, the 
 whole war presents the painful fact, that where valor 
 has achieved the greatest successes, the w^ant of disci- 
 pline and drill has entailed upon us many serious re- 
 verses. 
 
 "The Father of his Country, when President of the 
 United States, had learned, from his experience in the 
 field, the importance of military instruction. In his 
 annual message, December 3d, 1793, he suggested the 
 inquiry, whether the act of Congress of May 8th, 1793, 
 'more effectually to provide for the national defense', 
 etc., accompHshed the desired objects; and whether a 
 material feature in the improvement of the scheme 
 'ought not to be, to afford an opportunity for the study 
 of those branches of the art, which can scarcely ever 
 be attained by practice alone.' And in his message of 
 December 7, 1796, he again introduced the subject of 
 military instruction, in the following explicit terms: 
 
 " 'The institution of a military academy is also recom- 
 mended by cogent reasons. . . . Whatever argu- 
 ment may be drawn from particular examples superfi- 
 cially viewed, a thorough examination of the subject 
 will evince that the art of war is both comprehensive 
 and complicated; that it demands much previous study; 
 and that the possession of it in its most improved and
 
 A WAR-TIME CADET OFFICER 
 (B. A. CoLONNA, Commanding Co. D. 1864)
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 401 
 
 perfect state, is always of great moment to the security 
 of the nation.' 
 
 "These views led to the establishment of the Military 
 Academy at West Point, and the practical benefits 
 which have resulted from that important arm of national 
 defense have been so conspicuously seen by the Federal 
 Government since this war commenced that, instead of 
 suspending its operations, or restricting its sphere of 
 usefulness, in consequence of the number of trained 
 officers whom practice in the field had brought out, 
 increased vigor has been given to its administration, and 
 it is reported that the number of cadets has been in- 
 creased to double its usual complement. 
 
 "Nor has the U. S. Army failed to reap the ad- 
 vantages anticipated by the Father of his Countrj^ 
 With a mercenary body of men, animated by no such 
 principle as that which fires the breast of every Southern 
 patriot, its discipline and drill have preserved it from 
 disaster, when defeated, and given it a power that mere 
 force of nimibers could not impart. 
 
 "Shall we turn to the pages in the history of the 
 French Revolution of 1789 for additional illustrations 
 confirmatory of the view I am now presenting? Thiers 
 thus writes: 
 
 " 'The permanent requisition decreed by the French 
 Assembly, in August, 1793, had filled the army with 
 soldiers, but officers were wanting. The Committee 
 acted in this respect with its accustomed promptitude.' 
 'The Revolution,' said Barrere, 'must accelerate all 
 things for the supply of its wants. The revolution is to 
 the hmnan mind, what the sun of Africa is to vegetation.' 
 The school of Mars was reestablished. Young men, 
 selected from all the provinces, repaired, on foot, and 
 in military order, to Paris. Encamped in tents on the 
 plain of Sablons, they repaired thither to acquire rapid 
 instruction in all the departments of the art of war, and 
 then to be distributed among the armies. 
 
 "So, that instead of relaxing military instruction, 
 when a general conscription called every able-bodied 
 
 2»
 
 402 The Militaey History or 
 
 soldier into the field to resist the armies of the allies, such 
 necessities made more urgent the reestablishment of a 
 school which had been closed amid the disorders incident 
 to the opening of the revolution. And France reaped 
 the benefits of such a provision. The subaltern officers 
 of the army, — those upon whom must depend the disci- 
 pline and drill of the companies, that regiments, bri- 
 gades and divisions may be moved with celerity, order 
 and effect — were supplied from these military schools; 
 and the successes of 1794, and the following years, were 
 the fruits of the policy so happily enforced. 
 
 "To these illustrations, dra^n from history, I will 
 only add the testimony of the great and invincible com- 
 mander of the Army of Northern Virginia. The re- 
 opening of the Virginia Military Institute, 1st January, 
 1862, after its temporary suspension in the summer and 
 fall of 1861, was urged in emphatic terms b}^ General 
 Kobert E. Lee, as one of the chief instrumentalities to 
 keep up the supply of well-qualified officers; and on 
 the 4th of July, 1864, he thus expresses himself: 
 
 *' 'I have grieved over the destruction of the Military 
 Institute, but the good it has done to the country can 
 not be destroyed, nor can its name or fame perish. It 
 will rise stronger than before, and continue to diffuse 
 its benefits to a grateful people. Under your wise ad- 
 ministration, there will be no suspension of its useful- 
 ness. The difficulties by which it is surrounded will 
 call forth greater energies from its officers, and in- 
 creased diligence from its pupils. Its prosperity I 
 consider certain.' 
 
 "We are thus engaged in a great public work which 
 looks to the success of our arms, in this life-struggle for 
 our independence, when we aim not only to maintain 
 life in this Mihtary School of Virginia, but to impart 
 to it all the vigor and efficiency which the circmnstances 
 of the times and of the country may allow, that educated 
 officers may be provided for our armies. We know no 
 more effectual wa}^ of repairing the exhaustions of the 
 battlefield. Already, more than one hundred (nearer
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 403 
 
 two hundred and fifty) of the most gifted Alumni of 
 this school have fallen in battle, and some three hun- 
 dred more have been wounded or disabled, making 
 about one-half of those who had been in commission. 
 Every battle swells this number; and, unless the views 
 I have been presenting are delusions, it will be im- 
 possible to maintain and preserve that discipline and 
 drill which I have insisted upon as essential to our suc- 
 cess, without the annual additions to the educated mili- 
 tary talent of the country, which this and other military 
 schools of the South supply. Improper or ill-advised 
 legislation may, for a time, keep the educated cadet out 
 of the position of greatest usefulness to the country; 
 but all here trained, if true to themselves and to the insti- 
 tution which nurtures them, will ultimately rise to the 
 positions for which they are qualified. 
 
 "To this great and paramount reason for continuing 
 the operations of this institution, is added another — the 
 felt necessity for some adequate provision for the gen- 
 eral education of the youth of our country. 
 
 "Schools of every grade have, to a greater or less 
 extent, been suspended by the necessities of the mili- 
 tary service. Young men above the age of seventeen 
 are brought into the army by the force of the conscrip- 
 tion; so that all colleges are, for the most part, sus- 
 pended, and find employment only in the disabled 
 soldier, or the grammar school. But this institution, 
 by virtue of its peculiar relations to the State, as a part 
 of its military organization, and still more, in conse- 
 quence of the material advantages resulting to the Con- 
 federate Government, by the continued operations of 
 so important an establishment, has hitherto been en- 
 abled to protect its pupils from conscription; and it is 
 believed when the reasons for so doing are fully under- 
 stood — ^and results commensurate with public expecta- 
 tion are fully received — their exemption will still 
 continue as an essential element in the public defense. 
 This circumstance, then, gives an opportunity for a 
 vigorous prosecution of the academic studies of the
 
 404 The Militaey History of 
 
 institution, and imposes upon the governing authorities 
 the weighty responsibihty of giving effect to the urgent 
 demands of a high pubhc duty. 
 
 "For these two great purposes then: 
 
 "1. To educate officers for service in our Armies. 
 
 "2. To impart general education to the youth of our 
 country we are assembled under the pecuHar circum- 
 stances which surround us to-day. We have now our 
 work distinctly before us. It is a serious work. There 
 is no child's play in it. It is a work which will tax 
 every energy of your Professors and Officers, and it is 
 a work which will demand, on your part, every effort 
 that assiduity, self-denial, and resolution can call into 
 requisition. I desire every cadet in this institution to 
 comprehend and appreciate fully and distinctly the ob- 
 jects before him, the objects, I mean, which the letter 
 of his appointment, and the order calling him here, con- 
 template. Some may have private objects in view. 
 Some may consider this a good place to frolic, or to 
 spend money, or to have fun. Are there any so craven 
 as to come here to keep out of the army? To enter a 
 kind of place establishment? The memories of New 
 Market and the Williamsburg Road forbid this. But, 
 whatever be the private motive which draws any cadet 
 to this Military School, unless these are subordinated to 
 the two great and paramount motives which I have 
 specified, he has no business here, and as soon as this 
 fact is demonstrated, he will have the opportunity to 
 withdraw. That cadet who, having passed the age of 
 seventeen, spends his time in idleness, or folly, or 
 mischief, is — as was well remarked by one of my as- 
 sociates on a former occasion — a skulker from military 
 service, and this is no place for him. 
 
 "With such views of our motives, and of what should 
 be yours, you will be prepared to know that all of our 
 regulations of study and discipline are made to cor- 
 respond with these general ideas. We can not lose 
 Saturdays. Time is now too precious for that. One
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 405 
 
 day saved to study in each week, after so long a suspen- 
 sion, will gain a month in a session. No general suspen- 
 sion from duties or absences from the institution can 
 be allowed. Reasons which respect the morals of the 
 young might be given, but the paramount duty of being 
 at all times ready, and at our posts, for any call of the 
 country, makes it necessary that absences should be 
 restricted to a daily detail of a hmited number. 
 
 "And, now, in conclusion, if our work be earnest — be- 
 cause we live in a time of anxiety and responsibility — 
 how important is it, that we keep ourselves always 
 ready; not merely as soldiers, but as men, as rational 
 and immortal men — men who have to give an account 
 of themselves to God; who live, not for time only, but 
 for eternity. Let it be the purpose and effort of every 
 one connected with this institution, to live as soldiers of 
 a Divine Leader, that we may be the better qualified 
 for the duties which claim our service here, and pre- 
 pared for the inheritance reserved for those who love 
 God and keep His commandments — for this is the whole 
 duty of man."
 
 40G The Military History of 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 1865 IN THE TRENCHES AGAIN "SAUA^E QUI PEUT" 
 
 The Superintendent had warned the cadets that 
 httle time would be wasted on those who showed no de- 
 sire to profit from the opportunities afforded them by 
 the reopening of the Institute. He was true to his word, 
 and ahnost daily some of the triflers were "shipped." 
 
 January 19th, the faculty received a valuable acces- 
 sion in the person of Lieutenant-Colonel John W. 
 Lyell, Class of 1859, detailed by the War Department, 
 while recovering from the loss of an arm in battle. He 
 was assigned to the Department of French and Mathe- 
 matics. 
 
 "On the 1st of January the cadets reported promptly 
 for duty; and academic duties, so-called, were begun. 
 It can be imagined that studies were pursued under 
 great difficulties in the Confederate Capital, at a time 
 of such stress, confusion and excitement. But we did 
 the best we could, and were ready at all times to obey 
 orders. 
 
 "The Ahnshouse was to many of us a doleful place. 
 Shockoe Hill Cemetery was just across the street in 
 front of us. The Jewish Cemetery to our left, separated 
 from us by an area used for a parade ground, the 
 Colored Cemetery to the rear, and in the rear, just 
 outside the enclosure, the "Gallows," with many grue- 
 some associations. 
 
 "The guard duty here was reduced to a minimum, as 
 the building was surrounded by a high wall with locked 
 gates. 
 
 "We had enough to eat, our fare consisting of wheat 
 or corn bread, corn beef and molasses, served in tin 
 plates before we took our seats. Our knives and forks
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 407 
 
 were primitive, and these we carried with us as we 
 marched to and from our meals. 
 
 "Our life was not altogether monotonous. The 
 'Second Street Toughs' were constantly gibing the 
 cadets whenever they appeared, and so insufferable had 
 this become, at one time, that a collision between these 
 rowdies and the cadets was constantly feared. On one 
 occasion, the cadets broke out of Barracks to have it 
 out with these offenders ; but our vigilant Commandant 
 soon had us securely corralled in our quarters."* 
 
 January 11th, 1865, in tendering the Commandant's 
 Report of the field service of the Corps of Cadets, dur- 
 ing the New Market and Lynchburg campaigns, the 
 Superintendent appended thereto the following re- 
 marks : 
 
 "I submit also a list of the casualties among the Pro- 
 fessors and Assistant Professors of the Institution 
 since April 20, 1861, which presents in a conspicuous 
 light the part borne by them in our great struggle." 
 
 Killed 
 
 1. Lieut. -Gen. T. J. Jackson, Professor of Natural and Ex- 
 perimental Philosophy, battle of Chancellorsville. 
 
 2. Maj.-Gen. R. E. Rodes, Professor of Applied Mechanics, 
 battle of Winchester. 
 
 3. Capt. W. H. Morgan. Assistant Professor of Languages, 
 battle of Cedar Mountain. 
 
 4. Lieut. Llewellyn Crittenden, Assistant Professor of Lan- 
 guages, battle of Richmond. 
 
 (Also Private R. A. Crawford, Assistant Professor, died of 
 disease in Army.) 
 
 Wounded 
 
 1. Brig.-Gen. John McCausland, Assistant Professor of 
 Mathematics, battle of Monocacy. 
 
 2. Col. Stapleton Crutchfield, Adjunct Professor of ISfathe- 
 matics, battle of Chancellorsville.** 
 
 3. Lieut.-Col. J. D. H. Ross, Assistant Professor of Mathe- 
 matics, battle of Cross Keys. 
 
 *Taken from an article which appeared in the V. M. I. "Cadet." by Col. 
 Francis H. Smith. Jr., .Tan. 3, 1914. 
 
 **Later Isilled at Sailor's Creek, April, 1865.
 
 408 The Military History of 
 
 4. Lieut. -Col. Scott Shipp, Commandant of Cadets, battle of 
 New Market. 
 
 5. Maj. M. B. Hardin, Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, 
 battle of Fort Harrison. 
 
 6. Maj. W. E. Cutshaw, Assistant Commandant of Cadets, 
 battle of Winchester. 
 
 7. Capt. O. C. Henderson, Assistant Professor of French, 
 battle of Cedar Mountain. 
 
 8. Capt. A. G. Hill, Assistant Professor of French, battle of 
 New Market. 
 
 9. Lieut. C. Y. Steptoe, Assistant Professor of French, battle 
 of Fredericksburg. 
 
 10. Lieut.-Col. J. W. Massie, Adjunct Professor of Mathe- 
 matics, permanently disabled by exposure at Fort Donelson. 
 
 11. Capt. Frank Preston, Assistant Professor of Latin, lost an 
 arm at the battle of Winchester. 
 
 12. Lieut.-Col. J. W. Lyell, Assistant Professor of Mathe- 
 matics, wounded five times in battle and retired from military 
 service in consequence of the loss of an arm."* 
 
 From the foregoing statement, it is seen that the 
 officers of the Institute did not occupy positions on the 
 professorial staff which removed them from the dangers 
 of battle. What a noble record is that of the War 
 Faculty ! 
 
 Too much credit can not be accorded these valiant 
 men who stood ready, at all times, to join the colors, 
 and actually did join the army whenever circumstances 
 released them from their more important labors at the 
 Institute. Who shall know how much of disappoint- 
 ment it cost them to surrender their desires to win 
 glory in the field, when ordered back to the Institute, 
 from time to time? One only need read, as the author 
 has done, the insistent applications of the young Com- 
 mandant, Scott Shipp, placed in command of cadets 
 some of whom were older than himself, to perceive how 
 ardently he longed for opportunities to distinguish him- 
 self in the field. Every time, however, he was over- 
 borne by the appeals of older men like the Adjutant- 
 General, who urged upon him, again and again, the 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. XXXVII, Part 1, pp. 88-89. Col. Lyell 
 assigned to duty by S. O. No. 300, A. & I. G. O. Appointed full professor of 
 Mathematics in 1872 and served till .luly, 1889, when he resigned.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 409 
 
 view that he could render the Confederacy no higher 
 service than in the office he filled with such peculiar 
 ability and distinction. Twice was Scott Shipp elected- 
 to high office in the line, each time to be persuaded, 
 contrary to his o^vn desires, to surrender his commission 
 and return to the Institute ; twice again was he tendered 
 high office, only to be dissuaded from accepting by the 
 appeals of his friends, in the interest of the Institute. 
 Once, after the Covington raid, in the face of all op- 
 position, he actually tendered his resignation, but, due 
 to Generals Smith and Richardson, it was not accepted 
 by the Board of Visitors. He could not be spared. 
 And so he remained at his post, in a sense, a victim of 
 his own efficiency. 
 
 One thing is certain. The Confederate States of 
 America was called upon to make no sacrifice of 
 valuable officers to conduct its Military School, for not 
 one of them but served on nimierous occasions in the 
 field, and was at all times rendering peculiarly valuable 
 service to the country. Small wonder that the faculty 
 of the Institute always possessed the highest respect of 
 the cadets; for, unconsciously, from its battle-scarred 
 or warworn members, youth, however vaporous, how- 
 ever contumacious, drew an inspiration. It is not what 
 men teach from books; it is not their pedagogy, or 
 mere discourse, however learned it may be; but the 
 rectitude of their lives, their genuineness, their beings 
 shorn of all sham, in short, their character, that wins 
 and retains the admiration and affection of youth. Post- 
 graduate degrees and fanciful academic embellishments 
 are as worthless in a faculty set over young men, as the 
 preacher's creed, when earnestness, knowledge of hu- 
 man nature, and character are lacking. The learned 
 may be beguiled or misled by such things, but youth, 
 never. Faculties can not be bought, for character is 
 never found on the market. And, so, it is to-day that 
 the cadets of long ago remember, not what "Old Spex," 
 "Old Tom," "Old Bald," "Old Gill," "Old Jack," or 
 "Old Billy" taught them out of text-books in those
 
 410 The Military History of 
 
 troublous times, but the most trivial incidents in their 
 daily relations with those splendid men. 
 . The Corps of Cadets, like the faculty, was, at all 
 times, prepared to respond to any call that might be 
 made upon it. 
 
 January 29th, Colonel Andrew W. Evans, First 
 Maryland Cavalry, commanding the 3d Brigade, 
 Cavalry Division, Army of the James, set out from 
 Butler's headquarters with 35 officers and 806 men at 
 daybreak, and, in a few hours, reached Long Bridge 
 on the Chickahominy. Upon receiving intelligence of 
 the approach of this raiding column, the Corps of 
 Cadets was ordered by General Ewell to be held in 
 readiness to take the field. But Evans found the 
 stream unfordable; and, after dispatching Major 
 Hamilton with a battalion of the First N. Y. Mounted 
 Rifles to Bottom's Bridge, the whole command with- 
 drew by the Haxall's Landing and Shirley roads. When 
 it was discovered late that night that the raiders had 
 retired, the following communication was dispatched to 
 the Commandant: 
 
 "Hd. Qr. Dept., Richmond, 
 
 "Jan. 31, 1865. 
 
 "Sir — The enemy's raiding party having retired, tliere is no 
 longer occasion to keep the Corps of Cadets in readiness for active 
 service. 
 
 "The absence of troops from the lines in the immediate vicinity 
 of Richmond makes it necessary, in case of a sudden emergency, 
 that troops should be moved promptly to the point exposed to 
 attack. If you will inform me how long it would take to get the 
 cadets under arms, and in readiness to take the field, I could time 
 any call so as not to apply until the last emergency, and thus avoid 
 useless interruptions. 
 
 "I enclose the telegram just received. I have approved a 
 requisition for ammunition, which I recommend should be stored in 
 a safe place for future use. 
 
 "Very resp'y, 
 
 "R. S. Ewell, 
 
 "Lt.-General. 
 "Com'd'g Officer, 
 
 "Corps of Cadets."* 
 
 •Original in handwriting of General Ewell in General Shipp's possession.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 411 
 
 February 27th, Sheridan's command started from 
 Winchester, and, marching via Staunton, routed the 
 remnant of Early's force at Waynesboro, on March 
 2d. From this point, Sheridan proceeded to Charlottes- 
 ville; from Charlottesville the command proceeded in 
 two columns, Sheridan himself with Custer's division 
 tiu'ning south toward Lynchburg, while Merritt in com- 
 mand of Devin's division was ordered to Scottsville, on 
 the James River, with instructions to march along tlie 
 canal and destroy every lock as far as New Market. 
 
 After destroying the LjTichburg Railroad as far as 
 Amherst Courthouse, Sheridan and Custer moved 
 across the country and joined Merritt at New Market. 
 In the meantime, Merritt had dispatched the First 
 Michigan Cavalry, Colonel Maxwell conmianding, 
 down the Rivanna River to Palmyra, and thence toward 
 Colimibia. 
 
 Learning that Fitz Lee's cavalry and a portion of 
 Pickett's division were threatening him from Lynch- 
 burg, Sheridan now determined to join Grant before 
 Petersburg, and reached Columbia with his whole com- 
 mand on the 10th; while General Fitzhugh with his 
 brigade moved on ahead, destroying the locks, ware- 
 houses, etc., along the canal up to a point eight miles 
 east of Goochland Courthouse. Sheridan now de- 
 termined to strike the Virginia Central Railroad with 
 Custer's division, at Frederick's Hall, and witli 
 Merritt's at Louisa Courthouse, injuring this road 
 (which was still intact from Gordonsville to Richmond) 
 as much as possible, while passing northward across the 
 Pamunkey. 
 
 Fitzhugh's march on the 11th to Goochland Court- 
 house was opposed by about 50 men of the Seventh 
 South Carolina Cavalry, which were of course able to 
 make no real resistence, although they engaged the 
 Federals in a skirmish at the Courthouse. The locks 
 between Columbia and Goochland Courthouse were 
 partly demolished, 15 canal boats loaded with commis- 
 sary stores destroyed; and the prison at the Courthouse
 
 412 The Military History of 
 
 burned. Leaving Goochland at 6 p. m.^ the brigade re- 
 turned to Cohimbia that night; but a strong scouting 
 party which proceeded to within 16 miles of Richmond 
 had been heralded as the advance of Sheridan's entire 
 command.* 
 
 The authorities in Richmond, who had not forgotten 
 how nearly Dahlgren's raiders had succeeded in reach- 
 ing the city in February, 1864, at once ordered out the 
 Reserves and the Corps of Cadets. These troops were 
 marched rapidl}^ out the Westham Road, on the 
 morning of the 11th, and deployed in a line reaching 
 from the locks on the canal near the old Westham 
 Arsenal across the hills on the north bank of the river, 
 as far as the Westham Road. The cadets occupied the 
 extreme left on the canal, the post of greatest danger, 
 as the enemy was reported moving down the towpath. 
 Their position was oddly enough on the farm of the 
 Adjutant- General (William H. Richardson), next to 
 the present property of Mr. Cole Scott, of Richmond. 
 General Richardson no doubt had something to do with 
 having them stationed there, as he knew the Corps of 
 Cadets was far more likely to repel the raiders than the 
 lame and halt departmental clerks, and the others com- 
 prising the Reserves. 
 
 Upon arriving in position, the cadets threw up hasty 
 intrenchments of logs and fence rails, and anxiously 
 awaited the enemy ; but, upon learning that troops were 
 in position guarding the approaches, the scouting party 
 turned back and rejoined Fitzhugh's brigade. 
 
 The next day the Corps of Cadets returned to the 
 Ahiishouse, without having fired a shot. Thus ended 
 their eleventh appearance in the field. 
 
 The Confederacy was now in a desperate plight. We 
 can not here undertake to discuss the condition of Lee's 
 Army, or the misfortunes which had befallen the Con- 
 federate forces in other quarters. But as Lee's need of 
 men — not officers but privates — grew greater and 
 greater, the more difficult it became to secure them. 
 
 *See Sheridan's and Fitzhugh's Reports, Rebellion Records, Series I, Vol. 
 XLVI, Part 1, pp. 474-499.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 413 
 
 As Sherman cut the far South in twain, and penetrated 
 to the very vitals of the nation, "a subtle enemy, till 
 then well-nigh unknown, assailed the Army of Northern 
 Virginia, which still haughtily held its front; and men, 
 with bated breath and cheeks flushing through their 
 bronze, whispered the dread word, 'Desertion.' 
 
 "The historian, far removed from the passions of the 
 time, may coldly measure out his censure; but we, 
 bound to these men by countless proud traditions, can 
 only cry with the old Hebrew prophet, 'Alas, my 
 brother!' and remember that these were valiant souls, 
 too sorely tried. 
 
 "From the cotton lands of Georgia and the rice fields 
 of Carolina, came, borne on every blast, the despair- 
 ing cry which wives and little ones raised to wintry 
 skies lit by the baleful glare of burning homes ; and the 
 men of the South bethought them of the homesteads 
 which lay straight in the path of the ruthless 
 Conqueror."* 
 
 In the winter of 1864-65, there was powder in plenty 
 and the army was better armed than ever before. In 
 fact, there was a surplus of muskets, for men were lack- 
 ing to bear those on hand. 
 
 It was at this juncture that Colonel John Thomas 
 Lewis Preston, while acting Superintendent of the 
 Virginia JNIilitary Institute, in the temporary absence 
 of General Smith, offered a suggestion to the Govern- 
 ment, which, had it been made and acted upon before, 
 might have saved the Confederacy. 
 
 Let us read this letter: 
 
 "Headquarters, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 "February 17, 1865. 
 "Hon. J. C. Breckinridge, 
 "Secretary of War. 
 
 "Dear Sir — The present state of the country justifies any one 
 in presenting for consideration of the Government well-meant 
 suggestions, even if they should appear crude to those who are 
 better informed. 
 
 ♦Address of Captain W. Gordon McCabe, Sixth Annual Reunion, A. N. V., 
 Nov. 2, 1876.
 
 414 The Military History or 
 
 "The tone of public sentiment, and the tenor of present legis- 
 lation, indicate that the call of General Lee for negro troops will 
 be responded to. 
 
 "I suggest that the maximum number allowed to be raised should 
 be half a million. 
 
 "I do not suppose that so many are required, or could be ob- 
 tained. But to place the maximum at this figure would, I believe, 
 inspire dread in the minds of our enemy, who exaggerates, through 
 ignorance, our power in this particular ; and further, to call for 
 half a million would, by the effect upon the minds of owners and 
 slaves, facilitate and insure the raising of 200.000. 
 
 "The second suggestion I would make is, that in the event of 
 the troops being raised, you might command the services of the 
 Corps of Cadets with their officers to perform the work of organi- 
 zation and drilling in the shortest time, and with the greatest 
 efficiency. 
 
 "In 1861, between the 20th of April and 20th of June, the 
 cadets drilled 15,000* men of the Army of Northern Virginia, and 
 if a large camp of instruction were established at Camp Lee, the 
 same work could be done for all negro troops that would be sent 
 there. 
 
 "Allow me to say that these suggestions are the result of con- 
 versation among some of the officers of our School, and the last 
 one is contained in a letter to me from General Smith, our Super- 
 intendent who is now absent at Lexington. 
 
 "Very respectfully. General, your obedient servant, 
 
 "J. T. L. Preston, 
 "Acting Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute. "^"^ 
 
 Had the war continued for any length of time, there 
 is no doubt that this plan would have been adopted, but 
 when presented, neither the officers of the Institute 
 from whom the suggestion emanated, nor any one else, 
 except those in charge of the government, and General 
 Lee, perceived how near at hand was the end. 
 
 On the 29th, Longstreet telegraphed Lee: 
 
 "The usual force is in our front, so far as we can 
 learn. Our scouts are in from enemy's line this morn- 
 ing, and report affairs as usual. If Field's division is 
 taken away from this side, all of the Locals must be 
 put in his place, as will be the cadets. When you call 
 
 ♦20,000 — See Rebellion Records. 
 
 ♦♦Rebellion Records, Series IV, Vol. Ill, p. 1093. There were approximately 
 200,000 negro troops in the Federal Army.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 41.5 
 
 for him, please call at the same time upon the Secretary 
 of War for the Locals, the Governor for the cadets and 
 General Ewell for his forces. Shall the other of Gen- 
 eral Pickett's brigades move at once?"* 
 
 On the 1st of April, Longstreet wrote Ewell: 
 
 "General Lee thinks the Twenty-fourth Corps is on 
 the other side operating against our right, and of course 
 wants some of the force that is on this side with him. 
 If it is true that the Twenty-Fourth Corps has gone to 
 the south-side, Field's division should go there also, but 
 our lines here should be partially occupied at least. Can 
 you, by turning out your Battalion of Cadets, muster 
 1,500 men and occupy our huts and lines on the Charles 
 City Road, for a week or ten days?"** 
 
 Later, the same day, he directed Ewell to turn out 
 all the forces at his command, and march them down 
 the Charles City Road to relieve Field's division in the 
 outer line of works, directing him to send an officer 
 ahead to acquaint himself with the picket line which 
 was to be held by Field's pickets, until they were 
 relieved.! 
 
 At this time, Ewell had in Richmond but three bat- 
 talions of convalescents, in addition to the Corps of 
 Cadets: but these, with Kershaw's division, would be 
 the only troops remaining to man Longstreet's works 
 and confront Butler's Army, after the proposed re- 
 moval of Field's division. The order for the cadets 
 to march to Longstreet's rifle-pits, along the outer line, 
 was accordingly given by the Secretary of War. 
 
 "On the night of April 1st, 1865, it was apparent to 
 us that something out of the ordinary was to take place. 
 Rockets and other signals were seen, and a general air 
 of excitement seemed to prevail. At Taps many of us 
 kept our clothes on, and watched from the windows, ex- 
 pecting orders of some sort calling out the Corps. We 
 did not have to wait long, for in a short time a horse- 
 
 *Rebellion Records, Series I, Part III, p. 1363. 
 
 **Ibicl., p. 1376. 
 
 tibid. ; also see Ewell's Report, p. 1293.
 
 416 The Military History of 
 
 man rode rapidly to the front of Barracks, and on being 
 challenged by the sentinel, asked for the Superin- 
 tendent ; and soon we learned, from the somiding of the 
 long roll, that the expected order had been received. 
 We were quickly in ranks, and permission was given to 
 those mider age to fall out, if they desired to do so. It 
 need hardly be said, none availed themselves of this 
 privilege, 
 
 "We were marched through the streets of Richmond 
 — not knowing our destination — through Rocketts, a 
 suburb of the city, destined, as we afterwards learned, 
 for Longstreet's rifle-pits. We met a portion of Long- 
 street's Corps on our march that night."* 
 
 Just after sunrise, the two brigades which Field had 
 left on picket were relieved by Lieutenant- Colonel 
 Scott Shipp who had been placed by Ewell in command 
 of this section of the outer line.** 
 
 "The cadets were placed in the rifle pits early Sun- 
 day morning, April 2d. We were separated from the 
 enemy by a heavy body of pines. Our pickets, and those 
 of the enemy, were in speaking distance. "f 
 
 During the day, the cadets remained in the rifle-pits, 
 expecting to be attacked at any moment, and "when the 
 tremendous cheering of the enemy was heard, from time 
 to time, we thought our time had come. If there was 
 anything more uncomfortable than this waiting, we did 
 not care to experience it." 
 
 At 3:20 p. M., Ewell received a dispatch from Gen- 
 eral Lee stating that it would be necessary for him to 
 abandon the lines at Petersburg, that night, and asking 
 if he could withdraw from Richmond. Later, he re- 
 ceived specific orders to evacuate the city.| 
 
 Late in the afternoon, Ewell sent out a squadron of 
 dismounted cavalry to reheve the Corps of Cadets which 
 was at once marched under orders to Richmond. From 
 
 ♦Account of Col. Francis H. Smith, Jr., V. M. I. "Cadet", Jan. 3, 1914. 
 
 **See Ewell's Report. 
 
 iCol. Smith. 
 
 jRebellion Records, Ibid., p. 1380.
 
 H 
 
 
 <
 
 The Vieginia Military Institute 417 
 
 daybreak until about 4 p. m.^ the cadets were the only 
 troops on their portion of the line, between the enemy 
 and the Confederate Capital. 
 
 The Secretary of War, who had ordered it to be re- 
 lieved upon learning of Lee's plans, now directed that 
 the Corps of Cadets furnish a strong guard at the rail- 
 road depot for the stores and material being hastily 
 loaded for transportation to Lynchburg.* 
 
 "We made a rapid march, and, foot-sore, and hip- 
 sore from our heavy cartridge belts, some of us longed 
 to get up behind Colonel Shipp, as he rode along at our 
 head, mounted on his noble stallion, Robin. 
 
 "On arriving at Richmond, the fathers of some of the 
 Richmond cadets met us at Rocketts; and, then, we 
 learned for the first time the cause of the cheering, dur- 
 ing the morning in the enemy's lines — Richmond was 
 being evacuated! We were then marched to General 
 Ewell's headquarters for orders, and thence to the Alms- 
 house, where we were disbanded and directed to es- 
 cape the best way we could, as in a body we could not 
 reach any organized Confederate field force."** 
 
 Numbers of the cadets, however, in groups under 
 various officers of the Institute, proceeded to the canal 
 where such Institute property as it was desired to save 
 was loaded on freight boats, along with the baggage of 
 the cadets. One of these boats which, for lack of an 
 adequate number of barges, had been over-burdened, 
 sank in the canal. But there was no time to waste, and 
 little of the property could be salvaged. 
 
 Some of the cadets left Richmond by these boats, or 
 marched in groups westward along the tow-path of the 
 canal, dispersing as they progressed to their own home, 
 or the homes of friends, in the James River country; 
 while many of them continued on their sorrowful way 
 to join Lee's, or Johnston's, Army. 
 
 ♦Rebellion Records, Ibid., p. 1380. 
 **Col. Smith. 
 
 27
 
 418 The Military History of 
 
 Tims, at Richmond, Sunday evening, April 2, 1865, 
 the Corps of Cadets terminated its service in the Army 
 of tlie Confederate States of America, having begun 
 it there, April 22, 1861, four years before, almost to the 
 very day. One might say that the Young Guard of 
 Virginia did not abandon the Capital until the over- 
 powering enemy seized it; for, at dawn, April 3d, 
 Weitzel's troops entered Richmond. Among the cadets 
 the cry was Sauve qui ijeut! But the West Point of 
 the Confederacy was still alive, though its embattled 
 walls had fallen, and their tenants had been dispersed; 
 for, struggling onward, clinging to the last hope of the 
 nation, and burning with a resolve to perish, if need 
 be, with honor for their country, were the cadets of 
 former days, leading their weary men to Appomattox 
 and Goldsboro. And in the rear of that army which 
 had shrunken to 8,000 souls, the fame of which is im- 
 perishable and unequalled, rode one sent forth from 
 Virginia's School of Arms, upon whom was hung the 
 only hope of Lee himself, as he led the wreck of his 
 once proud army into the Valley of the Shadow of 
 Death. 
 
 Great, indeed, had the service of Virginia's military 
 school been, in the struggle of the Southern people 
 for constitutional liberty. But, when her sons sur- 
 rendered their swords, they had only paid their tribute 
 to Mars. It was in the dark days succeeding that sacri- 
 ficial offering that their work was seen at its best; for 
 these were citizens, as well as soldiers, and, by the 
 traditions of their military prowess, were only bound 
 the closer in the subsequent struggles of peace. Then, 
 was the full significance of the motto of the Virginia 
 Military Institute perceived — in jmce decus, in hello 
 praesidium; for, out of the ashes of the empire her 
 sons sought with their swords and blood to found, 
 sprang an exhalted resolve to win even nobler victories 
 than had crowned their arms in war.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 419 
 
 In closing this imperfect narrative of their mihtary 
 achievements may the author make bold to inscribe to 
 their memories these lines: 
 
 Yon mountain chains may sink to plains, 
 
 All human monuments may fail; 
 The memory of their deeds shall live — 
 
 Fame's rubric is the deathless tale ! 
 Age after age may come and go, 
 
 Or rule the world an unborn foe, 
 But still upon the altered shore, 
 
 Of sea-cliffs crumbled into sand. 
 Some unknown race in pride shall trace 
 
 The story of that youthful band. 
 Reck not of time. No lapse shall see 
 A day — not e'en eternity — 
 When men in passing shall not pause 
 For inspiration from their cause.
 
 APPENDIX
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A. Roster of the Cadet Battalion, May 11, 1864 425 
 
 B. The V. M, I, Confederate Martyr-Roll 432 
 
 C. Assistant Professors and Tactical Staff, 1842-1863 462 
 
 D. Hearing Before the Committee on Claims U. S. 
 
 Senate, Sixty-Third Congress, Second Session, On 
 S. 544 — A Bill for the Relief of the Virginia 
 Military Institute of Lexington, Va 464 
 
 E. Confederate Officers from the Virginia Military 
 
 Institute 485 
 
 F. V. M. I. Alumni in Foreign Armies — Before 1861 . . . 487 
 
 G. V. M. I. Alumni in Foreign Armies — After 1865 492 
 
 H. Graduates and Eleves in the Union Army During 
 
 the War 496 
 
 I. The Institute's Contribution to the Mexican War 513 
 
 J. V. M. I. Alumni in the Regular Army and Navy Be- 
 fore 1861 550 
 
 K. Note on V. M. I. Claim for Loss of Property Suf- 
 fered During the War between the States. . . . 562
 
 APPENDIX A 
 
 ROSTER OF THE CADET BATTALION, MAY 11, 1864 
 
 Field and Staff 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Shipp, Commanding. 
 *Colonel R. L. Madison, Surgeon. 
 
 Captain George Ross, Assistant Surgeon. 
 *Captain J. C. Whitwell, Commissary and Quartermaster. 
 *Cadet First Lieutenant Cary Weston, Adjutant. 
 *Cadet Second Lieutenant J. W. Wyatt, Quartermaster. 
 
 NON-COMMISSIONED StAFF 
 
 Cadet Sergeant J. E. Woodbridge, Sergeant-Ma j or. 
 *Cadet Sergeant O. P. Evans, Color-Bearer. 
 Cadet Sergeant G. A. Davenport, Quartermaster Sergeant. 
 
 Musicians 
 
 *J. H. Crocken, Fife. 
 *Richard Staples, Kettle Drum. 
 *Jacob Marks, Bass Drum. 
 
 COMPANY A 
 
 Henry A. Wise, Senior Tactical Officer and Captain Commanding. 
 
 C. H. Minge, Cadet Captain. 
 *W. C. Hardy, Cadet First Lieutenant. 
 *W. A. Morson, Cadet Second Lieutenant. 
 
 E. M. Ross, Cadet First Sergeant. 
 *W. B. Shaw, Cadet Second Sergeant. 
 *W. T. Duncan, Cadet Third Sergeant. 
 *J. T. Douglas, Cadet Fourth Sergeant. 
 
 Hunter Wood, Cadet Fifth Sergeant. 
 *Lawrence Royster, Cadet First Corporal. 
 *G. K. Macon, Cadet Second Corporal. 
 *R. L. Brockenbrough, Cadet Third Corporal. 
 *S. F. Atwill, Cadet Fourth Corporal. 
 
 ♦Dead.
 
 426 
 
 The Military History of 
 
 Privates 
 
 * Adams, R. A. 
 *Allen, Donald 
 
 Anderson, C. J. 
 *Ashley, C. G. 
 
 Bagnall, J. S. 
 *Binford. R. J. 
 
 Bowen, H. C. 
 *Buster, W. D. 
 *Biitler, W. H. 
 *Carmichael, John 
 *Cocke, P. St. G. 
 *Corling, C. T. 
 
 Cousins, R. H. 
 *Davis, J. A. 
 *Garrett, H. W. 
 *Goodykoontz, A. E. 
 
 Harrison, C. H. 
 *Hayes, W. C. 
 
 Hiden, P. B. 
 
 Hill, J. M. 
 
 Howard, J. C. 
 
 Hubard, W. J. 
 
 James, F. W. 
 *Larrick, J. S. 
 *Lewis, W. L. 
 *McVeigh, Newton 
 
 *Mallorv, E. S. 
 *Mead, H. J. 
 
 Mohler, D. G. 
 
 Morgan, P. H. 
 *Page, F. W. 
 *Payne, A. S. 
 *Pendleton, R. A. 
 
 Raum, G. E. 
 *Seaborn, G. A. 
 *Skaggs, S. B. 
 *Smith, E. H. 
 
 Smith, Jr., F. L. 
 
 Spiller, George 
 
 Spiller, W. H. 
 *Temple, P. C. 
 
 Thomson, A. P. 
 * Watson, W. P. 
 *White, T. W. 
 
 White, W. H. 
 
 Wimbish, L. W. 
 *Wingfield, S. G. 
 *Wood, H. T. 
 *Wood, P. S. 
 
 Wood, W. M. 
 *Woodruff, Z. T. 
 *Yarbrough, W. T. 
 
 COMPANY B 
 
 *Frank Preston, Tactical Officer and Captain Commanding. 
 *Carlton Shafer, Cadet Captain. 
 
 G. W. Gretter, Cadet First Lieutenant. 
 *Levi Welch, Cadet Second Lieutenant. 
 *A. Pizzini, Jr., Cadet First Sergeant. 
 
 H. W. Garrow, Cadet Third** Sergeant. 
 *W. M. Patton, Cadet Fourth Sergeant. 
 
 T. G. Hayes, Cadet First Corporal. 
 *J. B. Jarratt, Cadet Second Corporal. 
 *Patrick Henry, Cadet Third Corporal. 
 
 B. W. Barton, Cadet Fourth Corporal. 
 
 ♦Dead. 
 
 ♦♦The 2d Sergeant of this Company was O. P. Evans, who was the Color- 
 Bearer at New Market in place of Color-Sergeant W. B. Shaw, absent on 
 Surgeon's certificate.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 
 
 427 
 
 Privates 
 
 ^Baj^ard, N. J. 
 
 Bennett, W. G. 
 *Bowen, W. B. 
 *Bransford, J. F. 
 
 Cabell, R. G. 
 
 Carmichael, W. S. 
 ♦Christian, E. D. 
 
 Clarkson, J. H. 
 *Cocke, J. L. 
 *Cocke, W. R. C. 
 
 Crank, J. T. 
 *Cullen, Simon 
 *Darden, J. D. 
 *Dillard, J. L. 
 
 Faulkner, C. J. 
 
 Garrett, V. F. 
 *Gibson, F. G. 
 *Grasty, W. C. 
 
 Hankins, M. O. 
 *Happer, R. W. B. 
 ♦Harris, W. O. 
 *Hartsfield, A. C. 
 
 Hawks, A. W. 
 *Havnes, L. C. 
 ♦Hundley, C B. 
 
 Hupp, R. C. 
 ♦Jefferson, T. G. 
 
 Johnson, Porter 
 ♦Jones, T. W. 
 ♦Kemp, Wyndham 
 
 Lee, G. T. 
 ♦Leftwich, A. H. 
 
 ♦Lewis, N. C. 
 
 McCorkle, J. W. 
 ♦McDowell, W. H. 
 
 Mason, S. B. 
 ♦Patton, J. R. 
 ♦Penn, J. G. 
 ♦Perry, W. E. S. 
 ♦Phillips, S. T. 
 
 Powell, J. J. A. 
 
 Preston, J. B. 
 
 Preston, T. W. 
 
 Redwood, W. F. 
 ♦Richeson, J. D. 
 ♦Roane, John 
 ♦Stacker, Clay 
 ♦Stanard, J. B. 
 
 Tabb, John 
 ♦Tackett, J. F. 
 
 Tardy, A. H. 
 
 Taylor, J. E. 
 
 Tunstall, R. B. 
 ♦Turner, E. L. 
 
 Veitch, Wilberforce 
 ♦Walker, C. P. 
 
 Washington, Lloyd 
 
 Wesson, C. M. 
 
 Wharton, J. E. 
 ♦^\Tiite, J. S. 
 
 Whitehead, H. C. 
 ♦Wilson, R. G. 
 ♦Woodlief, P. W. 
 
 COMPANY C 
 
 A. Govan Hill, Tactical Officer and Captain Commanding. 
 ♦S. S. Shriver, Cadet Captain. 
 
 T. D. Davis, Cadet First Lieutenant. 
 ♦A. Boggess, Cadet Second Lieutenant. 
 ♦J. A. Stuart, Cadet First Sergeant. 
 ♦L. C. Wise, Cadet Second Sergeant. 
 ♦A. F. Redd, Cadet Third Sergeant. 
 
 W. B. Martin, Cadet Fourth Sergeant. 
 ♦H. H. Dinwiddie, Cadet First Corporal. 
 ♦J. E. Wood, Cadet Second Corporal. 
 
 J. G. James, Cadet Third Corporal. 
 ♦R. Ridley, Cadet Fourth Corporal. 
 
 •Dead.
 
 428 
 
 The Military History of 
 
 Privates 
 
 Adams, S. B. 
 *Blankman, J. S. 
 *Blundon, R. M. 
 
 Booth. S. W. 
 
 Buffington, E. S. 
 *Chalmers, W. M. 
 *Crawford, W. B. 
 *Crichton, J. A. 
 
 Davis, A. J. 
 *Davis, L. S. 
 *Dunn, J. R. 
 *Early, J. C. 
 
 Ezekiel, M. J. 
 
 Fry, H. W. 
 *Fulton, C. M. 
 
 Goode, H. L. 
 *Goodwin, J. H. 
 
 Harrison, W. L. 
 
 Jones, W. S. 
 *Lamb, W. K. 
 *Langhorne, M. D. 
 *Lee, R. F. 
 
 McGavock, J. W. 
 
 Martin, T. S. 
 
 Maury, Reuben 
 *Merritt, J. L. 
 
 Minor, J. H. 
 *Mitchell, S. T. 
 
 Morson, A. A. 
 
 Morson, J. B. 
 
 *Noland, N. B. 
 
 Overton, A. W. 
 *Page, P. N. 
 *Pendleton, W. W. 
 
 Price, F. B. 
 
 Randolph, C. C. 
 *Read, C. H. 
 *Ricketts, L. C. 
 
 Roller, P. W. 
 
 Rose, G. M. 
 *Rutherford, T. M. 
 *Shields, J. H. 
 
 Shriver, T. H. 
 *Slaughter, W. L. 
 
 Smith, C. H. 
 
 Smith, W. T. 
 
 Tate, C. B. 
 
 Taylor, B. D. 
 *Taylor, Carrington 
 *Taylor, W. C. 
 *Thompson, K. 
 *Tomes, F. J. 
 *Toms, A. C. 
 *Turner, C. W. 
 
 Upshur, J. N, 
 *Walker, C. D. 
 
 Waller, R. E. 
 
 Walton, N. T. 
 ♦Wheelwright, J. C. 
 *Wilson, D. C. B. 
 (Afterwards D. C. Barroud) 
 
 COMPANY D 
 
 *Thomas B. Robinson, Tactical Officer and Captain Commanding. 
 
 B. A. Colonna, Cadet Captain. 
 
 *J. F. Hanna, Cadet First Lieutenant. 
 
 F. W. Claybrook, Cadet Second Lieutenant. 
 *W. H. Cabell, Cadet First Sergeant. 
 *William Nelson, Cadet Second Sergeant. 
 *J. R. Echols, Cadet Third Sergeant. 
 
 C. M. Etheredge, Cadet Fourth Sergeant. 
 O. A. Glazebrook, Cadet First Corporal. 
 
 *Alfred Marshall, Cadet Second Corporal. 
 *John S. Wise, Cadet Third Corporal. 
 *J. R. Triplett, Cadet Fourth Corporal. 
 
 ♦Dead.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 
 
 429 
 
 Privates 
 
 *Akers, R. C. 
 
 Alexander, W. K. 
 
 Arbuckle, A. A. 
 *Barney, W. H. 
 
 Baylor, J. B. 
 *Beattie, W. F. 
 *Berkeley, Edmund 
 *Brown, J. A. 
 *Clark, G. B. 
 *Clendinen, T. R. 
 
 Cocke, Preston 
 
 Coleman, J. J. 
 *Corbin, J. P. 
 *Crenshaw, S. D. 
 *Crews, B. S. 
 *Croekett, C. G. 
 *Crockett, H. S. 
 
 Dickinson, J. I. 
 *Dillard, William 
 
 Eubank, W. M. 
 *Garnett, G. T. 
 
 Gray, J. B. 
 *Hamlin, E. L. 
 *Hannah, J. S. 
 
 Harvie, J. B. 
 
 Harvie, J. S. 
 
 Horsley, John 
 *Imboden, J. P. 
 *Johnson, F. S. 
 *Jones, H. J. 
 
 *Kennedv, W. H. 
 *Kinff, D. P. 
 
 Kirk, W. M. 
 *Knight, E. C. 
 
 Lee, F. T. 
 
 Letcher, S. H. 
 *Locke, R. N. 
 *Lowry, T. S. 
 
 Lumsden, W. J. 
 
 McClung, T. W. 
 *Marks, C. H. 
 *Marshall, Martin 
 *Moorman, E. S. 
 
 Nalle, G. B. W. 
 
 Phelps, T. K. 
 *Peirce, D. S. 
 *Radford. W. N. 
 *Reid, J. J. 
 *Reveley, G. F. 
 
 Sowers, J. F. 
 *Stuart, Jr., A. H. H. 
 *Tunstall, J. L. 
 
 Tutwiler, E. M. 
 
 Venable, W. L. 
 *Ward, G. W. 
 
 Webb, J. S. 
 *Wellford, C. E. 
 *White, R. J. 
 
 Witt, J. E. 
 
 Wood, M. B. 
 
 Casualties 
 
 KILLED 
 
 Cadet W. H. Cabell, Va., 2d Class, 1st Sergeant, D Company. 
 Cadet C. G. Crockett, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet H. J. Jones, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet W. H. McDowell, N. C, 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet J. B. Stanard, Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 
 MORTALLY WOUNDED 
 
 Cadet S. F. Atwill, Va., 3d Class, Corporal, A Company. 
 Cadet T. G. Jeiferson, Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 
 •Dead.
 
 430 The Military History of 
 
 Cadet L. C. Haynes, Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company.* 
 Cadet J. C. Wheelwright, Va., 4th Class, Private, C Company. 
 
 WOUNDED 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Shipp, Commanding Battalion of Cadets. 
 Captain A. G. Hill, Tactical Officer, Commanding C Company. 
 Cadet S. S. Shriver, Va., 1st Class, Cadet Captain, C Company. 
 Cadet Andrew Pizzini, Jr., Va., 2d Class, 1st Sergeant, B Company. 
 Cadet J. A. Stuart, Va., 2d Class, 1st Sergeant, C Company. 
 Cadet L. C. Wise, Va., 2d Class, Sergeant, C Company. 
 Cadet H. W. Garrow, Ala., 2d Class, Sergeant, B Company. 
 Cadet G. K. Macon, Va., 3d Class, Corporal, A Company. 
 Cadet J. R. Triplett, Va., 3d Class, Corporal, D Company. 
 Cadet J. S. Wise, Va., 3d Class, Corporal, D Company. 
 Cadet Edmund Berklej^, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet J. F. Bransford, Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet W. D. Buster, Va., 3d Class, Private, A Company. 
 Cadet E. D. Christian, Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet Preston Cocke, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet C. T. Corling, Va., 4th Class, Private, A Company. 
 Cadet J. D. Darden, Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet J. I. Dickinson, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet William Dillard, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet G. T. Garnett, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet F. G. Gibson, W. Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet J. H. Goodwin, Va., 4th Class, Private, C Company. 
 Cadet W. O. Harris, Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet C. H. Harrison, Va., 4th Class, Private, A Company. 
 Cadet A. C. Hartsfield, N. C, 3d Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet J. C. Howard, Va., 4th Class, Private, A Company. 
 Cadet J. P. Imboden, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet Porter Johnson, W. Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet W. S. Jones, Va., 4th Class, Private, C Company. 
 Cadet Martin Marshall, Miss., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet H. J. Mead, Va., 3d Class. Private. A Company. 
 Cadet J. L. Merritt, Va., 4th Class, Private, C Company. 
 Cadet E. S. Moorman, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet R. A. Pendleton, Va., 4th Class, Private, A Company. 
 Cadet S. T. Phillips, Va., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet D. S. Peirce, Va., 3d Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet C. C. Randolph, Va., 4th Class, Private, C Company. 
 Cadet C. H. Read, Jr., Va., 4th Class, Private, C Company. 
 Cadet C. H. Smith, Va., 4th Class, Private, C Company. 
 Cadet E. H. Smith, Va., 4th Class, Private, A Company. 
 Cadet F. L. Smith, Jr., Va., 4th Class, Private, A Company. 
 
 *Died of wounds one month after the battle.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 431 
 
 Cadet George Spiller, Va., 3d Class, Private, A Company. 
 Cadet J. N. Upshur, Va., 4th Class, Private, C Company. 
 Cadet C. D. Walker, Va., 4th Class, Private, C Company. 
 Cadet W. P. Watson, N. C, 4th Class, Private, A Company. 
 Cadet T. W. White, Va., 4th Class, Private, D Company. 
 Cadet H. C. Whitehead. Va., 3d Class, Private, B Company. 
 Cadet P. W. Woodlief, Jr., La., 4th Class, Private, B Company. 
 
 Recapitulation 
 
 Killed 5 
 
 Mortally wounded 4 
 
 Wounded 48* 
 
 57 
 
 Estimated strength of Battalion at New Market- _ 279 
 
 Loss in battle 57 
 
 Percentage of loss 20 P. C. 
 
 ♦Some of these were crippled for life, notably Martin Marsliall. T. W. White, 
 1. G. Gibson, C. C. Randolpli. and C. D. Walker.
 
 432 The Military History of 
 
 APPENDIX B 
 
 THE V. M. I. CONFEDERATE MARTYR-ROLL 
 
 In 1875, the Rev. Charles D. Walker of blessed memory, "First 
 Honor" graduate of the Class of 1869, published his "Memorial — 
 Virginia Military Institute." It is a monument to his zeal and 
 devotion, and has been most valuable; but, unfortunately, it is 
 neither complete nor accurate. 
 
 When this work was begun, Mr. Walker was an assistant pro- 
 fessor at the Institute, and it was finished while he was prosecuting 
 his theological studies; and during those four years he was never 
 able to give his entire time to the work, having other important 
 duties to claim his paramount attention. 
 
 It is not surprising, therefore, that the work fails to include all 
 the Alumni of the Institute who gave their lives for Southern In- 
 dependence, nor that it contains many errors. It is cause for re- 
 joicing, however, that we have at last a roster of our Sainted Con- 
 federate Dead that is as perfect as human means can make it. 
 
 In the preparation of the personal histories of all the Sons of the 
 Institute from its founding to the present time, our Official Histori- 
 ographer has given his undivided time to the important work, and he 
 has thus been enabled to perfect our Necrology during the great 
 Confederate War. 
 
 Walker's "Memorial" contains sketches of 164 persons supposed 
 to have been killed, or to have died of disease, in the military service 
 of the Southern Confederacy, who were Alumni of the Virginia 
 Military Institute. From this number must be deducted one who 
 was not a cadet, and two who did not die during the War, or from 
 the eifects of the War. The number is thus reduced to 161. Eighty- 
 eight more Alumni have been discovered who were killed, or who 
 died from the effects of the military service, and are to be added to 
 this number, making the total mortality resulting from the War, 
 Two Hundred and Forty-Nine ! 
 
 There are only seventy matriculates from 1839 to 1865 whose 
 war record is still unknown ; and when these records are all in hand, 
 it may be that this number will be slightly increased. But, as it is, 
 we have a Martyr-Roll of Two Hundred and Forty-Nine (249), and 
 it is given here. 
 
 Joseph R. Anderson, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel V. M. I., 
 
 Official Historiographer.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 433 
 
 Virginia Military Institute Alumni Killed, or Died in 
 Service, Confederate States of America 
 
 Abell, William McLeod, from Charlottesville, Va. Courier, Co. I, 
 6th Va. Cavalry. Died September 26, 1864, of wound received 
 the day before. 
 
 Adie, Lewis Benjamin, from Leesburg, Va. Private, Mosby's 
 Battalion. Killed about middle August, 1864, near Berry ville, 
 Va. 
 
 Alexander, Thomas, from Northumberland County, Va. 1st 
 Lieutenant, Co. C, 40th Va. Infantry. Killed August 18, 1864, 
 at Petersburg, while leading his company. 
 
 Allen, James Walkinshaw, from Bedford County, Va. Colonel, 
 2d Va. Infantry. Killed at Gaines's Mill, June 27, 1862. 
 
 Allen, Robert Clotworthy (brother of the above), from Salem, 
 Va. Colonel, 28th Va. Infantry. Killed at Gettysburg, July 
 3, 1863. 
 
 (A third brother, Donald Allen, was a gallant member of the New 
 Market Battalion.) 
 
 Anthony, Robert Irvine, from Alleghany County, Va. Ord. 
 Sergeant, Carpenter's Battery. Died of wound received at 
 Winchester, four days afterwards, September 13, 1864. 
 
 Armistead, John Sinclair, from Elizabeth City County, Va. 
 Lieutenant, C. S. Engineers. Died in service, April 3, 1862. 
 
 Ashby, James Lewis, from Warren County, Va. Private, Co. D, 6th 
 Va. Cavalry. Killed June 11, 1864, at Trevilians, Va. 
 
 Ashby, John William (brother of the above), from Warren 
 County, Va. Private, Co. I, 12th Va. Cavalry. Killed two 
 hours before the Surrender at Appomattox. 
 
 Ashby, Richard (younger brother of General Turner Ashby), from 
 Fauquier County, Va. Captain, Co. A, 7th Va. Cavalry. 
 Killed July 3, 1861, near Romney, W. Va. 
 
 Atwill, Samuel Francis, from Westmoreland County, Va. Cor- 
 poral, Co. A, Corps Cadets. Killed at New Market, May 15, 
 1864. 
 
 Banks, Thomas William, from Gloucester County, Va. Private, 
 Co, A, 35th Va. Infantry. Died in prison, about June 20, 
 1865, of brain fever, due to grief over the downfall of the 
 Confederacy. 
 
 Barton, Charles Marshall (one of five brothers in the C. S. A., 
 three of whom were cadets), from Winchester, Va. 1st Lieu- 
 tenant, Cutshaw's Battery. Killed May 25, 1862, at Win- 
 chester. 
 
 Beasley, Peter "R", from Huntsville, Ala. 1st Lieutenant, 35th 
 Alabama Infantry. Mortally wounded and died July 12, 1864, 
 near Marietta, Ga. 
 
 2S
 
 484) The Military History or 
 
 Benbury, Richard B , from Gatesville, N. C. Private, 
 
 N. C. Regiment. Died of disease contracted in the military 
 service, September — , 1863. 
 
 Bethea, Theodore, from Montgomery, Ala. Lieutenant, Co. E, 
 commanding Lockhart's Battalion, Alabama Volunteers. Killed 
 July 18, 1864, in fight with raiding force, on Montgomery & 
 West Point R. R. (His father's four sons were gallant 
 soldiers;, and his two daughters "knitted socks.") 
 
 Bibb, Frank Strother, from Charlottesville, Va. 1st Lieutenant, 
 Carrington's Battery. Died May 28, 1863, from wound re- 
 ceived at Chancellorsville. 
 
 Bishop, Benj. Franklin, from Surry County, Va. Captain on 
 Staff of General Wright. Died January 5, 1878, from the 
 effects of military service. 
 
 Blakey, John W., from Greene County, Va. Private, Captain 
 Bass's Company, from Richmond. Died in hospital at Peters- 
 burg, March 17, 186 i, from disease contracted in the military 
 service. 
 
 BoTTS. Lawson, from Cliarles Town, W. Va. Colonel, 2d Va. In- 
 fantry. Died of wounds received at Second Manassas, on 
 September 16, 1862. (Appointed by the Court to defend John 
 Brown, at Harper's Ferry.) 
 
 Bowe, Nathaniel Crenshaw, from Richmond. Va. Private, 
 V. M. L Corps Cadets. Died August, 1865, from disease con- 
 tracted in the military service. 
 
 Bradley, Randolph, from Missouri. (Formerly from Page County, 
 Va.) Captain, 11th La. Infantry. Died June 28. 1862. from 
 wound received the day before in battles around Richmond. 
 (Promoted captain on the field, at Seven Pines.) 
 
 Bray, William Harvie, from Essex County, Va. 1st Lieutenant, 
 53d Va. Infantrv. Killed at Gettvsburg, Julv 3. 1863. 
 
 Breckinridge, James, from Botetourt County, Va. Captain, Co. C, 
 2d Va. Cavalry. Killed at Five Forks, April 1, 1865. 
 
 Breckinridge, Peachy Gilmer (these were two of five brothers in 
 the C. S. A., four of whom were cadets), from Botetourt 
 County, Va. Captain, Co. B, 2d Va. Cavalry. Killed May 24, 
 1 864, at Kennon's Landing, Va. 
 
 Brent, Virginius King, from Fauquier County. Va. Private. "Old 
 Dominion Rifles." Co. D, from Alexandria, Va. Wounded at 
 Frazier's Farm, and died from effects in 1868. 
 
 Burgess, Alex. Armistead, from Rappahannock County. Va. Pri- 
 vate, 1st Va. Infantry. Killed May 31, 1862, at Seven Pines. 
 
 *BuRGWYN. Henry King, Jr., from Northampton Countv, N. C. 
 Colonel. 26th N. C. Infantrv. Killed at Gettvsburg! July 1, 
 1863. 
 
 ♦Colonel Fox. the compiler of casualty statistics (on both sides) of the 
 battle of Gettysburg, states that the percentage of loss in this regiment was 
 the greatest known in any battle of modern times — something like 87 to 89 
 percentum. The regiment carried 80(» into battle on .July 2d. and came out 
 with 216. all told, unhurt, and after the third dav's battle, it had onlv eUihtii 
 men fit for duty. " " '
 
 The Virginia Militae.y Institute 435 
 
 Burke, John Waller, from Hanover County, Va. Sergeant, King 
 
 William Artillery. Killed at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864. 
 Burke, Thomas Mundie, from Essex Count}', Va. Major, 55th 
 
 Va. Infantry. Killed, Frazier's Farm, June 30, 1862. 
 Buster, William Dennis, from Charlotte County, Va. Private, 
 
 V. M. I. Corps Cadets. Died about the time of the evacuation 
 
 of Richmond, of fever contracted in the trenches around Rich- 
 mond, while serving with the Battalion of Cadets. 
 Cabell, William Henry, from Richmond, Va. Ord. Sergeant, 
 
 Co. D, Corps Cadets. Killed at New Market, May 15, 1864. 
 Callcote, Alex. Daniel (this name has been variously spelled, but 
 
 this is the correct spelling, as certified by himself), from Isle 
 
 of Wight County, Va. Lieutenant-Colonel, 3d Va. Infantry. 
 
 Killed at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. 
 Carpenter, Joseph Hannah, from Alleghany County, Va. 
 
 Captain, Carpenter's Battery. Died February 5, 1863, of 
 
 wound received at Slaughter's Mountain, in August, 1862. 
 Carrington, Abram Cabell, from Charlotte County, Va. 1st 
 
 Lieutenant, Co. D, 18th Va. Infantry. Killed, Malvern Hill, 
 
 June 30, 1862. 
 Carter, James Pitman, from Frederick County, Va. Private, 7th 
 
 Va. Cavalry. Killed, Spottsylvania Courthouse, May 5, 1864. 
 Chenoweth, Joseph Hart, from Beverly, W. Va. INIajor, 31st Va. 
 
 Infantry. Killed, June 9, 1862, at Port Republic. 
 Claiborne, Thomas Doddridge, from Pittsylvania County, Va. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel, 7th Confederate Cavalry. Wounded at 
 
 Petersburg, and died December 29, 1864. 
 Cherry, Joseph Blount, from Bertie County, N. C. Captain, Co. 
 
 F, 4th N. C. Cavalry. Wounded near Petersburg, March 29th, 
 
 and died four days afterwards, April 2, 1865. 
 Clopton, Alfred Willoi^ghby, from Richmond, Va. Adjutant, 
 
 34th N. C. Infantry. Died of typhoid fever contracted in the 
 
 military service, September 9, 1864. 
 Colston, Raleigh Thomas, from Berkeley County, W. Va. Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel, 2d Va. Infantry. Died of wound received near 
 
 Mine Run, Va., November 27, 1863. 
 Cowherd, Charles Scott, from Orange County, Va. Private, 
 
 "Gordonsville Grays," 13th Va. Infantry. Died of camp fever, 
 
 January 3, 1862. 
 Crawford, Robert Anderson, from Augusta County, Va. Captain 
 
 on Staff of General W. L. Jackson. Wounded at Dump 
 
 Mountain. Died at McDowell, April 26, 1864. 
 Connor, Alex. Simonton, from Bladen Springs, Ala. C. S. A. 
 
 (command vmknown). Died in 1869 from disease contracted in 
 
 the Army. 
 Crittenden, Lewellyn, from Lancaster County, Va. Lieutenant, 
 
 Co. E, 40th Va. Infantry. Wounded at Frazier's Farm. June 
 
 30, 1862, and died the following Wednesday.
 
 436 The Military History of 
 
 Crockett, Charles Gay, from Wytheville, Va. Private, Co. B, 
 Corps Cadets. Killed at New Market, May 16, 1864. 
 
 Crump, Charles A , from Powhatan County, Va. Colonel, 16th 
 
 Va. Infantry. Killed, Gainesville, August 30, 1862. 
 
 Crutchfield, Stapleton, from Spottsylvania County, Va. Colonel 
 and Chief of Artillery, 2d Corps, Army N. Va. Killed April 
 6, 1865, at Sailor's Creek, while commanding a brigade. 
 
 Curry, Eugenia Granville, from Augusta County, Va. Sergeant 
 and Drillmaster, 52d Va. Infantry. Died November 6, 1861, 
 of typhoid pneumonia contracted in the military service. 
 
 Dabney, Basil Gordon, from Albemarle County, Va. Private, 
 Thomson's Horse Artillery. Wounded near Farmville, April 
 6, 1865, and died same day, from carelessness of surgeon in 
 amputating leg. 
 
 Dabney, Edward Moon, from Albemarle County, Va. Captain, 
 Co. C, 52d Va. Infantry. Mortally wounded at Fredericks- 
 burg, and died December 23, 1862, ten days afterwards. 
 
 Daniel, William Anderson, from Cumberland County, Va. Pri- 
 vate, C. S. Cavalry. Died of pneumonia in the military service, 
 April 5, 1863. 
 
 Davidson, Albert (one of five brothers in C. S. A., three of whom 
 were cadets, and three of whom were killed), from Lexington, 
 Va. 1st Lieut, and A. A.-G. Wounded April 9th, and died 
 May 6, 1865. 
 
 Davis, James Lucius, Jr., from Henrico County, Va. Private, 10th 
 Va. Cavalry (commanded by his father). Killed June 24, 
 1864, near Samaria Church, Va. 
 
 Davis, Thomas Bowker, from Lynchburg, Va. 2d Lieutenant, Co. 
 D, 2d Va. Cavalry. Mortally wounded near Fisher's Hill, and 
 died a prisoner at Winchester, October 20, 1864. 
 
 Derby, Rev. Charles A., from Dinwiddie County, Va. Colonel, 
 44th Ala. Infantry. Killed at Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862. 
 
 Dew, Daniel Boone, from King and Queen County, Va. Private, 
 9th Va. Cavalry. Killed in June, 1863, near Middletown, Va., 
 before he reached his regiment to report for duty. 
 
 Deyerle, Madison Pitzer (an older brother graduated at V. M. I., 
 in 1842, and died while assistant surgeon in U. S. Army, in 
 1853; two other brothers were soldiers in the C. S. A.), from 
 Roanoke County, Va. Captain, Co. I, 28th Va. Infantry. 
 Mortally wounded at Williamsburg, and died May 14, 1862. 
 
 Dove, Leslie Chambliss, from Richmond, Va. Courier on Staff of 
 General J. R. Chambliss. Died from wound July 12, 1863, 
 near Hagerstown, Md. 
 
 Dudley, Thomas Clifford, from King and Queen County, Va. 2d 
 Lieutenant, P. A., C. S. A. (on recommendation of Major Pel- 
 ham in whose battery he had previously served). Wounded 
 June 11, 1864, at Trevilians, and died July 9, 1864.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 437 
 
 Easley, William H., from Halifax County, Va. Captain, Co. C, 
 3d Va. Cavalry. Died from disease contracted in the Army, 
 December 11, 1861. 
 
 Eastham, George Lawson, from Rappahannock County, Va. 
 Private, 6th Va. Cavalry. Killed at Toms Brook, Va., October 
 9, 1864. 
 
 *Edmonds, Edward Claxton, from Fauquier County, Va. Colonel, 
 38th Va. Infantry. Killed at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. (One 
 of seven colonels who fell at Gettysburg who had been 
 comrades at the V. M. I., and three of them roommates.) 
 
 Edmondson, Howell Chastain, from Halifax County, Va. 
 Private, 1st Richmond Howitzers. Died June 24, 1864, from 
 typhoid fever contracted in the service. 
 
 **Ellis, John Thomas, from Amherst County, Va. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, 19th Va. Infantry. Killed at Gettysburg, July 3, 
 1863. 
 
 Eppes, Peter Francisco, from Sussex County, Va. C. S. A. (com- 
 mand not known). Died in hospital after the War, from effects 
 of his military service. 
 
 EviNS, James Selwyn, from Perry County, Ala. Lieutenant, 4th 
 Ala. Infantry. Died in the military service, March 9, 1862. 
 
 Fant, Edward Lewis, from Fauquier County, Va. Lieutenant, 8th 
 Va. Infantry. Killed at Gaines's Mill, June, 1862. 
 
 Fletcher, John, from Fauquier County, Va. Captain, Co. A, 7th 
 Va. Cavalry. Killed at Buckton Station, Va., May 23, 1862. 
 
 Forbes, James Fitzgerald, from Spottsylvania County, Va. 
 Captain and Q. M., 9th Va. Cavalry, and acting as Aide to 
 General Jackson, when mortally wounded at Chancellorsville. 
 He fell about the same time General Jackson was wounded. 
 He was carried to the home of Mr. Melzi Chancellor. Soon 
 afterwards, a Federal officer mortally wounded was brought in 
 and laid on the floor. At this extreme moment, illustrating the 
 keynote of his whole life, he requested that he be placed on the 
 bed by his side. Shortly afterwards, both died. 
 
 Forbes, William Archibald, from Richmond, Va., later from 
 Clarksville, Tenn. Colonel, 14th Tenn. Infantry. Killed at 
 Second Manassas (having been previously wounded at 
 Mechanicsville and Cold Harbor). 
 
 Ford, Charles Edward, from Fairfax County, Va. 1st Lieutenant, 
 Stuart Horse Artillery. Killed at Hanover C. H., May 25, 
 1864. 
 
 *In the campaign of 1863 Col. Edmonds commanded his brigade. After 
 the battle of Gettysburg, a petition, signed by every officer present in the 
 brigade, was forwarded to the Secretary of War, asking that Colonel Edmonds 
 be appointed their brigadier as soon as exchanged (for a report had reached 
 them that he was a prisoner of War). But alas, he had fallen with Armistead, 
 his Immortal commander! (Colonel Edmond's two younger brothers were also 
 cadets, and one of them was Colonel of the 4th Texas Regiment in the Spanish- 
 American War). ,, J ^ 
 
 **After the battle of Williamsburg, his division commander, Major-General 
 Pickett, always spoke of him as "one who can always be relied upon."
 
 438 The Military History of 
 
 FowLKES, EusEBius, M. D., from Montgomery County, Va. 
 Captain, Co. F, 11th Va. Infantry. Killed at Seven Pines, 
 May 31, 1862. 
 
 Frazer, Philip Fouke, from Lewisburg, W. Va. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, 27th V^a. Infantry. Killed at The Wilderness, May 
 6, 1864. 
 
 Gaines, Lewis Conner, from Culpeper County, Va. Private, 9th 
 Va. Cavalry. Mortally vi^ounded near Ashland, Va., and died 
 July 8, 1864. 
 
 Galt, William, from Fluvanna County, Va. Adjutant, 52d Va. 
 Infantry. Wounded September 19th at Winchester, and died 
 October 6, 1864. (Standing over his dead body, his surgeon 
 said, "He was worth to the Army a hundred men.") 
 
 Garland, Samuel, Jr., from Lynchburg, Va. Brigadier-General 
 in D. H. Hill's Division, Army N. Virginia. Killed near 
 Boonsboro, Md., September 14, 1862. His last words: "I am 
 killed; send for the senior colonel, and tell him to take 
 command." 
 
 Garnett, Thomas Stuart, ]\I. D., from W^estmoreland County, Va. 
 Colonel, 48th Va. Infantry. Mortally wounded at Chancellors- 
 ville while heroically leading the 2d Brigade of the "Stonewall 
 Division," and died the next day. His sister stated that his 
 commission as brigadier-general was received as he lay dead, 
 wrapped in the Confederate flag, in the Capitol at Richmond. 
 (He had previously served as a gallant lieutenant in the Mexi- 
 can War.) 
 
 Gay, Charles Wyndham. from Staunton, Va. Private, Danville 
 Artillery (Capt. Wooding). Killed at Malvern Hill, July 1, 
 1862. 
 
 Gibbons, Simeon Beauford, from Page County, Va. Colonel, 10th 
 Va. Infantry. Killed at McDowell. May 8, 1862. (Two 
 younger brothers, both V. M. I. Alumni, were also in C. S. A.) 
 
 GiBBS, John Tracy, Jr., from Lexington, Va. Corporal, Rock- 
 bridge Artillery. Died from exposure and fatigue, September 
 6, 1864. (Son of Capt. John T. Gibbs, Commissary, V. M. I.) 
 
 Gisiner, John Timothy Dwight, from Rockbridge County, Va. 
 Private, V. M. I. Corps Cadets. Died from disease contracted 
 in the McDowell campaign. 
 
 GooDE, Edmund, from Bedford County, Va. Colonel, 58th Va. 
 Infantry. Died from exposure to the rigors of a winter's 
 campaign in the mountains of Virginia, March, 1862. 
 
 Grandy, Patrick Henry, from Norfolk, Va. 1st Lieutenant, Co. 
 D, 1st N. C. Infantry. Killed at Gaines's Mill, June 27, 1862. 
 
 Grayson, Richard Osborne, from Loudoun County, Va. Lieu- 
 tenant, Co. F, 8th Va. Infantry. Killed Gaines's Mill. June 
 27, 1862.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 439 
 
 Green, William James, from Stafford County, Va. (One of three 
 brothers, cadets of the V. M. I., all in C. S. A.) Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, 47th Va. Infantry. Killed at Cold Harbor, June 27, 
 1862. (He had but a few hours before expressed a hope that 
 he might fall as became his lineage. He received two balls, 
 one through the heart and the other through the stomach.) 
 
 Grigg, Francis G , from Greensville County, Va. Private, Co. 
 
 H, 13th Va. Cavalry. Died March 8, 1865, a few days after 
 returning from prison at Point Lookout, of disease contracted 
 there. 
 
 Grigg, Wesley Peyton, from Petersburg, Va. Sergeant, Martin's 
 Battery. Died October 15, 1875, from disease contracted in 
 the military service. 
 
 Haden, Anselm Henry, from Fincastle, Va. Lieutenant (com- 
 mand not known). Died in the military service, September 29, 
 1861. 
 
 Haden, Joel Watkins (brother of the above), from Fincastle, Va. 
 Adjutant, 7th Va. Cavalry. Died of wounds, November 19, 
 1864. 
 
 Haigh, Charles Thomas, from Fayetteville, N. C. Lieutenant, 
 Co. B, 37th N. C. Infantry. Killed at Spottsylvania C. H., 
 May 12, 1864. After the battle of Gettysburg, his father per- 
 mitted him to resign his cadetship ; and, though exempt by law, 
 owing to his youth fulness, he thought it was every boy's duty 
 to go to the front. He said to his cadet comrades : "Of what 
 use will an education be, after we have been conquered. Boys, 
 we must all join the Army; our country needs us. For my 
 part, I can not stay here longer." He immediately resigned, 
 and enlisted as a private, but was soon promoted, and, in less 
 than ten months, sealed his devotion on the bloody field of 
 Spottsylvania, crying: "Charge, boys, charge; the battery is 
 ours." His brigade commander. General Lane, in geiieral 
 orders, said: "Lieutenant Haigh was among the foremost in 
 the charge upon the battery, and won the admiration of all 
 who saw him." 
 
 *Hairston, John Adams, from Henry County, Va. Private, 24th 
 Va. Infantry. Killed at the battle of Williamsburg, ^lay 5, 
 1862. 
 
 **Halcomb, Thomas Henry, from Marengo County, Ala. (For- 
 merly of Mecklenburg County, Va.) Captain, Co. A, 11th Ala. 
 Infantry. Killed at Frazier's Farm, June, 1862. 
 
 ♦Confederate surgeons left with the wounded reported that Generals 
 McClellan and Hancock said this regiment and the .">th North Carolina Infantry 
 (both of Early's Brigade) deserved to have the word •■immortal" inscribed on 
 their flags. 
 
 **He lost the index finger of his right hand in the battle of Seven Pines; 
 but, nothing daunted, he led his regiment in the bloody battle of Frazier's 
 Farm, thirty days afterwards, and fell in the successful assult on a 10 gun 
 battery. He was first lieutenant at Seven Pines and was promoted immediately 
 afterwards.
 
 440 The Military History of 
 
 Hambrick, Joseph Adam, from Franklin County, Va. Major, 24th 
 Va. Infantr}'. Mortally wounded May 16th at Drewry's Bluff, 
 and died May 29, 1864. 
 
 Hammet, William Richard (aged 19), from Montgomery Coimty, 
 Va. (One of three cadet brothers who were gallant Confed- 
 erate officers.) Captain, Co. I, Colonel Henry Edmondson's 
 Regiment of Infantry from Montgomery County, Va. Died in 
 prison, June 30, 1865. 
 
 Hammond, George Newkirk, from Berkeley County, W. Va. 
 Captain, Co. B, 1st Va. Cavalry. Died* May 16, 1864, of 
 wound received near Richmond. 
 
 Hannah, Joel Morton, from Charlotte County, Va. Private, 
 V. M. I. Corps Cadets. Died April 17, 1865, from exposure 
 in the trenches around Richmond, while serving with the 
 Battalion of Cadets. 
 
 Hardy, Julian Breedlove, from New Orleans, La. 2d Lieutenant, 
 Crescent (La.) Regiment Infantry. Killed at Murfreesboro, 
 Tenn., January 20, 1862. (A younger cadet brother survived 
 the War.) 
 
 Harman, Thomas Lewis, from Staunton, Va. 1st Lieutenant, 
 Staunton (Va.) Artillery. Died of fever in the military service, 
 September 15, 1861. 
 
 Harrison, Carter Henry, from Cumberland County, Va. Major, 
 11th Va. Infantry. Killed at the battle of Bull Run, July 18, 
 1861. This noble Christian soldier wrote a few days before he 
 was killed: "I desire to place myself entirely at the disposal 
 of my Heavenly Father, knowing that if the first bullet I hear 
 reaches my own body, or if, on the other hand, I should return 
 home without seeing the flash of a gun, it will all be best for 
 me in time, and best for me in eternity." And two days later: 
 "I shall put my sword, etc., all in readiness before going to 
 bed, and commit myself and all my dear ones to the care of 
 Him 'without whom not a sparrow falleth to the ground.' " 
 His son and grandson have followed him at the V. M. I. 
 
 Hart, T Goodwin, from Warrenton, Va. Sergeant-Major, 
 
 17th Va. Infantry. Mortally wounded at the battle of 
 Drewry's Bluff, May 12-16, 1864, and died two weeks later, at 
 Chimborazo Hospital, Richmond, Va. 
 
 Hartsfield, Alva Curtis, from Wake County, N. C. Private, 
 Corps Cadets. Died June 26, 1864. He fought bravely at 
 New Market, and afterwards went with the Corps to the 
 vicinity of Richmond. While in camp there he was taken ill 
 and carried to a hospital. Evincing a great desire to go to his 
 home, he was allowed a furlough. He attempted to walk from 
 Richmond to Petersburg, and fell by the wayside exhausted, 
 and remained there until discovered by a passer-by. He was 
 carried to the hospital in Petersburg, and tenderly nursed, but,
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 441 
 
 after lingering for several days, died from a relapse from 
 measles. 
 
 Haynes, Luther Gary, from Essex County, Va. Private, Corps 
 Cadets. Mortally wounded at New Market, May 15, 1864, 
 and died one month afterwards at St. Charles Hotel Hospital, 
 Richmond, Va. 
 
 Helm, R Henry, from Fauquier County, Va. Private, Black 
 
 Horse Cavalry. Wounded at Trevilians, June 11, 1864, and 
 died from maltreatment of surgeon in delaying the amputation 
 of his leg. 
 
 Heth, John, from Powhatan County, Va. 2d Lieutenant, 1st Va. 
 (Irish) Battalion Infantry. Mortally wounded at battle of 
 Kernstown, and died soon afterwards. 
 
 Hill, John Wesley, from Rappahannock County, Va. Lieutenant 
 (command not known). Killed at Gettysburg. 
 
 Hopkins, Samuel Coffman, from Rockingham County, Va. Pri- 
 vate, McNeill's Rangers. Died just after returning from 
 prison, March 31, 1864. 
 
 Hunter, Henry Woodis, from Norfolk, Va. 2d Lieutenant, C. S. 
 Ordnance. Died in the military service, January 15, 1862. 
 His commander. Col. Briscoe G. Baldwin, said in his official 
 announcement of his death: "Lieut. Hunter, by his amiability, 
 intelligence, and gentlemanly deportment, had endeared him- 
 self to very person connected with the post. He was a most 
 promising young officer. I have lost a noble comrade, the 
 service a gallant soldier." 
 
 Irvine, Alexander J , from Bedford County, Va. Corporal, 
 
 Co. G, 2d Va. Cavalry. Killed at 1st Manassas, July 21, 1861. 
 
 *Jackson, Alfred Eugene, from Washington County, Tenn. Ad- 
 jutant, 29th Tenn. Infantry. Died from disease contracted in 
 the military service, March 6, 1862. 
 
 Jameson, James H , from Culpeper County, Va. Captain, 
 
 Va. Infantry. Was seriously wounded at Drainsville, 
 
 and captured. After a long imprisonment in 1863, died in 
 Richmond, in 1864, on his way home. 
 
 **Jarrell, Thomas George, from Mercer County, W. Va. Lieu- 
 tenant, Co. B, 36th Va. Infantry. Killed June 5, 1864. 
 
 *His ancestors both paternal and maternal held conspicuous positions in 
 the Army of their country, I)oth in the Revolution and in the War of 1812. In 
 the battle of Fishing Creek, Kentucky, he commanded his regiment, having 
 his horse killed under him. 
 
 **Throughout the campaign in Northwestern Virginia, he behaved with 
 distinguished gallantry, being severely wounded in the battle of Fayetteville, 
 but remained on the field until the enemy was put to flight. At the battle of 
 Piedmont, on the 5th of .June, 1864, after the brave General Jones was killed, 
 and the enemy was breaking through our lines in all directions, Lieutenant 
 Jarrell. rallying his company, covered the retreat across the river. This little 
 band, by their determined resistance, checked the advance of the enemy until 
 a crossing had been effected. To accomplish this, however, most of the com- 
 pany were captured, or killed, among the latter. Lieutenant Jarrell, shot dead 
 on the field. He fell with his face to the foe, his name on the lips of many 
 who by his bravery that day had escaped capture, or death, themselves.
 
 442 The Military History of 
 
 Jefferson, Monroe Garland, from Amelia County, Va. Private, 
 Co. B, Corps Cadets. Killed at New Market, May 15, 1864. 
 
 Johnston, Peyton, Jr., from Richmond, Va. 2d Lieutenant, Rich- 
 mond Fayette Artillery. Killed at 2d Cold Harbor, June 12, 
 186i. (A younger brother graduated at the V. M. I., and be- 
 came a very distinguished electrical engineer, and built the first 
 electric railway in the world, at Richmond, Va.) 
 
 *JoNES, Edward Pope, M. D., from Middlesex County, Va. Colonel 
 of Va. Militia. Captured and imprisoned at Fort Delaware, 
 and while a prisoner was murdered by his guard in 1864. 
 
 **JoNES, Francis Buckner, from Frederick County, Va. Major, 
 2d Va. Infantry. Lost a leg at Cold Harbor, June 27, 1862, 
 and died in Richmond, July 9, 1862. 
 
 Jones, Henry Jenner, from King William County, Va. Private, 
 Co. D, Corps Cadets. Killed at New Market, May 15, 1864. 
 
 Jones, William David, from Rockbridge County, Va. Surgeon, 
 C. S. A. Died in service, 1862. 
 
 JoRDON, Harry E , from Richmond, Va. Private, "Liberty Hall 
 
 Volunteers." Later transferred to a North Carolina Regiment. 
 Died of wounds received in battle, June 15, 1864. 
 
 Keeling, Robert H , from Richmond, Va. Captain, 13th Ala. 
 
 Infantry. Killed at Seven Pines, May 31, 1862, while acting 
 colonel. 
 
 fKEiTER, William, from Hampshire County, W. Va. Captain, 
 Tenn. Heavy Artillery. Killed by the bursting of the big gun, 
 "The Lady Polk," at Fort DeRussey, near Columbus, Ky., 
 November 8, 1861. 
 
 *At the oi-gauization of one of the first companies in his county, Colonel 
 Jones had become a member, but had withdrawn, and was. in May, 1863. still 
 holding his commission of colonel of the Middlesex Militia. At that time 
 Kilpatrick made a raid through the county. Col. .Tones endeavored to raise 
 a force to oppose the enemy, but could get together in the hurry only about 30 
 old men who were utterly undisciplined and poorly armed. He. therefore, 
 abandoned his purpose, and went to a neighbor's residence where that night 
 he was captured by the enemy and sent to .Johnson's Island, and thence to 
 Fort Delaware. The late gallant Lieutenant-Colonel (Dr.) William S. Christian 
 of the ,5.5th Virginia Infantry, was a fellow prisoner with him at .Tolmson's 
 Island for a while, before his own removal to another prison, and he related 
 the following account of his murder, as given by Captain Slielton, an eye- 
 witness. Colonel .Tones was very lame and required assistance in walking. 
 Returning from the "sinks" with the aid of Captain Shelton, one day in 1864, 
 the sentinel ordered him to walk faster. "This man is lame and can not walk 
 faster." said Shelton. The sentinel then ordered Shelton to "let liim go." 
 adding, "He has to walk faster, or he will not walk any more." and tlien com- 
 manded Shelton to "step aside," and immediately fired at .Tones, some yards 
 away, with his side turned toward him. The ball broke his arm and went 
 through his body. He died some hours afterward ; and it was said this 
 sentinel was promoted first sergeant for such an heroic act as "killing a 
 rebel." Colonel Christian said he knew these facts to be true. (See "Rebellion 
 Records.") 
 
 **His biographer said of this gallant officer and godly man. — "Duty to God 
 and man, — the discharge of conscientious Christian dutv, was the pole-star 
 towards which all his efforts tended, and on which the whole action of his 
 life was based. 
 
 He suffered and died with the self-abnegation of a martyr, and the un- 
 flinching courage and calm composure of a Christian hero and soldier." 
 
 tVarious accounts by eye-witnesses have been given of this incident, but 
 these seem to be the facts : The big gun was an 8-ton rifled Columbia and 
 carried a projectile (cone-shaped) that weighed 128 pounds. It had first been
 
 The Vibginia Military Institute 443 
 
 Kent, James Randal, Jr., from Pulaski County, Va. 2d Lieu- 
 tenant, Co. E, 24th Va; Infantry. Died near Fairfax Station, 
 Va., September 4, 1861, from disease contracted in the military 
 service. 
 
 KiNCHELOE, James Macon, from Fauquier County, Va. Adjutant, 
 17th Tenn. Infantry. Died of disease August 26, 1861. Liv- 
 ing in Tennessee at the breaking out of the War. he was ap- 
 pointed by the Governor drillmaster, with the rank of major; 
 but desirous of reaching his native state, he finally attached 
 himself to the 17th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, as adjutant, 
 this regiment being then under marching orders to join the 
 Army in Virginia, at Manassas. Overtaken by disease at 
 Bristol, he died on the 26th of August, 1861. The officers of the 
 regiment met September 17, 1861, and passed resolutions most 
 complimentary to their late associate, testifying to his "natural 
 genius, scientific attainments, and personal excellencies," and 
 his preeminent qualifications as a tactician and a soldier. 
 
 Kinney, Thomas Colston, from Staunton, Va. Lieutenant, Staff 
 of General EdAvard Johnson. Died at Staunton on July 28, 
 1863, of typhoid fever. 
 
 His first assignment was as lieutenant of artillery in the com- 
 mand of General Wise in Northwestern Virginia, and at 
 Roanoke Island. In the disastrous fight at the latter place, 
 after firing the last round of ammunition from his howitzer, 
 on the flank of the sea-coast batteries, he fell from the effects 
 of the concussion of a shell, and was taken prisoner. After his 
 exchange, he served as lieutenant of engineers until the fall of 
 his great Chief at Chancellorsville, when he was transferred to 
 the Staff of General Edward Johnson, and bore up under im- 
 paired health until the return of the Army from Pennsylvania 
 to his native soil, when he was stricken down by disease and 
 brought home to die. 
 
 fli-ed (with great effect) the day before (Xov. 7. 1861), at the battle of Belmont. 
 The gun was mounted on a high bluff at Fort DeRussey. overlooking the 
 Mississippi River and the field of Belmont opposite. The day after the battle 
 of Belmont, in the forenoon. General Polk came to the works on a tour of 
 inspection and sent for Captain Keiter of the Heavy Artillery, who had had 
 command of this gun the day before. The General complimented him and his 
 men on the skill and efficiency with which they handled the gun in the previous 
 day's engagement, in a very handsome manner, which gratified the captain 
 very much. It was learned' that the gun had been left loaded, and Captain 
 Keiter suggested that it be discharged. To this General Polk acquiesced. 
 Thereupon the captain ordered up the "firing squad." There was nothing 
 (several witnesses declare) said about anything being wrong with the pro- 
 jectiles, or suggesting danger, else General Polk would not have risked the 
 lives of those around to gratify a whim, (yet there were such rumors im- 
 mediately after the accident). When the gun was fired by Captain Keiter 
 it hurst, and the smaller powder magazine under the parapet blew up. Eleven 
 were killed, ineluding Captain Keiter and his whole firing squad, besides 
 Lieutenant Snowden of the Engineers, and Major Ford of General Polk's 
 Staff, and the General himself was knocked senseless ; he was carried to his 
 quarters and in a few weeks was out again, but he was never a well man 
 afterwards. After the war, Captain Keiter's old company had his remains 
 brought to Shelbyville, Tennessee, and erected a monument over his grave 
 in the Confederate Cemetery of that place.
 
 444 The Military History of 
 
 KiRBY, Edmund, from Richmond, Va. Lieutenant-Colonel, 58th 
 N. C. Infantry. Killed at Chickamauga. (Son of Major Regi- 
 nald Marvin Kirby, 1st Regiment Artillery, U. S. Army, who 
 died in the servuce of his country during the Florida War. His 
 paternal grandfather was Colonel Ephraim Kirby, of the Con- 
 tinental Army, who served with gallantry and distinction 
 throughout the Revolutionary War, and was one of the original 
 members of the "Society of the Cincinnati." A great jurist, he 
 took part in the negotiations for the purchase of Louisiana, 
 and was afterwards Judge of the Superior Court of that state. 
 His mother was a daughter of David Barclay, a descendant of 
 the family of John Knox, the Reformer, who came from Scot- 
 land, settled in Richmond, Va., 1806, and later married Ann 
 Hooff Gretter, of Alexandria, Va.) Edmund Kirby graduated 
 at the Virginia Military Institute in 1861, having been matricu- 
 lated by his mother who after her husband's death, when 
 Edmund was three years old, returned with her five children 
 to her father's home in Richmond. 
 
 After serving with the Corps of Cadets, drilling the 
 volunteer troops at Camp Lee, Richmond, he was relieved and 
 attached to a Tennessee Regiment, and marched with it to 
 Harper's Ferry; but a severe illness compelled his return to 
 Richmond. Upon his recovery, he joined R. Lindsay Walker's 
 Battery, as a private, and was soon made a sergeant. Soon 
 the whole company was placed under his instruction, and the 
 efficiency it afterwards displayed in action justified the trust 
 reposed in him. 
 
 In 1863, upon the application of Colonel J. B. Palmerj com- 
 manding the 58th North Carolina Infantry and 5th Battalion 
 North Carolina Cavalry, Kirby was transferred, and appointed 
 adjutant of the 58th regiment. He became the favorite of his 
 regiment, and, on the resignation of its lieutenant-colonel, was 
 almost unanimously elected by his comrades to fill the vacancy. 
 Before his commission arrived, but some time after he had 
 entered upon his new duties, the battle of Chickamauga 
 occurred. 
 
 Through an error of brigade formation, Kirby's regiment 
 reached the summit of the hill some little time before the re- 
 maider of the brigade came under fire. His regiment was thus 
 subjected to a severe cross fire, under which Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Kirby fell, pierced by five balls, with the words: 
 "Drive them, boys," on his lips. No more gallant officer fell 
 in that bloody conflict. A brother had fallen earlier in the 
 War, and the remains of the two heroes reposed together in 
 the family burial-plot in old Shockoe Cemetery, Richmond, Va. 
 
 KooNTZ, Hugh Ramsey Thompson, from Shenandoah County, Va. 
 Captain, Co. K, 7th Va. Cavalry. Mortally wounded while
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 445 
 
 commanding his regiment in pursuit of Sheridan (a few miles 
 from his home), and died the next day, October 8, 1864. 
 
 Lackland, Francis, from Charles Town, W. Va. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, 2d Va. Infantry. Died September 4, 1861, from 
 disease contracted in the military service. At the first battle 
 of Manassas his conduct was marked by such coolness and 
 gallantry that he was mentioned by name by General Johnston 
 in his official report of the battle. The Spirit of Jefferson, the 
 leading paper of his section, on the morning after his death, 
 said: "He entered the service as a lieutenant-colonel, in deli- 
 cate health, yet, neither the advantage of position nor the 
 entreat}' of friends could prevent him from sharing alike with 
 all his comrades in arms the exposure of camp, the fatigue of 
 the drill, and, of all else, that which was most dear to his 
 heart, the danger and peril of battle. The bloody record of 
 Manassas bears evidence of his undaunted courage, scientific 
 skill, ardent and patriotic devotion to his native State. There 
 was no post of danger that he did not covet, that honor might 
 be won by his regiment and victory for the day." 
 
 Langhorne, Jacob Kent, from Christiansburg, Va. Private, 2d 
 Va. Cavalry. Killed near Brandy Station, June 9, 1863. 
 
 Latimer, Joseph White, from Prince William County, Va. Major, 
 Andrews' Battalion of Artillery. Wounded July 2d, at Gettys- 
 burg, losing his right arm; died August 1, 1863. 
 
 He was called the "Boy Major," though he was really a 
 lieutenant-colonel when he died. He was a most brilliant 
 young officer. The immortal Jackson, his old preceptor at the 
 V. M. I., thus spoke of him when he was a lieutenant under 
 his command: "This young officer was conspicuous for the 
 coolness, judgment, and skill with which he managed his 
 battery, fully supporting the opinion I had formed of his high 
 merit." Many such compliments did he receive from officers 
 of high rank. General Ewell called him his "little Napoleon." 
 Major A. R. Courtney who was lieutenant of the "Hampden 
 Artillery" which Latimer drilled at the Camp of Instruction 
 in Richmond, in June, 1861, has written very feelingly of him, 
 in "The Virginia Military Institute Memorial." 
 
 "^Vhile on drill," Major Courtney said, "we paid him the 
 utmost respect, both men and officers yielding prompt 
 obedience to ever}' order, and off drill we fondled and caressed 
 him as if he were a child. He was the 'officers' pet,' and we 
 always spoke of him as 'our little Latimer.' " (He was then 
 about 18 years old, small but dapper, and a superb cadet officer 
 and most efficient drillmaster.) 
 
 Major Courtney said those under his command all loved him, 
 and never was one heard to speak of him in any but terms of 
 the highest praise.
 
 446 The Military History or 
 
 When wounded liis horse was killed and fell on him. 
 Captain Dement of the same battalion, who was with him on 
 the field of Gettysburg, and assisted in removing him from 
 the field, said: "His bearing during the day was most gallant, 
 showing the greatest coolness and bravery under the most try- 
 ing circumstances," and that while he was under his horse he 
 continued to give orders and seemed to think only of his com- 
 mand, undismayed by the King of Terrors — an artillery officer, 
 not yet twenty years of age, whose equal could scarcely be 
 found in the Armies of the Confederacy. Asked by his brother. 
 Dr. Latimer, if he was afraid to die, he answered: "No, for 
 mj' trust is in God." 
 
 His remains found sepulture in the Cemetery at Harrison- 
 burg, Va., where a fitting monument will soon be erected to his 
 memory. 
 
 Lauck, Charles Edward, M. D., from Winchester (later Rock- 
 bridge County), Va.. 2d Lieutenant, -1th Va. Infantry. Died 
 of typhoid fever in the military service, August 7, 1862. 
 
 Lawrence, Walter Allen, from Nansemond County, ^''a. Private, 
 Co. F, 9th Va. Infantry. Died at Banner Hospital, Richmond, 
 Va., October 28, 1862, of disease contracted in the military 
 service. (He was exempt from military service on account of 
 lameness from childliood, but he insisted on enlisting.) 
 
 Lawson, John, from Richmond, Va. Major, 59th Va. Infantry. 
 Wounded in the head at Five Forks, and died from the effects 
 in 1870. 
 
 Lee, Nathaniel Ware, from Greenville, Miss. Private, Co. D, 
 28th Mississippi Cavalry. Died from wound, June 17, 1863. 
 
 Lee, William Fitzhugh, from Fairfax. County, Va. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, 33d Va. Infantry. Mortally wounded at First 
 Manassas. 
 
 After graduating in 1853 at the V. M. I., he received a 
 commission in the Army as second lieutenant. While serving 
 at his po.st at the Arsenal in St. Louis, early in 1861, news 
 came of the stirring events transpiring in his native State. He 
 expressed disapprobation of the course being pursued by the 
 Federal Government towards the South, whereupon he was 
 arrested by Captain Lyons (of bloody notoriety), and kept a 
 prisoner until court-martialed. After his release, sending in 
 his resignation, he hurried to Virginia to offer her his sword. 
 He was first appointed captain in the Confederate Army and 
 was ordered to duty at Harper's Ferry. While engaged in the 
 training of the raw recruits of the recently formed Army, he 
 Avas commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 33d Virginia 
 Infantry. On the field of First Manassas he twice captured 
 Ricketts' famous Battery, but so galling was the fire that each
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 447 
 
 time it was lost. The third time, it was taken and kept; but, 
 ere this was accomplished. Colonel Lee fell mortally wounded. 
 He lingered several days at a private house in the vicinity of 
 the battlefield, tenderly nursed by his wife and friends, and 
 visited by his father's friend, the Rev. Dr. Andrews, a fellow- 
 clergyman of tlie Episcopal Church. 
 
 He was perfectly resigned to the will of his Heavenly 
   Father, yet his love for his mother made him call often for her, 
 sorrowing for the crushing blow that he knew was so soon to 
 fall upon her. The dying blessing of his good father, the 
 Reverend William F. Lee, had rested upon him from his fifth 
 yeai', and, all through his fatherless boyhood and matured life, 
 there was a chivalry in his devotion to his widowed mother 
 that made him ever mindful of her happiness. "He had lived 
 a soldier and a Christian ; he died, proudly vindicating his 
 title to the former, and, through faith in Christ Jesus, humbly 
 trustful that he was the latter." 
 
 General Jackson spoke of his gallantry and courage in tlie 
 highest terms, and expressed to Hunter McGuire, his Medical 
 Director, the most profound regret at his loss. 
 
 Leftwich, James Claytor, from Franklin County, Va. Private, 
 Co. I. 2d Va. Cavalry. Killed while a prisoner at Kelly's Ford, 
 March 17, 1863. 
 
 He was a drillmaster with the Corps of Cadets in Richmond 
 from April to the early part of June, 1861. In July, he 
 volunteered in Co. B. 1 Ith Va. Infantry, commanded by his 
 brother, Captain Thomas Leftwich. He later joined Co. I. 
 2d Va. Cavalry. He was in all the battles around Richmond 
 from the 26th to the 30th of June, 1862, and bore a con- 
 spicuous part in all tlie battles in which his splendid regiment 
 was engaged, under the gallant Munford (V. ]\I. I.), up to the 
 time of the battle of Kelly's Ford, 17th ]\Iarch. 1863, where his 
 horse was shot under him. and he was captured. Our cavalry 
 drove the enemy back ; but. to prevent his recapture, or escape 
 rather, they shot him in the left side, the ball lodging in the 
 spine. His wound proved fatal ; lingering in excruciating 
 agony till June 10th. he died at the home of his brother, in 
 Bedford County, Va. 
 
 A gallant and fearless soldier, ever at his post, always in 
 the hottest of the fight, lie received his deathblow from an 
 unworthy foe, who violated every law of humanity and civili- 
 zation in this dastardly act. 
 
 Lewis. Andrew Donnelly, from Kanawha County, W. Va. 
 Captain, "Crescent Rifles," of New Orleans. Wounded at 
 Shiloh, he died just before (or just after) the War ended, of 
 his wound.
 
 448 The Military History of 
 
 Logan, Richard, Jr., from Halifax County, Va. Captain, Co. H, 
 Uth Va. Infantry. Killed, Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. His 
 company was mustered into the service of the State in May, 
 1861, and was subsequently transferred to the service of the 
 Confederate States. His regiment was first engaged at Seven 
 Pines, and subsequently with distinction in the bloody battle 
 of Malvern Hill, Captain Logan being in command of the 
 regiment during the latter part of that battle. 
 
 He commanded his company in all the battles fought except 
 Chancellorsville, at which time his division was investing 
 Suffolk, — until the day of his death, — Second Manassas, 
 Sharpsburg, Harper's Ferry, Fredericksburg, Suffolk, and, 
 lastly, Gettysburg. He led his company in the celebrated 
 charge of Pickett's Division on the ever-memorable 3d of July, 
 1863; and, at the close of the action, after having aided in 
 capturing the enemy's guns, he fell, facing the enemy, pierced 
 by a ball which passed entirely through his body, about the 
 region of the heart. He died without uttering a word. 
 
 Lyle, Alexander, from Charlotte County, Va. Private, Mosby's 
 Cavalry Battalion. Mortally wounded in the summer of 1868, 
 at Warrenton Junction. 
 
 He enlisted before he had reached his seventeenth year. He 
 fell into the hands of the enemy by whom he was carried to 
 Alexandria, where he died in a hospital, in the month of June 
 of that year. 
 
 Just one year before, his gallant brother, Captain Matthew 
 Lyle, fell in the battle of Gaines's Mill. 
 
 Alexander Lyle was attended in his last moments by a 
 Federal chaplain. He died composedly about two o'clock in 
 the afternoon. When death came, he met it with fortitude and 
 resignation, and passed away without visible pain or struggle, 
 receiving the last offices of Christian benevolence at the hands 
 of those with whom resentment had melted into admiring pity. 
 He sleeps side by side with his Northern adversaries, and when 
 flesh and heart were failing, received this unsolicited and un- 
 looked-for tribute from the stranger: "A brave and noble 
 young man !" 
 
 Lynch, David Campbell, from Abingdon, Va. Private, "Wash- 
 ington Mounted Riflemen." Died at Orange C. H., Va., March 
 3, 1863, from disease contracted in the military service. 
 
 Macon, Edgar, from Orange County, Va. 2d Lieutenant, Thomas's 
 Artillery. Killed at First Manassas, July 21, 1861. Lieu- 
 tenant Macon, after having borne the heat and burden of the 
 day, fell a victim to a random shot, fired after the battle was 
 over and the enemy were retiring. He had just mounted his 
 horse, preparatory to withdrawing from the field, when he was 
 struck by a shell and instantly killed.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 449 
 
 He was the only son of a widowed mother, and left a wife 
 and an infant son born three days before his death. He was a 
 great-nephew of President Madison, and his remains repose 
 in the Cemetery at Montpelier, where rest his ancestors of 
 many generations. 
 
 Macon, Miles Gary, from Hanover County, Va. Captain, Rich- 
 mond "Fayette Artillery." Killed April 8, 1865. 
 
 From the beginning to the end, he was the commander of 
 this famous battery. He passed through many battles un- 
 touched, and was reserved for one of the last victims, being 
 killed at Appomattox Courthouse, the day before the surrender 
 of the Army of Northern Virginia. 
 
 Madison, John Young Stockdell, from Petersburg, Va. Private, 
 Braxton's Artillery. Died of fever soon after the battle of 
 First Manassas, and near the battlefield. 
 
 Magruder, John Bowie, from Albemarle County, Va. Colonel, 
 57th Va. Infantry. Killed at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. 
 
 He had graduated at the close of the session of 1859-60, at 
 the University of Virginia, with the degree of Master of Arts, 
 in his 21st year. In the spring of 1861, he matriculated at the 
 V. M. I., for the purpose of perfecting himself in military' 
 science, as a preparation for the exigencies of the War, then 
 imminent. He made a superb officer, rising to eminence while 
 still very young, and sealing his devotion to his country with 
 his life's blood, at Gettysburg. 
 
 Mallory, Francis, from Hampton, Va. Colonel, 55th Va. Infan- 
 try. Killed at Chancellorsville, May 2, 1863. 
 
 He graduated in 1853. Three years afterwards, he was com- 
 missioned second lieutenant in the Fourth United States Infan- 
 try. For five years he was in active service in Oregon and 
 Washington Territories, and received his first experience of 
 warfare on the slopes of the Pacific. Ambitious of glory, daring 
 and resolute, he shrank from neither danger nor difficulties, but 
 courted adventure. On one occasion, he, personally and alone, 
 captured an Indian chief, and, disarming him, brought him a 
 prisoner to the post. On April 2, 1861, he wrote his mother 
 from Fort Cascades: " . . I consider it as much my 
 
 duty to side with my State against all enemies, as I would to 
 defend and protect you, my dear mother, from the whole world, 
 right or wrong. Should I fall in the defense of my mother, 
 or my State, the only regret would be that I had not a hundred 
 lives to offer, instead of one." "Such a sentiment is the key 
 of the whole man, since he who could feel and pen it, and then 
 die in its support, possessed all the elements of true manhood 
 and greatness !" 
 
 29
 
 j,oO The Military History of 
 
 Marable, David Adoniram Judson, from Sussex County, Va. 
 Private, Co. A, 41st Va. Infantry. Wounded in Seven Days' 
 battles around Richmond, while carrying his regiment's colors, 
 and died in Richmond, — 1862. 
 
 Marh. John Quincv, from Warrenton, Va. Captain, "Warrenton 
 Rifles." Killed at Fairfax C. H., Va., June 1, 1861. "First 
 blood of the War." 
 
 Commissioned lieutenant-colonel in the active volunteer 
 forces of Virginia (commission bearing date 5th of May, 1861). 
 Graduated at V. M. I., July 4, 1846, "Second Distinguished." 
 Assistant Professor, V. M. I. ; Presiding Justice of Magis- 
 trate's Court; High Sheriff of Fauquier County; Member 
 Secession Convention of Virginia. 
 
 Marshall, James Keith, from Fauquier County, Va. Colonel, 
 52d N. C. Infantry. Killed at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, 
 aged 24. 
 
 He commanded Pettigrew's Brigade in the battle. He had 
 passed the stone fence in the charge on Cemetery Hill, and, 
 while cheering his men, received two balls in his forehead 
 Avhich caused his instant death. 
 
 Matthews, Walter T , from Richmond, Va. Private, 3d Rich- 
 mond Howitzers. Killed at Fredericksburg, December 13, 
 1862. 
 
 May, Benj. Harrison, M. D., from Petersburg, Va. Color- 
 Bearer, 12th Va. Infantry. Mortally wounded at Spottsyl- 
 vania C. H., and died May 16, 1864. He behaved with 
 dauntless courage, all witnesses testify. 
 
 McCance, Robert Gardner, from Richmond, Va. Private, Otey 
 Battery. Killed in camp, near Petersburg, Va., April 27, 
 1862, while walking from his tent to his gun, by a shot from 
 the enemy's guns. 
 
 His captain, the brave David N. Walker, wrote his father: 
 I have never heard an oath or an unclean speech 
 from him — things so common in the Army — and he was re- 
 markably free from all bad habits which fell constantly under 
 his eye. I mean what I say, when I call him noble, manly, 
 generous, brave !" 
 
 McDonald, Craig Woodrow, from Hampshire County, W. Va. 
 Aide-de-Camp to General Elzey. Killed, Gaines's Mill, June, 
 1862. (Brother of Colonel Marshall McDonald, professor for 
 many years at the V. M. I., and of Kenneth McDonald, 
 graduated in 1873.) 
 
 He had a presentiment that he would be killed in this battle, 
 yet the feeling did not dampen the ardor of his zeal. He saw 
 a portion of the lines wavering, and with quick perception 
 realized that disaster was imminent. Without waiting for
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 451 
 
 orders he hurriedly rode back for the reinforcements he knew 
 to be coming. General Walker gave the command to "double 
 quick." The column swept forward to the rescue, McDonald 
 at the head, waving his cap high in air, and, with clarion voice, 
 shouting: "Rescue!" A grapeshot struck him in the breast, 
 and he fell dead. 
 
 McDowell, William Hugh, from Mecklenburg County, N. C. 
 Private, Co. B, Corps Cadets. Killed at New Market, May 
 15, 1864. 
 
 McGehee, Nathaniel Madison, from Louisa County, Va. Private, 
 Co. C, 23d Va. Infantry. Killed near Strasburg, Va., May 28, 
 1862. 
 
 McKiNNEY, Robert M , from Lynchburg, Va. Colonel, 15th 
 
 N. C. Infantry. Killed on Virginia Peninsula, April 16, 1862. 
 
 He had expressed a conviction that he would be killed in his first 
 battle. How sadly was that foreboding realized! At the time 
 he was called to command this regiment, he occupied a pro- 
 fessor's chair in the North Carolina Military Institute. 
 
 Meares, Levin W , from Hampton, Va. Private, "Old Do- 
 minion Dragoons," Co. D, 3d Va. Cavalry. Died of typhoid 
 fever in the military service, in 1862. 
 
 Meem, James Lawrence, from Lynchburg, Va. Captain and A. 
 A.-G. Garland's Brigade. Killed at the battle of Seven Pines. 
 He spent the day in the thickest of the fight, cheering his men, 
 and sharing their hardships, and dangers, having two horses 
 killed under him. Towards its close, when inside the enemy's 
 breastworks from which they had been driven, he was pierced 
 by one of their balls and fell dead. 
 
 An officer of high rank, and his devoted friend, thus wrote 
 of Captain Meem: "I must tell you with what beautiful con- 
 sistency my gallant comrade each night drew out his Testa- 
 ment and reverently read a chapter before retiring to rest. 
 The regularity and feeling with which this was done — in the 
 camp, on the picket, in the very presence of the enemy — his 
 remarkable purity of character (almost woman-like), and 
 frequent expressions of his, inspired me with hope and con- 
 fidence. ... I shall think of him as a Bayard, 'Sans peur 
 et sans reproche.' . . . He is always spoken of as the 
 gallant Captain Meem." 
 
 (An older brother was likewise a graduate of the Virginia 
 Military Institute, whose five sons and grandson are also 
 graduates.) 
 
 Miller, Randolph Russell, from Shenandoah County, Va. 1st 
 Lieutenant, Co. A, 10th Va. Infantry. Killed at Chancellors- 
 ville, while leading his regiment, and after recapturing his 
 colors (his senior officers having fallen, and the colors having 
 been lost).
 
 452 The Military Histoey or 
 
 Milton, George Robert, M. D., from Winchester, Va. (later, 
 from Missouri). Colonel in Price's Army. Died May 31, 
 1866, from effects of exposure in the military service. 
 MoFFETT, John Stuart, from Rockbridge County, Va. Cadet 
 Drillmaster in 4th Va. Infantry, and a volunteer. Killed at 
 First Manassas, July 21, 1861. 
 
 (John Moffett, Charlie Moore, and Charlie Norris all be- 
 came brother-cadets within a few days of one another, entered 
 service together, and on the same day died for the common 
 Mother Country, in their first battle for her rights.) 
 Moffett, Walter Franklin, from Rappahannock County, Va. 
 Private, Co. B, 6th Va. Cavalry. Killed at Yellow Tavern, 
 May 11, 1864. 
 Montague, Andrew Jackson, from Middlesex County, Va. Pri- 
 vate, Co. C, 56th Va. Infantry. Died July 12th, from wound 
 received in battle of Gaines's Mill, June 27, 1862. 
 
 His gallant lieutenant-colonel (William S. Christian) wrote 
 the V. M. I. Historiographer: "I was commanding the regi- 
 ment in that fight, and young Montague was only a few feet 
 from me when he was shot. He turned to me and said, 
 'Colonel, I am shot, but I think I can continue to fight.' I 
 looked at him, and seeing the blood streaming from his arm 
 and body, said, 'Jack, go at once to the rear, and see the 
 surgeon.' That was the last time I ever saw him. He was a 
 most gallant and excellent soldier, in camp and in the field. 
 A short time before the battles around Richmond, in June. 
 1862, a vacancy occurred in Co. C, of junior second lieutenant. 
 At that time, the men elected their oflGicers. At that election, 
 Montague and my brother (Dr. R. A. Christian) were both 
 nominated. My brother was elected by only a majority of two 
 votes, thus showing the estimate in which Jack Montague was 
 held by his comrades." 
 Moomau, John Bean, from Pendleton County, W. Va. Captain, 
 "Franklin Guards." Died in military service, in 1864. 
 
 Moore, Charles W , from Abingdon, Va. Cadet Drillmaster 
 
 (acting captain). Killed at First Manassas July 21, 1861, as 
 a volunteer. 
 
 (See John S. Moffett above.) 
 
 Captain Robert McCulloch, a comrade of Moore's at the 
 V. M. I., found his body and buried it on the battlefield, and 
 wrote his mother where it was buried, and how the grave was 
 marked; so that his mother was able to identify the grave 
 and re-inter the body of her gallant young son. 
 Morgan, Edward Ford, from Augusta, Ga. Major, 8th Va. 
 Battalion Infantry. Died January 3, 1869, from disease con- 
 tracted in the military service.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 453 
 
 He is said to have been the youngest major in the Army, at 
 the time of his appointment. He was severely wounded at 
 Atlanta (at first thought mortally) by a minie ball which 
 passed through his neck, but after a few months he was able 
 to resume duty in the field. 
 
 After the disastrous battles of Franklin and Nashville (in 
 which he was not engaged, owing to a severe attack of ery- 
 sipelas, doubtless superinduced by his late serious wound), he 
 was in command of what remained of Gist's Brigade, though 
 he was only a major in rank. He clung to the western Army, 
 and shared its fate in North Carolina. 
 
 Few of his youthful compatriots possessed more of the 
 elements of a soldier. He was a boy in years, but a man in 
 attributes. The last few years of his short but eventful life 
 were spent in superintending a plantation in Alabama, and 
 there in the morning of life, on the 3d day of January, 1869, 
 he died, from disease contracted in the service of his country. 
 Morgan, William Henry, from Chesterfield County, Va. Captain, 
 Co. F, 21st Va. Infantry. Killed at Cedar Run, August 9, 
 1862. 
 
 He enlisted June, 1861, as adjutant of the 21st Va. Infan- 
 try, and was soon elected Captain of Co. F, of that regiment 
 (famous "I'" Co. of Richmond). His V. M. I. comrade. 
 Captain John D. Young (himself a gallant Confederate 
 officer), prepared for "The Virginia Military Institute 
 Memorial" a fitting and touching sketch of this superb soldier 
 and noble gentleman. "Perhaps," says Captain Young, "there 
 is nothing that so fascinates the gaze of the soldier and diverts 
 his attention from the horrors of the battlefield and its 
 attendant fears and misgivings, as the spectacle of an officer 
 who calmly and fearlessly looks death in the face ; one who 
 bears himself with the ease and serenity that becomes the 
 drawing-room, rather than the disordered arena of carnage; 
 who, without the least bravado, yet with the high pride and 
 courage that scorns the base thought of fear, encourages others, 
 and stands with waiting patience to meet his fate ; one, in 
 short, who knows no compromise with duty. In such noble 
 presence even the basest minds must feel the electric effect of 
 their proximity; it is the touch of nature that makes all akin, 
 and mesmerizes the mind and body of the crowd to the strong 
 will of the leader. 
 
 "Thus it was, that Morgan, reckless of his own life, moved 
 with careless ease before his men whom he compelled to lie 
 down under the severe artillery fire to which they were 
 exposed.
 
 454 The Military History of 
 
 "In the meantime, the pressure in front of the brigade had 
 become very much increased; the irregular line of skirmishers 
 were replaced by solid masses of infantry; the advance had 
 begun, and in a few minutes a fierce force poured down on the 
 2d Brigade, overlapping its left flank, and filling the gap 
 between the brigade and the "Stonewall." The last corps 
 (taken on the flank, and in reverse) at once broke, as did also 
 the left regiment of the 2d Brigade. It was reserved for the 
 21st Reeriment to stay the torrent, and hold in check for a few 
 minutes only (but yet how important even that time!) the 
 victorious enemy. 
 
 "In this melee, Morgan, ever foremost in action, met a 
 glorious death, while encouraging his men to stand fast and 
 do their duty. 
 
 "Thus fell, in the prime of life, a most gallant soldier and 
 virtuous gentleman. Throughout his military career, he never 
 failed either in the comprehension or performance of his duty ; 
 and, in the high promise that he gave of future usefulness, it is 
 not too much to say that the scope of his ofiice was far too 
 small to show the extent of his genius. No greater compliment 
 could be rendered him as an officer than the discipline of his 
 company under the trying circumstances of his death." 
 
 He graduated in 1860, "First Captain" of his Class, and 
 was immediately appointed an assistant professor at the 
 Institute. (Two younger brothers were also cadets with him.) 
 
 Morton, Tignal Jones, from Mecklenburg County, Va. Colonel, 
 
 53d Tenn. Infantry. Died , 1871, from effects of wounds 
 
 received in the military service. 
 
 Neff, John Francis, from Shenandoah County, Va. Colonel, 33d 
 Va. Infantry. Killed at Gainesville, Va., August 28, 1862. 
 
 NiEMEYER, John Chandler, from Portsmouth, Va. 1st Lieu- 
 tenant, Co. I, 9th Va. Infantry. Killed at Gettysburg, July 
 3, 1863. 
 
 NoRRis, Charles Robert, from Leesburg, Va. Cadet Drillmaster, 
 acting captain, 27th Va. Infantry. Killed, First Manassas. 
 (See J. S. Moffett above.) 
 
 Oliver, John Mayo, from Mecklenburg County, Va. Captain, 
 Oliver's Battery. Mortally wounded at Wytheville, Va.. and 
 died July 18, 1863. 
 
 Oliver, Yelverton Neal, from Roanoke County, Va. 1st Lieu- 
 tenant, "Roanoke Grays," 28th Va. Infantry, afterwards 
 Courier in Cavalry. Killed at Fisher's Hill, in the fall of 
 1864. (He was exempt from service in the field on account 
 of ill health, but insisted on serving.) 
 
 Otey, George Gaston, from Lynchburg, Va. Captain, Otey 
 Battery. Died October 21, 1862, from wound received at
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 4^55 
 
 Lewisburg. (One of five cadet brothers who were distin- 
 guished officers in the Confederate Army.) 
 Pannill, John Morton, from Patrick County, Va. Enlisted, but 
 
 died November, 1861, before entering the field. Private, 42d 
 
 Va. Infantry. 
 Park, William K , from Jackson County, Va. (W. Va.). 
 
 Lieutenant, Engineers. Died May 5, 1865, of disease con- 
 tracted in the service. 
 Parran, Wm. Sellman, M. D., from Herdy County, Va. (W. Va.). 
 
 Captain and Surgeon, Courtney's Battalion Artillery. Killed 
 
 at Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862. 
 Patterson, Reuben Blakey, M. D., from Amherst County, Va. 
 
 Captain and Assistant Surgeon, 5th Va. Infantry. Died 
 
 February 1, 1862, in the military service. 
 Patton, Geo. Smith, from Charleston, Va. (W. Va.). Colonel, 
 
 22d Va. Infantry. Mortally wounded at Winchester, and died 
 
 June 19, 1864. 
 Patton, Waller Tazewell, from Culpeper County, Va. Colonel, 
 
 7th Va. Infantry. Mortally wounded at Gettysburg, July 3, 
 
 1863, and died eighteen days afterwards. (Two of five 
 brothers in C. S. A. killed, four of whom being graduates of 
 the Institute.) 
 
 *Pearce, Robert Scott, from Richmond, Va. 1st Lieutenant, and 
 commanding Johnson's Battery. Mortally wounded. May 23, 
 
 1864, at Taylorsville, Va., and died next morning. 
 Pearson, John Rufus, from Salisbury, N. C. 1st Lieutenant, 7th 
 
 N. C. Infantry. Killed, Frazier's Farm, September 30, 1864. 
 
 Peebles, Hartwell Heath, from Petersburg, Va. 2d Lieutenant, 
 
 Hinton's Co., Deering's Cavalry. Died August , 1864, of 
 
 typhoid fever contracted in the military service. 
 
 Pegram, John Cargill, from Norfolk, Va. Captain and A. A.-G. 
 to General Matt. Ranson. Killed June 16, 1864. (Before 
 Petersburg.) 
 
 Pemberton, John Richard, from Goochland County, Va. Private, 
 4th Va. Cavalry. Killed by deserter he had been sent to ap- 
 prehend, who was riding behind him on his horse. 
 
 Pendleton, Edward, from Clarke County, Va. Lieutenant, Co. C, 
 nth Va. Infantry. Killed May 6, 1864. (The Wilderness.) 
 
 Pendleton, William Wood, from New Orleans, La. Private, 
 Washington Artillery. Died 1870, from the effects of the 
 military service. 
 
 Pennybacker, Thos. Jefferson, from Rockingham County, Va. 
 Captain, Co. H, 10th Va. Cavalry. Died December 6, 1861, 
 from wound received at Flint Hill, Va. 
 
 ♦The night before he was wounded, he heard of his wife's illness, but 
 said, "My duty is here." When his body reached Richmond, the funeral of 
 his young wife was taking place there, she having died on the same day and 
 hour with him.
 
 456 The Military History of 
 
 Petway, Oliver Cromwell, from Edgecombe County, N. C. Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel, 35th N. C. Infantry. Killed at Malvern Hill, 
 July 1, 1862. (In one year, he rose from a cadetship to the 
 command of a regiment.) 
 
 PiTTS^ John Henry, from King William County, Va. Captain of 
 a King William company which he raised, but died before he 
 could see active service, June 1, 1861. 
 
 Powell, Richard Harrison, from Tarboro, N. C. Lieutenant, Co. 
 G, 3d N. C. Cavalry. Mortally wounded near Dinwiddie 
 C. H., and died the following day, April 1, 1865. 
 
 Preston, William Caruthers, from Lexington, Va. Volunteer 
 cadet with "Liberty Hall Volunteers," 4th Va. Infantry. 
 Mortally wounded, Second Manassas, August 28, 1862, and 
 died the next day. (Third son of Col. J. T. L. Preston, 
 Professor, V. M. I.) 
 
 Price, George Simpson, from Botetourt County, Va. Private, Co. 
 C, 2d Va. Cavalry. Killed at Hartswood Church, Va., Feb- 
 ruary 26, 1863. 
 
 Randolph, William Henry, from Augusta County, Va. Captain, 
 Co. B, 5th Va. Infantry. Killed at Cold Harbor, June 27, 
 1862. 
 
 Redwood, John Tyler, from Mobile, Ala. Private, Albemarle 
 Artillery. Wounded at Cold Harbor, June 27, 1862. Died 
 July, 1862. (A younger brother served gallantly in the New 
 Market Battalion.) 
 
 Reveley, William Wirt, from Appomattox County, Va. Lieu- 
 tenant, Co. C, Lucas's Battalion Artillery from South Carolina. 
 Prisoner at time of surrender, and sick. Died October 25, 
 1865, from effects of the military service. 
 
 Rhodes, Edward Averett, from Stockton, Cal. 1st Lieutenant, 
 nth N. C. Infantry. Killed, with colors in hand, at Gettys- 
 burg, July 1, 1863." 
 
 Rice, Thomas Crenshaw, M. D., from Charlotte County, Va. Lieu- 
 tenant, 3d Va. Cavalry. Died July 20, 1862, from disease 
 contracted in the military service. 
 
 Richardson, John Quincy Adams, from Portsmouth, Va. Major, 
 52d N. C. Infantry. Killed at Gettysburg. 
 
 RiDDicK, Charles Henry, from Nansemond County, Va. Captain, 
 13th Va. Cavalry. Desperately wounded, and died August — , 
 1878, from effects of wound. 
 
 Ridley, John David, from Oxford, N. C. 1st Lieutenant of 
 Volunteers, later. Courier on Jackson's Staff. He never re- 
 covered from the injury to his head by the concussion of a 
 bursting shell in battle, and died early in 1865. 
 
 RoDES, Robert Emmet, from Lynchburg, Va. Major-General, 
 C. S. A. Killed, Winchester, Va., September 19, 1864..
 
 The Vieginia Military Institute 457 
 
 Rogers, Arthur Lee, from Loudoun County, Va. Major, Artillery. 
 Died from effects of wound received at Chancellorsville, 
 September 13, 1871. (Designer of flag adopted by Con- 
 federate Congress.) 
 
 Rutherford, Robert Henderson, from Cumberland County, Va. 
 Private, Co. G, 3d Va. Cavalry. Died in the military service, 
 January 18, 1863. 
 
 Scales, James Robert, from Patrick County, Va. Captain, Co. H, 
 54th Va. Infantry. Died November 9, 1866, from disease 
 induced by hardships and exposure in the campaign in 
 Tennessee, in winter of 1864-5. 
 
 Seaborn, George Andrew, from Sussex County, Va. Private, 13th 
 Va. Cavalry. Killed, Dinwiddie C. H., April 8, 1865. 
 
 Selden, William Boswell, from Norfolk, Va. 1st Lieutenant, 
 C. S. Engineers. Killed while acting as lieutenant of artillery, 
 at Roanoke Island, February 8, 1862. 
 
 Silvester, Keeling, from Norfolk, Va. Private, 15th Va. Cavalry. 
 Killed in 1864, defending a Southern woman, while on special 
 detail in North Carolina. 
 
 Simpson, Robert Henry, from Warren County, Va. Major, 17th 
 Va. Infantry. Lost leg at Drewry's Bluff, and died June 9, 
 1864. 
 
 Slaughter, Edward Mercer, from Rappahannock County, Va. 
 Private, 6th Va. Cavalry. Killed November 12, 1864, in the 
 Valley of Virginia. 
 
 Smith, Francis Williamson, from Norfolk, Va. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, Artillery. Mortally wounded and died next day, April 
 6, 1865, at Amelia Springs, Va. 
 
 Spears, John Walter, from Powhatan County, Va. Private, Co. 
 E, 4th Va. Cavalr3^ Died May 29, 1864, from wound received 
 at Spottsylvania C. H., May 8th. 
 
 Speed, Henry Goodridge, from Granville County, N. C. Private, 
 1st N. C. Cavalry. Killed, Poplar Spring Church, Va., August 
 21, 1864. 
 
 Stanard, Jaqueline Beverley, from Orange County, Va. Private, 
 Co. D, Corps Cadets. Killed at New Market, May 15, 1864. 
 
 Starke, Edward Butler, from New Orleans, La. (Son of Gen- 
 eral W. E. Starke, C. S. A., killed.) Adjutant, 7th Va. Infan- 
 try. Mortally wounded at Seven Pines, and died May 31, 1862. 
 
 Stewart, Benjamin F , from Westmoreland County, Va. 
 
 Captain, Co. K, 40th Va. Infantry. Killed, Spottsylvania 
 C. H., May 12, 1864. 
 
 Stone, Nolan, from Natchez, Miss. Sergeant, Co. B, 1st Engi- 
 neers, Army Northern Virginia. Died January 21, 1867, 
 from hardships and exposure of military service. 
 
 Strange, John Bowie, from Fluvanna County, Va. Colonel, 19th 
 Va. Infantry. Killed at South Mountain, September 14, 1862,
 
 458 The Military History of 
 
 after having previously (in the same battle) received two 
 wounds. (He was the first cadet posted as a sentinel, Novem- 
 ber 11, 1839, at the V. M. I.) 
 
 Stuart, William Dabney, from Staunton, Va. Colonel, 56th Va. 
 Infantry. Mortally wounded at Gettysburg, and died three 
 weeks afterwards. 
 
 SroDOTH, Francis Marion, from Fauquier County, Va. Adjutant, 
 26th Va. Infantry. Died October 30, 1861, of disease con- 
 tracted in the military service. 
 
 Sydnor, Richard Downing Boardman, from Northumberland 
 County, Va. 2d Lieutenant, Co. B, 40th Va. Infantry. From 
 three desperate wounds received June 30, 1862, in Seven Days' 
 battles near Richmond, he died July 22, 1862. 
 
 Taylor, Robert Craig, from Montgomery County, Va. Private, 
 Co. G, 4th Va. Infantry. Killed, Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862. 
 
 Taylor, Thomas Skelton, from Franklin County, Va. Captain, 
 Co. D, 24th Va. Infantry. Died October 4, 'l861, of typhoid 
 fever, contracted in the military service. 
 
 Terry, Charles Wentworth, from Pittsylvania County, Va. 
 Sergeant, Co. G, 11th Va. Infantry. Killed, Seven Pines, 
 May 31, 1862. 
 
 Thomas, Lewis M., from Christian County, Ky. Captain and Asst. 
 Adjutant-General, Staff, General B. H. Helm. Died at 
 Corinth, Miss., of typhoid fever. May 19, 1862, due to un- 
 healthful condition of the camp at Corinth. 
 
 Thomson, James Walton, from Clarke County, Va. Major, Horse 
 Artillery, Army Northern Virginia. Killed April 6, 1865 
 (after having been wounded the day before), while leading a 
 cavalry charge, on retreat to Appomattox. 
 
 Terrill, James Barbour, from Bath County, Va. Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral, Army Northern Virginia. Killed, Bethesda Church, Va., 
 May 31, 1864. 
 
 Tomes, Francis Iselin, from Memphis, Tenn. Private, V. M. I. 
 Corps Cadets. Died a few months after the War, from ex- 
 posure in the military service, with the Battalion of Cadets. 
 
 Tredway, Thomas Booker, from Pittsylvania County, Va. Ser- 
 geant, Co. I, 53d Va. Infantry. Mortally wounded at Gettys- 
 burg, July 3, 1863. (No further tidings ever received of him.) 
 
 Trout, Erasmus Stribling, from Staunton, Va. Captain, Co. H. 
 52d Va. Infantry. Died October 20, 1866, from effects of the 
 military service. 
 
 Turner, John Anderson, from Bladen Springs, Ala. 1st Lieu- 
 tenant, Robertson's Horse Artillery, attached to 1st La. 
 Cavalry, Army of Tennessee. Mortally wounded near Atlanta, 
 and died in hospital at Macon, Ga., July 23, 1864. 
 
 Tyler, Samuel, from Richmond, Va. 1st Lieutenant, C. S. Engi- 
 neers. Lingering from illness contracted in the military 
 service for two years, he died May 8, 1867.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 459 
 
 Urquhart, Charles Fox, from Southampton County, Va. Major, 
 3(i Va. Infantry. Killed at Sharpsburg^ with colors in hand, 
 September 17, 1862. 
 
 Van Epps, George Carroll, from Atlanta, Ga. Private, Co. A, 
 19th Tenn. Infantry. Died November 6, 1872, from disease 
 contracted in the military service. 
 
 Vaughan, Robert Francis, from Amelia County, Va. Private, 
 Co. G, 1st Va. Cavalry. Killed at Winchester, September 19, 
 1864. 
 
 *Waller, John Tyler, from Williamsburg, Va. Private, Mosby's 
 Cavalry. Killed March 14, 1865. 
 
 Walthall, James Alexander, from Richmond, Va. 1st Lieu- 
 tenant and Adjutant, 13th Va. Infantry. Died from exposure 
 soon after his appointment, early in summer of 1861. (He 
 was Ord. Sergeant of A Co., in Corps marched to Richmond 
 by Jackson, in April, 1861.) 
 
 Ward, John Cabell, from Lynchburg, Va. Captain, Co. E, 11th 
 Va. Infantry. Died March 7, 1866, from hardships suffered 
 in prison. 
 
 Ward, William Norwood, Jr., from Richmond County, Va. 
 Captain, 47th Va. Infantry. Died August 29, 1862, from 
 wound received at Gaines's Mill. 
 
 Warwick, Barksdale, from Richmond, Va. 1st Lieutenant and 
 Aide-de-Camp to General H. A. Wise. Killed March 29, 1866, 
 on retreat to Appomattox. 
 
 Watkins, William Edward, from Halifax County, Va. Ord. 
 Sergeant, Albright's Battery. Died a few months after the 
 War, of disease contracted in the military service. 
 
 Watson, William E., from Loudoun County, Va. C. S. A. (com- 
 mand unknown). Captured at Gettysburg, and died at John- 
 son's Island, 1863. 
 
 Wheatley, Mandly Taylor, from Warren County, Va. Major, 
 49th Va. Infantry. Died of typhoid fever contracted in the 
 military service, December — , 1861. 
 
 Wheelwright, Joseph Christopher, from Westmoreland County, 
 Va. Private, Co. C, Corps Cadets. Killed at New Market, 
 May 15, 1864. 
 
 Williams, Benjamin Watkins, from Danville, Va. Private (com- 
 mand unknown). Died of disease contracted in the military 
 service, , 1863. 
 
 *Grandson of Ex-President Tyler. He was killed by a squad of Federals 
 who surrounded him after his little horse could go no f.arther. The officer in 
 command reported his death at a neighboring farm-house, and added, "Let 
 him be buried honorably, for he was the bravest rebel we ever fought." He 
 was buried at Williamsburg, his epitaph having been chosen by himself several 
 months before — the simple Latin motto, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria 
 mori." 
 
 When it was thought he would probably die, from a desperate wound re- 
 ceived previouslv at the battle of Williamsburg, he said, — "If I die, it will be 
 in defense of Mamma's grave from the footsteps of the enemy." The Legislature 
 of Virginia is said to have recorded this touching incident in Its .Journal.
 
 460 The Military History of 
 
 Williams, Lewis Burwell, from Orange County, Va. Colonel, 1st 
 Va. Infantry. Killed at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, while com- 
 manding his brigade. 
 
 Williamson, Joseph Lewis, from Sussex County, Va. Private, Co. 
 H, 13th Va. Cavalry. Died May 20, 1864, from wound re- 
 ceived at Spottsylvania. 
 
 Wilson, Nathaniel Claiborne, from Botetourt County, Va. 
 Major, 28th Va. Infantry. Killed at Gettysburg, July 3, 
 
 1863, exclaiming: "Tell my mother I died a true soldier and 
 I hope a true Christian." 
 
 WoRSHAM, Patrick Henry, from Dinwiddle County, Va. Ser- 
 geant-Major, 3d Va. Cavalry. Died June 5, 1862, of camp 
 fever. 
 
 Wright, Charles Thomas, from Wilmington, N. C. Sergeant- 
 Major, 37th N. C. Infantry. Died May 26, 1864, from wound 
 received at the Wilderness, nineteen days before. 
 
 Wilcox, James Westmore, from Charles City County, Va. Ser- 
 geant, Co. D, 3d Va. Cavalry. Mortally wounded June 11, 
 
 1864, at Trevelians, and died within a few hours. 
 
 Summary as to Rank 
 
 Major-General 1 
 
 Brigadier-Generals 2 
 
 Colonels 26 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonels 11 
 
 Majors 16 
 
 Captains 44 
 
 Lieutenants (of whom eight were Adjutants) 58 
 
 Color-Sergeant 1 
 
 Orderly-Sergeants 2 
 
 Sergeant-Majors 4 
 
 Other non-commissioned officers 10 
 
 Privates 67 
 
 Of unknown rank 7 
 
 Total 249
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 461 
 
 Total number of matriculates from founding of the 
 
 Virginia Military Institute to 1865 2,013 
 
 Less — died before 1861 111 
 
 1902 
 Less 
 
 In Federal Army 15 
 
 Physically disabled from military service 14 
 
 *Clergymen not in Army 11 
 
 Living in enemy's territory (though not in either army) 39 
 Excused from conscription, as physicians, millers, civil 
 
 service officials and employees, and teachers 22 
 
 Unaccounted for 20 121 
 
 Total graduates and eleves in C. S. A ' 1,781 
 
 (Or nearly 94 per cent, of all living ex-cadets !) 
 
 Killed or died in the military service of C. S. A., during the 
 War, fourteen (14) per cent, of all Alumni living in 1861 (except 
 121 accounted for above.) 
 
 [One-third of the total number in the Union Army were killed.] 
 
 ♦Some V. M. I. Alumni who were clergymen were in the Confederate Army.
 
 462 The Military History of 
 
 APPENDIX C 
 
 ASSISTANT PROFESSORS AND TACTICAL STAFF, 
 
 1842-1865 
 
 Cadet James B. Dorman, Dept. Languages, 1842-3. 
 Cadet William J. Warden, Dept. Languages, 1842-3. 
 Cadet J. W. Wildman, Dept. Mathematics, 1842-3. 
 Cadet J. C. Wills, Dept. Mathematics, 1842-3. 
 Lieut. W. A. Forbes, Dept. Mathematics, 1844-5-6-7. 
 Lieut. W. H. Richardson, Jr., Dept. Tactics, 1844-5-6-7. 
 Cadet T. B. Robertson, Dept. Mathematics, 1844-5. 
 Cadet W. M. Nelson, Dept. Languages, 1844-5. 
 Lieut. T. B. Robertson, Dept. Tactics, 1845-6. 
 Lieut. R. E. Colston, Dept. French, 1845-6-7-8-9. 
 Lieut. J. Q. Marr, Dept. Mathematics, 1847-8. 
 Cadet S. T. Pendleton, Dept. Mathematics, 1847-8. 
 Cadet J. C. Councill, Dept. Mathematics, 1847-8. 
 Cadet J. P. Beale, Dept. Languages, 1847-8. 
 
 Lieut. R. E. Rodes, Dept. Physical Sciences and Tactics, 
 1848-9-50. 
 
 Cadet John Lawson, Dept. Mathematics, 1848-9. 
 
 Cadet J. W. Massie, Dept. Mathematics, 1848-9. 
 
 Cadet Samuel Garland, Dept. Languages, 1848-9. 
 
 Cadet Robert Gatewood, Dept. Languages, 1848-9. 
 
 Cadet W. W. Gordon, Dept. Mathematics, 1848-9-50. 
 
 Lieut. J. W. Massie, Dept. Mathematics, 1849-50. 
 
 Cadet Charles Denby, Dept. Languages, 1849-50. 
 
 Cadet C. H. Harrison, Dept. Latin, 1849-50. 
 
 Capt. J. W. Massie, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1850-1. 
 
 Cadet Joseph Mayo, Dept. Mathematics, 1850-1-2. 
 
 Cadet F. S. Bass, Dept. Languages, 1850-1. 
 
 Cadet Thomas A. Harris, Dept. Languages, 1850-1. 
 
 Capt. R. E. Colston, Dept. Languages, 1849-50-51. 
 
 Lieut. W. D. Stuart, Dept. Mathematics, 1851-2. 
 
 Cadet Geo. S. Patton, Dept. Languages, 1851-2. 
 
 Cadet W. Silvester, Dept. Languages, 1851-2. 
 
 Capt. J. W. Allen, Dept. Mathematics, 1853-4. 
 
 Lieut. Daniel Trueheart, Dept. Mathematics, 1853-4. 
 
 Lieut. Henry A. Whiting, Dept. Languages and Tactics, 1853-4. 
 
 Cadet W. T. Patton, Dept. Languages and Tactics, 1853-4-5. 
 
 Capt. J. G. Gamble, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1854-5. 
 
 Cadet Stapleton Crutchfield, Dept. Mathematics, 1854-5.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 463 
 
 Lieut. G. H. Smith, Dept. Languages and Tactics, 1854-5. 
 
 Lieut. Stapleton Crutchfield, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 
 1855-6-7. 
 
 Capt. L. B. Williams, Dept. Mathematics, 1855-6-7-8. 
 
 Cadet F. W. Smith, Dept. Mathematics, 1855-6. 
 
 Lieut. W. T. Patton, Dept. Languages and Tactics, 1855-6-7. 
 
 Cadet W. B. Selden, Dept. Languages and Tactics, 1855-6. 
 
 Lieut. P. B. Stanard, Dept. I>atin and Tactics, 1856-7. 
 
 Lieut. E. V. Bargamin, Dept. French. 1856-7-8. 
 
 Capt. Stapleton Crutchfield, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 
 1857-8. 
 
 Lieut. J. H. Lane, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics. 1857-8. 
 
 Lieut. P. P. Slaughter, Dept. Latin and Tactics, 1857-8. 
 
 Lieut. Geo. M. Edgar, Dept. Chemistry and Tactics, 1857-8. 
 
 Lieut. R. M. Mayo, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1858-9. 
 
 Capt. M. B. Hardin. Dept. Latin and Tactics, 1858-9-60-61. 
 
 Lieut. B. F. Stewart, Dept. French and Tactics, 1858-9. 
 
 Lieut. John McCausland, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1859- 
 60-61. 
 
 Lieut. J. H. Chenoweth, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics. 1859-60. 
 
 Lieut. W. A. Smith, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1861-2. 
 
 Lieut. Daniel Trueheart, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 
 1859-60. 
 
 Lieut. W. H. Otey, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1859-60. 
 
 Lieut. Scott Shipp, Dept. Latin and Tactics, 1859-60-61. 
 
 Lieut. W. H. Morgan, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1860-1. 
 
 Lieut. O. C. Henderson, Dept. French and Tactics, 1859-60. 
 
 Lieut. J. D. H. Ross, Dept. French and Tactics, 1860-1. 
 
 Lieut. H. A. Wise, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1862-3-4. 
 
 Lieut. T. B. Robinson, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1862-3-4. 
 
 Lieut. L. Crittenden, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1861-2. 
 
 Lieut. J. G. Miller, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1862-3-4. 
 
 Lieut. A. S. Scott, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1862-3. 
 
 Lieut. Frank Preston, Dept. Latin and Tactics, 1862-3-4. 
 
 Lieut. A. G. Hill, Dept. French and Tactics, 1862-3-4. 
 
 Capt. H. A. Wise, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1864-5. 
 
 Capt. T. B. Robinson, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1864-5. 
 
 Capt. A. G. Hill, Dept. French and Tactics, 1864-5. 
 
 Capt. Frank Preston, Dept. Latin and Tactics, 1864-5. 
 
 Lieut. R. A. Crawford, Dept. French and Tactics, 1863-4. 
 
 Lieut. J. E. Roller, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1863-4. 
 
 Lieut. J. B. Prince, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1863-4. 
 
 Lieut. E. D. Yancey, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1863-4. 
 
 Lieut. C. Y. Steptoe, Dept. Mathematics and Tactics, 1864-6.
 
 464 The Military History of 
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON CLAIMS, U. S. 
 
 SENATE, SIXTY-THIRD CONGRESS, SECOND 
 
 SESSION, ON S. 544 
 
 A Bill for the Relief of the Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 OF Lexington, Va. 
 
 COMMITTEE ON CLAIMS 
 
 United States Senate 
 
 Nathan P. Beyan, Florida, Chairman 
 
 Lee S. Ovebman, North Carolina Coe I. Cbawford, South Dakota 
 
 Key Pittman, Nevada Joseph L. Bristow, Kansas 
 
 Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas William 0. Bradley, Kentucky 
 
 Ollie M. James, Kentucky Edwin C. Burleigh, Maine 
 
 Charles F. Johnson, Maine Nathan Goff, West Virginia 
 
 Thomas S. Martin, Virginia George W. Nobbis, Nebraska 
 Habby Lane, Oregon 
 
 W. T. Bauskett, Clerk 
 
 VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE, LEXINGTON, VA. 
 
 Saturday, February 7, 1914 
 
 Committee on Claims, 
 
 United States Senate, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 The committee met at 10:30 o'clock a. m., pursuant to the call of 
 the chairman. 
 
 Present: Senators Nathan P. Bryan (chairman), Martin, John- 
 son, Bradley, James, Pittman, Overman, Norris, and Burleigh. 
 
 The Chairman. Senator du Pont, we are met this morning to 
 hear you on your bill. Senate 544, which is as follows : 
 
 [S. 544, Sixty-third Congress, first session] 
 
 A BILL — For the relief of the Virginia Military Institute, 
 of Lexington, Virginia. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the 
 Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to pay to the 
 Virginia Military Institute, of Lexington. Virginia, out of any money in
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 46.5 
 
 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $214,723,62, in full 
 of all claims of said Institute for the damage and destruction of its library, 
 scientific apparatus, and the quarters of its professors in June, eighteen 
 hundred and sixty-four, by the military authority of the United States. 
 And the acceptance of the said sum by the said Institute shall be a com- 
 plete and absolute bar to any and all claims for the damage and destruction 
 of the property of said Institute by the armies of the United States. 
 
 The committee will be very glad to hear any statements you have 
 to make in connection with it. 
 
 Statement of Senator H. A. du Pont, of Delaware 
 
 Senator du Pont. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the history of 
 my connection with tlie bill under consideration is this : I was Chief 
 of Artillery of Gen. Hunter's command, which was operating in the 
 valley and took possession of Lexington on the 11th of June, 1864. 
 Gen. Nichols, the Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute, 
 knowing this, came to see me and made some inquiries about the 
 destruction of the property of the Institute at that time. Most of 
 the buildings, with one exception, I think, were entirely burned 
 down and destroyed by order of Gen. Hunter. I told Gen. Nichols 
 that at the time I was very much opposed to the destruction of the 
 Institute buildings, as I thought it was a wholly unnecessary de- 
 struction of private property and not justified by the rules of war, 
 excepting so far as the destruction of the cadet barracks was con- 
 cerned, which I thought was proper, and that this opinion was gen- 
 erally concurred in by all the officers with whom I came in contact. 
 I remember, among others, that the late President McKinley, who 
 was there, being one of the staff officers, expressed the same views, 
 and that he and Capt. Prendergast, who was afterwards killed, and 
 other officers, assisted me in carrying out furniture from some of 
 the houses occupied by ladies, which were burned down, thereby 
 savins; it from destruction. We carried it out with our own hands. 
 
 After hearing what I had to say. Gen. Nichols asked me if I 
 would introduce a bill for the relief of the Institute and mentioned 
 that there was a precedent for such action in the case of the William 
 and Mary College, for which there had been an appropriation made 
 as compensation for damages sustained during the war. I told him 
 that I was always ready to cooperate in any measure of right and 
 justice, but that it struck me that the Virginia Senators were the 
 proper people to introduce such a bill, and that I could not do so 
 unless I conferred with them. After talking to them, they told me 
 that they preferred that I should introduce the bill, as I had been 
 present and had a personal knowledge of what had transpired, and, 
 for this reason, they thought it was more appropriate that I should 
 present it. 
 
 Under those circumstances I introduced the bill. I am not 
 responsible for the amounts of the loss sustained by tlie Institute. 
 
 .?n
 
 466 The Military History of 
 
 Those were given to me by Gen. Nichols, and I assumed them to be 
 coiTcct. He went over them with a great deal of care and showed 
 me an itemized list, and I put the amount he gave in the bill. 
 
 Perhaps, in order that the committee may clearly understand the 
 whole situation, it would be well to make a brief statement of the 
 military operations carried on around the Institute. Gen. Hunter 
 was moving down the valley with two divisions of troops, one of 
 infantry and the other of cavalry. We left Winchester and moved 
 south, with opposition of a trivial character, until we came to Mount 
 Jackson, where Gen. Jones, who commanded the Confederate troops, 
 was awaiting us in a strongly intrenched position. Instead of at- 
 tacking that position, we made a flank movement to the left, crossed 
 the James River at Port Republic, and then moved toward the vil- 
 lage of Piedmont. Gen. Jones, ascertaining this, abandoned his 
 position and met us at Piedmont where we fought a battle in which 
 M^e came off victorious. That was on the 5th of June. 
 
 The Chairman. How far is Piedmont from Lexington.^ 
 
 Senator du Pont. I am not aware of the distance. It is a day's 
 march from Staunton to Lexington. I suppose it must be something- 
 like iO miles. 
 
 Gen. Nichols. They say it is 36 miles from Staunton to 
 Lexington. 
 
 Senator du Pont. I think probably from Piedmont to Staunton 
 must be 15 or 20 miles, and from Piedmont to Lexington must be at 
 least 50 miles. 
 
 At Staunton we waited several days for the commands of Gen. 
 Crook and Gen. Averelbto join us there. They gave us four divi- 
 sions of troops, two of infantry and two of cavalry, and we resumed 
 our march southward. Our force was very much larger than any 
 that the Confederates could bring against us, but they resisted our 
 advance at various places by small detachments, more for the pur- 
 pose of observation than with the idea of giving us battle. Finally 
 we arrived, on the 11th of June, opposite Lexington, on the other 
 side of the river, which I think they called the North Fork of the 
 James. 
 
 Senator Martin. North River. 
 
 Senator du Pont. There we found some troops in occupation of 
 tlie buildings. Directly opposite us the nearest building, as I recall 
 it. was the cadet barracks. 
 
 Senator Johnson. The buildings of the Institute? 
 
 Senator du Pont. Yes. Some of the enemy in that building 
 were firing from the windows at our skirmishers, and finally they 
 fired a cannon. Then Gen. Hunter ordered me to send a battery to 
 reply. I sent the regular battery, which fired six shots, with delib- 
 eration, at the cadet building. 
 
 The Chairman. The Institute barracks.^
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 467 
 
 Senator du Pont. Yes; I meant to say barracks. After firing 
 six shots we received an order to discontinue firing, because, as I 
 understood it, the enemy had evacuated the town of Lexington. 
 
 We crossed over and took possession and remained there the fol- 
 lowing day, the 12th, and I am not very clear whether we moved 
 away on the 13th or 14th. I do not think we left until the 14th. 
 
 The Chairman. Wliat about the destruction of these buildings, 
 Senator ? 
 
 Senator du Pont. I am just coming to that, Mr. Chairman. 
 Gen. Hunter, thereupon, the next day, issued various orders. One 
 was that all the buildings of the Institute were to be burned to the 
 ground. Another directed me, as Chief of Artillery, to destroy — a 
 most ridiculous thing — some old trophies that were there, one or 
 two old French guns, among others, and all entirely useless. 
 
 The Chairman. Before you get to that. Senator, what damage, 
 if any, was done to the buildings of the Virginia Military Institute 
 when you fired on the barracks and when resistance was being made 
 at the barracks.'' What damage, if any, was done to the buildings 
 of the Institute ? 
 
 Senator du Pont. Some of our shots went through the building, 
 but I did not ascertain personally what the damage was. 
 
 The Chairman. You went over there the next day? 
 
 Senator du Pont. I did not examine particularly, but I saw 
 that the shots had passed through the building, and I have heard 
 since that they did considerable damage. 
 
 The Chairman. Through the barracks? 
 
 Senator du Pont. Through the barracks. 
 
 Senator Bradley. I just heard an expression as I came in here, 
 made by you, with regard to your thinking that there was no good 
 reason to destroy these buildings, except some portion of them? 
 
 Senator du Pont. Except the cadet barracks. 
 
 Senator Bradley. Are the barracks included in this item? 
 
 Senator du Pont. No; they are not. I particularly excepted 
 them when I introduced the bill. 
 
 The order to destroy the buildings was given. The buildings con- 
 sisted of a library, philosophical and scientific apparatus, the pro- 
 fessors' houses, and various minor structures. 
 
 My opinion was that the barracks should be destroyed under the 
 laws of war for the reason that the cadets who occupied those bar- 
 racks were in the field and had met us at the Battle of New Market 
 and that they were the quarters of a hostile force, even though com- 
 posed of boys; but I saw no reason why the buildings of the 
 Institute devoted to educational purposes should be burned down. 
 That was the general opinion of everybody there except Gen. 
 Hunter. I know that that was the late President McKinley's 
 opinion.
 
 468 The Militaey History of 
 
 The Chairman. When the other buildings were destroyed, these 
 buildings besides the barracks, there was no armed resistance to the 
 Army of the United States, was there? 
 
 Senator du Pont. No. From the time we occupied the town 
 every one had disappeared. 
 
 The Chairman. In what way were the buildings destroyed? 
 
 Senator du Pont. They were set on fire and burned down. 
 They were all wooden buildings except the barracks, which was of 
 stone. I think that was the more permanent building. The others 
 were mostly wooden buildings. 
 
 Senator Martin. There may have been some brick buildings ? 
 
 Senator du Pont. There may have been some brick buildings. 
 
 Senator Johnson. Were you fired upon from the barracks? 
 
 Senator du Pont. A few shots ; that is to say, our troops were 
 fired upon. We were fired upon not only from the barracks, but 
 from the open. As we moved south our advance was resisted, as I 
 said before, more for the purpose of observation than of giving 
 battle. It was not at Lexington alone, but wherever there was a 
 good place from which the Confederates could make a slight re- 
 sistance, they did it — which was proper and right. It was according 
 to the laws of war, and our side would have done the same thing. 
 
 Senator Johnson. You destroyed the garrison of a hostile force, 
 if the barracks in question could be understood to be such? 
 
 Senator du Pont. I do not quite understand your question. 
 
 Senator Johnson. I say, you destroyed the garrison of a hostile 
 force ? 
 
 Senator du Pont. The barracks ; yes. 
 
 Senator Johnson. Was not this military institute furnishing 
 troops for the field against you? 
 
 Senator du Pont. They were in the field at the Battle of New 
 Market. 
 
 Senator Johnson. Were the cadets in the firing party? 
 
 Senator du Pont. I do not know. I only know there were some 
 shots fired, but I do not know who the parties were who fired them. 
 As I understand it, the Battalion of Cadets were not really a part 
 of the Confederate forces in the field. They were there under 
 instruction, but when we advanced into their territory they were 
 turned out to defend the immediate neighborhood, or to assist in 
 defending it. 
 
 Senator James. You say there was no necessity for destroying 
 the property at all? 
 
 Senator du Pont. I do not think so. That was my judgment 
 then, and it is my judgment now. It did no good. The moment 
 we destroyed the barracks there was no place for the cadets to live, 
 unless they went into tents. They could live in tents anywhere. 
 
 Senator Bradley. Did you see anything of Senator Martin 
 among those cadets?
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 469 
 
 Senator du Pont. I did not. Strange to say, the only cadet of 
 the Virginia Military Institute that I have ever seen in uniform, 
 although I had been in battle against them, was a young man who 
 came to West Point when I was there wearing his military uniform. 
 I think he was the adjutant of the Virginia Military Institute. He 
 attracted a good deal of attention. 
 
 The Chairman. If Senator Martin was there he was out of 
 sight when you got across the river? 
 
 Senator du Pont. I did not see him. 
 
 Senator Martin. I was not at all anxious to be conspicuous 
 against men like Senator du Pont. 
 
 Senator Norris. I would like to ask the Senator a question. 
 I wish to get clear in my mind the distinguishing feature between 
 the barracks and this Institution and any other building connected 
 with it, whether or not it was a professor's house or a building 
 where the students recited or where the professors instructed 
 the cadets. I want to get in my mind what your idea of the 
 difference is. 
 
 Senator du Pont. I will trj^ to answer the question. I knew 
 something about the general scope of the Institute, because it so 
 happened that the former superintendent was a classmate and an 
 old friend of my father's. I had seen him when I was a child at my 
 home in Delaware several times. I had heard my father speak of 
 the Institute and knew about its general purpose. It was a military 
 school only so far as the instruction and discipline of the pupils 
 were concerned. Its purpose, as I understood it, was to educate 
 teachers for the State of Virginia. A certain number of boys were 
 given a free education there in consideration of their teaching for a 
 certain term of years within the State of Virginia. It was not the 
 only institution of the kind in the country ; there were numbers of 
 them in the United States — several in New England. There was 
 one near Philadelphia as long ago as 1807 or 1808, conducted by a 
 man named Roumfort. In those days, you know, there were no 
 athletics, and a great many people thought that the military exer- 
 cises improved the boys physically and served to keep them out of 
 mischief. That was the idea of all these schools. It was not for 
 the purpose of educating the pupils to fight. We never thought of 
 such a thing when I was a child. 
 
 Senator Norris. In that connection, then, your idea is that it 
 was at least nothing like West Point or Annapolis ? 
 
 Senator du Pont. Not at all; totally different. 
 
 Senator Norris. Was it owned by the State of Virginia.^ 
 
 Senator du Pont. I believe it was under the patronage of the 
 State of Virginia, and encouraged by it. I do not know the exact 
 relations. I know the State of Virginia had certain authority, and 
 I think they did something for them financially. My impression 
 is — Gen. Nichols can correct me if I am in error — that the most of
 
 470 The Military History of 
 
 the students paid their way as in any other school, but there was a 
 certain number of pupils that the State of Virginia paid for in 
 consideration of their teaching. 
 
 Senator Martin. The State owns it, and, under the law, it is 
 permitted to receive donations; and I suppose there are certain 
 endowments contributed by private people for this purpose of ad- 
 vancing the cause of education. 
 
 Senator N orris. I judged from the bill that this appropriation 
 is requested for a private school. 
 
 The Chairman. It is a corporation under the laws of Virginia. 
 
 Senator Martin. The money would go to this Institution. 
 
 Senator Norris. It would go to the State of Virginia. 
 
 Senator Johnson. The State of Virginia owns the buildings 
 now? 
 
 Senator Martin. Gen. Nichols, when he comes before the com- 
 mittee, will explain that. My understanding is that it is still owned 
 in a sense by the State of Virginia, but it is created by law, with 
 certain rights and privileges for the purpose of advancing the cause 
 of education, and donations are constantly made to its library, to 
 its scientific apparatus, and to its several departments. 
 
 Senator Johnson. The State makes appropriations also? 
 
 Senator Martin. The State makes some appropriations; for 
 instance, as Senator du Pont has explained, with reference to pajang 
 the expenses of certain pupils with the understanding that they 
 shall serve the State as teachers for a certain term. 
 
 Senator du Pont. And they are required to do so? 
 
 Senator Martin. Yes. 
 
 Senator du Pont. Will you allow me to supplement my state- 
 ment, Mr. Chairman? I have some definite information now. 
 I stated that we arrived in Lexington, that is, the Union forces, on 
 the 11th of June, 1864. The buildings were burned on the 12th of 
 June, 186i, the next day. We stayed there two days, as I thought. 
 We moved toward Buchanan on the 1 ith. I have sent for Gen. 
 Hunter's report. 
 
 The Chairman. Senator, is there any other statement you care 
 to make? 
 
 Senator Swanson. Do you recall whether there was a protest 
 by you or any other officer against the burning of the buildings at 
 the time? 
 
 Senator du Pont. There was no protest, except the expression 
 of opinion among ourselves. 
 
 Senator Bradley. You did not dare to make a protest, did you ? 
 
 Senator du Pont. It would be a very unmilitary thing to do. 
 A soldier has to obey orders. He has a perfect right, however, to 
 have his own opinion. 
 
 Senator Bradley. But not to express it, perliaps, to the general.'^
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 471 
 
 Senator du Pont. He has a right to express his opinion in a 
 proper way to his comrades. 
 
 Senator Overman. Did you burn those buildings? 
 
 Senator du Pont. No, sir; they were burned by order of Gen. 
 Hunter. 
 
 Senator James. Wliat was the general's idea in burning those 
 buildings. 
 
 Senator du Pont. The general was a very peculiar man. His 
 father was a Virginian. [Laughter.] That did not make him a 
 peculiar man. But, if you will allow me to finish my sentence, his 
 mother was from Princeton, N. J.; his father was a clergyman. I 
 do not think he was in pleasant relations with his Southern rela- 
 tives, of which there were a great number. He had a most extra- 
 ordinary idea of how to put an end to armed resistance. 
 
 Senator Martin. To put an end to the rebellion? 
 
 Senator du Pont. Yes, sir. 
 
 Senator Martin. I am not sensitive about that. 
 
 Senator du Pont. Call it rebellion, then, or anything you 
 please. He was a man of very strong prejudices, exceedinglj'^ 
 strong, and he began operations by burning his cousin's house at 
 Charles Town. Why he did that I can not imagine. When we were 
 operating in the valley, which, as you know, is between two chains 
 of mountains, a valley from 15 to 30 miles wide, the mountains were 
 occupied by Mosby's guerrillas, whose business it was to try to 
 intercept our trains as they moved down. They had to be escorted 
 by convoys, and if they thought the convoy were rather weak, they 
 would swoop down upon them and sometimes succeed in capturing 
 the train. 
 
 Gen. Hunter's idea was — and you could not get it out of his 
 head — that the people who were doing this resided in the towns 
 nearby, and that the way to stop the practice was to burn down the 
 towns near the points where our trains were attacked. The truth 
 was that Mosby's command consisted of picked men from all over 
 the South, and I do not suppose that 10 per cent of them lived in 
 the vallej' there. I recollect that Gen. Hunter sent a body of 
 cavalry to burn Newtown, a large village, on the ground that a 
 train had been attacked within a short distance of the place. The 
 officer in command, having been moved by the tears and lamenta- 
 tions of the women and children, did not carry out his instructions, 
 and Gen. Hunter ordered him to be dismissed from the service. 
 The burning of private houses alwa}\s seemed to strongly appeal 
 to him. 
 
 Upon our retreat from Lyncliburg, across the mountains to the 
 Kanawha Valley, 100 miles away from any scene of military opera- 
 tions, we arrived at the White Sulphur Springs. We had been 
 pursued by the Confederates but the enemy had ceased his pursuit 
 and we stopped there one day to rest, as we were very much 
 exhausted.
 
 472 The Military History of 
 
 I heard that the general had ordered the place to be burned down. 
 The buildings comprised an immense hotel with rows of cottages in 
 every direction, and could accommodate several thousand people. 
 Going to headquarters about noon, after a few remarks, I said to the 
 general: "I hear you have ordered these buildings to be burned 
 down.^" He said: "Yes; they are all to be burned." Although I 
 believed this to be a wanton and criminal destruction of private 
 property, knowing the man as I did I thought it was useless to 
 appeal to him on any such grounds, so I said, very quietly: "Gen- 
 eral, do you not think that it would be a military mistake?" He 
 said: "What do you mean.''" "I mean this," I said: "H hereafter 
 we have to occupy this country this is quite a strategic point, as a 
 good many roads converge here, and we would find quarters for a 
 brigade of cavalry all ready, which would have many advantages 
 for us." He looked at me a minute and said: "Well, I had not 
 thought of that," and then called his adjutant-general and told him 
 to cancel the order. 
 
 That is the waj'^ in which the buildings at the White Sulphur 
 Springs were saved; and that is the kind of man Gen. Hunter was. 
 He was absolutely unreasonable. 
 
 The Chairman. Is there anything further. Senator? 
 
 Senator du Pont. I will make one statement, which I omitted. 
 Gen. Hunter excepted the house of the Superintendent of the Vir- 
 ginia Military Institute on the ground that there was sickness in the 
 family. He said that at Mrs. Smith's house there was illness and 
 that her house was not to be burned. He excepted that. 
 
 Statement of Gen. E. W. Nichols, Superintendent of the 
 Virginia Military Institute 
 
 The Chairman. General, will you kindly give your name to the 
 stenographer ? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Gen. E. W. Nichols, Superintendent of the Vir- 
 ginia Military Institute. 
 
 The Chairman. How long have you been connected with the 
 Virginia Military Institute. 
 
 Gen. Nichols. This is my fortieth year. 
 
 The Chairman. We shall be glad to hear any statement you 
 may care to make. 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, 
 there was a bill introduced at the last session of Congress which was 
 not considered by the Claims Committee. That legislation was 
 recommended to the present Congress. The brief giving all the 
 facts is now in the possession of the committee. 
 
 I should like to add these telegrams to the record in the case. 
 
 This is a telegram from Col. J. M. Schoonmaker, who destroyed 
 the property under orders of Gen. Hunter and destroyed it under
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 473 
 
 protest. I had hoped to have him here to appear before the com- 
 mittee, but unfortunately he made his arrangements to go South. 
 He has promised that he will appear at any time that will suit the 
 convenience of the committee on his return. He will, however, 
 present a statement in writing. 
 T telegraphed him as follows : 
 
 Washington, D. C, February 5, 1914. 
 Col. J. M. Schoonmakeb, 
 
 Ellsworth and Morewood Avenues, Pittsburgh. Pa. 
 Senate Claims Committee is having hearings on Senator du Font's 
 bill to reimburse Virginia Military Institute for destruction of library, 
 scientific apparatus, and academic buildings by order of Gen. Hunter 
 during Civil War. Du Pont suggests that I ask whether you could appear 
 before committee Saturday 10 a. m. If not then, could you come later? 
 Answer Ebbitt House, Washington. 
 
 E. W. Nichols, 
 
 S^lperintendent. 
 
 His reply is as follovrs: 
 
 Pittsburgh, Pa., February 6. 1914. 
 E. W. Nichols, 
 
 Ebbitt House, Washington, D. C. 
 Answering your wire even date, I regret advising my inability to ap- 
 pear before committee Saturday, having arranged to leave to-morrow on 
 Southern trip to be absent balance of month. Any time, however, in 
 future, after my return, that I can be of service to you in direction 
 indicated, will gladly do so. 
 
 J. M. Schoonmakeb. 
 
 The original telegram and the reply, Mr. Chairman, I would like 
 to file with the committee, as also my telegram of February 5th to 
 Senator Culberson, and his reply thereto of February 6th. I will 
 
 read them. 
 
 February 5, 1914. 
 Senator Charles A. Culberson, 
 San Antonio, Texas. 
 
 Hearing on Senator du Pont's bill to reimburse Virginia Military 
 Institute for losses sustained by burning during Civil War. As a graduate 
 of Institution I wish to appeal to you to wire me, my expense, Ebbitt 
 Hotel, Washington, strong statement in support of bill and record of 
 Institution to be read to committee Saturday, February 7th, 10 a. m. 
 Friends of Institute active. Gen. Wood, United States Army, will appear 
 before committee in support of bill. Your support will greatly help 
 Senator Brj^an, chairman of committee. 
 
 Have been distressed by your sickness, and earnestly hope for your 
 restoration to health. 
 
 E. W. Nichols, 
 
 Superintendent. 
 
 San Antonio, Texas, February 6, 1914. 
 Gen. E. W. Nichols, 
 
 Ebbitt House, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Your telegram is received, and I am gratified that eff^orts are being 
 made to pass the du Pont bill without reference to any legal questions
 
 474 The Military History of 
 
 which may be involved in the bill. Its passaoe would be a generous and 
 praiseworthy act to reimburse the Institute for its great loss by fire during 
 the Civil War at the hands of the Federal forces. The school is one of the 
 finest in the country, ranked only by West Point, and, as war is not waged 
 against institutions of learning, this reimbursement for property destroyed 
 in the great conflict will be another indication that only the heroism and 
 sacrifices of the two sections of the Union ought to be perpetuated. 
 
 C. A. CULBEESON. 
 
 Mr. Chairman^ there are, briefly, only two points from a stand- 
 point of equity and law on which tliis claim for restitution is based. 
 The first is the destruction of educational property in accordance 
 with the usages of civilized warfare. Second, in the destruction of 
 this property, from an educational point of view, with its educa- 
 tional facilities, its library, its professors' quarters, its scientific 
 apparatus, its chemical laboratories, its mineralogical cabinets, its 
 geological cabinets, and the various paraphernalia incident to edu- 
 cational institutions, was not such destruction in direct conflict with 
 President Lincoln's orders to his commanders in the field? 
 
 I think both of those statements can be substantiated as being 
 in conflict both with the usages of civilized warfare and in direct 
 conflict with the orders of President Lincoln. 
 
 Senator Johnson. General, are you familiar with the work of 
 the Institution during the war? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Entirely; yes, sir. 
 
 Senator Johnson. You were not then connected with it? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. No, sir; I was born in 1858. 
 
 Senator Johnson. Was its work then the same as that pursued 
 afterwards ? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. The educational work was continued throughout. 
 
 Senator Johnson. Was it not in fitting young men to take the 
 field, and particularly giving military instruction? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. In part, and in large part. 
 
 Senator Johnson. Was not that its chief purpose? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. No; I would not say it Avas its chief purpose. 
 It was an educational institution, and was founded as an educa- 
 tional institution; but at that time it was a military institution, 
 called "the West Point of the South," to which hundreds of young 
 men from the South came. It turned out hundreds of young men 
 who went into the service of the Confederate Army. It was engaged 
 as an organization and called out on several occasions to repel riots. 
 On one occasion it took an active part in the operations against 
 Federal forces, and in one operation, of 250 men, 20 per cent of 
 their number were killed or wounded. It was not the intention of 
 Gen. Breckinridge to put this body of boys in that battle. They 
 were put in the third lines, but having the hot heads of youth, they 
 could not be kept there, and got into the front line and lost heavily. 
 
 Putting that military feature apart, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen 
 of the committee, I would like to say that I am not here for the
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 475 
 
 Institution in any light except as an applicant for restitution as an 
 educational institution. That military feature of it is something 
 absolutely aside. I would be recreant to every better feeling of my 
 nature, recreant to ever}' tradition of that Institution, if I did not 
 say, sir, that so far as the fighting was concerned, we are glad we 
 did fight and sorry that we were not more successful. But I want 
 to say that there is not an institution in this land that would more 
 quickly and more gladly furnish men to the common country and 
 for the common flag than this Institution which I represent. But 
 that is all aside, sir. It is a question of the educational features 
 of the Institution. 
 
 The Chairman. Let me ask you this question before you go 
 further: Did the Institution continue to instruct its classes during 
 the war.'' 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Yes^ sir ; continuously. 
 
 The Chairman. It was in operation, then, at the time of its 
 destruction; it had classes? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Yes^ sir; at the Battle of New Market, which 
 occurred on the 15th of May, the young men were sent from that 
 battle to Richmond;, and they were ordered back to Lexington to 
 resume their academic work, reaching Lexington about the 10th of 
 June, or just a day or two before the Federal forces attacked the 
 place. 
 
 The Chairman. Did that constitute the entire student body.'' 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Yes, sir ; the entire student body. 
 
 Senator Norris. What year was that? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. 1864. 
 
 The Chairman. Until 1864, then, these students had not been 
 sent out, as a body, into the Army? 
 
 ^ Gen. Nichols. No, sir ; they had been called on from time to 
 time to go out and repel riots. They went to Covington on one 
 occasion, but they were never in conflict with any body of troops 
 except on that occasion. They were called again in the winter of 
 1865 to Richmond. There were educational facilities going on then 
 and being taught there. 
 
 It is interesting to note that they were the only body of troops 
 between Richmond and the Federal forces on the 3d of April. The 
 forces, of course, did not know it, but they were in pits outside the 
 city, and they were called in and disbanded in Richmond and they 
 went to their homes. The Institution resumed its operations again 
 in the fall. 
 
 There is another point of view, Mr. Chairman, with reference to 
 this service of the Institution, and I would like to emphasize that 
 point — the service of the Institution, past and present. 
 
 The Institution was founded as an educational institution in 
 1839, and in the Mexican War, in 1846, that Institution had 14-
 
 476 The Military History of 
 
 officers in the United States service. It had more officers in the 
 United States service in that war than all other institutions of a 
 military character in the United States combined^ West Point, of 
 course, excepted. 
 
 In the War between the States, whilst there was, of course, a 
 larger number of these men in the Confederate Army as officers — 
 major-generals, brigadier-generals, colonels, etc. — there were some 
 of them that were officers in the Federal Army. Since the war the 
 Institution has had, and has now, more officers in the United States 
 Army as commissioned officers than all other civil institutions with 
 a military feature attached in the United States combined, except, 
 of course. West Point. 
 
 It had more officers in the Spanish-American War than all other 
 military institutions in the United States combined — military insti- 
 tutions or civil-military institutions. This information I get from 
 the Chief of Staff of the Army. To-day the Institute is furnishing, 
 as it has during the past several years, more men to the National 
 Guard throughout the country than all other institutions of the 
 country combined. The Institute is not a local institution. It has 
 40 states represented and 5 foreign countries. The number of 
 applicants is largely in excess of its ability to accommodate. 
 
 Last year it had the distinction of graduating a man who took 
 the Jackson-Hope medal, a medal combining military and civil 
 qualifications. This was taken by a young man from Yonkers, N. Y. 
 The second man in the class of last year was a man from Iowa. He 
 received the alternative appointment from the Institute to the 
 United States Army. He did not receive the direct appointment, 
 but he is now an officer in the service of the United States in its 
 Marine Corps. We have young men from Massachusetts, California, 
 from all the border states on the north, and from the Western 
 States. In other words, 40 states of the 48 that constitute the Union 
 were represented there last year. 
 
 Those young men are going out into the National Guard of the 
 country; and I want to say this, that there is a movement here in 
 the War Department, one in which all of us are interested, to form 
 a reserve corps in case of this country's need, either for aggressive 
 or defensive operations. I am perfectly sure that there is no single 
 interest that the War Department is more interested in fostering 
 than this Institution, because we are sending out young men trained 
 under the West Point system, having had four years of rigid military 
 life, who are abundantly able by experience and instruction to take 
 charge of volunteers if volunteers are called into the service. 
 
 I am glad to say that Gen. Wood has expressed not only his 
 willingness, but his desire, if called, to appear before this committee 
 and tell you of the service the Institution is rendering to the General 
 Government.
 
 The Vieginia Military Institute 477 
 
 Gentlemen, here is a body of men, representative men from our 
 common country, happily now united. This claim is based simply 
 upon the destruction of the property of that Institution as an edu- 
 cational institution. You will not misunderstand me when I say 
 that whilst it is true that those of the alumni of that Institution, if 
 called to serve their common country now, would flock to the colors 
 as a man, I want to emphasize the fact, with all the feeling that is 
 in me, with all the pride of traditions connected with that Institu- 
 tion and as a representative of the alumni, that we have no apologies 
 to make, sir, for anything that was done by that Institution during 
 the Civil War. 
 
 The Chairman. I want to ask you one or two questions about 
 the amount carried in the bill. There is an item here of $82,392.78 
 for interest. It is not customary to pay any interest on these claims. 
 The interest is based, I should say, on 6 per cent on $137,000. I 
 presume that amount represents the value of the buildings at the 
 time of their destruction. Will you indicate to the committee how 
 the amount of a hundred and twenty-eight tliousand and odd dollars, 
 which is claimed to be the amount charged to the building account 
 on the treasurer's books from June, 1866, to June, 1873, is ar- 
 rived at.^ 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Yes, sir. Unfortunately, in the destruction of 
 the property the archives were also destroyed in 1864. In the 
 burning of the buildings all the old books were destroyed, and the 
 only way we could get at that was from a report by Col. Walter H. 
 Taylor, who was a member of our Board of Visitors. He was Chief 
 of Staff, you will recall, to Gen. Lee — one of the high-minded men 
 of the State. There was also Col. Beall. That committee was the 
 finance committee of our Board of Visitors. They made a report in 
 1872, giving the cost of reconstruction. We had no means of get- 
 ting at the actual cost, because the property had accumulated there 
 for 25 years. I put all the facts that we had in this report of Col. 
 Taylor in the hands of the old treasurer of the Institute, who came 
 there as treasurer in 1872 — Maj. Thomas M. Wade — and asked him 
 to make up that report from the books that were available and from 
 the reports of the finance committee of the Board of Visitors. That 
 report is a report by him, and as to details of it, sir, I am frank to 
 say, I am perfectly ignorant. I do not know anything about it, 
 except that the old treasurer made up the report. 
 
 The Chairman. One other question. Do you place the cost of 
 the buildings that were erected after the destruction of the former 
 buildings by Gen. Hunter at the actual cost.^ 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Yes, sir. 
 
 The Chairman. Are they better buildings than those which 
 were destroyed? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. They were built on the same foundations. They 
 are all brick buildings with stone trimmings.
 
 4Y8 The Military History or 
 
 The Chairman. Senator du Pont said that his recollection was 
 that all the buildings except the barracks were frame or wooden 
 buildings ? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. The Senator is mistaken. There are no frame 
 buildings on the ground. 
 
 The Chairman. What were they? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. They were brick buildings with stone trimmings. 
 
 Senator du Pont. I had forgotten that. I thought they were 
 probably frame. 
 
 Gen. Nichols. No, sir; no frame buildings. 
 
 The Chairman. Have you ever learned, and if so. can you state 
 the number of buildings destroyed.'' 
 
 Gen. Nichols. There were four buildings. 
 
 The Chairman. Were the barracks which were destroyed built 
 on the same foundation as the present barracks? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Yes, sir. 
 
 The Chairman. And covered as much space? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Yes, sir; covered as much space as when you 
 were a student there. We have added to the buildings since then. 
 
 Senator Norris. Was the material of the old buildings used in 
 the construction of the new ? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Yes, sir; as far as it could be. The cost of 
 material in the reconstruction period, after the war, was very high, 
 as was everything else. It was difficult to obtain. 
 
 Senator Norris. The brick and the stone, or a great share of it, 
 of course, could be used again, and was, I presume. 
 
 Gen. Nichols. All that could be used was used; yes, sir. 
 
 Senator Norris. In estimating the amount, is that taken into 
 consideration? Is there any credit given for the material that was 
 afterwards used? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. I really could not tell you, Senator. That is a 
 report of the finance committee and the Board of Visitors, based 
 upon the Superintendent's reports in a general way. In those re- 
 ports of the old Superintendent he would have charged up even 
 $1.25 for labor for a day and every little item entering into the 
 thing. As to whether credit was given for the old material, I can 
 not say. 
 
 Mr. Flood. General, is not this a statement of the cost of re- 
 construction ? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Yes, sir. 
 
 Senator Martin. Actual expenditures? 
 
 Gen. Nichols. I suppose that they would be. 
 
 The Chairman. I would like to state in the hearings at this 
 point, that if interest be excluded the total amount of the claim 
 would be $137,321.31.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 479 
 
 Statement of Maj.-Gen. Leonard Wood, Chief of Staff, 
 
 United States Army 
 
 Gen. Wood. I should be very glad to answer any questions I 
 can about the Virginia Military Institute, Mr. Chairman. 
 
 I can say that we in the service regard that Institution as being, 
 next to West Point, the best military school in the country. We 
 consider it to be a very valuable military asset, both in the way of 
 training officers for the regular service, and in training men who 
 would be available as officers in case of necessity. It is an institu- 
 tion which for a considerable number of years has been what we call 
 our star institution. I have had occasion to see a good deal of the 
 work of its officers, both in this country and in the Philippines and 
 Cuba; and while I had personally never seen anything of the 
 Institute until a few years ago, I had formed a very high opinion of 
 the efficiency of its graduates, and I feel that in the Army we look 
 upon the Virginia Military Institute as about the best of our militar}^ 
 schools, and we are always glad to get hold of its officers. They 
 are men that are well disciplined and well instructed, and so far as 
 I have seen anything of them they are very high-class men, and they 
 speak well for the Institution, and the instruction they receive. 
 
 Senator James. It furnished a good many officers in the War 
 with Spain, did it not? 
 
 Gen. Wood. It furnished a considerable number, Senator. I 
 could not tell you offhand how many. But it began to supply officers 
 to the country, I think, with the Mexican War; there were 10 or 11, 
 and, of course, a good many in the Civil War, some being on the 
 Northern side ; a considerable number, I think. 
 
 I think the Institute draws its pupils from all over the countr3^ 
 It is very democratic, and the expenses are remarkably low, con- 
 sidering the type of the school and the high standards maintained. 
 
 In the War with Spain there were a considerable number of 
 officers from that Institution. I remember two who came under my 
 personal observation. One was a most capable engineer, so capable 
 that he was made the chief engineer for important research work 
 in the eastern half of Cuba. He displayed really very great 
 capacity. He is now captain in the Eleventh Cavalry, I think. The 
 other one was young Longstreet. He was down there in the early 
 days. He also was a very capable officer. Those two came under 
 my personal observation. All of them have been a good lot of men. 
 
 Senator Pittman. Are vou familiar with the historv of the de- 
 struction of these buildings ? 
 
 Gen. Wood. Only in a very general way, sir. I know they were 
 destroyed during the war. but I know nothing of the details. 
 
 Senator Pittman. For the purpose of ascertaining something of 
 the usages of civilized nations in warfare, I should like to know if it 
 is in accordance with such usages to destroy institutions of learning.''
 
 480 The Military History of 
 
 Gen. Wood. I should say not. 
 
 Senator Pittman. Even if those institutions be military in char- 
 acter, purely? 
 
 Gen. Wood. That, Senator, would be a pretty difficult question 
 
 to answer. 
 
 Senator Norris. I would like to inquire of you, General: Sup- 
 pose the Confederate forces had captured West Point, would they 
 have been justified in destroying the buildings of the military in- 
 stitute there? 
 
 Gen. Wood. No, sir; I would not say so. 
 
 Senator Norris. That would be contrary to the recognized 
 principle that prevails in civilized warfare, would it not? 
 
 Gen. Wood. I would say it would be rather outside that prin- 
 ciple. Of course we come to a rather narrow dividing line, as to 
 whether it is a means of successfully carrying on the war through 
 the instruction of officers. 
 
 Senator Norris. I presume that is the question, and I think it 
 is involved in this case. 
 
 Gen. Wood. Yes, sir; but I should doubt the propriety of the 
 destruction of an institution of that sort, because it would involve, 
 for instance, the destruction of all our colleges where the military 
 art is taught. That would be the next step. All our agricultural 
 and mechanical colleges in the country would be subject to de- 
 struction, under the same general rules. I think the answer would 
 be. No. 
 
 Senator Norris. I should hardly think you would class an agri- 
 cultural college with a military institution. 
 
 Gen. Wood. I refer to those colleges where they maintain or- 
 ganized regiments of trained men as commissioned officers. Take 
 the Ohio State University, for instance. It maintains a regiment of 
 from thirteen to fifteen hundred men. The number varies. Those 
 men are all being trained so as to be available in time of need. 
 
 Senator Norris. We have right here in the District organiza- 
 tions in high schools. They are military organizations, but I do not 
 suppose any one would claim that the high schools of the District 
 were military institutions of that kind. 
 
 Gen. Wood. No; I think the Virginia Military Institute is not 
 a military institution. It is a school of broad general culture and 
 engineering skill. 
 
 Mr. Flood. The Virginia Military Institute was an agricultural 
 school prior to the Civil War. 
 
 Senator Martin. If you will excuse me just for an interruption 
 there. I do not suppose that there is one-fiftieth of the time of the 
 school devoted to military training at the Virginia Military Institute. 
 The time is almost all devoted to literary and scientific work, and 
 the time actually given to the art of war is very small as compared 
 with the whole time.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 481 
 
 Gen. Nichols. It is not designed to prepare men for the pro- 
 fession of arms. That was never its object. It was designed as an 
 educational institution. It has this military feature attached to it, 
 and the system is patterned after the system at West Point. It 
 was founded by West Point men, and the military feature is an 
 element of education. Under that system men learn to do life's 
 duty properly, thoroughly, and efficiently. They learn to obey, and 
 hence they learn to command. Then, take the democratic feature of 
 the life ; they are all dressed in the same uniform and rub elbows 
 with each other. The men take their places in the world in ad- 
 vantageous circumstances. All those are educational features. 
 True, as this record shows, the Institution does prepare men for 
 the profession of arms; but that is an incident. 
 
 Senator Norris. I am very interested in knowing what the facts 
 were at the time of its destruction. I do not care particularly what 
 it does now ; but at that time, for instance, was every student who 
 was admitted there trained in military affairs? Was that one of 
 the necessary things .'' 
 
 Gen. Nichols. It was. 
 
 Senator Johnson. I am asked to vote for damages for this 
 Institution because of the destruction of its property — the property 
 of an educational institution. Attention is called to its library and 
 its scientific apparatus. Of course, I would like to know what work 
 this Institution was doing during the Civil War and at this particu- 
 lar time. Its character may have been different before or since the 
 war. 
 
 Senator Martin. If you will excuse me for interrupting — I was 
 there at that time. It was doing educational work then just as it is 
 now, except I have no doubt it has progressed, just as all institu- 
 tions of learning have made advances and progress. But the Vir- 
 ginia Military Institute at that time was doing work on exactly the 
 same line that it is doing work now. I mean, during the war, at 
 the very time of its destruction, the educational features were main- 
 tained and pursued with the same regularity and diligence as before 
 and at the present time. 
 
 Senator Johnson. But the young men were called out to repel 
 invasions, and they took part in one or two battles as a force from 
 that Institution. 
 
 Senator Martin. There is a military feature, and a very valu- 
 able one, that has been shown here. 
 
 Senator Johnson. I mean at that particular time. 
 
 Senator Martin. And it is exactly the same now. 
 
 Senator Johnson. They were called out and formed part of the 
 Confederate forces, and took part in the war 
 
 Senator Martin. And they are ready to respond right now. 
 They have had a training that fits them for that duty. 
 
 31
 
 482 The Military History of 
 
 Senator Johnson. I understand that, but I am only getting at 
 what the real facts were at the time when they were classed as 
 hostiles. 
 
 Senator Pittman. That Institution was not conducted during 
 that period, or at any time, with the one particular object in view of 
 supplying the Confederate Army with soldiers. 
 
 Senator Martin. Its organization did not change at all during 
 the Civil War. It was no more a military school during the Civil 
 War than it was 10 years before the war. 
 
 Senator Bradley. Was there any more time devoted to military 
 training during that period than was devoted to it before the war 
 or has been since the war? 
 
 Senator Martin. Not one bit; in my judgment. 
 
 The Chairman. It was just the same? 
 
 Senator Martin. Just the same. 
 
 Mr. Flood. The University of Virginia equipped a company at 
 the same time. 
 
 Senator Martin. Yes; but thej^ had not the training that this 
 Institution had. 
 
 Senator Norris. I think there is a distinction between a college 
 with the military feature attached as the principal thing and one in 
 which it is only incidental. 
 
 Senator Martin. For the information of the Senator and of the 
 committee, as a cadet there during the war, at the very time it was 
 destroyed I was in sight of it. and I can say that at that time the 
 military feature was no more conspicuous than it had been before 
 the war, and no more conspicuous than it has been since the war 
 ended. It was going along with its regular systematic training of 
 young men as it has been doing since the war. and it was not changed 
 during the war. 
 
 The Chairman. I think it would be valuable to have Gen. Wood 
 put into the record at this point the requirements of land-grant 
 colleges. 
 
 Is it not a fact, General, that in every land-grant college, under 
 the act of 1862, military instruction is required? 
 
 Gen. Wood. That is my understanding, sir ; that it is required. 
 There is no specified amount. 
 
 The Chairman. I think you will find that at least three hours of 
 drill per week are required. That is the minimum requirement. 
 Some have more. 
 
 Gen. Wood. We are now looking into that. Senator. It was 
 recommended that the War Department take up the supervision 
 and regulation of those courses, and the argument was advanced 
 that the colleges were established in order to prevent the condition 
 which was found to exist at the beginning of the Civil War; that 
 one of the main objects was that there might be officers prepared to 
 command volunteers in case of anv trouble.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 483 
 
 The Chairman. There is a commandant at each land-grant col- 
 lege, is there not? 
 
 Gen. Wood. Yes, sir; which has a military feature varying 
 from the minimum which you mention to a maximum. 
 
 There is one thing I might say, with your permission, sir, about 
 the Virginia Military Institute. I spoke of it as a school which was 
 devoted largely to engineering and civil sciences of various descrip- 
 tions. It is also my recollection that the boys who receive the 
 benefit of training at the Virginia Military Institute through State 
 appointments are required to teach in the schools of Virginia for a 
 number of years afterwards to compensate the State for the money 
 expended on their education. I think that its formation as an or- 
 ganization is not dissimilar to Norwich University, in New England, 
 which sent some seven hundred of its graduates into the war as 
 officers and non-commissioned officers. There we have a distinct 
 military organization, and yet it is in every essential a college or 
 educational institution training men for civil life. 
 
 Senator Pittman. General, just one other question. You have 
 heard the statement of the facts by Senator Martin with regard to 
 the condition of the Virginia Military Institute at the time of its 
 destruction and the character of its work. Are you willing to give 
 it as your opinion that the destruction, under such circumstances, 
 was unnecessary and not in accordance with the general usages of 
 civilized nations in war.'' 
 
 Gen. Wood. I should say that it was not in accordance with the 
 usage of civilized nations in war. I should regard it very much as 
 I should regard the destruction of Norwich University if the 
 Confederates had gotten up into that part of the country and 
 destroyed it. 
 
 Senator Norris. Have you examined the records ? I should 
 think there ought to be a report from Gen. Hunter and the other 
 men who destroyed the buildings. 
 
 Gen. Wood. I have not. I came up this morning to testify as 
 to the general character of the institution and its standing in the 
 Army. 
 
 Senator Norris. It seems to me that it would be a good thing 
 to have the official report of the destruction. Senator du Pont stated 
 that it was done under protest. I think that ought to be in the 
 records of the War Department. 
 
 Gen. Wood. If the committee would like to have them, I will 
 make a search. 
 
 Senator Martin. I should hardly suppose you could find such 
 a record. I suppose it would be a breach of discipline for a sub- 
 ordinate to protest under such circumstances. 
 
 Senator Norris. I understood the Senator to say that he carried 
 out the instructions under protest.
 
 484 The Military History of 
 
 Senator Martin. Verbally, to his superior officer — that he did 
 not think it ought to be done. But I should hardly think it was 
 consistent with military discipline for a subordinate to file a written 
 protest against his superior officer. 
 
 Gen. Nichols. Probably Senator du Pont would know more 
 about that side of the question. 
 
 Senator du Pont. If the committee will permit me to interrupt, 
 I would be glad to read an extract from Gen. Hunter's report. 
 
 Senator Bradley. What book have you there, Senator? 
 
 Senator du Pont. I am reading from the House Miscellaneous 
 Documents, first session. Fifty-second Congress, 1891-92, volume 
 13, containing Gen. Hunter's report of his operations. I would like, 
 with the committee's permission, to read that part of tlie report 
 referring to the destruction of the military institute: 
 
 On the 12th I also burned the Virginia Military Institute and all the 
 buildings connected with it. 1 found here a violent and inflammatory 
 proclamation from John Letcher, lately governor of Virginia, inciting the 
 population of the country to rise and wage a guerrilla warfare on my 
 troops, and, ascertaining that after having advised his fellow-citizens to 
 this course the ex-governor had himself ignominiously taken to flight, I 
 ordered his property to be burned under my order, published May 24th, 
 against persons practicing or abetting such unlawful and uncivilized 
 warfare. 
 
 Senator Martin. Excuse me for saying right there that of 
 course that was written in the excitement of the war. I do not 
 believe we would attribute to Gov. Letcher any ignominious flight 
 under any circumstances. 
 
 Senator du Pont. I read this because Senator Norris wanted 
 the official report. That is all there is in the records about the 
 matter. 
 
 Senator Martin. With the shells of Senator du Pont flying 
 around, it is likely that they got out as fast as they could, but I do 
 not think I could exactly admit that it was an ignominious flight. 
 
 Senator Bradley. It was a hurried departure? 
 
 Senator Martin. That is it — a leave-taking. 
 
 The Chairman. Is there anything further to bring before the 
 committee on this subject? 
 
 Senator Martin. I do not think there is. I believe there is 
 nothing that I desire to add to anything that has been said. I think 
 that ends the hearing, Mr. Chairman. 
 
 The Chairman. Very well. We will adjourn at this time. 
 
 (Whereupon, at 11:45 o'clock a. m., the committee adjourned.)
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 4tS5 
 
 APPENDIX E 
 
 PREPARED BY JOS. R. ANDERSON. 
 
 CONFEDERATE OFFICERS FROM THE VIRGINIA 
 MILITARY INSTITUTE 
 
 Major-Generals 
 
 Robert E. Rodes. (Killed in battle.) 
 William Mahone. 
 W. Y. C. Humes. 
 
 Total, 3. 
 
 Brigadier-Generals 
 
 Gabriel C. Wharton. 
 
 John Echols. 
 
 R. Lindsay Walker. 
 
 R. E. Colston. 
 
 J. R. Jones. 
 
 Samuel Garland. (Killed in battle.) 
 
 William H. Payne. (Seriously wounded.) 
 
 William R. Terry. (Seriously wounded.) 
 
 A. C. Jones. 
 
 A. J. Vaughan. (Lost a leg.) 
 
 Thomas T. Munford. 
 
 James A. Walker. 
 
 James H. Lane. 
 
 John McCausland. 
 
 James B. Terrill. (Killed in battle.) 
 
 Birkett D. Fry. (Seriously wounded.) 
 
 James E. Slaughter. 
 
 Total, 17. 
 
 Colonels 92 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonels 64 
 
 Majors 107 
 
 Captains 306 
 
 Lieutenants 221 
 
 In the above are included: 
 
 General R. L. Walker, Chief of Artillery, Army of Northern 
 Virginia.
 
 486 The Military History of 
 
 Colonel Stapleton Crutchfield, Chief of Artillery, Stonewall 
 Jackson's Corps. 
 
 Colonel Thomas H. Carter, Chief of Artillery, Early's Army. 
 
 Colonel Briscoe G. Baldwin, Chief of Ordnance, Army of 
 Northern Virginia. 
 
 Colonel Walter H. Taylor, Adjutant-General to General R. E. 
 Lee. 
 
 Colonel Edwin J. Harvie, Inspector General to General Joseph 
 E. Johnston. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel R. P. Chew, Chief of Horse Artillery, Army 
 of Northern Virginia. 
 
 Major Giles B. Cooke, Asst. Adjutant-General to General R. E. 
 Lee. 
 
 Major A. R. H. Ranson, Asst. Chief Ordnance, Army of North- 
 ern Virginia. 
 
 N. B.- — Of the total number of eUves who served in the Con- 
 federate Army, 45 y2 per cent were officers, and all living eleves 
 but 121 volunteered; 15 of that number served in the U. S. Army. 
 Up to April, 1865, there had been 2,013 matriculates.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 487 
 
 APPENDIX F 
 
 PREPARED BY JOS. R. ANDERSON. 
 
 V. M. I. ALUMNI IN FOREIGN ARMIES— BEFORE 1861 
 
 It is interesting to note that some of our Gradutes and Eleves 
 performed distinguished service in the Military Establishment of 
 Foreign Countries; and it is fitting that their names, and the 
 memory of their deeds, should be preserved. With pride, we 
 present them here. 
 
 Beverley T. Hunter, of Virginia — Matriculated 18-tl. Lieu- 
 tenant in Lopez's Army to free Cuba. Killed August 18, 1851. 
 (See sketch in chapter entitled, "The Institute's Contribution to 
 the Mexican War.") 
 
 BiRKETT D. Fry, of Virginia — Matriculated 1840. General in 
 Walker's Nicaraguan Army. (See brief sketch in chapter entitled, 
 "The Institute's Contribution to the Mexican War.") 
 
 William R. Whitehead, of Virginia — Graduated 1851. Son of 
 Colonel William B. Whitehead and his wife, Emeline F. Riddick, 
 of Nansemond County. Descended from a distinguished ancestry. 
 Great-great-grandson of Captain Jason Riddick, of the Revolution. 
 Following are interesting extracts from the sketch of his career 
 furnished the author by the Official Historiographer of the Virginia 
 Military Institute: 
 
 "After graduating at the Institute, William Riddick Whitehead 
 spent one year at the University of Virginia, studying medicine, 
 and graduated with the degree of M. D., the following year, at the 
 University of Pennsylvania. He then went to Paris, France, to 
 continue his medical studies ; but, the Crimean War having broken 
 out, he determined to pursue his studies on the battlefield. He 
 was cordially received by Prince Gortchacoft", the Russian Am- 
 bassador to the Austrian Court, at Vienna, who gave him letters of 
 introduction to his cousin, Prince Gortchacoff. the Commander-in- 
 Chief of the Armies of Southern Russia; and Dr. Whitehead re- 
 ceived the appointment of Staff Surgeon in the Russian Army. His 
 fluent command of the French language gave him many social ad- 
 vantages among the cultivated Russians at Odessa, where he was 
 first posted. There, he came under the friendly guidance of the 
 great surgeon, Perigoff; and his earnest application to his duties 
 won the confidence of the distinguished surgeon, and his associates.
 
 488 The Military History of 
 
 "He served to the end of the War; and on the recommendation 
 of Dr. Perigoff and Prince Gortchacoff, he received, by order of the 
 Emperor, the Cross of Knight of the Imperial Russian Order of 
 St. Stanislaus. 
 
 "Returning to Paris, Dr. Whitehead registered as an Eleve de 
 I'Ecole de Medecine de Paris, and studied diligently until 1860; 
 when, having written his French thesis, as required, and having 
 passed his examination creditably, he received the degree of 
 Docteur en Medecine de la Facidte de Paris. 
 
 "Returning to the United States, he settled in New York, and 
 was elected Professor of Clinical Medicine in the New York 
 Medical College. 
 
 "After the fall of Fort Sumter, he returned to his native state, 
 Virginia, and was appointed by President Davis a lieutenant in the 
 battalion which was intended as a nucleus for the regular Con- 
 federate Army. This organization, however, was never completed ; 
 and, subsequently, President Davis, at the request of its colonel, 
 and other officers of the regiment, appointed him surgeon of the 
 44th Virginia Infantry. He served about two years with this regi- 
 ment, and rose successively to senior surgeon of the brigade and 
 acting surgeon of the division, and, at the close of the W^ar, was 
 president of an Examining Board in South Carolina for examina- 
 tion of conscripts and disabled soldiers. 
 
 "At the battle of Chancellorsville, Dr. Whitehead had the 
 wounded Stonewall Jackson placed in an ambulance which was 
 already occupied by his chief of artillery. Colonel Stapleton Crutch- 
 field, badly wounded. Both of these distinguished wounded officers 
 and Dr. Whitehead — all three — were V. M. I. men, 'Old Stonewall' 
 one of its most beloved and honored professors. 
 
 "After the battle of Gettysburg, Dr. Whitehead was directed to 
 take charge of all the wounded of Stonewall Jackson's old Corps. 
 The Federals allowed him to remain in charge, after the retire- 
 ment of both Armies, and liberally furnished supplies for the 
 wounded. About a month afterwards, instead of being exchanged 
 (as he expected) Dr. Whitehead was detained as a prisoner of war, 
 and sent to Baltimore and shut up in an enclosure adjoining Fort 
 McHenry. From this imprisonment he escaped in citizen's attire, 
 one dark night, by scaling the walls, leaving his uniform, top boots, 
 and big spurs behind as souvenirs. That night, he made his way 
 to New York, and the next morning astonished his future father-in- 
 law. Colonel Thomas G. Benton (a good Southerner residing in 
 New York), by appearing before him. 
 
 "Passing through Canada, he took passage from Halifax on a 
 Cunard Steamer for St. Georges, Bermuda, and from there, on a 
 swift Blockade-Runner, he safely returned {via Wilmington) to his 
 duties in the Confederate Army. Arriving in Richmond, Surgeon- 
 General Moore took some interest in Dr. Whitehead's adventures,
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 489 
 
 and granted him twenty days' leave of absence. He was engaged 
 to his very pretty little cousin^ Miss Elizabeth Benton, of New 
 York. On account of ill health she had been permitted by Mr. 
 Stanton, the Federal Secretary of War, to cross the lines and visit 
 the South. She was then at the home of her aunt, Mrs. Fielding 
 Lewis, in Albemarle County, Virginia, not knowing that her lover 
 had escaped from prison; there, he found her during his twenty 
 days' leave, and they were happily married. 
 
 "After the War, Dr. Whitehead returned to New Yoi-k, and 
 devoted himself to surgery, his favorite branch of the medical pro- 
 fession. He moved from New York to Denver, Col., in 1872, on 
 account of his wife's health. About 1874, he was elected a member 
 of the City Council of Denver, and during his service in the Council, 
 at the request of the editor of the Rocky Mountain News, Dr. 
 Whitehead prepared two lengthy articles on the subject of 
 'Sewerage for Denver,' which were the initial steps of the present 
 fine sewerage system of that city. He was a voluminous and able 
 writer, principally treating of difficult cases of surgery he had per- 
 formed; and his articles on this subject attracted favorable com- 
 ment, both in this country and in Europe. 
 
 "Dr. Whitehead left his children a large estate, inherited from 
 his father, and greatly increased by his own untiring industry and 
 business acumen. But better than that, he left them the legacy 
 of a useful career and an honorable name. He died at his home in 
 Denver, of heart disease, in 1903. He was found dead in bed by 
 his servant, having apparently passed calmly away in his sleep. 
 He had already secured tickets for an extended tour abroad, for 
 the benefit of his health, and expected to join his wife in New York 
 where she had preceded him, to spend a few days with relatives 
 before their departure for Europe." 
 
 William Mason, of Virginia. 
 
 He spent the session of 1851-52 at Washington College, Vir- 
 ginia, and then entered the Institute, where he remained till July, 
 1854. He then returned to his home in Brunswick County. Soon 
 thereafter, he received a commission as first lieutenant from Gen- 
 eral William Walker, with authority to raise a company for service 
 in the Army which that intrepid soldier was organizing for the 
 purpose of establishing a Republic to be formed of the States of 
 Central America. He at once visited Vicksburg, Miss., and New 
 Orleans, La., making the latter place his headquarters ; and soon 
 sailed therefrom as captain of about one hundred men, having been 
 promoted, after the organization of the company, to its captaincy. 
 
 Almost immediately on his arrival at his destination in Nica- 
 ragua, he participated in the battle of Rivas. After this fight, he 
 was stricken with fever, and died aboard the vessel which was 
 taking him to the Island of Omertepec, in Lake Nicaragua, where
 
 490 The Military Histoby of 
 
 General Walker had established hospital quarters for his sick and 
 wounded. He was buried on this island — his last resting place— 
 bv his comrades, in the presence of the American Consul and other 
 American friends who were there watching events in what was 
 then a very interesting, if anxious, movement. He died May 4, 
 1856. His family received many testimonials of him, including an 
 account of his gallant conduct in the fight at Rivas, which his 
 mother always kept, and which she bequeathed to lier daughter. 
 
 The following tribute was written, August 23, 1856, by his 
 friend and comrade, Mr. F. W. Wilkins, of Lynchburg, Va. : 
 
 "Death of a Virginian in Nicaragua 
 
 "Died on the 4th of May, 1856, Captain William Mason, aged 
 22 years, late of the Nicaraguan Army, General William Walker, 
 commanding. 
 
 "The unfortunate subject of this obituary was a native of the 
 Old Dominion, born in Brunswick County, April 14, 1834, a 
 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute [He did not graduate, 
 but resigned (probably) in the graduating class. — Ed.], and in all 
 respects a most worthy and estimable gentleman. 
 
 "A few months previously to his untimely death, he enjoyed all 
 that affection and wealth could bestow ; but with this he was not 
 content. In the bosom of an affectionate, careful, and provident 
 family, his ardent and restless spirit found not what it sought; 
 and, having heard of the struggles of Walker and his daring fol- 
 lowers, his gallant and danger-loving spirit yearned to be with them. 
 He, accordingly, left parents, friends, and a quiet happy home to 
 enlist under the banner of Republican Nicaragua. With this de- 
 sign, he visited the states of Mississippi and Louisiana in which, 
 after much trouble and expense, he collected a little band of ad- 
 venturous spirits, in command of which he set sail for Nicaragua, 
 that most beautiful, romantic and fertile, but distracted, land. 
 Here, he and his dauntless followers arrived safeW on the 22d of 
 March, after a voyage of eleven days ; and, here, he experienced 
 for the first time the severe and trying reality of the soldier's life. 
 Here, he entered with alacrity upon the officer's manifold duties and 
 responsibilities — arduous and full of danger ; and, here, he bore all 
 those privations, hardships, and fatigues, incident to the camp and 
 the march, cheerfully and without a murmur. 
 
 "He was present at that long-continued and bloody battle of 
 Rivas. His chivalrous and soldiery bearing was remarked by all, 
 officers and men ; and he survived to read, hear, and receive the 
 many distinguished encomiums which his noble and dauntless con- 
 duct so well merited. 
 
 "Amid the 'shout, the shock, and groan of war,' his proud step 
 was ever seen onward and in advance, and his commanding voice
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 491 
 
 unceasingly heard, urging on to victory or to death. But, alas, alas ! 
 he is gone ! he has fallen ! he has fallen- — not by the sword, but 
 by disease. Shortly after the battle of Rivas, he was stricken down 
 by yellow fever — that most fatal malady ; and with its unusual 
 virulence his manly form for a long time contended for the victory, 
 and it seemed with success ; but he finally sank beneath its death- 
 stroke. He died, entertaining to the last the anxious hope of re- 
 visiting, and embracing again, his revered father and mother, and 
 fond brothers, and devoted sister. 
 
 "He breathed his last on the morning of the Ith of May, aboard 
 the steamer in Lake Nicaragua, and was buried on the Island of 
 Omertepec. His bearing in the agonies of death, although far 
 separated from all that was dear to him, was yet in keeping with 
 his lofty, and magnanimous nature. 
 
 "His death was witnessed by the author, who was lying prostrate 
 by the same disease. Heart-felt sympathy for his bereaved family, 
 and eternal happiness to his departed spirit !" 
 
 We have thus given the record of three sons of the V. M. I. 
 who sought military glory in foreign lands, two of whom found a 
 soldier's grave, while fighting for the cause they bravely espoused. 
 
 [There were others who fought (and one who died) while serv- 
 ing Foreign Armies, after the Confederate War; and, while their 
 records do not strictly belong to the province of this History (which 
 gives the military record of the Virginia Military Institute only to 
 the end of that great war), still, it is believed the "unities" will 
 not be seriously hurt, if we give them in this work ; so they will 
 be found in Appendix G.]
 
 492 The Military History of 
 
 APPENDIX G 
 
 PREPARED BY JOS. R. ANDERSON. 
 
 V. M. I. ALUMNI IN FOREIGN ARMIES— AFTER 1865 
 
 In the body of this work will be found brief sketches of three 
 old cadets who served in Foreign Armies before the Confederate 
 War. Three others served in Foreign Armies after that War, and 
 a brief record of them is given in this Appendix. 
 
 Raleigh Edward Colston, of Virginia. He was born in Paris, 
 France, in 1825, and recei\'ed his preliminary education in the best 
 schools of that City until he was sixteen when he was placed in the 
 care of Mr. Edward Colston, in Berkeley County, Virginia (now 
 West Virginia), by the latter's brother. Dr. Raleigh Colston, of 
 Paris, in order that his education might be completed in the United 
 States. 
 
 He was entered at the Institute in 1843, and was graduated in 
 1846. His course at the Institute was most creditable, and he was 
 a popular cadet. He had fitted himself for the profession of teach- 
 ing, and especially the French language, in which he was very 
 proficient. In the year 1854 he was invited to accept the chair of 
 French at the Institute. He was flattered by the tender, and 
 promptly accepted it ; and when the Confederate War broke out 
 he was most acceptably filling that chair. He at once offered his 
 services to Virginia and the Confederacy. They were promptly ac- 
 cepted, and he was appointed Colonel of the 16th Virginia Infantry. 
 
 In the fall of 1861, he was promoted brigadier-general, and he 
 commanded a brigade in the Peninsula, under Magruder, until the 
 spring of 1862. At Chancellorsville, May, 1863, he gallantly and 
 efficiently commanded a division. Later, he was placed in command 
 at Petersburg, and, on July 6, 1864, he was ordered to succeed 
 Brigadier-General Nicholls, in command of Lynchburg. He was a 
 brave and intelligent officer and served gallantly throughout the War. 
 
 After the War, he was called by the Khedive of Egypt to re- 
 organize his Army. He accepted this flattering appointment, re- 
 ceiving the rank of Bey and title of Colonel. When his work was 
 finished, he returned to Virginia. Broken in health and spirit, and 
 too proud to accept the support of his children, he was admitted to 
 Lee Camp Soldiers' Home, at Richmond, Va., September 25, 1894, 
 and died there, Julv 29. 1896, and was laid to rest in beautiful 
 "Hollywood."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 493 
 
 Colonel George A. Porterfield thus speaks of him: 
 "Colston became my roommate in 1843, at the Institute, and 
 there we formed a friendship which lasted through life. There was 
 no one for whom I had a higher regard, or a sincerer friendship, 
 than R. E. Colston. He was a man of fine intellect and superior 
 attainments. The distinction which he gained in the Confederate 
 service, during the Civil War, and later, in the service of the 
 Khedive of Egypt, reflects honors upon the Colston name." 
 
 General Colston married Louisa Meriwether, daughter of John 
 Bowyer, of "Thorn Hill," Rockbridge County, Virginia, and left 
 
 two daughters, Mary (Mrs. ), and Louise (now the 
 
 wife of John D. Ragland, of Petersburg, Va.. an old "V. M. L 
 Boy.") 
 
 St. George Tucker Mason, of Virginia, was entered at the 
 Institute when sixteen years old, in the spring of 1861, but ran 
 off to enter the Army. He was sent back to his guardian, as he 
 was too young to enlist, and reentered early in 1862. He remained 
 only a few months, his restless spirit ill-brooking his confinement 
 at the Institute when he yearned for active service in the field. His 
 guardian yielded finally, and he resigned his cadetship, and entered 
 the Military service. His arm was the Cavalry ; and he made a 
 splendid record, being several times wounded, and declining 
 promotion. He served gallantly to the end. 
 
 St. George Mason was the third son of Judge John Y. Mason, 
 our Minister to France, who died at the embassy in Paris, a few 
 years before the Confederate War. 
 
 St. George was well grounded in his preliminary education by 
 teachers in Paris, and spoke the French language fluently. After 
 our great War, he tried to be content leading the prosaic life of a 
 private citizen, and for just one year ill succeeded. Owing to 
 Emperor Louis Napoleon's (and especially his lovely wife, 
 Eugenie's) fondness for Judge Mason's family, St. George re- 
 ceived, in 1866, an appointment as first lieutenant in the "Foreign 
 Legion" of the French Army, stationed in Algeria. He quickly re- 
 ported for duty. 
 
 After five years' service in which he had twice received pro- 
 motion, he was on the eve of applying for a furlough to visit his 
 old home in Virginia, when the Franco-German War broke out. No 
 power under heaven could have drawn him from France then. He 
 served during the war with the greatest gallantry, receiving wounds 
 and promotions. 
 
 When the war ended he was the senior captain of his regiment 
 in the regular French Army, and had frequently commanded it. 
 
 Marrying soon afterwards the daughter of a high civil official in 
 Algiers, he found it difficult to pay the long-promised and longed- 
 for visit to America ; and it was not till he came as aide-de-camp
 
 494 The Military History of 
 
 to General Boulanger, on the occasion of the Yorktown Centennial 
 Celebration, that his loved ones in Virginia saw him; and, alas, 
 they never saw him again! After a few weeks' delightful visit, he 
 returned to France with his General. 
 
 France, during her occupation of Tong-King (Tonquin) in 
 Annam, in 1883-4, had suffered a number of repulses by the 
 Chinese, and determined to increase her Army of occupation to 
 4.0,000, under General Briere de I'lsle. Captain Mason's regiment 
 formed a part of this Army. 
 
 A treaty was soon negotiated, through the offices of Sir Robert 
 Hart, between France and China, the terms being that Tong-King 
 should remain under the protection of France, who would evacuate 
 Formosa, and spend 80,000,000 francs on the construction of roads 
 in South China. In the rainy season of 1884 there was much sick- 
 ness among the French troops in Tong-King, and Mason fell a 
 victim to virulent dysentery, dying there in the summer of 1884. 
 His remains were later taken to Algeria. 
 
 St. George Mason was a born soldier, and loved his profession; 
 and, had his life been spared a while longer, there is hardly a doubt 
 that he would have been promoted to still higher rank in the Army 
 of his romantic love. 
 
 A younger brother served gallantly in the New Market Corps 
 of Cadets. 
 
 Henry Huntingdon Harrison, of Virginia, matriculated July, 
 1863. Served with the Corps in its various campaigns until 
 February, 1864, when he resigned to enlist in the Army. 
 
 He served throughout the remainder of the War as a private in 
 Company B, 43d Virginia Cavalry Battalion, under Colonel Mosby. 
 He had his horse shot under him in the action at Hamilton, Va., 
 March 21, 1865, and was captured and held a prisoner in Fort 
 McHenry, until the June following. 
 
 In 1866, he entered the University of Virginia, and graduated in 
 the Law School in 1868, and subsequently traveled in Europe. 
 Fondness for military life, and sympathy with the republican cause, 
 induced him to offer his services to the Insurgent Republic of Cuba. 
 In June, 1869, he was commissioned Captain of Cavalry in the 
 "Liberating Army of Cuba." He raised a company of Confederate 
 Veterans at Richmond, Va., which became Company D in the regi- 
 ment of American Cavalry of Colonel Ryan. He sailed with the 
 Expedition from New York for Cuba, but was captured by the 
 United States authorities and confined in Fort Lafayette, New 
 York Harbor. He remained nearly a year in New York City, wait- 
 ing under the orders of the Cuban Junta, and engaged in shipping 
 arms and other munitions of war to the Army in Cuba. Finally, in 
 May, 1870, he went to Cuba as captain in the Expedition of Gaspar 
 Aguero Betancourt. He served first in the cavalry brigade of
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 495 
 
 Camaguey, under General Ryan, afterwards in the Department of 
 Santa Clara, under General Cavada. He was lying ill, and unable 
 to walk, in a hospital camp in the woods, near Palma Sola, in 
 Cienfuegas, January 19, 1871, when the camp was taken by the 
 Spanish. He escaped on his hands and knees. On the fifth day, 
 being nearly exhausted from having had nothing to eat, he en- 
 countered, and surrendered to, a detachment of Spanish cavalry; 
 was held a prisoner and threatened with death, but was finally 
 released at the intervention of the United States. 
 
 He returned then to Virginia, and settled in Sussex County, and 
 engaged in farming. He married, in 1874, Margaret B. Page, of 
 Philadelphia. He was Chairman of the Democratic Executive 
 Committee of his county, 1876-9, and was a member of the House 
 of Delegates, 1877-9. Although he was a graduate in law, he never 
 practised the profession, but dropped it for farming, and the study 
 of letters, which last is his favorite pursuit. 
 
 Impaired health — the result of exposure in campaigning in two 
 wars — obliged him to remove to Florida in 1887, where he has 
 since resided, giving much time to the settlement and development 
 of the Indian River and Biscayne Bay sections of that State. 
 
 In 1891-2-3, he was Commissioner of the State of Florida to 
 obtain from Congress sundry improvements to navigation on the 
 East Coast. He is much interested in the cult of the Confederate 
 Legends. He is a member of Miami Camp of U. C. V. 
 
 He has written "The Charge of the Cadets," "Chickamauga," 
 "The Fall of the Great Captain," "The Last Charge at Gettys- 
 burg," "The Writing of the Roll of Glory," "The South was 
 Right," etc. 
 
 Henry Huntingdon Harrison was born May 12, 1848, at "Carter 
 Hall," Clarke County, Virginia, and is the son of Henry Harrison, 
 of "Berkeley," Charles City County, and his wife, Frances Tabb 
 Burwell, of "Carter Hall." His paternal grandparents were 
 Benjamin Harrison, of "Carter Hall," and Mary Willing Page, of 
 "Pagebrooke," Clarke County, Virginia.
 
 496 The Military History of 
 
 APPENDIX H 
 
 PREPARED BY JOS. R. ANDERSON. 
 
 GRADUATES AND ELEVES IN THE UNION ARMY— 
 
 DURING THE WAR 
 
 There were fifteen (15), and to all but one we would accord 
 the meed of praise and honor; and we enshrine their memories in 
 our hearts. 
 
 Here are the fourteen who conscientiously (we must believe) 
 clung to the Union, and dedicated their lives and fortunes to the 
 cause for its preservation: 
 
 Brigadier-General Edward C. Carrington, 
 Colonel Charles Denby, 
 Colonel Benjamin Sharp, 
 Colonel John F. Tyler, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel John T. Hall, 
 Major James R. Hall, 
 Major William C. Cuyler, 
 Major John A. Thompson, 
 Captain Samuel S. Malcolm, 
 Captain Ulysses D. Floyd, 
 Captain James B. Hamilton, 
 Lieutenant A. B. Williams, 
 Private James Seabrook, 
 all of the Armj' (except probably Hamilton), and 
 Surgeon Stephen D. Kennedy, of the Navy. 
 
 Of the above-named, five met death during the War, and two 
 soon after, in the line of duty. 
 
 E. C. Carrington came of a distinguished line of Virginians, 
 and (barring this one act of his life) was no mean scion of a 
 knightly race. (See brief sketch of him on page 514 in appendix 
 entitled, "The Institute's Contribution to the Mexican War.") 
 
 Charles Denby graduated "First Captain" of his Class (1850). 
 Some years afterwards, Georgetown University conferred upon 
 him the degree of LL. D. 
 
 He was born in Botetourt County, Virginia. His parents were 
 Nathaniel Denby, a merchant of Richmond, Virginia (who, at one
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 497 
 
 time, was United States Consul at Marseilles, France), and Sarah 
 Harvey, of Botetourt County, Virginia. He taught several years 
 in the Masonic University at Selma, Alabama, and then removed to 
 Evansville, Indiana, and was assistant editor of the Enquirer, of 
 that City, till 1855, when he was admitted to the bar. The next 
 year he was elected to the Legislature, as a Democrat. 
 
 When the Civil War began, he was active for the Union cause, 
 and was made colonel of the Forty-Second Indiana Volunteers, 
 and afterwards, colonel of the Eightieth Indiana Volunteers. At 
 the battle of Perryville, in 1862, he was severely wounded, and had 
 his horse killed under him. Three years later, his injuries forced 
 him to resign his commission. 
 
 He then took up politics, and was for years one of the shining 
 lights of the Democracy of his State. He was a delegate to the 
 St. Louis Convention of 1876, and nominated Tilden and Hendricks, 
 and, in 1884, to the Chicago Convention which nominated Cleve- 
 land and Hendricks. Five months before the death of Vice- 
 President Hendricks, Colonel Denby was appointed by President 
 Cleveland, Minister to China. He was reappointed by President 
 Harrison (who was his warm friend and admirer), and was again 
 reappointed by President Cleveland. 
 
 In his thirteen years of service, from 1885 to 1898, Colonel 
 Denby became close to the Chinese statesmen. His efforts in aid 
 of peace with Japan, after the war with the Celestial Empire, put 
 him high in Chinese favor ; and Li Hung Chang had a great regard 
 for him. Immediately on his retiring, President McKinley ap- 
 pointed him a member of the Commission which investigated the 
 conduct of the War with Spain. The next year, he was appointed 
 a member of the Philippine Commission. He was a man of inter- 
 national fame, and was one of the galaxy of statesmen that shed 
 lustre upon Indiana. 
 
 In 1858, he married a daughter of United States Senator 
 Graham N. Fitch, of Indiana, who survived him, with the following 
 children: Edwin, T. Garvin, Graham F., Charles, Jr., Wythe, 
 and Mrs. Gilbert Wilkes. 
 
 Colonel Denby never denied that, although he was relieved, on 
 an Army surgeon's certificate of physical disability, from further 
 service in the field, he resigned his commission in the United States 
 Army because of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. This was 
 generally believed. 
 
 One of his sons wrote that he "treasured more than one 
 memento of his cadet days, until his death; and they are now 
 valued keepsakes of some of his children." In this connection, it 
 will not be out of place to insert here a letter from Colonel Denby, 
 received by the Chairman of the Virginia Military Institute Semi- 
 centennial Executive Committee, in 1889: 
 
 .S2
 
 498 The Military History of 
 
 "Legation of the United States, 
 
 "Peking, July 16, 1889. 
 
 "Joseph R. Anderson, Jr., Esq., 
 "Chairman, etc., 
 
 "Richmond, Va. 
 "Dear Sir — Your kind letter of May 14th, inviting me to attend 
 the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the Virginia Military Institute, 
 on the 3d and 1th instant, reached me this day. You correctly 
 assume that attendance on the occasion mentioned would have been 
 a great pleasure for me. Nothing would be more agreeable to me 
 than to visit Virginia where the most of my relations reside, and 
 especially — 
 
 " 'The schoolboy spot we ne'er forget. 
 Though there we are forgot.' 
 
 "I was contemporary with Rodes, Garland, Allen, and many 
 others who won fame in our great War. Here, in China, I have a 
 classmate. General A. C. Jones, Consul at Chinkiang; but we are 
 eight hundred miles apart. 
 
 "Trusting that I shall have the pleasure of meeting you, and 
 other 'Old Cadets,' at no distant day, 
 
 "I remain, very truly yours, 
 
 "Charles Denby." 
 
 In another letter, written many years afterwards, he said that, 
 at a gathering of V. M. I. Alumni, in San Francisco, he had had 
 "the honor of drinking a toast to [Judge] Evans, the gallant color- 
 bearer at New Market." 
 
 Colonel Denby died suddenly of heart trouble at Jamestown, 
 New York (having lectured there the night before), January 13, 
 1904. 
 
 Benjamin Sharp was one of the noble twenty youths who re- 
 lieved the Public Guard at Lexington, on the natal day of the 
 V. M. I. He was from Lee County, Virginia, and his family was 
 probably the most prominent one in that section. 
 
 In a few years, he removed to Missouri, and soon became 
 prominent in that State. At the beginning of the War, lie was com- 
 missioned colonel of Missouri Volunteers (Union); but, before he 
 could take command of his regiment, he was killed by "Bush- 
 whackers," as he was driving along the road in his buggy. 
 
 He had become a leading Mason in his adopted State, and the 
 members of that order passed the most eulogistic resolutions on 
 his untimely and cruel taking-off, and placed his portrait in the 
 Grand Lodge, in St. Louis. 
 
 Grand old General A. C. Cummings, of the Class of 1844, told 
 the writer that the first cadet uniform he ever saw was worn by
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 499 
 
 Cadet Benjamin Sharp, as he returned from the Institute, in July, 
 1840, and passed through Abingdon; and that it made such an 
 impression on him. in arousing his youthful ambition, that he deter- 
 mined to apply for a cadetship himself, the next year. He got the 
 appointment, and was graduated three years thereafter. 
 
 John F. Tyler was from the same State and county as 
 Benjamin Sharp, but entered the Institute sixteen years after the 
 latter. He was graduated in 1859, and soon thereafter removed to 
 St. Joseph, Missouri. He became a lawyer; and when, two years 
 later, the War broke out, he enlisted in the Union Army, and rose 
 to be a colonel, serving throughout the War with distinction. 
 
 He had never returned to the Institute till July, 1889, when the 
 Semi-Centennial Celebration was held, and between tOO and 500 
 "Old Boys" assembled to honor the occasion, and the grand old 
 Chief who had chosen to relinquish his life's work on this, his 
 fiftieth, anniversary, as Superintendent of the Institute. Tyler 
 was given an ovation. It was the first time since the War that a 
 Federal Alumnus had returned to the old home, and his hundreds 
 of Alumni-brothers gave him the right hand of comradeship, with a 
 hearty will. This generous and magnanimous reception touched 
 him deeply. He met a number of his classmates, among them Scott 
 Shipp, Commandant ; and he was the most earnest man on the 
 ground in soliciting votes among the Alumni for the nomination of 
 Shipp as "Old Speck's" successor, against General Fitzhugh Lee, 
 a formidable competitor. 
 
 Tyler died in 1911. He was a devoted son of the Institute, and 
 influenced a number of Missouri youths to attend the School. 
 
 The two Halls were brothers. They were very anxious to 
 enlist in tlie Southern cause, their sympathies being entirely with 
 the South. They had many friends in the Corps of Cadets, all of 
 whom expected them to take side with Virginia in the coming 
 struggle, when they left the Institute for their home near the Ohio 
 River. But their father — a rabid Unionist — forbade their entering 
 the Southern Army, threatening them with the direst punishment 
 if they did not obey his command. It was a most pathetic case. 
 They were literally driven to the course adopted for them, against 
 their solemn protest, by their unnatural and cruel father. They 
 both joined the Federal Army; both were given high command, 
 and both were killed in battle! We can not but sigh over the sad 
 fate of these two unwilling martyrs to a cause they believed, in 
 their hearts, was cruelly unjust. They were buried side by side 
 in the Cemetery near Eight Mile Island, in the Ohio River. James 
 died first, having been killed at Kennedy's Hill. West Virginia, 
 August 6, 1862. He was major of the 4th West Virginia Infantry.
 
 500 The Military History of 
 
 John, the younger by four years, was lieutenant-colonel of the 13th 
 West Virginia Infantry, and was killed at Cedar Creek, West 
 Virginia, October 19, 1864. 
 
 A correspondent of the writer who knew the Hall family well, 
 thus wrote: "Hon. John Hall, the father of James Robert and 
 John Tyler Hall (his only sons), was a native of Tyrone, Ireland, 
 and came to America with his parents when a child, and settled 
 first in Rockingham County, Virginia, later removing to Mason 
 County (West Virginia). He married Olivia Hogg, daughter of 
 Thomas Hogg, youngest son of Peter Hogg, the famous captain and 
 surveyor, and friend of Washington, when Robert Dinwiddle was 
 the Colonial Governor of Virginia. 
 
 "John Hall (father of the two cadets) was a member of the 
 General Assembly of Virginia in 1844, and served a second term, 
 and was also a State Senator, and was elected on the Whig ticket 
 in 1852. He was the President of the first Convention of West 
 Virginia, and he held many other positions of trust in the county 
 and State. He was a zealous Union man; and his position, and 
 desire for influence in the State, made him urge his sons to enlist 
 in the Federal service, they being both warm advocates of the 
 South, at the commencement of the agitation for the secession of 
 the State of Virginia. James remarked to a friend that he would 
 rather see his right arm paralyzed than raised against the South ; 
 and a strange incident happened: his right arm was shattered by 
 a ball, which was the cause of his death. 
 
 "The father of these Old Cadets in a political controversy with 
 Editor Lewis Wetzel, of Point Pleasant, in 1861, shot and killed 
 him. He was tried for the killing, but was acquitted." 
 
 This uncompromising hater of the South, and bitter and 
 vindictive man, died of cancer of the eye, in 1882, and was buried 
 by his sons. He never recovered from their deaths. He had a 
 large picture painted of the two gallant young men, in the uniform 
 of their rank, with this inscription beneath it: "Young, patriotic, 
 brave, and generous, they gallantly fell in defense of their Country, 
 with their faces to the foe." 
 
 Another correspondent wrote that John T. Hall, on the breaking 
 out of the War, went to Charleston (West Virginia), to go into 
 the Confederate Army, but did not do so; and that, instead, he 
 joined the Union Army, and was commissioned major of the 4th 
 Virginia (West Virginia) Volunteers (Union). He was after- 
 wards promoted to lieutenant-colonel, as we have stated above. 
 
 William Clarendon Cuyler entered the Institute the summer 
 before the war. He was a native of Georgia, and was a son of 
 Major John Meek Cuyler, Medical Corps, U. S. A., a native of the 
 same State. His father, in 1860, was stationed at Fortress Monroe,
 
 The Virginia Militaey Institute 501 
 
 and it was from there that Cuyler came to the Institute. He was 
 a popular fellow, and a high-toned Southern gentleman; but when 
 the war-clouds threatened, his comrades all knew that Cuyler would 
 cast his lot with his father, on the "other side." It was an 
 illustration of the effect of environment. Cuyler had been brought 
 up in the Army where State lines are obliterated, and State pride 
 is but poorly cultivated. 
 
 He became a second lieutenant in the Third Artillery in 
 February, 1862; first lieutenant in April, 1863; brevet captain in 
 October, 1864, "for gallant and meritorious service in the battles 
 of Winchester and Cedar Creek"; and major in March, 1865, "for 
 good and gallant service during the war." 
 
 He died November 2, 1869, in Savannah, Georgia, of yellow 
 fever. 
 
 John A. Thompson was from Belmont County, Ohio (bordering 
 on the Ohio River). He was the son of Colonel John Thompson, of 
 Belmont County, Ohio (opposite Moundsville, Virginia), and his 
 wife, Sara Ann Walker, both born in Pennsylvania, and whose 
 paternal parents came from Armagh, Ireland. 
 
 He was in the graduating class in 1850-51, when he, with all 
 but two or three others of the class, had a bitter controversy with 
 the Second Cadet-Captain (their classmate). Thompson was a 
 great favorite, and the Second Captain was very unpopular— both 
 in his Class and in the Corps at large. The issue was joined by 
 Thompson denouncing in unmeasured terms his commanding officer. 
 A court-martial resulted; but his classmates (all but two or three) 
 stood by him, and they were threatened with dismissal for "forming 
 a combination," in contravention of the Regulations of the Institute. 
 There was great excitement in the Corps which met and adopted 
 resolutions upholding both Thompson and his Class, and condemn- 
 ing the Second Captain. The verdict of the court-martial was 
 generally thought to have been unjust. Thompson left the In- 
 stitute, but carried with him unmistakable proof of the confidence 
 and admiration of his classmates (except one or two) and of the 
 whole Corps. 
 
 Three years later, June 25, 1855, he received a commission as 
 second lieutenant in the First United States Dragoons. He was 
 transferred, August 29, 1855, to the First Cavalry. On January, 
 — , 1861, he was promoted first lieutenant, and May 14, 1861, 
 captain. On August 3, 1861, he was transferred to the Fourth 
 Cavalry. August 25, 1867, he was promoted major of the Seventh 
 Cavalry; and, on November 14th, following, he was murdered by 
 desperadoes, near his post in Texas. 
 
 The following announcement was made to his father, by the 
 assistant surgeon of the post:
 
 502 The Military History of 
 
 "Fort Mason, Texas, November 1 i, 1867. 
 
 "Colonel John Thompson, 
 
 "Moundsville, W. Va. 
 
 "Dear Sir — It becomes my painful duty to inform you of the 
 death of your son, Major John A. Thompson, at this post, this 
 morning, at the hands of desperadoes, while commanding the peace 
 in an aifray between them and a party of soldiers just arrived from 
 Fort Chadbourne. 
 
 "Tlie ball struck the right cheek below the eye, cutting the 
 internal carotid artery, and emerging below the left ear, with 
 fatal hemorrhage in about twenty minutes. I was by his side in 
 a few moments, but my best endeavors to preserve his valuable life 
 were hopelessly futile. 
 
 "He was universally esteemed here, his many noble qualities 
 winning him a large circle of friends who, with his inconsolable 
 family, and the Army which loses one of its most valuable officers, 
 will ever deplore his irreparable loss. 
 
 "Accept, dear sir, my most sincere sympathy, in this your sad 
 bereavement. 
 
 "Mrs. Thompson will leave for St. Louis as soon as proper 
 escort can be secured to accompany her. 
 
 "Very respectfully, 
 
 "John A. Hulse, 
 
 "A. A. Surgeon, U. S. A." 
 
 In a "communicated" tribute before us, we find these words: 
 
 "Major John A. Thompson was educated at the Virginia Mili- 
 tary Institute. 
 
 "His first associations in the Army were with Colonel Lee (after- 
 wards General Lee, of the Confederate service). Most of his 
 fellow-officers of this same regiment were Southern gentlemen. 
 After the partial disorganization of the regiment, consequent on 
 the breaking out of the Civil War, he was associated with Colonel 
 (afterwards General) Sumner, a brave and gallant soldier, and a 
 fine disciplinarian. 
 
 "Lieutenant Thompson's early duties in the Army were in the 
 exploration and protection of our immense territory in the West. 
 In these duties many instances of sagacity, forecast, and intrepidity 
 might be recorded; Avhile his official reports of his explorations 
 are models of conciseness, fullness, and completeness of detail, 
 exhibiting all that was important to be known, and avoiding the 
 prolixity of unnecessary and feeble details. They commanded the 
 public and official commendation of his superior officers, and were 
 the basis of much of the subsequent action of the Government, in 
 relation to the whole of that great western domain.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 503 
 
 "Upon the breaking out of the Civil War, he parted with great 
 regret with his personal Southern friends in the Army. 
 
 "For some time, his services, from his superior knowledge of 
 the country, were required for the protection of the California 
 mails, and the western settlements, against the Indians who then, 
 as lately, had assumed a warlike attitude. But when the Govern- 
 ment was sorely pressed in the South, he was ordered to the Army 
 of Tennessee with his command. He was present at the battle of 
 Chickamauga, and it was his presence of mind, his personal bravery, 
 and fortitude, and his disobedience of orders (or, rather, his sub- 
 stitution of his own military discretion), that saved the retreat of 
 the Army and its almost total destruction. 
 
 "At tlie close of the War, he was sent to Texas. 
 
 "He was scholarly, soldierly, and gentlemanly, with the love of 
 his men, the respect of his fellow-officers, and the confidence of his 
 superiors." 
 
 The San Antonio (Texas) Express, in its issue of November 
 18, 1867, said: 
 
 "An express from Fort Mason arrived in this City on Saturday 
 morning bringing the intelligence of the brutal murder of Major 
 John A. Thompson, Commander of the Post, on Thursday morning 
 last. Major Thompson was out driving with his wife and two 
 children, and, passing by a store about half a mile from the Post, 
 saw a difficulty taking place between some citizens and soldiers. 
 He stopped his ambulance and ordered a sergeant, who was present, 
 to have the parties arrested, when the desperadoes turned upon 
 the Major and his sergeant, shooting the Major through the head, 
 killing him instantly (?), while by his wife's side, and mortally 
 wounding the sergeant. 
 
 "The murderers, having their horses at hand, fled before any 
 attempt for their arrest could be made. [Then followed the names 
 of the gang.] Scouts have been sent in all directions to (if 
 possible) catch the murderers. The officers of the regiment have 
 offered one thousand dollars reward for their arrest, and delivery 
 to the militarv authorities. 
 
 "He was universally beloved by his fellow-officers and the men 
 under his command. He was very happy in his domestic relations, 
 having one of the sweetest of women for a wife, and two beautiful 
 children. 
 
 "On the banks of the Ohio River, his aged father and mother, 
 surrounded with ease and wealth, but recently urged their son to 
 resign and come home, to bless their declining years.
 
 504 The Military History of 
 
 "He devoted the best energies of a noble manhood to his 
 country's service, and closed an honorable career with that sub- 
 limest of oflferings, a hero's life." 
 
 Major Thompson married, in 1860, Mary J. Wilson, of St. 
 Louis, Missouri. Two children were born to them — Elizabeth and 
 John. 
 
 Of Malcolm very little is known. He was a son of Andrew 
 Malcolm, and his wife, Priscilla Samples, of Charleston, West 
 Virginia. 
 
 He was entered at the Virginia Military Institute in the summer 
 of 1850. He did not graduate. In 1858, he removed to Missouri, 
 and became a captain, during the War, in the Union forces of that 
 State. He has not been heard from since 1884 (when he was still 
 living in Missouri). 
 
 Floyd was from Fairmont, West Virginia, and became a cadet 
 in the summer of 1860. He was the son of Michael Floyd. Like 
 Malcolm, he went also to Missouri (after the war). He is said 
 to have been a captain of the Home Guards of West Virginia 
 (Federal). He has not been heard from by his relatives (still in 
 his native state) for forty-six years, and is supposed to have died, 
 soon after going west. When last heard from he spoke of his 
 intention of going farther westward. 
 
 *Hamilton was another West Virginian, who was entered in 
 1847. His parents, Thomas B. Hamilton and Elizabeth S. Brown, 
 lived at Hawks Nest; they moved there in 1828 from the Valley 
 of Virginia. The Old Cadet resigned while in the Third Class, 
 and attended no other institution of learning afterwards. He be- 
 came a civil engineer. His son says he was not in actual military 
 service during the War of 1861-65, but was in the employ of the 
 United States Government, as a civil engineer, in 1861-62. 
 
 On July 10, 1863, he was taken from his home by the Con- 
 federates, and kept in military prisons at Lewisburg, Dublin, Castle 
 Thunder (Richmond), and Salisbury, North Carolina. In the last- 
 named prison he died on September 28, 1864. 
 
 He was a very strong Union man, and, when arrested, he was 
 engaged in making a large map of a tract of land, under orders of 
 the Court; and it was reported to the Confederate authorities that 
 it was a map of the county for the Union forces; hence his arrest 
 and imprisonment. 
 
 He was greatly interested in education, and owned a schoolhouse 
 at his home where he taught school in the winter months, when he 
 could not follow his profession as a surveyor. 
 
 He married Matilda I. Wood, daughter of Amos Wood, of 
 Fayette County, West Virginia, in 1853, and there were born to 
 
 •From the testimony of his son, he was not regularly enlisted as a soldier.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 505 
 
 them three children, Alexander W. Hamilton (now a lawyer in 
 Fayetteville, West Virginia, and a most courteous gentleman), 
 William T. Hamilton, and Mrs. James E. Bailey. 
 
 Augustus Berry Williams was a liuetenant in the 8th Virginia 
 Regiment (Union), and served with credit throughout the War. 
 He entered the Institute in 1860. He is still living, a respected 
 merchant, in Charleston, West Virginia. He is a most loyal 
 Alumnus, and has frequently corresponded with the writer. He 
 went to Richmond with the Corps under Jackson in April, 1861, 
 and drilled Southern volunteers until July, when he was discharged 
 and returned to Kanawha County, and later entered the Union 
 Army. His parents were: John Williams, born in New York City, 
 and Mary Berry, born in Kanawha County, Va. (W. Va.). 
 
 James Seabrook was from Pittsburg, Pa., though his paternal 
 ancestors were prominent citizens of Richmond, Virginia, until the 
 middle of the last century. He entered the Institute the summer 
 before the War began. He enlisted in Company E, 35th New 
 Jersey Volunteers, and was killed by "bushwhackers," February 15, 
 1864. His father was Thomas Seabrook, of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and his mother was born Eveline Tingey Barber, of New 
 Jersey (niece of Commodore Tingey, of the U. S. Navy). 
 
 Surgeon Stephen Dandridge Kennedy, of the United States 
 Navy, during the War of 1861-65, was a Virginian whose family 
 was very prominent in Jefferson County. He was educated at the 
 Institute, the University of Virginia, and the University of Mary- 
 land, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the last- 
 named institution, in 1855. He practised his profession in Balti- 
 more till 1861, when he was appointed a surgeon in the United 
 States Navy. He served gallantly with Admiral Farragut, and 
 some years after the War purchased a farm in Fauquier County, 
 Virginia, upon which he settled. 
 
 We have thus spoken in detail of every one of the fourteen 
 gradutes and eleves wlio served with honor in the Federal Military 
 Establishment, during the War. What of the fifteenth? It were 
 well had he never been born, or, at least, had never become a cadet 
 of the Virginia Military Institute ; for then, he would have escaped 
 the dishonor that attaches to his memory now. Who was this man? 
 He was William Henry Gillespie, son of Dr. James Lindsay 
 Gillespie, of Louisa County (and later Page County), Virginia, and 
 Mary Harrison Hall, daughter of John Byrd Hall, of Fredericks- 
 burg, Virginia, and his wife, Harriet Stringfellow, of Culpeper 
 County, Virginia. 
 
 Gillespie entered the Second Class in the fall of 1860. He 
 stood very high in his Class, and appears to have attracted the
 
 506 The Military History of 
 
 special attention of Major Jackson, one of his instructors. In April, 
 1861. he went with the Corps to Richmond. His future movements 
 are related by himself in a letter to General Scott Shipp, Superin- 
 tendent, Virginia Military Institute, bearing date, "Sistersville, 
 West Virgina, September 22, 1897," as follows: 
 
 "Dear Sir — Please send me a Register of the Graduates of the 
 V. M. I. I wish you would inform me how much I would have to 
 remit to obtain a Diploma from your institution, showing the fact 
 that I graduated in 1861 (or 1862, I forget which). 
 
 "I have in my possession a highly complimentary letter from 
 'Stonewall Jackson,' directing me to meet him at Winchester, Va., 
 and promising me a commission as lieutenant of engineers on his 
 staff. I obeyed his order, and reported to him at Taylor's Hotel, 
 in Winchester, and was informed by him that I must stay with his 
 staff (but not on duty), until my appointment would come. 
 
 "I slept by his side in the 'fence corners' at night, on his retreat 
 from Winchester, with General Banks in pursuit, asking him every 
 day why my appointment had not come; until at New Market, 
 opposite my home in the Luray Valley, I asked him again, and he 
 replied rather curtly that he did not know, unless it was because 
 my father was accused of disloyalty. I knew at that time that my 
 father had been arrested at Luray for being a Union man; had 
 been confined in jail at Luray under such charges; had been after- 
 wards released from jail, under a writ of habeas corpus (granted by 
 Judge John W. Tyler, of the Fauquier District) ; and (that) after 
 his release by order of Judge Tyler, he was arrested by some of 
 General Longstreet's Corps, and was confined in the Guard House 
 at Orange Court House, from which he escaped at night, and after 
 a desperate endeavor to reach the Union lines, he finally succeeded ; 
 and (that), upon examination by Major-General H. W. Slocum. 
 he was recommended to Abraham Lincoln by the General, and 
 (that) Lincoln directed in a letter to General Banks, that 'Dr. 
 Gillespie be taken to his home in the Luray Valle^^, and be 
 protected.' 
 
 "After my rebuff from General Jackson at New Market, being 
 only a mere boy, and knowing part of the facts described, I went 
 home; and being an only son, told my mother that I had no other 
 recourse but to hide at home, until the Union troops occupied the 
 Valley, and, then, to follow the fortunes of my noble father. 
 
 "Some of these days, possibly soon, I will visit the V. M. I. 
 and show vou all the paper. [He died two months afterwards.^ 
 Ed.] 
 
 "My father was. in the latter part of the War, surgeon-in-chief 
 of the Third Brigade of Carroll's Division of Hancock's Corps, ap- 
 pointed by General Carroll, and (the appointment) signed by 'Wm.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 507 
 
 AIcKinley, Jr., Major and Asst. Adjt.-Genl., which papers I also 
 have. 
 
 "Please let me hear from you at your earliest convenience. 
 
 "With high respect, 
 
 "I am very truly yours, 
 
 "Wm. H. Gillespie. 
 
 "I will also mention that while my father and myself went 
 with General Shields to Fredericksburg, Va., the Confederate mails 
 were opened in the Luray Valley, and that my mother, at home, 
 received the long-delaj^ed letter from Richmond, sending my ap- 
 pointment as lieutenant of engineers, signed by J- P. Benjamin, 
 Secretary of War, which I also have." 
 
 Is this a novelist's fiction ? Or is it historical truth ? Did this 
 old "V. M. I. Boy"^ — a pupil of Jackson — accept the proffered ap- 
 pointment to his personal staff ; sleep by his side ; share with 
 others of his staff the high honor of his confidence and comrade- 
 ship, as fellow-soldiers in a sacred Cause, and then desert to the 
 enemy? Alas, for the frailty of human nature, it is even so! 
 
 He was placed in a trying position, there is no doubt. He 
 was in a strait betwixt two duties (as he conceived), the one hold- 
 ing him to his honor, as a soldier, the other drawing him to his 
 persecuted father, as a son! It must have been, indeed, a sore trial 
 for a youth barely seventeen years of age, to be subjected to; and 
 one can not but feel a natural pity and sorrow for the perplexed 
 boy, from the standpoint of humanity alone. But, a soldier is not 
 permitted to yield to the softer virtues ; nor can he debate in his 
 own mind questions of casuistry. His paramount duty is to yield 
 implicit and unquestioning obedience to military law ; to sink all 
 personal preferences ; to ignore the promptings even of the human 
 heart, and to disregard the common amenities of private life. It is 
 his to heed, and instantly respond to, the stern call of Duty, what- 
 ever may betide. Then, in this view, the conduct of young Gillespie 
 was reprehensible in the extreme. He deserted his colors! 
 
 It is true, he had not formally enlisted in the Confederate Army ; 
 but he had technically done so, when he obeyed the summons of 
 Jackson, and repaired to his headquarters, to await the coming of 
 the commission promised him as a lieutenant of engineers on Jack- 
 son's staff. What must have been his thoughts when the belated 
 commission finally reached him ! What iron}- of F'ate ! What a 
 tragedy of his earlier hopes and aspirations ! To serve with 
 Jackson (his sister, the last of his father's famih', wrote the 
 Historiographer of the Institute) had been his highest ambition — 
 the dream of his life. He had lost the opportunity he had so 
 fondly coveted ; he had crucified his honorable ambition ; and the 
 future looked dreary indeed to this young Union soldier.
 
 508 The Military History of 
 
 We know nothing of his military life till after the repulse 
 of the P'ederal General Hunter, before Lynchburg, in June, 1864. 
 His regiment — the 14th West Virginia Infantry — was in Hunter's 
 Army. No doubt, he had been in the disastrous rout at New 
 Market, and possibly had witnessed the famous charge of the Cadet 
 Battalion there. He had certainly passed through Lexington, with 
 Hunter's later victorious troops ; had witnessed the destruction of 
 his once-dear Alma Mater; and had seen the "Old Corps" retreat- 
 ing before Hunter's twenty thousand soldiers. What must have 
 been his feelings, at this time? 
 
 But, we hear of him again, when on the 17th and 18th of June, 
 his regiment was engaged near Lynchburg. Let his colonel speak: 
 
 "Headquarters, Fourteenth W. Va. Vol. Inf'y, 
 
 "Camp Piatt, W. Va., July 3, 1864. 
 
 "Lieutenant — I have the honor to report that in the engage- 
 ment of the 17th and 18th days of June, 1864, near Lynchburg, 
 Va., the officers and men, almost without exception, displayed great 
 courage and heroism. The Fourteenth West Virginia Volunteer 
 Infantry formed the right of the second line of battle of the Second 
 Brigade, and advanced in good order, and with a great deal of 
 enthusiasm, in support of the first line of battle, each officer per- 
 forming his duty with great credit, with the single exception of 
 First Lieutenant William H. Gillespie, adjutant of the regiment. 
 [Italics the author's.] On the 17th day of June, as we were ad- 
 vancing, when the first line opened fire upon the enemy, Lieutenant 
 Gillespie exhibited great cowardice by dodging behind trees, 
 stumps, etc. The regiment had advanced but a few hundred yards, 
 when Lieutenant Gillespie fell entirely behind, and did not rejoin 
 the regiment until after dark, when the firing had ceased. On the 
 18th, when the rebel batteries opened upon our brigade, he again 
 abandoned his regiment, went to the rear, and did not rejoin his 
 command until the next morning, several miles from the battle- 
 field. Summary dismissal, I think, would be an adequate punish- 
 ment for his offense. 
 
 "Very respectfully yours, 
 
 "D. D. Johnson, 
 
 "Colonel. 
 "Lieut. William B. Nesbitt, 
 
 "A. A. A.-G., Second Brigade, 
 "Second Division, 
 
 "Department of West Virginia." 
 
 The above report is taken from "War of Rebellion Official 
 Record of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I. Vol. 
 XXXVII."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 509 
 
 Diligent search through the "Rebellion Records" has failed to 
 find that Lieutenant Gillespie was either dismissed, or brought to 
 trial before a Court-Martial ; nor is he mentioned again in the 
 Records. 
 
 This will naturally be thought a doubly ignominious ending of 
 the career of Gillespie, the Deserter. But the writer does not be- 
 lieve it was quite as bad as it looks ; he does not think he was a 
 coward. He believes that his apparently shameless conduct was 
 the result of a set purpose (dangerous as it was) to fight no longer 
 against the Confederates, because he knew the Union Army was 
 opposed, in part, by the Corps of Cadets of the V. M. I. — his 
 quondam comrades ; and it does not require a very great stretch of 
 the imagination to arrive at the writer's conclusion. Let us, at 
 least, give the poor, misguided fellow the benefit of our charitable 
 doubt. 
 
 After the War, Gillespie went with his father to Iowa. In 1873, 
 he returned to West Virginia. When he was about forty years old 
 he married, and, to please his father, he took a course of medical 
 lectures in Baltimore. He seems to have been ever a dutiful and 
 devoted son, at least. He practised medicine only a short while, 
 giving it up for the real estate business. He died of pneumonia at 
 St. Vincent's Hospital, New York, on November 10, 1897. 
 
 His dear old mother lived to be nearly eighty-nine years of 
 age, dying at the home of her only child (a daughter), at Sisters- 
 ville, West Virginia, February 10, 1907. Her husband died in 
 1892. She was a great-granddaughter of William Byrd, of West- 
 over, and was a woman of most saintly character, and was beloved 
 by hosts of friends. She was a life-long member of the Episcopal 
 Church, and a beautiful obituary of her was published in the 
 Church papers. 
 
 The Historiographer of the Institute wrote to Gillespie's sister, 
 and begged her to disabuse his mind, if possible, of the conviction 
 (confirmed, alas, by herself) that her brother had deserted the 
 Confederate cause. She replied very kindly, but said nothing to 
 soften the hard, cruel facts: "The word 'deserter,' without doubt, 
 would not look well in history," she wrote, and added. "You 
 have my permission to write it your own way. I have ceased long 
 ago to worry over small things. 'Let the dead past bury its dead'." 
 
 This sister had previously written, and furnished the Histori- 
 ographer, a sketch of Dr. Gillespie. In part, she wrote: "My 
 brother's education was conducted at home, in Luraj'^, Va., until 
 he was sixteen years of age, when he was sent to Harrisonburg, 
 Va., to attend a college for boys. He remained at that place until 
 1860. the year of his matriculation at the V. M. I. In 1861. he 
 was sent with other cadets, under General Wise, to the Kanawha 
 Valley, to drill recruits for the Confederate Army. [He evidently 
 went with the Corps to Richmond, under Jackson, in April, and this
 
 510 The Military History of 
 
 is confirmed by his classmate, the late Rev. W. E. Hill. — Ed.] At 
 that time, he was given (what he always thought his greatest glory) 
 a position by 'Stonewall Jackson' on his Staff, ranking as captain. 
 Late that summer, hearing of his father's persecutions by the Con- 
 federates, naturally, his views changed entirely; he deserted, came 
 home, and was given a place in the 14th Regiment, West Va. 
 Volunteers, as adjutant. He remained with the same regiment until 
 he was given his honorable discharge, at the close of the War. 
 
 What is the reader's verdict in this pathetic case.^ Whatever 
 it shall be, the case is without parallel: that a man should serve as 
 an officer in the Federal Army, and yet esteem it the greatest honor 
 of his life to have been asked to serve on Stonewall Jackson's Staff; 
 or, to state the case more strongly (as it really was), to have ac- 
 cepted a tentative appointment on Jackson's Staff, and, then, to 
 desert to the enemy!* 
 
 Considering the fact of the large number of matriculates from 
 the Northwestern border of the Old Dominion, it is rather remark- 
 able that only fifteen are found to have actively served in the 
 Union Army. But there was not one of these, we feel sure, but 
 often recalled that long ere he donned the blue uniform of the 
 Union, he had responded to the reveille of life, while wearing the 
 grey coatee, and that the flag he first learned to love and to follow 
 was the white field, unsullied as the driven snow — emblazoned only 
 with the features of Washington and the name of Virginia 
 Military Institute. 
 
 There is but one other Alumnus, so far discovered, who deserted 
 the Confederate Army, and his case is so flagrant and so plain, 
 that we feel it to be our duty to thus publicly name him. It is 
 William James Sargeant, graduate of the Class of 1856, from 
 Louisa County, Virginia. He was of plain but respectable origin, 
 and was a State Cadet. His course at the Institute was quite 
 creditable, and, after graduating, he followed the profession of 
 teaching. When the War broke out, he was elected captain of a 
 company raised in the "Green Springs," Louisa County, called the 
 "Louisa Grays," which was assigned as Company H to the 23d 
 Virginia Infantry. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Kerns- 
 town; and, though, when he was released, he returned to Virginia, 
 he remained only a short while, and then went to Parkersburg, 
 West Virg inia, and never returned to the Confederate States. 
 
 (•onfP,fi!-«^ti' iffin«. \,7^°^^^'^^A.'^^'^ ^*s » <^»<*et with Gillespie, and a superb 
 Sws : ' ' "" ^^^^' *'' *^^ Historiographer of the Institute as 
 
 Virsinia^'«nrl*'i?P%''/v«''^I'*^ death. I met poor old Gillespie in Charleston, West 
 you now |?ve." substantially the same account of his desertion that 
 
 Maior V* f'ohP^f."h«in^^f''?'i?il?.*^^*"y"*°^^*^.'^^^^S ^^^"^ ^ fl°e mathematician. 
 -Major \>. A. UDencnam ( First Honor" Graduate) whom GillesniA came- vai-v 
 
 HiU • tnd''tSf atte^-' ad^d^^'^^-lf '-.^thematict.'^ind thTlate ReT wlmam^^B^ 
 
 CorVs•"of''•6^''^;.1nes%'STo^^eT^^^^^ ^'^ ^"'^ ^'^"^'^ -' '"^^ -O''^ ^'-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 511 
 
 Two of his countymen, both graduates of the Institute, who 
 knew the facts, declared he deserted the Confederate Cause. One 
 of these gentlemen, still living, a gallant officer in the C. S. A., 
 thus wrote, October 17, 1903, to the Historiographer of the 
 Institute, in reply to the latter's request for such facts as he 
 possessed bearing on the subject: 
 
 "I am certain of Sargeant (his desertion). He was the son of 
 the old overseer at 'Grassdale.' He went out as captain of the 
 company from this neighborhood, which was assigned to the 23d 
 Virginia Infantry, Taliaferro's Brigade, Jackson's Division. At 
 the battle of Kernstown. he allowed himself to be captured, because 
 he was afraid to run, when we were ordered to fall back. At the 
 reorganization of the Army, he was in prison, and was not reelected 
 captain. When he was exchanged, he came back home [he lived 
 only a few miles from the home of this correspondent] ; and, to 
 avoid being conscripted, started out to join Mosby, in the summer 
 of 1862. But he went to West Virginia, near Parkersburg, where 
 he stayed, during the War." 
 
 The other 1860 graduate from Sargeant's county who wrote 
 about him was the late gallant Captain William B. Pendleton. He 
 
 said: "I note what you say about Sargeant, H , and others. 
 
 Certainly, it would be proper to enter the record (the honorable 
 record) of all you mention — except Sargeant. As to him, I think 
 if anything is said about him, it should be so expressed as to put 
 him where he belongs. Of course, if there is any doubt about his 
 desertion, he should have the benefit of the doubt. I don't know 
 that he deserted, but I have always heard he did ; and if it can be 
 shown clearly that he did, it was a crime of the blackest sort, and 
 should be branded as it deserves." 
 
 After searching for years, the Historiographer discovered a 
 sister of Captain Sargeant, the last surviving member of his 
 father's family ; and she sent him a brief biographical sketcli of 
 her brother for his annals. In that part relating to the War she 
 said: "Captain of 'Louisa Grays' 21st (?) Virginia Regiment. 
 Taken prisoner at battle of Kernstown ; confined at Fort Dela- 
 ware three months. " Under another heading, she said: "Married 
 Maria Henderson, daughter of Robert Porter Henderson. Parkers- 
 burg, West Virginia. Married about 186 Jf [italics the writer's], 
 exact date unknown"; and she adds: "Removed to California in 
 the early seventies and became assistant professor in a college 
 (exact location unknown), until he lost his hearing, and died in 
 Los Angeles, in the 71st year of his age." (A brother — since 
 died — had previously written that he died "about 1899.") 
 
 Captain Samuel V. Fulkerson, in his report of the part borne 
 by the 23d Virginia Infantry, in the battle of Kernstown. March 
 23. 1862, said: "Captain Sargeant is reported 'missing'."
 
 512 The Military History or 
 
 Upon receiving the sketch above mentioned, the Historiographer 
 addressed the following letter to Sargeant's sister: 
 
 "Lee, Va., November i, 1910. 
 
 "My DEAR Madam — Your kind letter, enclosing a sketch of your 
 brother, the late Captain William James Sargeant, of Louisa 
 County, Virginia, graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, 
 Class 1856, has just come, and I return my warm acknowledgments. 
 
 "The records in my hands show that your brother was com- 
 missioned captain of the 'Louisa Grays,' Co. H, 23d (not 21st) 
 Virginia Infantry, C. S. A., but that he was succeeded by Captain 
 Saunders. 
 
 "It has been stated to me that after he gave up his command, 
 there were 'rumors' that he left the Confederate Army, and the 
 Confederate States. 
 
 "If these rumors are unjust and untrue, I want you to give me 
 the authority to deny them. The memory of your brother, I know, 
 is precious to jou; and, as a fellow V. M. I. Alumnus, I want to 
 protect it, if possible. I hope, therefore, you will tell me what 
 he did after being released from prison at Fort Delaware ; and 
 whether he rejoined the Confederate Army, and, if so, what 
 command ? 
 
 "You say he married in Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1864. 
 That place was within the enemy's lines, throughout the War. 
 Possibly you named the wrong place. 
 
 "I am, very sincerely, etc." 
 
 No reply was ever received to this letter. We are, therefore, 
 reluctantly forced to believe that this one graduate deserted his flag, 
 as charged.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 513 
 
 APPENDIX I 
 
 PREPARED BY JOS. R. ANDERSON. 
 
 THE INSTITUTE'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE MEXICAN 
 
 WAR 
 
 While the Virginia Military Institute was yet in its infancy, it 
 found an opportunity to demonstrate its worth as a School of Arms 
 — in the Mexican War. This war was waged to decide the question 
 of boundary between the United States and Mexico. Our govern- 
 ment made a proposal to settle the controversy by negotiation, but 
 the authorities of Mexico scornfully rejected it, and military opera- 
 tions quickly ensued. It was known than an Army of Mexicans 
 was gathering in the northern part of the country, for the invasion 
 of Texas, or, at least, for the occupation of the disputed territory. 
 
 On the 8th of March, 1846, in obedience to orders from our 
 government, the American Army, under General Zachary Taylor, 
 advanced to the Rio Grande River, took position opposite 
 Matamoros, and hastily erected a fortress, afterwards called Fort 
 Brown. The historian tells us that "on April 26th, General 
 Ampudia, commander of the Mexican frontier, notified General 
 Taylor that hostilities had begun. On the same day, a company of 
 American dragoons, commanded by Captain Thornton, was at- 
 tacked by a body of Mexicans, east of the Rio Grande River, and, 
 after losing sixteen men in killed and wounded, was obliged to 
 surrender. This was the first bloodshed of the war."* 
 
 General Taylor hastened to strengthen the defenses at Point 
 Isobel, and to safeguard the supplies established there, and then 
 set out with a provision train, and an Army of more than two 
 thousand men, to return to Fort Brown which was under the com- 
 mand of Major Brown, with a garrison of three hundred men. 
 "Meanwhile, the Mexicans, to the number of six thousand, had 
 crossed the Rio Grande and taken a strong position at Palo Alto, 
 directly in Taylor's route. At noon, on the 8th of May, the Amer- 
 icans came in sight, and immediately joined battle. After an en- 
 gagement of five hours' duration, the Mexicans were driven from 
 the field, with the loss of a hundred men. The American Artillery 
 was served with signal effect, while the fighting of the enemy was 
 clumsy and ineffectual. Only four Americans were killed, and forty 
 wounded; but among the former was the gallant and much- 
 lamented Major Ringgold, of the Artillery. 
 
 ♦Ridpath's History of the United States. 
 
 S3
 
 .514 The Military History of 
 
 "On the following day, General Taylor resumed his march in 
 the direction of Fort Brown. When within three miles of that 
 place, he again came upon the Mexicans who had rallied in full 
 force to dispute his advance. They had selected for their second 
 battlefield a place called Resaca de la Palma. Here, an old river- 
 bed, dry and overgrown with cactus, crossed the road leading to 
 the fort. The enemy's artillery was well posted, and better served 
 than on the previous day ; the American lines were severely galled 
 until the brave Captain May, with his regiment of dragoons, 
 charged through a storm of grapeshot, rode over the Mexican 
 batteries, sabred the gunners, and captured La Vega, the command- 
 ing general. The Mexicans, abandoning theirs guns and flinging 
 away their accoutrements, fled in a general rout. Before nightfall, 
 they had put the Rio Grande between themselves and tlie in^ incible 
 Americans. 
 
 "On reaching Fort Brown, General Taylor found that during 
 his absence the place had been constantly bombarded by the guns 
 of Matamoros. But a brave defense had been made, which cost, 
 with other losses and suffering, the life of Major Brown, the 
 commandant. 
 
 "Such was the beginning of a war in which Mexico experienced 
 a long list of humiliating defeats. When the news of the battle of 
 the Rio Grande was borne through the Union, the war spirit was 
 everywhere aroused. The President, in a message to Congress, 
 notified that body that the lawless soldiery of Mexico had shed the 
 blood of American citizens, on American soil. 
 
 "On the 13th of May, 1846, Congress promptly responded with 
 a declaration that war already existed by the act of the Mexican 
 government. . . . War meetings were held in all parts of the 
 country; and, within a few weeks, nearly three hundred thousand 
 men rushed forward to enter the ranks."* 
 
 Among these patriots, stood twenty-five "V. M. I. Boys." Here 
 are their names: 
 
 A. C. CuMMiNGs Edward C. Carrington 
 H. L. Shields D. S. Lee 
 
 G. A. PORTERFIELD C. P. DeYERLE 
 
 B. D. Fry W. a. Scott 
 J. L, Bryan T. S. Garnett 
 R. C. W. Radford Andrew Jackson 
 Isaac W. Smith H. W. Williamson 
 
 C. R. Munford B. T. Hunter 
 
 A. C. LaYNE J. B. DORMAN 
 
 B. F. FicKLiN R. G. Ross 
 A. W. SouTHALL C. E. Carter 
 
 A. M. McCorkle J. E. Slaughter 
 
 R. H. Keeling 
 
 •Ridpath's History of the United States.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 515 
 
 Of the above named, nine were in the regular Army and sixteen 
 in the Vohmteers. One was a major (by brevet) ; three were 
 captains (two of brevet); fifteen were lieutenants; two were 
 non-commissioned officers ; and four were privates ; and four of 
 the twenty-five met death, during the War, or owing to the War. 
 
 It seems most fitting that brief records of these twenty-five 
 gallant young soldiers — the first sons of their Alma Mater to go 
 to war— should be given in this Military History of the Virginia 
 Military Institute, from 1839 to 1861. We, therefore, proceed to 
 give them. 
 
 Major (by brevet) Arthur Campbell Cummings, of Washing- 
 ton County, Virginia. Graduated 1844. Son of James and Mary 
 Cummings; born October 1, 1822, on the location of the first 
 settlement made by his great-grandfather, the Rev. Charles 
 Cummings, about three miles west of Abingdon, in about the year 
 1774. 
 
 He was licensed to practise law in 1846. In May, 1846, he 
 raised, and was elected captain of, two different volunteer com- 
 panies whose services were offered to the President of the United 
 States for the war just beginning; but the offer was declined, as 
 the full quota of volunteers had been received. He was deter- 
 minded to go to the War, however, and obtained a commission from 
 the President as captain of Co. K, 11th Regiment of U. S. Infantry, 
 which company he and his lieutenants enlisted at Abingdon, Vir- 
 ginia, Chillicothe, Ohio, and Wlieeling, Virginia. He was ordered 
 to join his regiment, and reached Vera Cruz with his company. 
 July 1, 1847, and was attached to the command of Major Lally. 
 His command was the first to leave Vera Cruz after the Army 
 under General Scott liad begun its march on the City of Mexico. 
 Captain Cummings was dangerously wounded in an engagement 
 with a large gTierrilla force at Paso Ovejas, near the National 
 Bridge leading to the City of Mexico; and, on August 15, 1847, he 
 was made brevet major for gallant conduct in that engagement. 
 
 He continued to serve with great credit till the War ended. He 
 was mustered out of the service, August 19, 1848. On his return 
 home, he resumed the practice of law. He was commissioned 
 colonel of the Fifth Regiment of Artillery, in the State's Militia, 
 on October 22, 1849. 
 
 In May, 1861, he was commissioned colonel of Virginia Volun- 
 teers, and was ordered to report to General T. J. Jackson, at 
 Harper's Ferry, and was by him assigned to command the Second 
 (afterwards Tenth) Regiment. In June, 1861, by order of General 
 Jackson, he organized the Third Regiment. He afterwards 
 organized the Thirty-third Regiment, and was assigned to its 
 command; and this regiment became a part of the "Stonewall 
 Brigade." He commanded this regiment at the first battle of
 
 516 The Military History of 
 
 Manassas, and until the reorganization, in 1862. In an able and 
 interesting paper on First Manassas, by Colonel William T. 
 Poague, he thus speaks of Colonel Cummings: "On the 19th of 
 March, 1905, there passed away at Abingdon, Virginia, an old 
 gentleman who, in my opinion, next to Evans, Jackson, and the 
 two commanding generals (Beauregard and Johnston), contributed 
 as much as (and perhaps more than) any other one man to the 
 defeat of the Federals at First Manassas. I refer to Colonel 
 Arthur C. Cummings." (He alludes to tlie capture by Colonel 
 Cummings' Regiment of the famous Griffin's U. S. Battery.) "At 
 the critical moment," Colonel Poague continues, "just as two Fed- 
 eral regiments moved to the right of the batteries (Griffin's and 
 Ricketts's), for their support and protection — without awaiting 
 orders from a su23erior — and some time before Jackson ordered the 
 famous charge of his brigade, Cummings threw his men, with the 
 suddenness and force of a thunderbolt, upon McDowell's right 
 flank, delivering a staggering blow that crippled and demoralized 
 his Army to an extent well-nigh incredible, and from which it 
 never recovered." And the gallant Colonel adduces evidence to 
 prove his assertion from eye witnesses, on the other side, such 
 competent and credible witnesses as Major Berry, Chief of 
 Artillery of McDowell's Army, and Captain Griffin himself. 
 
 Colonel Poague goes further and claims that Colonel Cummings's 
 Thirty-third Virginia captured Ricketts' Battery also. Colonel 
 Poague further says: "Although one thrown with him [Colonel 
 Cummings] would be impressed with the nobility of his character, 
 and be compelled to recognize his intellectual ability, he would not 
 learn from him — the kind, courteous, pure-hearted, modest gentle- 
 man — of the signal service rendered his country in the hour of 
 trial and danger. Peace to his ashes !" 
 
 Colonel Cummings three times represented his county in the 
 General Assembly of Virginia. He was also a member, at one time, 
 of the Board of Visitors of the Institute. He married the daughter 
 of the Honorable John M. Preston, of Smyth County, Virginia. 
 His wife and three children died some years before his own death, 
 which occurred at his home at Abingdon, March 19, 1905. 
 
 At the March term of the Circuit Court of Washington County, 
 beautiful resolutions were passed by the bar, and ordered to be 
 entered upon the record of the Court, testifying to "those sterling 
 traits of character— the gift of God— which marked his life, and 
 which distinguished his career. 
 
 "He was strong in intellect, unbending in integrity, indomitable 
 in will, high in courage, yet he was eminently just and humane in 
 feeling, modest by nature, and gentle as a woman in his bearing 
 towards his fellow-men. 
 
 • • • 
 
 "In his public life he was esteemed one of the wisest and most 
 conservative men of his day. His excellent judgment, his ability
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 517 
 
 to weigh men and measures, his knowledge of the rights and needs 
 of his people, and his courage to stand by his convictions, made him 
 at once a leader in legislative and deliberative bodies. The con- 
 fidence of his constituents in his judgment of public measures was 
 so great that his conclusions, when announced, were generally 
 adopted and followed as correct. 
 
 "Your Committee," thus conclude the resolutions, "offers the 
 foregoing as a true but imperfect tribute to the memory of Colonel 
 Arthur C. Cummings, only adding that he wore the white flower 
 of a blameless life." 
 
 Captain Daniel Smith Lee, of Shenandoah County, Virginia, 
 matriculated August 26, 1842. He did not complete the whole 
 course. His father was John Lee, of Strasburg, who was born at 
 Winchester, Va., and his mother was Mary P. Hupp, born at 
 Strasburg. He was living at Wheeling, Virginia (now West Vir- 
 ginia), when the Mexican War broke out. He was appointed by 
 President Polk a lieutenant in the U. S. Infantry, February 24, 
 1847, and aided his former V. M. I. comrade, Captain A. C. 
 Cummings, in organizing Company K, of the 11th U. S. Infantry, 
 of which he was appointed, August 11, 1847, 1st lieutenant, and 
 on the same day was made regimental adjutant. On August 20, 
 
 1847, he was brevetted captain "for gallant and meritorious con- 
 duct in the battles of Contreras and Cherubusco." On August 14, 
 
 1848, he was honorably mustered out of the service. 
 
 He later removed to Iowa, and became Adjutant-General of 
 that State. He was afterwards appointed United States Consul at 
 Basle, Switzerland. He returned home, after his term of office 
 expired, and was again appointed to the same post. While in 
 Washington, D. C, he accidentally shot himself in the foot with a 
 pistol, and died there of lockjaw, resulting from the wound, 
 August 15, 1857. 
 
 Colonel A. C. Cummings, in an interesting letter to the Histori- 
 ographer of the Institute, told of a duel Captain Lee fought, while 
 in Mexico, with Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) B. F. Harley, of 
 Philadelphia, of the same regiment, in which Lieutenant Thomas 
 Jonathan Jackson acted as Lee's second. Lee sent the challenge. 
 The duel was fought near the small town of Llrura, near the base 
 of the mountain, going from the City of Mexico, where the 11th 
 Regiment was stationed. The weapons used were Mississippi 
 rifles, at thirty paces. Neither party was hurt. The challenged 
 party (Harley) demanded a second fire, which was declined, and 
 there the matter ended. Colonel Cummings said he did not himself 
 witness tlie duel, as he was field-officer of the day when it came 
 off, and he was not supposed to know what was going on; but he 
 said he knew the facts were as stated, as he had obtained them from 
 high-toned gentlemen who were present, and witnessed the affair.
 
 518 The Military History or 
 
 Captain Lee was a first cousin of Judge George H. Lee (father 
 of two Old Cadets), of Winchester (and later Clarksburg), mem- 
 ber of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. His nearest 
 surviving relative now is Mr. R. H. Lee, of Strasburg, Virginia. 
 
 Captain Hamilton Leroy Shields, of Norfolk, Virginia. His 
 father was William Cannon Shields, who was associate editor of the 
 Beacon with Hugh Blair Grigsby. His mother was Elizabeth 
 Finch. 
 
 At the age of eighteen, he became a member of the first Corps 
 of Cadets that relieved the State Guard at the Lexington Arsenal, 
 on Novmber 11, 1839. July 1, 1841, he was entered as a cadet at 
 the United States Military Academy, and was graduated July 1, 
 1846, number 24 in a class of 59. Among his classmates, were 
 Generals "Stonewall" Jackson, George E. Pickett, Cadmus M. 
 Wilcox, Dabney H. Maury, and D. R. Jones (afterwards of the 
 Confederate Army), and Generals George B. McClellan, George 
 Stoneman, and Alfred Gibbs, of the Federal Army. 
 
 He was immediately assigned as second lieutenant to the Second 
 Artillery; March 3, 1847, he was transferred to the Third 
 Artillery. August 20, 1847, he was brevetted first lieutenant "for 
 gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and 
 Cherubusco" ; September 8, 1847, he was brevetted captain "for 
 gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Molino del Rey, 
 Mexico." He served throughout the Mexican War, having been 
 engaged in the assault and capture of the Capitol. 
 
 For three years, to September 20, 1853, he was judge-advocate 
 of the Eastern Division of the Army ; was aide-de-camp to General 
 Wool, from November 15, 1853, to February 15, 1854; was ad- 
 jutant. Third Artillery, February 15th to March 15, 1854. He 
 resigned from the Army, March 17, 1854. In 1854-7, he was a 
 counsellor-at-law in New York City. In 1857, he became a farmer, 
 and lived near Bennington, Vt. Captain Shields did not serve in 
 the War between the States. He married Caroline Hart, of Troy, 
 New York. Seven of their eight children were living in 1910. On 
 returning from the Mexican War, the City of Norfolk presented 
 him with a sword. He died November 24, 1889. 
 
 First Lieutenant Birkett Davenport Fry, of Kanawha County, 
 Virginia. He was matriculated in 1840. After one or more years, 
 he resigned to enter West Point. His father was Thornton Fry, 
 grandson of Colonel Joshua Fry, who figured in colonial history. 
 He was educated at Washington College, the Virginia Military 
 Institute, and the United States Military Academy. He did not 
 graduate, however, at the last-named institution, leaving there to 
 study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1846. 
 
 On February 24, 1847, he was appointed first lieutenant. In- 
 fantry. On April 9. 1847, he was transferred to the United States
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 519 
 
 Voltigeurs as first lieutenant, of which Joseph E. Johnston was 
 lieutenant-colonel. He was regimental adjutant from June 15th 
 to August 26, 1847 (at Contreras and Cherubusco), and led a com- 
 pany at Molino del Rev and Chapultepec, where he was mentioned 
 as distinguished. After the War, he went across the plains to 
 California, where he remained till 1856. Going then to Nicaragua, 
 he joined Walker's Expedition as colonel and general. He com- 
 manded at Granada, and defeated the Army of Guatemala. After 
 the failure of that expedition, he returned to San Francisco, and 
 remained there till 1859, when he went to Alabama and engaged in 
 cotton manufacturing till the opening of the Civil War. 
 
 On July 10, 1861, he was commissioned colonel of the Thirteenth 
 Alabama Infantry. At the battle of Seven Pines he was wounded. 
 After an absence of six weeks only, he returned to his regiment, and 
 remained with it till his arm was shattered at Sharpsburg. The 
 surgeon decided to amputate the arm. "What are the chances of 
 my living without an operation.''" he inquired. "One in three 
 hundred," was the answer. "Then I will take it," he replied. He 
 rejoined his command in time for Chancellorsville, where he led his 
 brigade (Archer's) on the second day. Here he was again 
 wounded, but did not leave his regiment, commanding it (or the 
 brigade) till the battle of Gettysburg. After the capture of General 
 Archer, on the first day at Gettysburg, he took command of the 
 brigade, and led it in the second famous assault. On July 3d, his 
 brigade was on the right of the division under Pettigrew, and was 
 the brigade of direction for the whole force, being immediately on 
 the left of Pickett's Division ; he led it gallantly up Cemetery 
 Ridge, under a fire which melted away his life, until he reached 
 the stone wall, where he fell, shot through the shoulder and tlie 
 thigh, and again became a prisoner of war. 
 
 By a special exchange, he returned to the Army of Northern 
 Virginia, in March, 1864, and was ordered to take command of 
 Barton's Brigade, at. Drewry's Bluff, and led it in the battle in 
 which Beauregard drove back Butler's Army. He was then placed 
 in command of Archer's and Walker's Brigades ; and this force, 
 with some other troops, he led in the second battle of Cold Harbor, 
 holding the left of the Confederate lines. On May 24, 1864, he 
 had been promoted brigadier-general, and in a few days after the 
 battle of Cold Harbor, he was ordered to Augusta, Georgia, to 
 command the District of South Carolina and Georgia. This com- 
 mand he held till the close of the war. 
 
 After the war, he went to Cuba, but in 1868 returned to Ala- 
 bama and resumed his old business of cotton manufacturinar. in 
 which he continued till 1876, when he removed to Florida. After 
 a while, he returned to Alabama, and resided in Montgomery where 
 his wife died. This estimable lady was formerly Martha A. Micou, 
 born in Augusta, Georgia. In 1861, General Fry went to Rich-
 
 520 The Military History of 
 
 mond, Virginia, and engaged in cotton manufacturing, and was 
 president of the Marshall Manufacturing Company of that City 
 until his death, February 5, 1891.* 
 
 Second Lieutenant Richard Carlton Walker Radford, of 
 Bedford County, Virginia. He matriculated in July, 1810, and 
 resigned July, IS^l, to enter West Point, where he was graduated, 
 July 1, 18 15. He was assigned to the First Dragoons as brevet 
 second lieutenant, and was transferred to the Second Dragoons, 
 May 18, 1846, as second lieutenant; transferred to First Dragoons, 
 July 9, 1846. 
 
 He served throughout the War with Mexico. On October 24, 
 1848 (after peace was ratified), he was promoted first lieutenant; 
 on July 9, 1855, he was promoted captain of Dragoons. Resigned, 
 November 30, 1856, having served with gallantry in the Indian 
 Wars from 1848 to 1856. 
 
 When the Confederate War began, he promptly offered his 
 services to his State, and was commissioned colonel of the Second 
 Virginia Cavalry, — the first mounted regiment raised and organized 
 in the Virginia Volunteers, and served as such until after the bat- 
 tle of First Manassas for gallantry in which he was personally men- 
 tioned by General Joseph E. Johnston. Colonel Radford belonged 
 to Beauregard's Army, and had command of all of his cavalry, 
 twice as many as General Johnston brought from the Valley; and, 
 yet, Johnston promoted Stuart over Radford whom the latter 
 ranked, as Stuart was only a lieutenant-colonel, and had been only 
 a lieutenant in the old Army, while Radford had been captain of 
 Dragoons. Radford was naturally displeased at such treatment. 
 General John B. Floyd offered him the command of his cavalry 
 which he was forming into a brigade (and which was afterwards 
 given to Jenkins). Radford did fine work for Floyd. But General 
 Lee told the Secretary of War that if Floyd were allowed to form 
 a local command (as had been offered him), he would draw to 
 himself all of the West and Southwest Virginia troops ; and, as 
 it was regarded as Virginia's pledge that she would give all of her 
 troops to the Confederacy, Floyd's volunteers were disbanded, and 
 Radford retired, liaving passed the age of conscription. 
 
 "He was a born soldier" (General Munford has said), "a superb 
 horseman, and the best disciplinarian I ever saw in camp, and a 
 fine outpost officer. The impress of his martial hand clung to my 
 old regiment, and made it second (except in name) to no regiment 
 in the Confederate Army. It had in it twenty-one V. M. I. officers, 
 and Colonel Radford had handled it in a masterly manner while in 
 command." 
 
 Colonel Radford was mucli hurt by the unjust treatment he had 
 received. He retired to his farm, "Rothsay," in Bedford County, 
 
 .,.,.*This sketch of General Fry is substantially taken from "Confederate 
 Military History, Vol. VII, 1899.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 521 
 
 Virginia, after leaving the Army in 1862, where he resided till his 
 death, November 4, 1886. 
 
 Colonel Radford was a son of William Radford, of Richmond, 
 Virginia, and Elizabeth Moseley, of Bedford County, Virginia. He 
 was twice married. His first wife was Octavia Duval, and his 
 second, Fannie Steptoe. Four children survive, Mrs. R. H. 
 Claiborne, of Hampton, Virginia, and Messrs. Duval, Walker, 
 and Locksley Radford, of Forest, Virginia. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Andrew Jackson, of Petersburg, Virginia, 
 was matriculated in 1844, and remained at the Institute till ap- 
 pointed second lieutenant, 3d Infantry, U. S. Army, December 30, 
 1847. He served in the Mexican War. On March 3, 1855, he 
 was promoted first lieutenant, and served as such till June 6, 1861, 
 when he resigned to enter the Confederate Army in which he rose 
 to be lieutenant-colonel of the 5th South Carolina Infantry. 
 
 His parents were John Jackson and Anne Aldridge. Colonel 
 Jackson never married, and died in Petersburg, Virginia, July 31, 
 1870. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Isaac Williams Smith, of Fairfax County, 
 Virginia. Graduated 1847. His father was the Rev. George 
 Archibald Smith, the first graduate of the Episcopal Theological 
 Seminary of Virginia. His mother was Ophelia Williams. Rev. 
 Mr. Smith's health failing, he was compelled to give up the active 
 ministry, and he founded a famous Boys' School at his home in 
 Fairfax County, known as Clarens Institute. From this school 
 went many boys who subsequently became prominent men. Later, 
 he became the editor of the Southern Churchman, then and now, 
 the organ of the Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of Virginia. 
 
 Isaac Smith's paternal grandparents, Hugh Smith and Eliza- 
 beth Watson, came to Virginia from Knutsford, England, and 
 Armagh, Ireland, respectively. His maternal grandparents were 
 Isaac Hite Williams, of Fredericksburg, and I-ucy Coleman 
 Slaughter, of Culpeper County, Virginia, the latter a daughter 
 of Captain Philip Slaughter, an officer of the Revolution. These 
 grandparents came to Alexandria, Virginia, during the closing 
 years of the 18th century. 
 
 After graduating at the Institute, the subject of this sketch was 
 appointed second lieutenant in company K, of the U. S. Voltigeurs, 
 April 9, 1847, and served, in the detachment under Major Lally, 
 in the war with Mexico, during one campaign, and was then detailed 
 for recruiting service at Baltimore. August 31, 1848, he was 
 honorably mustered out of the military service. 
 
 "In 1849-'50, he was assistant engineer and astronomer on the 
 survey of the parallel between the Creek and Cherokee Indians, 
 under Lieutenants Sitgreaves and Woodruff, U. S. A. In 1851, he 
 was assistant astronomer, and first assistant, on the survey of the
 
 522 The Military History of 
 
 parallel between Iowa and Minnesota. In 1852, he was resident 
 engineer on the survey and construction of the Orange and Alex- 
 andria Railroad. Virginia. In 1853-'54^ he was assistant engineer 
 on the Pacific Railroad surveys and explorations, under Lieutenants 
 Livingston and Parker, of the U. S. Corps of Engineers. He then 
 went to Washington Territory, and became engineer and special 
 agent for the construction of lighthouses on the Straits of Tuca 
 and Shoalwater Bay, under Major Hartman Bache, Corps 
 Engineers, U. S. A. This work was accomplished under consider- 
 able difficulty and peril. 
 
 "In the Indian uprising of 1856-56, he served as aide-de-camp 
 on the staff of Captain I. I. Stevens, then Governor of the Terri- 
 torj', and saw much active service. After this, he was engaged 
 for a year or more under his life-long friend and fellow-veteran 
 of the Mexican War, Major James Tilton, as deputy surveyor, and 
 surveyed several of the meridian and standard parallel lines then 
 being established through the trackless and all but impassable 
 forests of Western Washington. He was then appointed Register 
 of the United States Land Office for the Olympia District, which 
 included the vast Territory of Washington. 
 
 "In 1862, he joined in the rush to the newly-discovered places in 
 Cariboo, B. C, where he remained only a short time. On his re- 
 turn from the mines, he went to his native state, and tendered his 
 services to the Confederate Government. Receiving tlie appoint- 
 ment of captain of engineers (later being brevetted colonel), he was 
 continuously employed until the close of the War upon the defenses 
 before Petersburg and Riclimond. After the War, he returned home, 
 the possessor solely (as described in his own words) 'of an old 
 gray uniform — much tattered and worn, a good horse, and a large 
 amount of experience.' He soon received the appointment of divi- 
 sion engineer on the Imperial Mexican Railroad from Vera Cruz to 
 Mexico (under Andrew Talcott, Chief Engineer), and was placed 
 in charge of the line from Paso del Macho to Ougaba. He remained 
 in Mexico during the years 1867 and 1868, engaged upon this 
 work, and as chief engineer and inspector of drainage and hydraulic 
 work, near Tepic. In 1869, he was engineer of construction on 
 the Western Pacific Railroad (later merged in the Central Pacific). 
 
 "In 1870, he was placed in charge of surveys along the Columbia 
 and Cowlitz Rivers, in Washington Territory, for the Northern 
 Pacific Railroad. After a short time, he was given the construction 
 of the locks and a canal around the falls of the Willamette River, 
 near Portland, Oregon, — a work of great magnitude and import- 
 ance. The contractors, after a year, failing to show satisfactory 
 results, the work was carried forward by Colonel Smith alone, with 
 great rapidity. A large State subsidy depended on the work 
 being completed in time. The Colonel accomplished the desired 
 end, and not only secured for the company the desired subsidy.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 523 
 
 but turned over a work which, for excellence of design and 
 thoroughness of execution, marked him as an engineer of notable 
 skill and ability. 
 
 "In 1873, the Northern Pacific Railroad called him again into 
 its service, and placed him in charge of the survey of the new 
 terminal at Tacoma. In February, 1875, he visited Peru, but find- 
 ing the country again in the throes of civil war, and all railway 
 construction stopped, he returned at once to California, and made 
 surveys in Arizona for the Southern Pacific Railroad. A year later, 
 in association with Colonel George H. Mendall, of the Corps of 
 Engineers, U. S. A., he made an exhaustive study of, and report 
 upon, the water supply for the City of San P'rancisco. As Colonel 
 Mendall's chief assistant, he had charge of the extensive surveys, 
 including all the available sources of supply. 
 
 "From April 1876 to April 1878, Colonel Smith was one of the 
 Board of Railroad Commissioners for the State of California, the 
 other Commissioners being John T. Doyle, Esq., and General 
 George Stoneman. In May, 1878, he was appointed chief engineer 
 of the Sacramento River Drainage District Commission. The proj- 
 ect under consideration for a drainage canal was shown to be 
 impracticable, and was abandoned. From this time till the spring 
 of 1880, Colonel Smith was chief engineer for the Board of State 
 Harbor Commissioners of California, in which capacity he de- 
 signed the sea-wall for the water front of San Francisco, and con- 
 structed upwards of a mile of it. In April, 1880, he was placed 
 by the Northern Pacific Railroad in full charge of the Cascade 
 Mountain surveys. The route finally adopted was surveyed and 
 mapped under his direction. 
 
 "In September, 1881, he was appointed chief engineer of the 
 Oregon Pacific Railroad Company, then constructing a line east- 
 ward from Yaquima Bay, Oregon. He remained with this com- 
 pany two years, completing the line as far as Corvallis (about 60 
 miles), and then resigned, and returned to Tacoma, Washington, 
 where he made a report of the water supply of that City. During 
 the years 1883 to 1885, he was chief engineer for the Tacoma 
 Light and Water Company, designing and constructing the gas 
 and water plants for that City, at an expense of nearly half a 
 million dollars, and superintending the works for some months 
 after completion. 
 
 "Early in 1886, he was called to the work of determining the 
 future water supply of the City of Portland, Oregon. The cost of 
 the proposed scheme being too great for the financial ability of 
 the City at that time, he was placed in charge of the existing 
 system, as engineer and superintendent, and continued to hold this 
 position until his death. His plans for the new system were 
 carried out before Colonel Smith's death, at an outlay of nearly 
 three million dollars. This, his magnum opus, was the last of a
 
 524 The Military History of 
 
 long series of beneficent works he had constructed for the comfort, 
 health, and safety of mankind; and he was happily permitted to 
 live to see it completed, and in successful operation, two years 
 before his death. 
 
 "For several years his leisure moments were spent in the prepara- 
 tion of a treatise on the 'Theory of Deflection and of Latitudes 
 and Departures, with Special Application of Curvilinear Surveys 
 and Alignments of Railway Tracks,' which he published; and, 
 only a few months before his death, he prepared a paper on the 
 'Plow of Water in Wrought and Cast Iron Pipes from 28 to 42 
 Inches, Diameter,' for publication in the Transactions of this 
 Society. He became a member of the American Society of Civil 
 Engineers on October 1, 1873. 
 
 "Colonel Smith's reputation as an engineer of ability and integ- 
 rity became established early, and his services were continually 
 in demand." 
 
 The above sketch of this peerless Old Cadet of the V. M. I. 
 is abridged from a memoir of Colonel Smith, by Messrs. D. D. 
 Clarke, M. Am. Soc. C. E., Edward Tilton, C. E., and Robert P. 
 Maynard, C. E., which appears in the Transactions of the American 
 Society of Civil Engineers. It is a subject of keen regret that 
 we can not reproduce the memoir in its entirety. One who was 
 intimately associated with Colonel Smith at various times, thus 
 speaks of him (we can quote only a portion of his beautiful 
 tribute) : " . . . I can truly say that there was nothing in my 
 whole acquaintance with him but that tended to increase my ad- 
 miration and respect for the man. He was one of the few 
 engineers whom I have been associated with who combined a 
 thorough theoretical knowledge of mathematical principles with a 
 practical grasp of the best methods for the solution of the various 
 problems that were being constantly presented to him, in the con- 
 duct of his work. 
 
 "There is one trait which characterized the Colonel to a marked 
 degree, and that is his absolute integrity and incorruptibility ; — 
 another trait of his character was his thorough unselfishness. He 
 was not only a devoted son and brother ; but, in his intercourse 
 with the men in his employ, he was always thinking of their com- 
 fort and welfare, rather than his own. Certainly, in all my experi- 
 ence, I do not know of another man who could equal the Colonel 
 in his rare combination of strength and purity and gentleness of 
 character. ... I shall always feel that it has been one of 
 the privileges of my life to have known as intimately as I did a 
 man of the character of Colonel Smith." 
 
 Colonel Smith never married. His parents were his first care, 
 and were always lovingly considered, as were his sisters later, and
 
 The Vieginia Military Institute 525 
 
 as long as he lived. Two distinguished younger brothers of Colonel 
 Smith are also graduates of the V. M. I. — Judge George H. Smith 
 (Colonel of the 62d Virginia Infantry, C. S. A.) and the Hon. 
 Francis L. Smith — both, happily, still living. 
 
 Second Lieutenant James Edwin Slaughter, of Culpeper 
 County, Virginia, was born near the centre of the late battlefield 
 of Cedar Run, and at the foot of Slaughter's (Cedar) Mountain. 
 He was a son of Major Daniel F. Slaughter (and grandson of 
 Captain Philip Slaughter, of the Revolution), and his wife, Letitia 
 Madison, daughter of General William Madison, a brother of the 
 President. 
 
 He was admitted as a Pay Cadet to the Virginia Military 
 Institute, August 6, 1845, in his 18th year. When the Mexican 
 War broke out, he resigned his cadetship, and applied for a com- 
 mission in the Army. He was appointed (March 5, 18t7) second 
 lieutenant, Infantry, and, on April 9, 1847, was transferred to the 
 Voltigeurs. 
 
 He served in General Scott's command, and was in the battles 
 which took place in and near the City of Mexico, which resulted 
 in the capture of that City. He continued in the Army (being pro- 
 moted first lieutenant. First Artillery, August 3, 18.52) till the 
 Civil War broke out. Resigning then, and returning to the South. 
 he was appointed colonel, and rendered important service in South 
 Carolina. Alabama, and Florida. 
 
 He took an active part in the defense of Mobile against the 
 attack of Admiral Farragut. After this, he was promoted brig- 
 adier-general, and as such served in Alabama, Mississippi, and 
 Louisiana. Later, he was put in command of the troops on the 
 Rio Grande River, in Texas. While thus serving, the surrender 
 of the Army of Northern Virginia took place. General Slaughter 
 fired tlie last shots of the Confederacy; then crossed into Mexico; 
 and never surrendered. 
 
 He lived in Mexico for several years, and then returned to his 
 native country, and made his home in Mobile, Alabama. He 
 adopted the profession of civil engineering, and did harbor and 
 other work for the United States Government. He was also post- 
 master at Mobile for some years. He later removed to New 
 Orleans, where he lived until his death, January 1, 1901. He never 
 married. 
 
 Surgeon Charles Peter Deyerle, of Roanoke County, Vir- 
 ginia. He was as a boy ambitious for military training; and, there- 
 fore, when the Institute first opened its doors, he became a member 
 of the Corps that relieved the State Guard at the old Arsenal in 
 Lexington. 
 
 He was graduated in 1842. Becoming a physician, with a di- 
 ploma from the famous Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia,
 
 526 The Military History of 
 
 in 1846, he began the practice of his profession at his home. Soon, 
 liowever, he saw the war cloud lowering over Mexico, and ap- 
 plied for and received the position of assistant surgeon in the 
 Army ; and was ordered immediately to report at Tampico, Mexico, 
 for service in the field. He joined a detachment of the Sixth 
 Infantry at New Orleans, embarking for Vera Cruz, in answer to 
 the call of General Scott to report at that place. He left with 
 this detachment on the 9th of April, 1846, and, upon reaching 
 Mexico, was assigned to the Second Infantry, in General Worth's 
 First Division, and served with it through the campaign, on Gen- 
 eral Worth's staff, witnessing many of the battles in which Worth's 
 Division was engaged. While not in the line, he was yet often 
 exposed to danger, and was handsomely complimented for his 
 gallant conduct on the field. 
 
 He entered the City of Mexico with the Army of General Scott, 
 and remained in Mexico until peace was ratified. General Worth's 
 command was the last of the troops to leave the City, on June 13, 
 1848. On reaching Fort Hamilton, New York, in August, 1848, 
 Surgeon Deyerle was ordered to be in readiness, in limited time, 
 to sail for California, as Medical Director. 
 
 Remaining only ten days at his home, he sailed from New York 
 with the 6th Infantry; but, owing to detention at Old Point Com- 
 fort, on account of sickness aboard, the Marie Adelina did not 
 get away from that port until December 28, 1848. The vessel 
 went around South America, touching at Rio de Janeiro and Valpa- 
 raiso, having a long, rough voyage, reaching California July 5, 
 1849. 
 
 He was stationed for several years at Benicia Barracks, when 
 that section of the country was wild and in an unsettled condition ; 
 and he was much exposed in the many expeditions after the Indians 
 and the other marauding parties then infesting that (then) far- 
 away land. Cut off from home, country and his old army friends, 
 he experienced a hard life and many privations, and his health 
 suffered in consequence. He continued to decline, and the change 
 to a military post, two hundred miles up the coast, still further de- 
 pleted his failing health. By request, he returned to Benicia where, 
 after a few days, he died on the 30th of October, 1853, and was 
 buried at that place. His remains were subsequently removed to 
 Virginia and placed in the family lot in the beautiful cemetery at 
 Salem. 
 
 He was a noble man, and sleeps well after his brief but faithful 
 service to his country. 
 
 His gallant vounger brother, Captain M. P. Deyerle, also an 
 old "V. M. I. Boy," was killed in the C. S. A. 
 
 Captain Edwakd Codrington Carrington, of Botetourt County, 
 Virginia. His father was General Edward C. Carrington, of Hali-
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 527 
 
 fax County, Virginia, to whom his State presented a sword for 
 gallantry in the War of 1812. His great-grandfather was Judge 
 Paul Carrington, Jr., a son of Judge Paul Carrington of the first 
 Court of Appeals, of Virginia. His mother was Eliza Henry 
 Preston, daughter of General Francis Preston, of Abingdon, Vir- 
 ginia; and his maternal grandmother was Sallie Campbell, daughter 
 of General William Campbell, of King's Mountain fame, and his 
 wife, Bettie Henry, sister of Patrick Henry. 
 
 Carrington entered the Institute in July, ISil, and resigned 
 July 6, 1813. When scarcely twenty-one years of age, he was 
 elected captain of Company A, First Virginia Regiment which 
 served in the Mexican War with great credit. On his return from 
 the war, the Virginia Legislature presented him a sword for 
 services in Mexico. He became editor of the Valley WJiig, in Fin- 
 castle, Virginia. He was sent to the Legislature, and was probably 
 the only Whig elected from Botetourt County in forty years. When 
 twenty-eight years old, he removed to Washington City, and began 
 the practice of law. He was one of the revisers of the District 
 Code, and soon won a national reputation from being engaged in 
 many important cases. 
 
 He was made captain of the Washington Light Infantry, one 
 of the most celebrated organizations in the country. He was later 
 made brigadier-general of the District Militia ; and, at the com- 
 mencement of the War between the States, he declared himself 
 for the Union. He came to Virginia, and made many speeches, 
 while the Virginia Convention was in session. He declared if his 
 State would remain in the Union, he would share her fate, but in no 
 event would he consent to the destruction of the Union. General 
 Scott and Attorney-General Bates recommended him for the po- 
 sition of United States District Attorney for the District of 
 Columbia. President Lincoln promptly issued his commission, and 
 he held the position for nearly ten years, under I^incoln, Johnson, 
 and Grant. 
 
 He died, as he had lived, an earnest Christian, in the year 
 1892. [It is interesting to note that two brothers of General 
 Carrington served gallantly in the Confederate Army, namely, 
 the superb Major James McDowell Carrington (V. M. I.), of the 
 Artillery Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, and the noble 
 Captain William Campbell Preston Carrington, of Company A, 
 First Missouri Infantry, who was killed in battle at Baker's Creek, 
 Mississippi, having previously been wounded twice.] 
 
 First Lieutenant George Alexander Porterfield, of Berkeley 
 County, Virginia (W. Va.). Graduate, V. M. I., Class 1844. Elected 
 first lieutenant of Company A, First Virginia Infantry (Colonel 
 Hamtramck, commanding). Appointed adjutant at Buena Vista, 
 July 10, 1847. Colonel Hamtramck succeeded General Caleb
 
 528 The Military History or 
 
 Gushing, commanding the brigade. Lieutenant Porterfield was ap- 
 pointed acting assistant adjutant-general of the brigade, composed 
 of the 1st Virginia, 2d Mississippi, and the North Carolina Regi- 
 ments. 
 
 October 27, 1847, General Wool succeeded General Taylor in 
 command of the Armj^ of Occupation, and removed his headquarters 
 to Monterey. General Taylor returned to tlie States on leave. 
 Colonel Hamtramck succeeded General Wool in command of the 
 division stationed at, or near, Buena Vista, and Porterfield re- 
 lieved Captain (afterwards Major-General) Irvin McDowell of 
 his duties as assistant adjutant-general of the division, and re- 
 mained in that position until the end of the war. He was com- 
 plimented very highly by General Wool, who offered him a 
 permanent place on his staff, when the treaty of peace was signed; 
 but he declined the offer, and sailed for home, reaching there 
 July 17, 18-18. 
 
 For a few years, he was editor of the Martinsburg Gazette, and 
 then filled a government position in Washington for several years ; 
 but in 1855 he returned to his farm, and was there when the Con- 
 federate War broke out. He at once offered his services to his 
 State, and was appointed colonel of volunteers, in May, 1861, and 
 raised a command in Northwestern Virginia of nearly one thousand 
 men. He was then put in command of the 25th Virginia Infantry. 
 He afterwards served on Major-General Loring's staff, and, later, 
 in command of a brigade composed of the 12th Georgia, the remnant 
 of the 25th Virginia (about one-half of this regiment had been 
 surrendered by General Pegram), Hansbrough's Battalion, and a 
 battery of artillery, until the reorganization of the Army, in May, 
 1862, when he was left out of the service by an illegal election in 
 the remnant of the 25th Regiment. He was recommended to the 
 Secretary of War by Major-General Edward Johnston for pro- 
 motion to the rank of brigadier-general, but was not appointed. Be- 
 lieving he had been unjustly treated, he left the service. He was 
 arrested by General Banks, of the Federal Army, in July 1862, but 
 was soon paroled, and did not return to the Army. 
 
 After the War, he entered the banking business. He is still 
 living (1914) in Charles Town, West Virginia, one of the oldest 
 Alumni of the Institute, and is one of the half a dozen surviving 
 members of the famous Aztec Club composed of veteran officers 
 who served in the Mexican War, one of the last of whom to die 
 having been I.ieutenant-General Simon Bolivar Buckner, C. S. A. 
 
 William Arthur Scott, of Dinwiddie County, Virginia, was 
 matriculated in the summer of 1843, and spent two years at the 
 Institute, going thence to the College of William and Mary where 
 he remained one year, and then left to go as a volunteer to the War. 
 He was elected first lieutenant of the Amelia Company, which was
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 529 
 
 attached to the First Virginia Infantry. He served gallantly till 
 the War ended. 
 
 About this time the rush to California began, and on March 
 3, 1849, he sailed for the newly-discovered gold field, from 
 Hampton Roads. He died in California a short while after ar- 
 riving there. 
 
 His grandfather, James Scott (a brother of General Winfield 
 Scott), served in the War of 1812, as a captain in the Virginia 
 forces; and his father had served in the War of the Revolution. 
 
 James Lawrenson Bryan, of Petersburg, Virginia, was 
 graduated in the Class of 1843. He was born in Cambridge, Mary- 
 land, August 25, 1824-, but was carried by his father to Norfolk. 
 Virginia, and thence to Petersburg, while still a small boy, and was 
 entered at the Institute from the latter place, in the summer of 
 1840. 
 
 He established the Petersburg Military Academy, soon after 
 leaving the Institute ; and assisted in organizing in that City a 
 military company. When war with Mexico was declared, his old 
 company volunteered, and was attached to the First Virginia 
 Infantry, and he went with that regiment to Mexico as first lieu- 
 tenant of the Petersburg company, and served with gallantry to 
 the end of the war. After he returned home, he studied medicine, 
 and settled first at Taylor's Island, Maryland, to practise his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 In 1866, he removed to his old home at Cambridge, where he 
 lived the rest of his long life. After some years, he entered the 
 Ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and combined the 
 duties of a clergyman with those of a practising physician; but he 
 performed his onerous clerical duties without accepting any com- 
 pensation. 
 
 Soon after going to Cambridge, he founded a military academy 
 there. But before a great while both his school and himself were 
 absorbed in the Public School System. He retained through all 
 political changes, until 1898, when his health became shattered, 
 his position of School Examiner for his county. He took great 
 interest in the development of the agricultural resources of his 
 State; and, in 1886, was elected President of the Maryland Agri- 
 cultural College, but declined the position. He was a member of 
 the State Board of Education until ill-health caused him to re- 
 sign. Many of his wise suggestions were embodied into laws en- 
 acted by the Legislature for the better conduct of the schools of 
 the State. He was everywhere regarded as one of the first 
 educators of his State. 
 
 Dr. Bryan always stood for the moral uplift of the community, 
 in every way. He was a fearless man, and never shrank from the 
 performace of any public or private duty, however ardxious or 
 
 .34
 
 .)30 The Military History of 
 
 dangerous. His course throughout the Civil War, and during the 
 period of Reconstruction, when he was never afraid to stand up 
 for the principles in wliich he believed, was evidence of this. He 
 was an ardent Democrat and Southerner, but voted for President 
 McKinley, as he believed in the single gold standard. 
 
 He was second to no one in devotion to his Alma Mater — the 
 V. M. I. In 1889, he attended her Semi-Centennial Celebration; 
 and, to his dying day, talked of the pleasure and happiness he 
 enjoyed on that momentous occasion in mingling again with some 
 of the beloved comrades of his happy young manhood when he wore 
 the old Cadet coatee. 
 
 He spent his whole life doing good; and, when he went from 
 us "to put on immortality," he left upon all whom his beautiful 
 life had touched the impress of his high character and holy life. 
 
 Death came to him on November 6, 1904. 
 
 Thomas Stuart Garnett, M. D., of Westmoreland County, 
 Virginia, matriculated in 1840. After remaining several years at 
 the Institute, he went to the University of Virginia for the 
 purpose of studying medicine which he had selected as his pro- 
 fession in life; and such was the thoroughness of his training, and 
 the extent of his attainments, that he remained at the University 
 only one year, and was admitted to the honor of graduation in 
 1845. 
 
 He settled in Caroline County, Virginia, and remained there 
 until the early part of the year 1846, when, responding to the call 
 of patriotic duty, and to the soldierly impulse which had been 
 trained at the Virginia Military Institute, he joined as first lieu- 
 tenant a company of volunteers raised by Captain Smith P. Bank- 
 head, which was incorporated in the First Virginia Regiment 
 (Infantry) which served through the Mexican War. Ueutenant 
 Garnett followed the regiment through the whole of the campaign 
 in which it was engaged; subsequently assuming the duties of 
 adjutant of the regiment; and adding to these his professional 
 services as a surgeon, whenever occasion made such demands on 
 his skill and generosity. 
 
 Returning from the Mexican War in 1848, he married, and 
 immediately resumed the practise of his profession at the county 
 seat of Westmoreland, where he was soon elected colonel of the 
 Westmoreland militia. 
 
 At the call of his country in 1861, he unhesitatingly renounced 
 all "luxurious deliglits" to join with his countrymen in their 
 struggle for liberty. In the spring of 1861, he was unanimously 
 elected captain of a volunteer company of cavalry from his neigh- 
 borhood, known as Lee's Light House," afterwards as Company C, 
 9tli Virginia Cavalry. In June, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel 
 of the 48th Virginia Infantry. He was wounded at the battle of
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 531 
 
 Cedar Run, while commanding the 2d Brigade of the "Stonewall 
 Division," and remained in the saddle five hours after being shot, 
 in his exalted sense of duty. 
 
 In 1863, shortly before the battle of Chancellorsville, he re- 
 eeiA'ed his commission as colonel of his regiment; and, while 
 heroically leading the 2d Brigade of the "Stonewall Division" on 
 that bloody field, was mortally wounded. He bore his bodily suffer- 
 ing with unflinching courage and unmurmuring patience until the 
 following morning when he died, in the prime of manhood, and with 
 a future promising a broader sphere of usefulness and higher 
 honors. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Carlton Radford Munford, of Richmond, 
 Virginia, matriculated 1841. His father was William Munford, 
 graduate of William and Mary College, member of both houses of 
 the General Assembly of Virginia, from Mecklenburg County, and 
 the accomplished scholar who translated Homer's Iliad; and his 
 grandfather was Colonel Robert Munford, who was a captain in 
 George Washington's Regiment, and served on his staff in the 
 Indian War (see Bland Papers). His mother was a daughter of 
 Captain William Radford, who was the son of Captain William 
 Radford of the Virginia Navy in the Revolutionary War, and who 
 was captured in the West Indies, incarcerated in the Tower of 
 London, and escaped through the instrumentality of Lafayette. 
 Thus it is seen this handsome, promising, and gallant young man 
 inherited a fondness for arms. 
 
 Leaving the Institute in 1842, he spent the following session at 
 the University of Virginia. When the First Virginia Regiment was 
 raised for the Mexican War, he was associated with Captain Car- 
 rington and Lieutenant Porterfield (both Institute Alumni) in 
 organizing Company A, of which he became second lieutenant. 
 
 His career was very brief, for he died upon the "field of honor" 
 in a duel with Captain Washington S. Mahan of his regiment, near 
 China, in Mexico. Colonel George A. Porterfield, his friend and 
 classmate at the Institute and his fellow-officer in Mexico, thus 
 speaks of the sad tragedy: "I had been sent to Camergo on of- 
 ficial business and arrived on May 21. That evening, an express 
 came in with the news that a fatal meeting had taken place be- 
 tween Lieutenant Munford of my company and Lieutenant Mahan 
 of Captain Bankhead's company. I started back on the 2tth to 
 China (a small town half-way between Camergo and Monterey), 
 where my battalion was stationed; and, on the roadside near China, 
 I saw a fresh grave which I learned was that of my friend and class- 
 mate. Lieutenant Carlton R. Munford. He had died on the night 
 of May 22d, after intense suffering. The duel was fought about 
 a mile west of China. The weapons used were muskets, loaded by 
 agreement as each contestant might think proper. Munford used
 
 532 The Military Histoey of 
 
 the usual cartridge of a ball and three buckshot; Mahan loaded 
 with buckshot. They advanced until about 50 yards apart; they 
 then raised their pieces and advanced until 20 yards apart, when 
 both fired at precisely the same time. Both fell, apparently dead, 
 and were carried into town on litters. Several buckshot had passed 
 through Munford's bowels; — one through Mahan's breast; he lin- 
 gered about two weeks, and died. Captain Young and Bankhead 
 were witnesses of the duel." 
 
 First Lieutenant Thomas S. Garnett, M. D. (V. M. I.), of the 
 same regiment, was also present, in the capacity (it is inferred) of 
 surgeon. 
 
 Lieutenant Mahan was d. son of Professor Dennis H. Mahan 
 of the United States Military Academy, and Lieutenant Munford 
 was an uncle of General Thos. T. Munford (V. M. I.). Colonel 
 Porterfield added that General Taylor was very severe upon the 
 officers (and especially Major Jubal A. Early, who was in com- 
 mand of the regiment at the time) for permitting the duel to take . 
 place. 
 
 General A. C. Cummings also wrote, as follows, of Lieutenant 
 Munford: "I knew him well and esteemed him highly, and have 
 a very pleasant recollection of our association together at the Insti- 
 tute. He was in the Mexican War, but I never met him in Mexico. 
 I was in the army commanded by General Scott, on the line from 
 Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico; and he on the line of the Rio 
 Grande, imder the command of General Taylor; and we were thus 
 widely separated. He was in the volunteer regiment from Virginia, 
 commanded by Colonel John F. Hamtramck, the lieutenant- 
 colonel being Thomas Beverly Randolph, and the Major, the late 
 General Jubal A. Early. He was killed in a duel with Lieutenant 
 Washington S. Mahan; and, according to the published account — 
 at the time, they fought with army muskets, and were both killed." 
 
 In this connection, the following order will be of interest : 
 
 "Headquarters^ Army of Occupation, 
 
 "Monterey, December 10, 1847. 
 "Orders — No. 134. 
 
 "The President of the United States has directed that a Court 
 of Inquiry be instituted to investigate certain allegations and 
 charges contained in a letter signed by John Ashton, Jr., George M. 
 Kiem, John Davis, and others, dated Philadelphia, September, 
 1847, in relation to a duel said to have taken place near China, 
 Mexico, on, or about, the 20th of May, 1847, between 2d Lieu- 
 tenants Carlton R. Munford and Washington S. Mahan, of the 
 regiment of Virginia Volunteers, which resulted in the death of 
 the parties engaged; and to which, it is alleged, Captain Smith P. 
 Bankhead and John P. Young, and 1st Lieutenant Thomas S, 
 Garnett, all of the Virginia Volunteers, were accessories.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 533 
 
 "A Court of Inquiry will therefore assemble at Buena Vista, 
 Mexico, at 10 o'clock a. m., on the 10th instant, or as soon there- 
 after as practicable, for the purpose referred to above. The Court 
 will report the facts, and give an opinion on the merits of the 
 case. 
 
 " 'Details for the Court: 
 
 "Colonel Charles Clarke, Mississippi Regiment Volunteers. 
 "Major M. S. Stokes, North Carolina Regiment Volunteers. 
 "Captain P. M. Henry, North Carolina Regiment Volunteers. 
 "1st Lieutenant John F. Reynolds, 3d Regiment Artillery, is 
 appointed Judge-Advocate. 
 
 "By command of Brigadier-General Wool, 
 
 "Irvin McDowell, 
 "Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 "Official, 
 
 "G. A. PORTERFIELD, 
 
 "Assistant Artillery Adjutant-General." 
 
 The findings of the Court are not known to this writer; nor has 
 he ever heard what was the cause of the duel which thus brought 
 two such promising careers to an untimely end. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Robert Henry (?) Keeling, of Tidewater, 
 Virginia. In September, 1843, he was entered at the Institute, and 
 was graduated in the Class of IS^G, standing well up in his class on 
 general merit. His father was the Rev. Harry Keeling, a Baptist 
 Minister who lived in Richmond at the time he matriculated his 
 son at the Institute. Shortly after graduating, he was commissioned 
 second lieutenant in the First Virginia Volunteers, and served in 
 this capacity during the Mexican War. 
 
 From the close of this War until the summer of 1861, his home 
 was in Alabama, where he had been a teacher, and, finally, principal 
 of a male academy, at Tuskegee. He promptly organized a com- 
 pany, composed principally of his students, and came with it to 
 Virginia. This company was attached to the 13th Alabama 
 Infantry. 
 
 In the battle of Seven Pines, May 31, 1862, he was instantly 
 killed, while leading his regiment (acting colonel) in a charge 
 upon the enemy's works. He left a widow and five children. 
 
 Those who knew him represented him as a brave, generous, and 
 strictly honorable gentleman who was greatly beloved by friends 
 and comrades. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Harry Watson Williamson, of Norfolk. 
 Virginia. He was a younger brother of General Williamson who 
 was in the first Faculty of the Institute, and served as a dis- 
 tinguished and popular professor until his death, in 1888. He
 
 534 The Military History or 
 
 f^raduated at the V. M. I. in 1845. In 18i6, he was appointed 
 second lieutenant in the First Virginia Volunteers, and went with 
 the regiment to Mexico. A part of the time during the War, he was 
 attached to the famous battery of Captain Braxton Bragg (later 
 General in the Confederate Army). He served with conspicuous 
 gallantry during the War with Mexico. 
 
 In 1861, at the beginning of the Confederate War, he was 
 captain of a volunteer organization previously raised in Norfolk, 
 known as Company F, which was stationed at Craney Island. 
 After the evacuation of Norfolk, this company, with others, was 
 marched to Suffolk, and thence to Petersburg, and was placed in 
 the 6th Virginia Regiment, Mahone's Brigade, and was then known 
 as Company G of that regiment. T.ater, Captain Williamson was 
 promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the 6th Virginia Infantry. 
 
 He was wounded at Second Manassas ; again at the Wilderness ; 
 lost a hand at Spottsylvania Courthouse, and an arm at the Crater. 
 At Drewry's Bluif, he commanded 600 sharpshooters, and at the 
 battle of Malvern Hill, he commanded his regiment. 
 
 In the winter of 1864, he was incapacitated for further service in 
 the field, and was appointed an assistant professor at the Institute. 
 After the War, he was a civil engineer, and in 1876 was appointed 
 Librarian of the Institute. On October 24, 1861, he married Patty 
 Green, daughter of Captain William Green of the U. S. Navy. At 
 the time of his death he was a widower, and he left no children. 
 He died in Lexington, Virginia, October 10, 1884. and was buried 
 in the Cadet Cemetery. 
 
 Second Lieutenant 'Beverley T. Hunter, of Martinsburg, Vir- 
 ginia, matriculated by his sister in Louisiana, July 18, 1845. Son 
 of Moses T. Hunter, a brilliant lawyer and wit, and a soldier in 
 the War of 1812, and his wife Mary Snicker. His parents dying 
 while their two daughters and three sons were very young, the 
 latter went to live with their father's sister, the wife of Judge 
 Henry St. George Tucker, professor of law at the University of 
 Virginia. 
 
 In this happy home they remained until the marriage of one 
 of the sisters to Mr. Alfred Conrad Weeks, a large sugar planter 
 on the Bayou Teche, Louisiana. The unmarried sister. Miss Fannie 
 Washington Hunter, also went to Louisiana, and lived with Mr. 
 and Mrs. Weeks. She assumed the sole care of her three younger 
 brothers, and never was sister more devoted. It was she wlio 
 signed the matriculation papers for her two brothers, Henry St. 
 George Tucker (see sketch elsewhere in this book) and Beverley T. 
 Hunter, when they both entered the Institute. Beverley had sjpent 
 but one year at the Institute when the War with Mexico occurred. 
 His home being in Louisiana, he volunteered as a second lieutenant 
 in the Louisiana Mounted Volunteers. On his return to Louisiana
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 535 
 
 he began the study of law, and was thus engaged when the mis- 
 guided patriot, Narciso Loj^ez, organized his ill-fated expedition 
 to free Cuba, in 1850. Beverley Hunter joined Lopez, and served 
 under Saunders in Crittenden's command, as second lieutenant, un- 
 til his tragic death, August 18, 1851. 
 
 His elder brother, Henry St. George, who had also been a cadet, 
 was at this time an ensign (later, acting lieutenant) in the United 
 States Navy, serving on Commodore Perry's flagship ; and his 
 younger brother was a civil engineer, engaged in building the 
 Memphis & Charleston Railroad. It does not seem out of place 
 to quote here a part of a letter from Miss Fannie Washington 
 Hunter, his sister, to her brother Brooke, at Memphis: 
 
 "Belle Grove (St. Mary's Parish, La), 
 
 "September 18, (1851). 
 
 "I have dated and commenced this letter on m}^ dear Brooke's 
 birthday, that he might see I thought of him. I have postponed 
 finishing this from day to day in the hope of receiving some definite 
 intelligence in relation to our dear Bev, but we are still in the same 
 state of suspense ; and, although I can not say I hope, still, I can 
 not feel that he is gone from our midst forever, until I learn some- 
 thing from those who saw him last. We have written to all of the 
 prisoners who have been released, and think we must obtain some 
 information before long. We saw from the papers a list of officers 
 in which his company formed part of Crittenden's command. Van 
 Fletcher was the first lieutenant under Saunders and Bev, second; 
 so he at least must have known him, and can tell where he last saw 
 him. I have always thought he was amongst that twenty who were 
 shot, while guarding the wounded, for that is so like Bev. God 
 only knows where he has fallen, and very probably we shall never 
 know, and with all his bright hopes he will fill a nameless grave. 
 I must thank you, my dear Brooke, for your last kind letter ; it was 
 indeed a balm to my heart, and it rises in thankfulness to my 
 Heavenly Father for having spared me such a blessing and com- 
 fort, as you are to me ; for never have you — except for anxiety 
 for your health — given me a sore heart, and in all of our inter- 
 course I don't remember a single circumstance to give me pain ; 
 and no one can conceive the comfort of looking back and seeing 
 so much to give comfort, under the sad circumstances we are now 
 placed in. I feel so thankful that my dear Bev and I always got 
 along harmoniously, and that I was placed in circumstances to add 
 somewhat to his comfort, and in no part of his life was he ever more 
 kind and considerate than the latter part of it; and I shall never 
 cease to be grateful that I came out here last winter. We had a 
 
 most touching letter from Mr. 's brother, a few days ago, 
 
 begging what information we could give of his brother, and say- 
 ing that his brother spoke in the highest terras of Bev. I wrote
 
 536 The Military History of 
 
 him everything that I tliought would give comfort on such an 
 occasion. 
 
 "I saw from the papers, a few days ago, that Hal's (Henry St. 
 George's) vessel was at Acapulco, awaiting dispatches from Wash- 
 ington. They will sail to the Sandwich Islands; from there to 
 California; and then home, which will be, I suppose, next spring. 
 
 "May God bless you, prays, 
 
 "Your sister, 
 
 "Fanny." 
 
 But the devoted sister's worst forebodings were, alas, realized! 
 All doubts of her idolized brother's cruel death were soon removed ; 
 and in the Winchester Virginian appeared this touching obituary: 
 
 "beverley t. hunter 
 
 "The uncertainty which developed the fate of the young gentle- 
 man whose name heads this notice has hitherto restrained those by 
 whom his memory is highly esteemed from paying a tribute to the 
 chivalry and worth of his character. But recent accounts have 
 dispelled this uncertainty, and have ascertained that he is no longer 
 among the living. 
 
 "Mr. Hunter was born in Martinsburg, and was the son of the 
 late Moses T. Hunter, Esq., of that place, and was at the time of 
 his death twenty-five years of age. He was by nature ardent and 
 enthusiastic ; in character, brave, gallant, generous, true. He com- 
 bined a disposition which was gentle, affectionate and kind, with 
 a spirit full of daring and eager for adventure. Few men have 
 ever realized in life the dreams of boyhood so nearly as the subject 
 of this notice. With nothing of unamiability in his intercourse, but 
 with the reverse thoughts of battle and strife, of high and noble 
 contention for right against the power of wrong, of enterprise de- 
 manding struggle in order to win victory, — seemed from childhood 
 to fill his soul. 
 
 "Accordingly, when the War with Mexico broke out, though 
 engaged in an occupation which seemed to please him, he was rest- 
 less and impatient, until he left his native State (he was a cadet 
 at the Virginia Military Institute, at this time) for the avenue of 
 battle; and, although it was not his fortune to be in those engage- 
 ments which have given immortality to so much heroism and dar- 
 ing, he gained distinction wherever there was strife, by his fearless 
 and bold character. Peace found him prepared for more sober 
 life in which he honorably and industriously engaged for an inde- 
 pendence, in the State of Louisiana.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 537 
 
 "During the last summer, the story of Cuban wrongs suffered 
 under Spanish outrage, together with the fitting out of the Lopez 
 Expedition, and the excitement thereupon, again aroused the spirit 
 of young Hunter in a course which commended itself to his romantic 
 love for adventure, and to his hearty sympathy in all movements 
 which had liberty as their object. He joined that ill-fated ex- 
 pedition with high, pure and noble resolution to strike one blow, 
 as he believed, in behalf of down-trodden Cuba against Spanish 
 despotism. He may have been mistaken in his views — he may have 
 been deceived by the representations of things — but his heart re- 
 sponded to none other than a noble motive, and recoiled from every 
 incentive which was mean or sordid. 
 
 "He was at one time, on his arrival in Cuba, with Crittenden's 
 command. Separated from the latter by events which it is un- 
 necessary to detail (along with about eighteen others), he avoided 
 the butchery to which they were mercilessly devoted, and found a 
 fate more congenial to his daring nature.* 
 
 "From his intrepid conduct and unshrinking firmness, he was 
 selected as the commander of the little band who were with him. 
 The day after their separation from Crittenden's force, they were 
 attacked by a considerable body of Spaniards who called upon 
 them to surrender. Hunter cried out, 'Never!' In the front 
 rank, urging his command to the fray, and fighting (says our in- 
 formant) like a tiger, he was shot down, and died instantly. With 
 the exception of four who escaped, his friends shared the same 
 fate. 
 
 "Thus perished, in an unfortunate expedition whose attractive 
 power has cast the pall of mourning and grief over so many hearts 
 in the Union, one of those gallant and chivalrous spirits who need 
 but opportunity to gain a brilliant and shining reputation. 
 
 "Cuba, we fear, has shown herself untrue to her own liberty, 
 and unworthy of his sacrifice to it. There is, however, a great 
 source of pride in the reflection that there was nothing in the con- 
 duct, or motives, of Mr. Hunter, which would not have enabled 
 any cause, — which does not cast honor upon his name, and cause 
 the memory of his virtues to be more fondly cherished and em- 
 balmed in the hearts of his friends." 
 
 "They made him a grave too cold and damp 
 For a heart so warm and true." 
 
 Second Lieutenant Alexander Cassius Layne, of Alleghany 
 County, Virginia; matriculated 1842. He was a son of the Hon. 
 Douglas B. Layne who represented his county in the Virginia 
 Assembly for many years, and who was a member of the Board of 
 Visitors of the Institute. His mother was from Rockbridge County, 
 Virginia, and was born Mary Holmes. 
 
 *Lopez and his followers who were captured by the Spaniards were executed 
 in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 1, 1851.
 
 538 The Military History or 
 
 Soon after leaving the Institute, he responded to the call to 
 arms, and went to the scene of war, in Mexico. His only surviving 
 child states that he was a lieutenant, though there is no mention of 
 him in the Register of the volunteer officers in the War. This 
 is doubtless an "unintentional omission; for, with his high qualifica- 
 tions, there is scarcely room for doubt that he served as a com- 
 missioned officer. On being mustered out of the United States 
 Military service, he was appointed first lieutenant in the "State 
 Public Guard,"* in which position he served till his death, August 
 22, 1860. He was buried at Hollywood, Richmond. His whole 
 brief life was spent in the military service of his State and his 
 Country. He was a genial. Christian gentleman, and true soldier, 
 who bravely met, and overcame, the last enemy, Death. 
 
 Sergeant-Major James Baldwin Dorman, of Rockbridge 
 County, Virginia, was graduated "Second Distinguished" in the 
 Class of 1843. He was a son of General Charles P. Dorman. who 
 was an influential member of the Legislature for some years 
 previously to 1839, and during that year had probably more to do 
 with the founding of the Institute than any citizen of Virginia. 
 He was the patron of the Bill under which the School was estab- 
 lished, and as chairman of the Committee of Schools and Colleges, 
 early in the year of 1839, reported favorably the Bill which was 
 passed, converting the old Arsenal into the V. M. I.; and he was 
 a member of the first Board of Visitors of the Institute. 
 
 Dorman served awhile as an assistant professor at the Institute, 
 and then became a lawyer. He volunteered as a private, and be- 
 came a sergeant-major, in the Volunteers, in the Mexican War — 
 the Colonel Wool's Regiment of Texas Rangers. He served gal- 
 lantly with this regiment in the battle of Monterey. 
 
 Returning home after being mustered out of the service, he be- 
 came actively engaged in his profession, and in politics. He was 
 elected to the Legislature in 1848, and reelected in 1849, and 1850. 
 In 1861, he was elected a member of the Secession Convention of 
 Virginia. 
 
 In the War of 1861-65, he served with distinction as major of the 
 9th Virginia Infantry and as assistant adjutant-general on the 
 staffs of Generals D. H. Hill and B. D. Fry (V. M. I.). At the 
 close of the War, he resumed his law practise at Lexington, which 
 he continued, with great success and distinction, until 1883, when 
 he was chosen for the position of Clerk of the Supreme Court of 
 Appeals, and removed his residence to Staunton. He held this 
 office until his death, August 4. 1893. 
 
 *Thls was the '"standing army" of Virginia — a company of duly enlisted 
 men, and officered by a captain and three lieutenants whose post and head- 
 quarters were at the State Armory in Richmond. It was commanded, at this 
 time, by Capt. Charles Dimmock (later, brigadier-general), a graduate of the 
 V. S. M. A., and an old Army officer. Soon after the War of 1861 -'05, the 
 "State Guard" was mustered out of service, and was never re-organized.
 
 The Vikginia Military Institute 539 
 
 Major Dorman was a man of marked culture and ability. As 
 an advocate at the bar, and speaker on the hustings, he had few 
 superiors. His tastes were literary, and he devoted much time to 
 books. His mind was richly stored with the best thoughts of the 
 greatest writers, and was filled with a knowledge of men and 
 affairs. His manners were gentle, and socially he was a charming 
 companion; and to his last breath he was true to the V. M. I. 
 
 He left a widow and two children who have since died. 
 
 Corporal Benjamin Franklin Ficklin^ of Albemarle County, 
 Virginia; graduated 1849. 
 
 He was the son of Benjamin Ficklin, of Frederick County, 
 Virginia, and his wife, Eleaner Slaughter, of Rappahannock 
 County, Virginia. 
 
 Here is, in many respects, the most remarkable man who ever 
 left the halls of our Alma Mater. As a cadet, possibly he never 
 had his equal for mischief and pranks. There was nothing he 
 would not adventure if it promised fun. He was constantly hauled 
 before the Superintendent for violations of the regulations and 
 breaches of discipline ; and, yet, he always got the best of that 
 keen-witted and ever-zealous official; till, finally, in his Third Class 
 year Ficklin reached the limit of Colonel Smith's patience, and was 
 expelled. It should be said, for fear of misunderstanding, that, 
 with all his derelictions as a cadet, Ficklin was the soul of Iionor, 
 and the most popular man in the Corps. His dismissal occurred 
 about the time of the Mexican War, and Ben at once volunteered 
 for service. The novelty, adventure and excitement of a war were 
 to his taste, to a "tee." 
 
 He joined the Army, and made a good record, rising to the 
 distinction of a corporal, for meritorious service. Peace declared, 
 he returned to Virginia, and to Lexington. He applied to the 
 Superintendent for reenlistment, which was refused instantly. He 
 took up his quarters in Lexington, and announced that he was going 
 to graduate. Daily, he visited the Superintendent's office, every 
 time with a new plea and a new argument, to be turned down every 
 time by "Old Specks." Finally, he said, — "Colonel Smith, to prove 
 I am not altogether past redemption, I went to Mexico and did 
 my duty in the ranks, and was made a corporal!" — Colonel Smith 
 was at last conquered, and he said, — Mr. Ficklin, Fll reinstate you 
 on my own responsibility. So, Ben reentered the Corps, and was 
 graduated with his Class. 
 
 His subsequent career reads like a romance, and is so interest- 
 ing and eventful that we feel that an epitomized story of it should 
 be told here. We are indebted to the Institute's Official Historiog- 
 rapher for the letters that follow. The late Colonel William W. 
 Finney was a classmate of Ficklin, and his associate in his wonder- 
 ful "Pony Express" project and "Central Overland California
 
 540 The Military History of 
 
 and Pike's Peak Express and Stage Co." So, he was requested to 
 prepare a sketch of Colonel Ficklin's life. This was the reply 
 he made: 
 
 "BoscoBEL P. O., Va., April 17, 1909. 
 
 "Captain Joseph R. Anderson, 
 "Lee, Va., 
 
 "My Dear Fellow-Alumnus — Your esteemed favor of the 
 29th ultimo, after an eccentric orbit to Richmond, Petersburg, and 
 perchance elsewhere, finally reached me at the above-named post- 
 office, in time, I must admit, to have been acknowledged many days 
 ago, had I been at all spry. But, alas ! I am no longer that, with 
 the weight of within twenty-nine days of eighty years of my 'tremb- 
 ling limbs.' That is a good work, mon ami, in which you are en- 
 gaged — a work to endure for ages. I heartily wish you complete 
 success in it. 
 
 "Now, that you ask me to sketch the life of my closest friend, 
 the late Major B. F. Ficklin, I regret more than ever that the 
 sketch I had carried well-nigh to completion, a few years after his 
 death — when memory was fresher, fuller and more accurate than 
 it can ever be again — was lost at some time and place in my frequent 
 wanderings, during the long intervening period. 
 
 "Truth to say, captain, the loss of that manuscript (coupled with 
 my present inability to recall much of Major Ficklin's eventful 
 life) makes me know, even more fully than heretofore, how un- 
 equal I am to the sketch you would have me undertake. And, yet, 
 I feel this to be essentially a case of 'noblesse oblige,' seeing that 
 I was assuredly more closely in contact with that life than any 
 one else now living. So that, to reach 'the conclusion of the whole 
 matter,' I here and now promise you to do as you ask, asking in 
 turn that you give me as long a time as possible, and, if practicable 
 let me overlook what I have sent you in regard to my own life's 
 absolute failure. This, perchance, will bring to my mind incidents 
 in the life of Ficklin that I do not now remember. 
 
 "Wishing you 'good luck in the Lord,' 
 
 "I am your friend, 
 "William W. Finney. 
 
 "I think I have already told you of my inability to write legibly 
 with pen and ink, owing to tremulousness, and asking to be ex- 
 cused." (His chirography is exquisite). 
 
 The Historiographer had every right to expect a sketch of 
 thrilling interest and of immense historic value, to be prepared by 
 this beloved old comrade who combined the gifts of a graceful 
 and skillful writer with a knowledge of the subject, possessed by 
 no other living person. He set about the task at once, but his more
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 541 
 
 than eighty years were telling upon the erstwhile robust frame and 
 brilliant mind, and his progress was consequently slow, and in- 
 creasingly difficult. Still, he sent messages, from time to time, to 
 his anxious correspondent that he would soon complete his task. 
 But, alas, the hand of Death was laid upon him, and the spirit of 
 the noble patriot took its flight to the Heavenly world to commune 
 once more with that of the long-lost classmate whose deeds he had 
 promised to recount. 
 
 It was a grievous disappointment. But, fortunately, our 
 Historiographer discovered in a distant State a kinsman of Colonel 
 Ficklin, — himself an old "V. M. I. Boy," and, strange to say, an 
 associate of Colonel Ficklin in his great western enterprise. This 
 was Major J. E. Ficklin, of Texas (formerly of Virginia), and later 
 a member of the staff of General Gabriel C. Wharton (V. M. I.) 
 of the Confederate Army. This was surely a fortunate "find" and 
 was availed of immediately. The following correspondence will 
 give the gist of Colonel Ficklin's remarkable career, and is inserted 
 here with confidence that it will be interesting to our readers: 
 
 "Lee, Va., 1910. 
 
 "Major J. E. Ficklin, 
 
 "1823 Matamoros Street,, 
 
 "San Antonio, Texas. 
 
 "Dear Major Ficklin — Your letter of the 6th instant is just 
 at hand, for which I thank you. 
 
 "I am glad you are over the strain you have been subjected to 
 so long, and can take a needed rest. I hope you will be able to 
 carry out your present plan to return to Virginia next year. I am 
 sorry you were disappointed with the result of the 'notes' you wrote 
 in regard to Colonel B. F'. Ficklin. I have no doubt they would 
 have been very interesting, and valuable to me. You want me to 
 frame a series of questions in regard to this most interesting and 
 unique character. I will do so. Here goes. — 
 
 "He was a cadet when the Mexican War broke out, and was 
 'shipped' about that time for some serious breach of discipline. 
 (I have heard he was always in trouble at the Institute, owing to 
 his mischievous propensities which were never vicious, however). 
 He came back after peace was declared, and presented himself 
 before 'Old Specks,' and, with a corporal's chevrons on his arm 
 (showing a reward for faithfully performing his duty in the War), 
 asked for reinstatement. 'Specks' could not resist his arguments 
 and promises of amendment; and so, he was reinstated, and 
 graduated in 1849, with his Class. Before graduating he com- 
 mitted many minor offenses against military law, but they were 
 condoned. This much, in substance, I have heard 'Old Specks' 
 tell often.
 
 542 The Military History of 
 
 "1. Do you know anything of his Mexican experiences? 
 "2. What was the Tony Express'? 
 "3. Did Ficklin establish it? 
 "4. Was anyone associated with him? 
 "5. When was it established? 
 "6. When did he give up this work? 
 "7. What did he engage in afterwards? 
 "8. When did he establish Stage-Lines in Alabama, and 
 Texas? 
 
 "9. Give interesting incidents of his pioneer life in the 
 far West. 
 
 "10. Did he have trouble with Indians, or 'bad men'? 
 "11. I heard of his once going on a long and dangerous 
 ride to get provisions for a United States Army Post, or de- 
 tachment of troops, which he accomplished amid great risks, 
 and thereby saved the Post from starvation. (Historically 
 true.) Can you give me the facts? 
 
 "12. Where was he when our War came on? Did he 
 offer his services at once to the Governor of Virginia? What 
 appointment did the Governor give him? Did he later enlist 
 in the regular Army of the C. S. A.? If so, did he receive 
 a military appointment? (I heard he had an appointment 
 but could not serve regularly in the field on account of asthma 
 which he contracted while on the Plains). 
 
 "13. What was his mission to England, on account of the 
 C. S. Government? Was it successful? Incidents in con- 
 nection therewith? 
 
 "1 i. Where was he when the War ended? His post- 
 bellum career — what did he do ? 
 
 "15. I have always heard he was a most generous and 
 liberal-hearted man — always ready to help the distressed and 
 needy. His fund of humor was immense. Stories illustrating 
 this feature of his character will be most acceptable. 
 
 "There, now, I have given you a text for a long story. 
 
 "I have always regarded Colonel Ficklin as one of the most inter- 
 esting characters the Virginia Military Institute ever turned out, 
 and have wanted a sketch of him that will do justice to tlie memory 
 of this brave, generous, noble Virginian. 
 
 "With kindest regards, 
 
 "Sincerely your friend, 
 
 "Joseph R. Anderson. 
 
 "Tell me anything you can of Colonel William W. Finney's con- 
 nection with Colonel Ficklin. It was most unfortunate that he 
 died while engaged in preparing notes for a full sketch of him."
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 543 
 
 major ficklin s reply 
 
 "Captain Joseph R. Anderson, 
 "Lee, Va. 
 
 "Dear Captain — I have your list of questions in regard to the 
 late Colonel Benjamin F. Ficklin, and reply at once. 
 
 "I have heard (I think either from his sister, Mrs. Brown, or 
 his brother Slaughter) a different version of Colonel Ficklin's 
 reinstatement ; that he did not present himself to Colonel Smith, 
 and ask for reinstatement, but that the application was first made 
 by some influential gentlemen who were struck with Colonel 
 Ficklin's prompt and dashing rescue from imminent danger of a 
 stagecoach filled witli passengers, they being among the number ; 
 that at Colonel Smith's request, Colonel Ficklin presented himself, 
 and Colonel Smith agreed to take him back on condition that he 
 give his word of lionor not to infringe against the military regu- 
 lations till the Board of Visitors sanctioned Colonel Smith's action 
 in the matter; and I have it from General G. C. Wharton (a class- 
 mate of Colonel Ficklin's) that Ben was a 'good boy', and kept his 
 promise with Colonel Smith till the meeting of the Board confirmed 
 his reinstatement, and then that 'L' broke loose again! 
 
 "I have heard that Ben made as many conditions to his return 
 to the V. M. I. as Colonel Smith exacted of him; and that Colonel 
 Smith had to grant every one before Ben agreed to return. I have 
 seen his diploma (preserved by his sister, Mrs. Brown), with the 
 bayonet wound that he inflicted on it at the time it was handed to 
 him. I have visited the academy at Abingdon, Virginia, where he 
 taught (immediately after • graduating), and became acquainted 
 with Governor John B. Floyd. 
 
 "Now, as to your interrogatories: 
 
 "1. I know notliing of his record in the Mexican War. 
 
 "2. The 'Pony Express' was a line of ponies (and 
 riders) extending from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, 
 California, intended for the quick delivery of dispatches — 
 more particularly the Bills of leading of gold shipments by 
 vessels from California, via Panama. 'The Central Overland 
 California and Pike's Peak Express and Stage Co.' (that 
 is, the Stage Line) was put on the same route as the Pony 
 Express, and about the same time, and belonged to the same 
 Company. 
 
 "3. Colonel Ficklin did establish it; was General Super- 
 intendent ; and organized the Company. He went in person 
 among the various Indian tribes and bought (or rather traded 
 for) most of the ponies. 
 
 "4. I do not now recall all of the associates he had in 
 the Company. I recall Russell, Majors, and Waddell, and
 
 544 The Military History or 
 
 Jones and Cartwright — large Government freighters. Of the 
 various assistant superintendents, I recall the names of Clute 
 and Slade and myself, on the Pike's Peak Division. 
 
 "5. The organization took place in 1858. I joined 
 Colonel Ficklin in St. Joseph in 1859 (after leaving the 
 Institute), and the Line was then working to San Francisco. 
 
 "6. Colonel Ficklin was in Washington City, working 
 on mail contracts, when Virginia passed the ordinance of 
 Secession; and when I reached Virginia, in May, 1861, 
 Colonel Ficklin was then in Richmond, and was quarter- 
 master-general of Virginia. I think the transfer of all the 
 quartermaster stores was made to the Confederate States 
 by the 1st of August, 1861. I remember meeting in Rich- 
 mond with Colonel Ficklin on several occasions. General 
 Harry Heth, Colonel W. W. Finney, and General G. C. 
 Wharton, and the organization of the Floyd Brigade, were 
 the chief subjects of conversation. I remember that General 
 Heth was to be colonel of the 45th Virginia (Regiment), and 
 that Wharton, Ficklin, and Finney were to be lieutenant- 
 colonels and majors, respectively. I was with the Floyd 
 Brigade when organized at Wytheville, Virginia. Colonel 
 Ficklin never joined this brigade, though he held a com- 
 mission as lieutenant-colonel of the 50th Virginia (Regiment). 
 General Floyd gave me a letter from Colonel Ficklin, some- 
 time about the 1st of January, 1862. in which he asked Gen- 
 eral Floyd to accept his resignation, and saying he would go 
 to England as the Purchasing Agent of the C. S. Govern- 
 ment, and would send the general a battery of Napoleon 
 guns, to cover the difference of the appointment. I do not 
 remember that the guns showed up. 
 
 "8. I do not know when the Stage Line in Alabama was 
 established; and I do not know that Colonel Ficklin estab- 
 lished it. I think the Line was in operation, and Ben was 
 sent there, after he had finished teaching in Abingdon 
 (1845-50), and I think that from Alabama he joined General 
 Albert Sidney Johnston on his expedition to Salt Lake, 
 against the Mormons. / do not give this as a known fact, but 
 rather as a confused memory. I can not recall that I ever 
 heard Colonel Ficklin say one word about a single thing 
 I have written. He never talked about what he had done; 
 but I have a faint memory that I got the information from 
 his brother Slaughter, and that it was on this expedition that 
 he rendered the service that you ask about in (11)*, and that 
 it was while on this expedition that he conceived the idea of 
 the 'Pony Express' and a stage Line, to California. Gold in 
 the Pike's Peak region had not been discovered at that time. 
 
 •This is plainly true.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 545 
 
 The route of the Pony and Stage Lines was identical with 
 the old military road made by General Johnston to Salt 
 Lake. Beyond Salt Lake, I do not now remember how 
 Colonel Ficklin got his information of the route; whether he 
 went over it, or not, before he put on the stock, I can not 
 tell; but I am rather of the opinion that he went over it 
 first; but when, I can not say. 
 
 "9. It would take a much better writer than I to give 
 an interesting record of the various incidents of Colonel 
 Ficklin's life in the far West ; of his life among the Blackfoot 
 Indians after ponies; of the hanging of Jules; of the shoot- 
 ing of Slade by Jules ; and many more legends of the various 
 localities in which they occurred. I can not attempt to tell 
 them. Perhaps my business may take me near your home, 
 and if so, I will certainly call on you and give you all the 
 information I have, or can gather. 
 
 "10, 11, 12. I have answered these questions above. 
 
 "13. He was purchasing Agent in Europe for the C. S. 
 Government, and a blockade-runner. He was very successful, 
 and made quite a number of entries into Wilmington, N. C, 
 with his three steamships, 'Virginia,' 'Coquette,' and 'Giraffe.' 
 
 "15. He was very decidedly generous and liberal. He 
 cared nothing for wealth for himself, — gave away as fast as 
 he made money, often very unwisely. 
 
 "I knew Colonel Finney well. All I know about his connection 
 with Colonel Ficklin is that they were great friends, and that 
 Colonel Finney was perhaps better acquainted with Colonel 
 Ficklin's business than Colonel Ficklin's own brother, till Colonel 
 Finney married and moved to South Carolina." 
 
 It will be observed that Major Ficklin did not answer query 
 No. 14 in this letter; but it is answered in his second letter, dated 
 July 9, 1910, as follows (letter written from San Antonio, Texas): 
 "I have been here two weeks, and most of the time too sick to get 
 out; but I have made some inquiries to find some one who could 
 start me right on my road to learn about Colonel Ficklin's con- 
 nection with the opening up of the West Texas wilds, around old 
 Fort Conchio; but so far, I have not been in the least success- 
 ful. ... I remember now that Colonel Ficklin severed his con- 
 nection with both Stage and Pony Lines in 1859, and had a law- 
 suit of some kind against the Company (both Lines under same 
 management) about his interest; and I remember his brother 
 (Slaughter W. Ficklin) told me the Company had offered Colonel 
 Ficklin fifty thousand dollars, and he refused it. War came on, 
 and I do not think Colonel Ficklin ever got one cent out of it. 
 
 "Colonel Ficklin put on Pony Expresses here in Texas, and I 
 think one Line was from here to Fort Conchio ; and that is the trail 
 
 35
 
 546 The Military History of 
 
 I am trying to strike. I want to pick up some old rider, or driver, 
 and get his narrative, and any information that would be of interest. 
 I have thought of going to Fort Sam Houston (located here) to 
 see if I could get the names of any officers (who might still be liv- 
 ing) who were at Conchio from about 1868 to 1870." 
 
 This, then, was his occupation after the War, till his death — 
 operating Stage Lines in Texas, in connection with his brother, Mr. 
 Slaughter W. Ficklin.* 
 
 Besides possibly serving in the Western Virginia Campaign 
 until some time in 1862, Colonel Ficklin fought with conspicuous 
 gallantry as a staff officer in the battle of Malvern Hill, in the early 
 summer of 1862. But his greatest services to the Confederate 
 Government were as Purchasing Agent in Europe and Blockade 
 Runner, buying, and bringing across the seas, much-needed military 
 supplies, from 1862 to the end of the War. 
 
 Brave old Colonel Norborne Berkeley (his classmate) mentioned 
 two incidents showing Ficklin's love of fun. He said: "I will never 
 forget Ben Ficklin (mischievous Ben). Our 12-pounder was left 
 one night outside the Arsenal, the muzzle pointing directly to the 
 window over mv bed. Sometime in the night, Ben touched her 
 off, and I was literally covered up with glass. Another time, several 
 of our Class were in the gun-house making rockets for 'the Fourth,' 
 when Ben, passing by, couldn't resist touching off a squib; and if 
 old Tom hadn't come quickly with two buckets of water, Sam 
 Garland, who was rehearsing his oration in the Hall just over us, 
 would have taken a flight even higher than his eloquent speech 
 carried him later." 
 
 Colonel Ficklin's niece, the cultivated Mrs. J. J. King, and the 
 last survivor of his family, wrote: "You know, of course, that 
 Uncle Ben left the Institute unceremoniously , on account of one 
 of his numerous pranks (I believe firing a cannon at midnight). 
 
 "He enlisted in the Mexican War in which he served until its 
 close; when, returning through Lexington, he met General Smith, 
 who reinstated him on his own responsibility, merely exacting the 
 promise that he would get no more demerits, which promise was 
 kept. But since those of his earlier life were registered against 
 him, and were by no means few, he graduated (I think) next to the 
 lowest in his Class. Of course, all who knew him were on the 
 qui Vive to see how one of his talent would deport himself under 
 such a humiliation. He gratified their curiosity by placing his 
 diploma on the point of his bayonet and marching out of the Hall." 
 Mrs. King says that after leaving Abingdon (after graduating), 
 he taught (she thinks) for awhile in the North; and that there is 
 a story that he was in an abolitionist centre; and that on learning 
 
 *We know that Colonel Ficklin established these lines In Texas, after the 
 War, for we are told that his friend and old V. M. I. comrade, Colonel 
 Briscoe G. Baldwin, went there to assume charge of the Lines, but upon 
 arriving, learned of Ficklin's sudden death In Georgetown, D. C.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 547 
 
 he was a "suspect" of the opposite sentiments, an indignation meet- 
 ing was held which he himself attended, and that he made the most 
 eloquent speech of the evening on the subject of "Abolition," taking 
 care, however, "to leave town early the next morning." She con- 
 tinues: "Just before the War, he was with General Albert Sidney 
 Johnston on the plains — in what capacity I do not know, and at 
 one time their provisions were nearly exhausted, and it was neces- 
 sary to send into British America* for supplies. At a 'Council of 
 War' an appeal was made to some men to undertake the expedition. 
 For a long time no response was made, as the oldest trapper had 
 said no one could return alive from such a trip, at that season- 
 midwinter. Finally, Uncle Ben arose and said he would undertake 
 it, if he could select six men to accompany him, and would engage 
 to return at a certain time. In vain, those who knew the country 
 tried to dissuade him. I wish I could recall all the adventures as 
 I heard related by him ; but the only thing that made an impression 
 upon my young mind was their being deprived of food for three 
 days when they were forced to resort to mule meat. The supplies 
 were finally procured, and they returned to camp, a few days late, 
 — just in time to stop the departure of a messenger to Washington 
 to report the party as dead. 
 
 "He was the originator of the Pony Express, and when the 
 first rider had mounted his 'white pony,' at St. Joseph, and was 
 about to start, Uncle Ben handed him a twenty-five cent piece. 
 Upon being asked what it was for, he replied, 'For you to buy a 
 rope and hang himself, if you do not make the correct time.' He 
 always said that Monticello, Jefferson's residence, should belong 
 to the State. So, when it was confiscated, during the War, he 
 bought it for eighty thousand dollars, and was having it repaired, 
 before presenting it to the State, when the War terminated as it 
 did, and it reverted to the heirs of the former owner. 
 
 "I suppose no one could tell the amount of good he did in 
 helping poor young men, and aiding charitable institutions. I 
 heard that a Catholic institution in Richmond would have been 
 compelled to close its doors, during the War, but for his kindly 
 aid (and he not of the Catholic faith). 
 
 "Although so much of his life was passed in 'roughing it,' and 
 for months at a time he was without the pale of civilization, as it 
 were, he was one of the gentlest, most refined men I ever knew. 
 His voice was low and sweet, and he was fastidious to a fault in 
 his ideas of a lady's manners and dress. He never married; nor do 
 I know that he ever had any serious 'affairs,' though he frequently 
 teased my sister and myself by telling us he was about to enlist 
 in the married state. We considered him our special property, and 
 did not wish a better play-fellow in his visits to us. 
 
 •Not British-America, but some distant Army Port in the United States.
 
 548 The Military History of 
 
 "I have in my possession a passport issued by Isaac H. Car- 
 rington. Provost Marshal, granting him permission to pass at will 
 in the Confederate States.' ... As you observe, I have only 
 jotted down incidents in his life, as I heard them in my youth, and 
 can recall in my old age." 
 
 It seems the irony of fate that, after braving every danger of 
 land and sea, Colonel Ficklin should die from getting a fish bone in 
 his throat, at the home of a friend in Georgetown, D. C, but 
 such was the case. His death occurred on March 12, 1871. 
 
 Private Anthony Webster Southall, of Amelia County, Vir- 
 ginia, matriculated in 1844, and remained one year. He was in 
 training for the profession of law when war was declared with 
 Mexico, and against the wishes of his family he left the Institute, 
 and joined the company from his county wliich was attached to the 
 First Virginia Regiment. 
 
 He served through the campaign, but ruined his health, and died 
 soon after returning home, from the effects of his severe service 
 in Mexico. 
 
 Anthony Webster Southall was a son of Dr. Phillip T. Southall, 
 and his wife, Elizabeth Webster, and was born in Prince Edward 
 County, Virginia. 
 
 Private Charles Everett Carter, of Albemarle County, Vir- 
 ginia. He was one of the little band who relieved the Public Guard 
 in 1839, and formed the first Corps of Cadets. His father was 
 Dr. Charles W. Carter of "Blenheim," and his mother was born 
 Mary Cocke, daughter of Captain James Powell Cocke, of the 
 Revolutionary War. 
 
 He left the Institute after one year, and settled on a plantation 
 in South Carolina. When the Mexican War broke out, he volun- 
 teered as a private in the "Palmetto Regiment" from South Caro- 
 lina. He was ill with fever when the Army entered the City of 
 Mexico, and died a few days afterwards, November 5, 1847. 
 
 He is said to have been a gallant soldier. Through the kindness 
 of Colonel Abram Van Buren, his remains were brought back to 
 South Carolina, and were deposited in Trinity Churchyard at 
 Columbia, in the section of his sister, Mrs. Singleton. 
 
 Private Reuben G. Ross, of Botetourt County, Virginia, matricu- 
 lated 1845. He was born in Tennessee, but his father, Reuben 
 Ross, originally of Montgomery County, Virginia, removed to Fin- 
 castle, from which place the son was entered at the Institute. His 
 mother was Frances Miller, of Fincastle. The Mexican War oc- 
 curing the next year, he volunteered as a member of his cousin's. 
 Captain Caldwell's, company. He served through the campaign. 
 Afterwards, he became a civil engineer, and was employed in build- 
 ing the railroad from Petersburg to Lynchburg. Later, he married
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 549 
 
 an heiress, and removed to St. Charles, Missouri, where he engaged 
 very successfully in a woolen factory. He served in neither Army 
 during the Confederate War. After the War, his prosperity waned, 
 and when he died, about 1880, he left only a moderate estate. 
 
 Colonel Norborne Berkley, his classmate, said: "Old 'Reub' 
 was the bass in our quartet. The last thing I recollect of him, his 
 200 pounds and Matt Cullen's 100 pounds were flying down the hill 
 in front of Barracks on the toboggan, and when they went into the 
 sunken road at the foot of the hill. Dr. Estill, the surgeon, was 
 sent for in a hurry." 
 
 Private Alexander McNutt McCorkle, of Rockbridge County, 
 Virginia. In 1840 he was entered at the Institute. His parents 
 were John McCorkle and Sarah Etchison Cunningham, of Rock- 
 bridge County, and he was the eldest of their twelve children. 
 His paternal great-grandfather was John McCorkle, who was an 
 ensign in General William Smallwood's Brigade, and was killed at 
 the battle of Cowpens, and buried on the field. 
 
 He left the Institute before completing the course. He volun- 
 teered for the Mexican War, and was assigned to regiment in 
 
 General Taylor's command, near Monterey, and died in the service, 
 a short time afterwards, from the effects of the climate. 
 
 We have thus briefly sketched the twenty-five sons of the 
 V. M. I., who fought in the Mexican War. They were all worthy 
 sons. Three of them. Carter, McCorkle, and Munford, never saw 
 again their native land, and one other of the little patriot band, 
 Southall, died soon after reaching home, from the effects of the 
 hard service he had undergone in a foreign land. Noble martyrs, 
 all ! The casualties amounted to sixteen per cent. ; and, if we con- 
 sider the deaths of Deyerle and Scott to have been due indirectly 
 to their arduous military service in Mexico — as in all probability 
 they were — the ratio of mortality is increased to twenty-four per 
 cent. 
 
 Surely, then, with the records of these twenty-four comrades — 
 among the earliest cadets of the Institute — before us, we would be 
 false to their sacred memories, and recreant to our duty, if we 
 failed in this history to pay them the homage of praise and ad- 
 miration which is justly their due.
 
 550 The Military History of 
 
 APPENDIX J 
 
 PREPARED BY JOS. R. ANDERSON. 
 
 V. M. I. IN THE REGULAR ARMY AND NAVY, BEFORE 
 
 1861 
 
 Previously to the War of 1861-65, there were twenty-two V. M. 
 I. Graduates and Eleves in the regular Military Establishment of 
 the United States.* 
 
 In the Army, were the following commissioned officers, to wit: 
 
 Captain Arthur Campbell Cummings, of Virginia, 
 Captain Richard Carlton Walker Radford, of Virginia, 
 Captain John Addy Thompson, of Ohio, 
 Captain Briscoe Gerard Baldwin, of Virginia, 
 Brevet Captain Daniel Smith Lee, of Virginia, 
 Brevet Captain Hamilton Leroy Shields, of Virginia, 
 Surgeon Charles Peter Deyerle, of Virginia, 
 First Lieutenant Birkett Davenport Fry, of Virginia, 
 First Lieutenant James Edwin Slaughter, of Virginia, 
 First Lieutenant Andrew Jackson, of Virginia, 
 First Lieutenant Edwin James Harvie, of Virginia, 
 First Lieutenant John Thomas Goode, of Virginia, 
 First Lieutenant Walter Jones, of District of Columbia, 
 First Lieutenant John Robinson Waddy, of Virginia, 
 P'irst Lieutenant (Assistant Surgeon) Archibald Magill 
 Fauntleroy, of Virginia, 
 
 Second Lieutenant Isaac Williams Smith, of Virginia, 
 Second Lieutenant William Fitzhugh Lee, of Virginia, 
 Second Lieutenant Francis Mallory, of Virginia. 
 
 In the Navy, were the following officers, to wit: 
 
 Passed Assistant Surgeon Marcellus Palmer Christian, of 
 Virginia, 
 
 **Acting Lieutenant Henry St. George Hunter, of Virginia, 
 Paymaster Richard Harcourt Sinton, of Virginia, 
 Paymaster George Harrison Ritchie, of Virginia. 
 
 Brief sketches of Cummings, Radford, D. S. Lee, Shields, 
 Deyerle, Fry, Slaughter, Jackson, and Smith, will be found in the 
 
 *A separate appendix is devoted to Alumni in tlie regular Army, and the 
 Volunteers, wtio served in the War with Mexico. 
 
 •♦His vounger brother, also an Old Cadet, served as lieutenant in the 
 Mexican War, and afterwards as lieutenant in Cortez's Army in Cuba, and 
 was killed In the latter's expedition.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 551 
 
 chapter entitled, "The Institute's Contribution to the Mexican 
 War," and one of Thompson in the chapter entitled, " Graduates 
 and Eleves in the Union Army, During the War," found in this 
 book. 
 
 Below, we give brief sketches of the others mentioned above. 
 
 Briscoe Gerard Baldwin was graduated in the Class of ]848. 
 Three years before, he and his twin-brother, James W. Baldwin, 
 had entered the Institute together. Their father was Briscoe G. 
 Baldwin, Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, an 
 officer of the War of 1812, and subsequently Major-General of the 
 Virginia Militia, several times a member of the General Assembly, 
 and a member of the Constitutional Convention of Virginia. Their 
 mother was Martha Steele Brown, daughter of Frances Peyton, 
 and granddaughter of Colonel Harry Peyton, of Westmoreland 
 County, Virginia (the gallant Revolutionary soldier who lost his 
 five sons in that struggle) ; and, through her, these old cadets were 
 direct descendants of Alfred's line of English Kings. An older 
 brother was the distinguished John Briscoe Baldwin, member of 
 the Virginia Convention of 1861, and Colonel of the 5 2d Virginia 
 Infantry, C. S. A. The wife of the Hon. A. H. H. Stuart was 
 their sister, as was Mrs. James M. Ranson, of Staunton, Virginia. 
 
 For a year after graduating, Briscoe G. Baldwin served as 
 private secretary to the Hon. A. H. H. Stuart, Secretary of the 
 Interior, under President Fillmore. With his brilliant intellect, 
 he was active in originating and promoting, personally and with his 
 trenchant pen, some of the salutary measures of that administra- 
 tion. 
 
 In October, 1851, he accepted a commission, tendered by the 
 President, in the regular Army, and was stationed on the Pacific 
 Coast. After seeing some service in the West, the outbreak of 
 hostilities in 1861 found him in command of the Arsenal at Augusta, 
 Maine, with the rank of captain. Resigning from the Army, on 
 the action of his State Convention, withdrawing his State from the 
 Union, he made his way through the lines to Richmond, and 
 tendered his services to Virginia and the Confederacy. 
 
 His first duty was in charge of the Arsenal at Richmond, look- 
 ing after the Army ordnance manufactured at the Tredegar Works, 
 and the general work of producing and repairing small arms and 
 other munitions of war for the troops in the East. Only those 
 familiar with the conditions at the time can realize the difficulties 
 of his position. But Captain Baldwin won high praise for his 
 zeal and success. 
 
 In the spring of 1862, he sought more congenial service in the 
 field; and, by request of his classmate, Brigadier-General R. E. 
 Rodes, he was appointed his Assistant Adjutant-General. In the 
 battle of Seven Pines, he took a prominent part in the magnificent
 
 552 The Militaky History of 
 
 charge of Rodes's Brigade which carried the enemy's fortifications 
 
 with heavy loss. j n • u 
 
 He participated actively in the Seven Days battles around Rich- 
 mond; and in the last day's fighting was desperately wounded 
 by a shot through the body, penetrating the lungs, while leading 
 a' charge, mounted. In this immediate service he was a volunteer, 
 the regimental field-ofiicers having been killed. Baldwin was left 
 for dead, but was finally found by some of the regiment, and, as 
 soon as practicable, was taken to Staunton. There, he lay for 
 weeks between life and death, but was nursed back to strength by 
 the tender ministrations of devoted women. 
 
 He soon received promotion as major of ordnance, and soon 
 thereafter, in acknowledgment of distinguished service, he was 
 appointed Chief of Ordnance of the Army of Northern Virginia, 
 ranking at first as lieutenant-colonel, and from the fall of 1862 
 to the surrender, he was one of the staff, and immediate military 
 family, of General Robert E. Lee, having in charge (besides his 
 other duties) the Secret Department of the Army and the move- 
 ments of Scouts within the enemy's lines. At the time of the sur- 
 render, his rank was Colonel of Ordnance. 
 
 From the effects of his wound he never recovered, though he 
 lived out his three score and ten years. He was more or less 
 a sufferer to the end of his life, and subject, at times, to great 
 depression of spirits. 
 
 After surrendering with his beloved commander, he went to 
 Richmond, and took charge of the Southern business of the National 
 Express and Transportation Company. Upon the failure of that 
 enterprise, he spent some time in Lynchburg and Staunton, in no 
 condition of health for active pursuits. 
 
 In 1870, he set out for Texas, to take charge of the Stage 
 Lines established there by his friend, an old V. M. I. comrade. 
 Colonel Benjamin F. Ficklin. But when he reached Texas he 
 learned of Ficklin's sudden death. (See his sketch herein). He 
 was stranded, and rather than accept help from relatives, he under- 
 went for some time the hardships and exposure incident to herding 
 cattle for ranchers on the Brazos River. Later, he was made 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction, and went to live at Bryan, 
 Texas. There, he died, after a brief illness, on the 28th of 
 September, 1898. 
 
 At his death, such honor was done him as falls to few. His 
 remains lay in state in the City Hall; the Court adjourned, and 
 schools and business were suspended. Floral tributes, a military 
 escort, and funeral salutes were accorded this distinguished man 
 who had but a few short years before come among the people of 
 Bryan a total stranger, a poor and broken-down Confederate 
 soldier. And two years after his death, there was erected to his 
 memory by the Daughters of the Confederacy, of Texas, in the
 
 The Vieginia Militaey Institute 553 
 
 presence of a large concourse, and with imposing ceremonies, a 
 stately marble shaft, dedicated, and with eloquent and touching 
 address by a gifted son of Texas, Judge Norman J. Kittrell who 
 said, in part, — 
 
 "Here was a brave man broken in health and fortune, his 
 cherished hopes shattered, and his loftiest aspirations disappointed, 
 yet holding to the faith of his fathers, and preserving untarnished 
 the honor of a gentleman. The tides of adversity may overwhelm 
 and the storms of life beat upon him, but no power can bend such 
 an one from the perpendicular of a proud, upright and courageous 
 manhood. 
 
 • •■••■•a 
 
 "He was the friend and associate, and possessed, as a soldier 
 and a man, the confidence of one who within himself was the em- 
 bodiment of every human virtue ; who was the noble scion of a 
 knightly race, a gifted soldier, unselfish patriot and Christian 
 gentleman, the peerless and proudest product of the ages ; and, 
 when by word and deed, Robert E. Lee manifested his confidence 
 in, and regard for, the soldier who laid down life's burdens, on this 
 spot, then was Briscoe G. Baldwin avouched unto posterity as 
 worthy of trust and admiration in life and of the loftiest honors 
 in death." 
 
 In personal appearance. Colonel Baldwin was a notable figure, 
 standing over six feet, erect and stately in bearing, and every 
 inch a soldier. He was chivalrous in every impulse of his nature, 
 and generous to a fault. Disappointed in love in early life, he 
 never married. 
 
 Edwin James Harvie was graduated in the Class of 1855; but, 
 before graduating, on March 3, 1855, was appointed second lieu- 
 tenant, 9th Infantry, U. S. Army. On July 1, 1857, he was pro- 
 moted to first lieutenant, and served till March 15, 1861, when he 
 resigned to enter the Confederate States service, in which he at- 
 tained great distinction as Colonel and Inspector-General of Gen- 
 eral Joseph E. Johnston's Army. 
 
 Colonel Harvie described himself when he said of General 
 Johnston — that "he was a Virginian by birth and education and 
 a gentleman by the grace of God." He was a son of Colonel 
 Lewis E. Harvie — one of the most distinguished citizens of Vir- 
 ginia, who was president of the old Richmond and Danville Rail- 
 road Company, during the War, and for many years before. 
 
 In a beautiful tribute to this dear "Old Cadet," Senator Money 
 of Mississippi said, — "He was a man of singular purity of char- 
 acter ; he never stopped to consider whether anything would appear 
 honest or dishonest, noble or ignoble, honorable or dishonorable; 
 he instinctively did what a gentleman should do, and, with an ex- 
 ceedingly fine perception of duty, lie naturally perceived and per-
 
 554 The Military History of " 
 
 formed all duties. In mind and speech, he was as delicate as a 
 woman. . . . He had a woman's sympathy, and his great heart 
 was troubled by the distresses all around him. 
 
 "I have thus compared him to woman, because there is no higher 
 standard of excellence, and because he was so much better than 
 the men I have known. The gentle warrior fought fifty-four 
 battles for the South, and at every moment of his splendid service, 
 he believed that he could not do otherwise. 
 
 "He married Miss Edmonia Meade, who was of old Virginia 
 stock, known all over the South for domestic and social virtues. 
 She died when his four children were not grown, and he was both 
 father and mother to them, their guiding companion, and their 
 idol, and he gave to them a life of devotion." 
 
 Until a few years before his death, he was employed in the 
 "Confederate Records" Division of the United States War Depart- 
 ment, and his services were most valuable. 
 
 No Alumnus exceeded him in loyalty to, and love for, his Alma 
 Mater, and his Alma Mater never had a worthier son. 
 
 John Thomas Goode was matriculated in 1854, but resigned 
 after one year to enter the Army. On June 18, 1855, he was ap- 
 pointed second lieutenant, 4th Artillery. On June 10, 1857, he 
 was promoted first lieutenant and served as such until July 3, 1861, 
 when he resigned to enter the Confederate Army in which he 
 served throughout the War with great gallantry. He was colonel 
 of the 34th Virginia Infantry, Wise's Brigade, and the last year 
 of the War commanded his brigade, while General Wise commanded 
 a division. 
 
 Colonel Goode was a brave Indian fighter in the old Army, and 
 endured great hardships. When the clouds of Civil War threatened 
 the South, he traveled thousands of miles across the continent (with 
 his wife and two children, and with only one other man in his 
 party), to share the fortunes of his native State in the impending 
 crisis. 
 
 Colonel Goode was the son of the Honorable William O. Goode, 
 who represented his district in Congress for many years. 
 
 Colonel Goode is still living on his farm in Mecklenburg County, 
 Virginia. He has represented his county in the House of Delegates, 
 since the War; and was really elected to Congress, but, because of 
 some technicality, he was not given his seat. He was married four 
 times, and has a number of children, one of whom (now dead) was 
 a cadet at the Institute. 
 
 Walter Jones was a son of Major-General Roger Jones, Ad- 
 jutant-General of the U. S. Army, and his wife, Mary Anne Mason 
 Page, whose mother was a sister of "Light Horse" Harry Lee.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 555 
 
 He entered the Institute in 1849, and resigned in 1852. For 
 three years, he served in the United States Coast Survey, and 
 under William Mahone, in the construction of the Norfolk & Peters- 
 burg Railroad. On June 30, 1855, he received the appointment of 
 second lieutenant in the 1st Infantry. On October 31, 1857, he 
 was promoted to first lieutenant of the 3d Infantry, in which he 
 served till May 10. 1861, when he resigned to enter the Con- 
 federate Army. 
 
 He was assigned by the Secretary of War as quartermaster at 
 Lynchburg, Virginia, preparing and equipping troops for the field. 
 He was then appointed to the staff of General Walker, in Missis- 
 sippi, as major, and at the time of the surrender he was commander 
 of the post at Montgomery, Alabama. He married Mrs. M. Brooks, 
 of Mobile, Alabama, in 1863. Of the three sons born to them, only 
 one, Brooks Jones, is now living. 
 
 Major Jones died at his home in Mobile, in 1875. 
 
 John Robinson Waddy was graduated in 1853. He then 
 taught for several years. On the recommendation of Governor 
 Henr}' A. Wise and Major (afterwards Lieutenant-General) 
 Thomas J. Jackson, he was appointed, on February 21, 1857, 
 second lieutenant of the 4th Artillery. He was promoted, February 
 4, 1861, first lieutenant. He resigned, July 20, 1861, to cast his 
 fortunes with his native State, in the pending struggle for consti- 
 tutional liberty. 
 
 He served under various commanders as adjutant-general, and 
 ordnance and artillery officer ; becoming, finally, colonel of artillery, 
 surrendering with Johnston's Army. 
 
 He lived on his farm in Northampton County Virginia, after 
 the War, for a few years, and then removed to New York, in which 
 city he engaged in business till 1877. He returned then to Vir- 
 ginia, and again engaged in farming for five years ; after which 
 he removed to Norfolk, where he was a prominent figure. After 
 serving as inspector-in-chief of export grain for the Norfolk and 
 Western Railroad Company till 1898, he was appointed post- 
 master of Norfolk, and served with the greatest satisfaction to the 
 people and the government until his death, February 10, 1908. 
 He married Miss Ella George Fitchett, of Northampton County, 
 Virginia, who preceded him to the grave. Eight children were 
 born to them, of whom five daughters and two sons survive. 
 
 Archibald Magill Fauntleroy was graduated in 1857. He 
 was the son of Colonel Thomas Turner Fauntleroy, of the United 
 States Army (later Brigadier-General in C. S. A.), and his wife, 
 Ann Magill. 
 
 After graduating at the Institute, he studied medicine at the 
 University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania, re- 
 ceiving the degree of M. D. from the last-named institution. On
 
 556 The Military History of 
 
 June 23, 1860, he was appointed assistant surgeon in the United 
 States Army, which position he resigned, on May 9, 1861, to enter 
 the Confederate service. He was surgeon on the staff of General 
 Joseph E. Johnston; afterwards, medical director of North Caro- 
 lina; and, at the close of the War, he was medical director of the 
 Valley of Virginia. 
 
 After the War, he was elected Superintendent of the Western 
 Insane Asylum, at Staunton, Virginia, where he served with great 
 distinction till his death, June 19, 1886. He was at one time Presi- 
 dent of the Virginia Medical Society, and was the author of several 
 monographs on medical subjects. He was a noted surgeon during 
 the War, and made a great reputation by his "Hip joint operation."* 
 When he died, he was among the most distinguished Alienists of 
 this country. 
 
 Dr. Fauntleroy married Sallie Conrad, daughter of the Hon. 
 Robert Y. Conrad, of Winchester, Virginia, who died in 1908, 
 leaving four daughters and four sons. 
 
 William Fitzhugh Lee was graduated in the Class of 1853. 
 He was a son of the Reverend William F. Lee, of the Episcopal 
 Church in Virginia, — a man noted for his piety and usefulness, and 
 his wife, Mary Catherine, daughter of William Chilton, of Lees- 
 burg, Virginia, and sister of General R. H. Chilton, C. S. A. 
 
 On June 30, 1855, he received a commission of second lieutenant 
 in the Second Infantry which he held until April 30, 1861, when 
 he resigned and entered the Confederate Army. He was first ap- 
 pointed captain, and, soon afterwards, was commissioned lieutenant- 
 colonel of the 33d Virginia Infantry. At First Manassas, he fell 
 mortally wounded, and died eight days afterwards, July 29, 1861. 
 He was a gallant officer and noble gentleman. "He had lived a 
 soldier and a Christian; he died proudly vindicating his title to 
 the former, and, through faith in his Saviour, humbly trusting that 
 he was the latter." His aged widow was still living a few years 
 ago. His only daughter, who married Colonel William A. Simpson, 
 U. S. A., died in 1895, leaving four children, who were raised by 
 Mrs. Lee ; two of these grandchildren of Colonel Lee are now 
 faithfully serving their country, as he did, one in the Army and th€ 
 other in the Navy. 
 
 Francis Mallory was graduated in 1853. He was a son of 
 Dr. Francis Mallory, and his wife, Mary F. Wright, of Norfolk 
 and Hampton, Virginia. Dr. Mallory gave up his profession, after 
 a few years, and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He 
 represented his district in Congress, and again returning to Nor- 
 folk, represented that city in the State Legislature. 
 
 The father of Dr. Mallory was Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia 
 in 1812. The family is descended from Roger Mallory, who left 
 
 ♦See Records of the Rebellion.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 557 
 
 England during the Civil War, and settled in King and Queen 
 County, Virginia, and has always been distinguished. 
 
 Francis, the subject of this brief sketch, was an assistant 
 engineer under William Mahone (V. M. I.), Chief Engineer of 
 the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, for three years, after leaving 
 the Institute. On June 27, 1856, he was appointed second lieu- 
 tenant in the Army, and assigned to the 4th Infantry. He resigned 
 his commission, July 10, 1861, to enter the Confederate Army. 
 
 For five years he had been in active service at Forts Vancouver, 
 Cascades, and Walla-Walla, in Oregon and Washington Terri- 
 tories, suppressing the outrages of the Indians, and thus gained 
 a valuable experience in warfare. He won the confidence and 
 affection of his brother-officers, who bore the most cordial and 
 unequivocal testimony to the thoroughness and efficiency of his 
 military training. He shrank from no danger, or difficulty, and 
 courted adventure. 
 
 When he saw Civil War threatening, he wrote his devoted 
 mother, — "Although my arm is but that of one man, I feel a giant 
 heart within me, and would strike no mean blow in the defense of 
 our homes and the honor of our glorious old State. I consider it 
 is as much my duty to side with my State against all enemies, as 
 I would to defend and protect you, my dear mother, from the 
 whole world, right or wrong. Should I fall in the defense of my 
 mother, or my State, the only regret would be that I had not a 
 hundred lives to offer, instead of one." And his biographer adds, — 
 "Such a sentiment is the key of the whole man, since he who could 
 pen it, and then die in its support, possessed all the elements of 
 true manhood and greatness !" 
 
 This noble young officer, while colonel of the 55th Virginia 
 Infantry, survived the perils, and shared the glories, of Cedar 
 Run, Second Manassas, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg, and Fred- 
 ericksburg; but, alas, when so full of promise, he fell at Chancel- 
 lorsville. May 2, 1863. His distinguished nephew and namesake 
 has held for years an important chair at the Institute, and is 
 worthy of the high name he bears. 
 
 Marcellus Palmer Christian was graduated in the Class of 
 1852. His parents were Henry A. Christian, and his wife, Susan 
 Palmer. His paternal grandfather, Henry Christian, was a captain 
 in the Revolutionary War. 
 
 He was born in Appomattox County, Virginia, in 1830, but his 
 family were residents of Lynchburg when he entered the Institute. 
 After graduating, he took up the study of medicine, at the Uni- 
 versity of Virginia, and was graduated there M. D. He after- 
 wards pursued his medical studies in New York City. 
 
 He entered the United States Navy, and had risen to the rank 
 of passed assistant surgeon in 1861, when he resigned and tendered
 
 558 The Militaky History of 
 
 his services to his State and the Confederacy. He was appointed 
 assistant surgeon, C. S. Navy, July 18, 1861; was promoted to 
 passed assistant surgeon, October 25, 1862, and became surgeon 
 before the War ended. 
 
 In 1862, he married Nannie R. Davis, daughter of Judge 
 Mica j ah Davis, of Bedford City, Virginia. His only child 
 died young. After the War he returned to Lynchburg and practised 
 his profession in that City until his death, November 19, 1879. 
 He was greatly beloved. 
 
 Henry St. George Hunter was entered at the Institute in 1841 
 by his devoted sister, Miss Fannie Washington Hunter (being an 
 orphan), having first been a student at the University of Virginia. 
 He was the eldest son of Hon. Moses T. Hunter, of Martinsburg, 
 Virginia, a famous lawyer and wit, and his wife, Mary W. Snicker. 
 
 He left the Institute to enter the Navy, and became an acting 
 lieutenant. He was an ensign with Commander Perry when he 
 made his famous treaty with Japan. 
 
 The following beautiful obituary best tells the story of his life: 
 
 "Died on board the United States Steamer, Hancock, near Fou- 
 chou-fou, China, on the 2ith of September last (1854), of dysen- 
 tery. Acting Lieutenant Henry St. George Hunter, United States 
 Navy, in the 30th year of his age. 
 
 "Thus early has fallen one whose budding promise foretold a 
 life of professional usefulness and honor. In the language of a 
 friend and brother officer, for years intimately associated with him: 
 'He had excellencies of head and heart, as fitted to win admiration 
 and love as any one I ever knew. He was a fine officer, an amiable 
 and interesting companion, a true-hearted gentleman.' 
 
 "He was the last brother whom God had spared to the grief- 
 worn hearts of his sorrowing sisters. But a few short years have 
 passed since they were called to mourn for one whose bones lie 
 bleaching upon the mountains of Cuba, the victim of a high-souled, 
 but mistaken, chivalry.* Still more recently, another brother, in 
 the freshness of his young life's hope and promise, met a sudden 
 and violent death by accident ;** and now, before time has mellowed 
 and soothed the bitterness of their anguish, across the broad ocean 
 is borne to their ears the sad tidings that the last son of their 
 house and name — the last brother of their love — the last hope 
 of their drooping hearts— sleeps his last sleep, sadly and alone, by 
 the dark waters of a distant sea. To God only can they look for 
 strength i n this their hour of threefold gloom. He has filled the 
 
 (See^sketch^her?toT'^^ ^' ^'^^^^' ^- '^ ^- »* Cortez's Army, killed in Cuba, 
 
 Hio/*/- ^';o°'^e, Hunter, Civil Engineer on Memphis and Charleston Railroad, 
 died from injuries received by falling from a car; September 14, 1853.
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 559 
 
 cup of their sorrow to overflowing, and He alone can strengthen 
 and sustain them." 
 
 [General David Hunter, United States Army (of execrated 
 memory), was a first cousin of Hon. Moses T. Hunter (father of 
 Cadets Henry St. George and Beverly T. Hunter) and his brother, 
 Hon. Andrew Hunter, both of Martinsburg, Virginia. In his diab- 
 olism, he burnt the residence of Hon. Andrew Hunter, because 
 he was a Secessionist, and the home of Hon. Edmund I. Lee 
 (cousin of General Robert E. Lee, and uncle of Colonel William 
 Fitzhugh Lee, who has just been mentioned), of Shepherdstown. 
 He then proceeded on his path of deviltry, and next burnt the Vir- 
 ginia Military Institute, and the home of Ex-Governor Letcher; 
 and, eighteen miles farther on, he destroyed the beautiful home 
 of Colonel John T. Anderson, another "rabid secessionist" (whose 
 only child. Major Joseph W. Anderson, Chief of Artillery of 
 Stevenson's Division, C. S. A., had only the year before been 
 killed, near Vicksburg), giving the invalid wife but five minutes 
 to get out of the house. 
 
 [On one occasion, after the War, "Vandal" met on a street, in 
 Washington, the two young granddaughters of Hon. Moses T. 
 Hunter, and said, "I am sorry you have not met me before," when 
 the brave little younger sister replied— "General Hunter, we would 
 rather meet the Devil!"] 
 
 Richard Harcourt Sinton was graduated in 1847 "First Dis- 
 tinguished" in his Class, with Generals Mahone and Wharton as two 
 of his classmates. He was born at his father's country estate, "The 
 Grove," near Richmond, Virginia, September 6, 1825. His parents 
 were Joseph Sinton (born in Ireland in 1790), and his wife, Maria 
 Davis (widow, nee Price). He was the eldest child. 
 
 Immediately upon graduating, he received an appointment as 
 paymaster in the United States Navy, and he served on the Frigate 
 Brandywine and the U. S. S. Ohio. He arrived in California in 
 the last-named ship, soon after the Mexican War, and then re- 
 signed his commission. In association with General Henry M. 
 Naglee (U. S. A., retired), of Pennsylvania, he opened the first 
 bank in San Francisco. 
 
 In 1856, he married Elizabeth Zabriskie, daughter of Colonel 
 James C. Zabriskie, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Two 
 children were born to them, Lizzie Zabriskie (now Mrs. W. D. 
 Walker, of San Francisco) and a son who died. 
 
 Until 1865, he continued with great success in the banking 
 business, amassing great wealth. After the War he went into the 
 real estate business, in which he continued until his death, July 18, 
 1894. 
 
 In the War of 1861-65, his sympathies were with the South, 
 but he took no part. In the spring of 1889, the Chairman of the
 
 560 The Military History of 
 
 V. M. I. Semi-Centennial Executive Committee received the follow- 
 ing letter from this old comrade, which shows the "V. M. I. spirit" 
 still animated him, after forty-two years: 
 
 "Joseph R. Anderson, Esq., 
 "Chairman, etc., 
 
 "Richmond, Va. 
 
 "Dear Sir — Your resolve to have a Semi-Centennial meeting 
 of Alumni was a most happy inspiration, and I hope the result 
 will be a great success. The thought of treading again the familiar 
 and loved ground of the dear Alma Mater thrills every fibre of my 
 body, until I yearn to be with you in the flesh, in July, but my 
 engagements are such, and the distance so great, that I can not 
 spare the time, albeit the gratification would be so great and dear to 
 my heart. I have written to my dear old friend and classmate. Gen- 
 eral G. C. Wharton (who will doubtless be with you), to respond for 
 me at your conclave. 
 
 "Wishing yourself and comrades every success, 
 
 "I am, fraternally yours, 
 
 "R. H. SiNTON." 
 
 George Harrison Ritchie was matriculated in September, 
 1845. He was a son of Thomas Ritchie, of the old Richmond 
 Enquirer, and Virginia's greatest editor, and his wife, Isabella 
 Foushee, who was a daughter of Dr. William Foushee, a native of 
 France, who became an eminent citizen of Richmond. Mr. 
 Ritchie had moved his residence to Washington, when George was 
 entered as a cadet. Mr. Ritchie came to Richmond during the 
 administration of the elder Adams, and began his editorial labors 
 towards its close. Under his skillful management, the Enquirer 
 became the political oracle, not only of Virginia Democracy, but 
 of that of the South and Middle West. His influence upon the 
 mass of his countrymen was a power such as is seldom acquired 
 by a newspaper man. "He made and unmade statesmen." Thus 
 wrote the late Judge Beverley T. Wellford, of Richmond. 
 
 George H. Ritchie did not finish the course at the Institute, as 
 he was ambituous to enter the Navy. An appointment as pay- 
 master was secured for him, dated April 1, 1853. He served till 
 April 29, 1861, when he resigned to enter the Confederate service. 
 He was appointed paymaster in the C. S. Navy, on October 11, 
 1861, to rank from March 1, 1861. 
 
 After the War, he was in the insurance business, in Washington, 
 D. C, till his death, about 1870. He never married. 
 
 In 1861, of the twenty-two officers sketched above (all of whom 
 had served with credit and honor in the old service), — three had
 
 The Virginia Military Institute 561 
 
 died in the line of duty; one (from Ohio) remained in the United 
 States service ; one who had left the service seven years before 
 continued to reside in the North, but did not reenter the Army; 
 one was living in California who had returned to his native State, 
 Virginia, but once since his graduation, fourteen years before; 
 and sixteen cast their fortunes with their beloved Southland; and 
 what a glorious record these last made ! Two of them became brig- 
 adier-generals ; nine, colonels ; one, lieutenant-colonel ; three, 
 majors (including one of relative naval rank), and one, captain — 
 a naval officer of relative army rank; and two (colonels) were 
 killed in battle! 
 
 Of all these twenty-two sons, the old mother will ever be 
 proud; and their memories will ever be sacredly cherished. 
 
 36
 
 APPENDIX K 
 
 NOTE ON V. M. I. CLAIM FOR LOSS OF PROPERTY SUS- 
 TAINED DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 
 
 It is suggested by the author that, in the event the present 
 Congress does not pass the bill providing for the reimbursement 
 of the Virginia Military Institute for the loss of property it sus- 
 tained during the War between the States, certain evidence be 
 introduced at any future hearing before the Committee of Claims, 
 which was not introduced on either of the two occasions when the 
 claim of the Institute was presented in the past. This evidence is, 
 that the buildings and other property of the Citadel Military 
 Academy, of Charleston, S. C, were not destroyed when captured 
 by General Sherman in 1865, although the cadets of the institution 
 were actually engaged in resisting under arms as a military luiit 
 the advance of his troops at the very time the property was seized, 
 and had been repeatedly employed during the War. In addition to 
 having furnished over two hundred officers to the Confederate 
 States Army, the Citadel Military Academy is said to have been 
 responsible for the first shot of the War, fired at Morris Island, 
 January 9, 1861, upon the Star of the West, and the last shot 
 of the War, fired by an organized body of troops east of the 
 Mississippi River, when on May 9, 1865, the cadets of the Academy 
 were engaged in a skirmish with General Stoneman's command near 
 Williamstown, S. C.
 
 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Age, of Cadets at New Mar- 
 ket 330 
 
 Almshouse, Institute reopened 
 
 in 392 
 
 description of 406 
 
 Alumni, in Mexican War, 
 
 Appendix I 
 
 in U. S. Army Appendix H, J 
 
 in Foreign Armies, 
 
 Appendix F, G 
 killed and died in service. 
 
 Appendix B 
 Anderson, Institute baker, negro 
 
 slave 371 
 
 his remark about Hunter. . . 371 
 Anderson, Gen. Jos. R., pro- 
 posed as Superintendent ... 39 
 
 Anderson, Col. Jos. E 9 
 
 Arms, at Institute in 1861 . . . 151 
 
 of Cadets 187, 292 
 
 deficiency of 240 
 
 new received 242 
 
 Arsenal, building of authorized 30 
 
 cost of maintaining 41 
 
 Artillery, Confederate, at New 
 
 Market 294, 304, 306, 
 
 308, 310, 311, 314, 316, 320, 334 
 
 Federal 304, 305, 309, 310, 311 
 
 losses at New Market 323 
 
 drill and practice 187 
 
 graduates in 250 
 
 instructors, Cadets as 145 
 
 material in 1863 240, 242 
 
 Assistant Professors, roster 
 
 of, 1842-1863 Appendix C 
 
 promoted 348 
 
 rank of 117, 154 
 
 Atwill, Cadet Corporal, killed 
 
 New Market 337 
 
 Austrian rifles, of Cadets .... 292 
 Averell, Brig.-Gen. W. W., his 
 
 first raid 235 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Averell, Brig.-Gen. W. W., his 
 
 second raid 254 
 
 his third raid 273 
 
 operations of 353, 358, 365 
 
 B Battery, 5th U. S. Artillery, 310 
 protects Sigel's retreat 333 
 
 Balcony Falls, Corps goes into 
 position at 358 
 
 Barracks, corner-stone of laid. . 24 
 
 improved and enlarged 67 
 
 cost of new 93 
 
 dedicated 94 
 
 bombarded by du Pont 356 
 
 destroyed by fire 366, 369 
 
 substitute for 383-385 
 
 Barry, Gen. W. F., U. S. Army, 
 returns trophies 369 
 
 Battalion of Cadets, roster of at 
 New Market Appendix A 
 
 Battery, Cadet, presented to 
 
 Corps 60 
 
 armament of 292 
 
 fires first hostile shot 164 
 
 Battle of Covington, Cadets 
 
 in 258, 259, 331 
 
 of McDowell 200 
 
 part of Cadets in 202 
 
 of New Market 296. et seq. 
 
 Beale, W. S., Cadet, Color- 
 Sergeant receives colors in 
 1842 51 
 
 Bell, Maj.-Gen. J. Franklin, 
 presents colors to Corps in 
 1909 59 
 
 Berkeley, Lieut. Carter 333 
 
 Bernard, Simon, commissioned 
 in U. S. Engineer Corps by 
 Monroe; his career and serv- 
 ices 27 
 
 Bill of Rights, section concern- 
 ing militia 102 
 
 Board of Visitors, the first ... 34 
 conducts examinations 49
 
 564 
 
 Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Board of Visitors, personnel of, 
 
 56, 61, 100 
 decides to reopen Institute 
 
 in 1862 172 
 
 review before in 1863 233 
 
 Botts, Gen. Thos. H., B. V. . . 34 
 
 Bowie, Capt. Walter 184 
 
 Boykin, Gen. F. M., B. V. ... 100 
 Braxton, Gen. Corbin, B. V. . . 61 
 Breckinridge, Gen., his orders 
 
 received 288, 290 
 
 his plan of battle 299 
 
 his appearance 301 
 
 his tactics 303, 305 
 
 threatened with defeat 312 
 
 thanks Corps of Cadets, 333, 341 
 
 relieves Corps 340 
 
 moves to Lynchburg 358 
 
 Brockenbrough, .John W.. 
 
 speech of 24, 63 
 
 Brooke Turnpike, Cadets in 
 
 camp on 348 
 
 BroAvn, .John, his raid 103 
 
 his trial 105 
 
 his execution 107 
 
 Brownsburg, Federals march 
 
 via 354 
 
 Buckingham Female Institute, 383 
 
 Buford's Gap 376 
 
 Bulow 20 
 
 Bushong House 312 
 
 orchard near 316 
 
 Bushong's Hill 298, 308, 316 
 
 Federal position on 320 
 
 Butler, Gen. B. F 181 
 
 operation of 410 
 
 Buttons, Cadet 350 
 
 Cabell, Cadet First-Sergeant, 
 
 killed 312, 336. 337 
 
 Cabins, used for barracks, 
 
 383, 384. 385 
 Cadet Battery, at New Market, 
 
 294, 304, 306, 307, 311 
 
 in Camp at Mt. Airy 331 
 
 ordered to Richmond 344 
 
 horses of returned 348-49 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cadet Battery, blows up bridge 
 
 at Lexington 355, 357 
 
 Cadets, first appointed, when.. 41 
 
 names of first 47 
 
 in Mexican War 62 
 
 from other States first re- 
 ceived 124 
 
 ordered to Camp Lee 140 
 
 left in Lexington in 1861.. 141 
 in Service in June, 1861 . . 146, 150 
 
 at First Manassas 165, 168 
 
 not exempt from service.... 176 
 
 in Confederate Armies 180 
 
 number of in 1862 187 
 
 in Jackson's Army 189 
 
 at Chancellorsville 211, 221 
 
 desire to join army 278 
 
 entertained in Staunton .... 295 
 first wounded at New Mar- 
 ket 308 
 
 average age of at New Mar- 
 ket 330 
 
 life of in November, 1864... 388 
 
 life of at Almshouse 406 
 
 Cambridge, College 372 
 
 Camp of 1863 233 
 
 "Camp Lee," created 139 
 
 work of Cadets at 146-150 
 
 prominent visitors to 150 
 
 Cadets at in 1864 346, 385 
 
 Campaigns of Cadets ....331, 351 
 
 Campbell, Governor 35 
 
 Carlin's Battery (West Vir- 
 ginia), 309, 311, 316, 320, 323, 327 
 
 Carlisle, J. S., B. V 61 
 
 Carter, Gen. Wm. H., his sketch 
 
 of Crozet 28 
 
 Carter's Farm, Cadets in camp 
 
 at 349 
 
 Cavalry, at Institute, first pro- 
 posed 97 
 
 again recommended ........ 239 
 
 Catawba Valley 376 
 
 Cemetery, Cadet, remains in . . 337 
 Chancellorsville, Cadets at ... 211
 
 Index 
 
 565 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Charge, the, of Corps of Cadets 
 
 at New Market 320-323 
 
 Charles City Road, Cadets in 
 
 position on 415 
 
 Charleston 376 
 
 Charles Town 103 
 
 Cadets at 106 
 
 Chew's Battery 191 
 
 Cincinnati, Society of, its en- 
 dowment 54 
 
 Citadel Military Academy, 
 
 service of 176 
 
 ( See Appendix K. ) 
 
 Clarke, Col. Lyie, 30th Va 304 
 
 Clarkson, Cadet 350 
 
 Clausewitz 10 
 
 Clinedinst, B. West, '70, his 
 painting of New Market, 
 
 21, 22, 338 
 Clinedinst, Eliza Catherine, her 
 
 conduct at New Market . . . 338 
 
 nurses Cadets 339 
 
 medal given to 339 
 
 Clothing, provided for Cadets . . 342 
 Cocke, Gen. Philip St. George, 
 
 B. V 56 
 
 influence of 57 
 
 Commissioner of Public De- 
 fense 117 
 
 death and services of, 
 
 186, 293, 397 
 
 Cold Harbor, Battle of 345 
 
 College Hill, Lynchburg, 373 
 
 Colonna, B. A., Cadet 9 
 
 his description of flag 59 
 
 his account of McDowell 
 
 campaign 203 
 
 Captain in Reserve Forces. . 392 
 in Foreign Battalion of 
 
 S. C 391 
 
 Colors, first received by Corps 
 
 in 1842 51 
 
 new set presented in Rich- 
 mond 1850 58 
 
 description of white flag ... 59 
 colors presented in 1909 .... 59 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Colors, mistaken in battle 336 
 
 new, presented in Rich- 
 mond 346 
 
 Colston, Major R. E., "Old 
 Polly," orders Corps back 
 
 to barracks 132 
 
 in charge of camp at Nor- 
 folk 154 
 
 Professor of Strategj^ 100 
 
 Commission of Public Defense, 117 
 Confederate Military Schools, 
 
 171, 175 
 Confederate Cadets, appointed, 
 
 185, 349, 388 
 Confederate Cavalry, 296, 308, 310 
 Confederate troops at New 
 
 Market 303 
 
 Confederate losses at New 
 
 Market 334 
 
 Confederate Congress, Resolu- 
 tions of thanking Cadets. . . . 347 
 Confederate Officers, Alumni, 
 
 Appendix E 
 Conscription Acts, complaints 
 
 against 175 
 
 practical exemption of Ca- 
 dets 403 
 
 Corps of Cadets, original 
 
 organization 48 
 
 size of 49 
 
 visits Richmond in 1842 ... 50 
 
 organization in 1850 57 
 
 visits Richmond as Taylor's 
 
 escort 57 
 
 visits Richmond in 1858 ... 94 
 ordered to Charles Town in 
 
 1859 106 
 
 visits Richmond in 1859 ... 114 
 attempts attack on Lexing- 
 ton 129 
 
 ordered to Camp Lee 139 
 
 in 1862 187 
 
 ordered to Staunton. .. 190, 200 
 complimented by Jackson . . . 203 
 in battle of McDowell 200
 
 5m 
 
 Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Corps of Cadets, inspected by 
 
 War Dept. in 1863 233 
 
 Imnts deserters 234 
 
 in Averell's First Raid 235 
 
 size of in 1863 239 
 
 in Averell's Second Raid .... 256 
 in Battle of Covington .... 258 
 
 in Averell's Third Raid 264 
 
 Fitzlmgh Lee compliments. . 274 
 receives flag from Rosser's 
 
 Brigade 278 
 
 visits New York in 1883 281 
 
 called for by Imboden 284 
 
 raises flag over Jackson's 
 
 grave 288 
 
 receives orders from Breckin- 
 ridge 290 
 
 ordered into battle 300 
 
 taunted by veterans, 297, 301, 336 
 
 arrival on field 302 
 
 deploys 305 
 
 strips for action 306 
 
 enters fight 307 
 
 advance of in battle 313 
 
 in front line 315 
 
 reaches orchard 316 
 
 suffers great losses 317 
 
 the charge 320, 323 
 
 captures guns 323 
 
 influence on battle 324-325 
 
 makes prisoners 328 
 
 average age of 330 
 
 reformed after battle 333 
 
 thanked for victory by 
 
 Breckinridge 333 
 
 losses of 335 
 
 relieved and congratulated, 
 
 339, 340 
 
 ordered to Richmond 342 
 
 honored in Richmond 346 
 
 ordered back to Lexington . . 350 
 receives colors from Gover- 
 nor 347 
 
 in position at Balcony Falls, 358 
 in position at Lynchburg, 
 
 373, 375 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Corps of Cadets, return to Lex- 
 ington 377 
 
 furloughed 379 
 
 ordered to report 384 
 
 assigned to Reserve Forces of 
 
 Va 386 
 
 composition of m November, 
 
 1864 388 
 
 receive Confederate priso- 
 ners 389 
 
 ordered into trenches 389 
 
 in Confederate States Serv- 
 ice 390 
 
 called out to oppose raiders, 411 
 
 in trenches April, 1865 415 
 
 disbandment of 417 
 
 Council of Defense 138 
 
 Covington, Battle of 258, 331 
 
 Cadets engaged in 259 
 
 Crawford, Thomas, Sculptor ... 58 
 Crim, Mrs. E. C, her conduct 
 
 at New Market 338 
 
 nurses Cadets 339 
 
 Crittenden, Capt. Llewellyn . . 184 
 Crook, Gen., his orders.. 284, 352 
 Crozet, Claude, comes to Ameri- 
 ca 28 
 
 his career 29 
 
 originates idea of Institute 31 
 President of Board of Visi- 
 tors 34 
 
 institutes course of studies . . 35 
 
 orders supplies 41 
 
 Crump, W. W., B. V 61 
 
 Crutchfleld, Stapleton 100 
 
 Cutshaw, Capt. Wilfred E., 
 
 acting Commandant 1863. . 233 
 
 ordered to rejoin army 238 
 
 Dahlgren's Raid 42 
 
 Darbytown Road 389 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, at Camp Lee 150 
 
 reviews Corps in 1864 346 
 
 D'Auvergne, Latour, First 
 
 Grenadier of France 337 
 
 Defense, Coimeil of 138
 
 Index 
 
 567 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Defense, Public, measures of.. 116 
 
 commission of 117 
 
 Defenses of Richmond, Cadets 
 
 assigned to 348 
 
 Denby, Chas., Cadet, receives 
 
 colors for Corps in 1850. ... 58 
 Derrick, Lieut.-Col. Clarence, 
 
 23d Va 303 
 
 Desertion in Confederacy 412 
 
 Deserter hunting 234 
 
 Detaille 23 
 
 Dialectic Literary Society . . . 377 
 Diamond Hill, Lynchburg .... 374 
 Dillard, Col. A. H., M. B. V. . . 100 
 Dimmock, Capt. Chas., M. B. 
 
 V 56 
 
 Disbandment of Corps of Ca- 
 dets 417 
 
 Discipline, conceptions of ... . 90 
 
 nature of at Institute 91 
 
 psychology of in Corps .... 131 
 
 at Camp Lee 148 
 
 among Cadets 331 
 
 Dorman, Gen. Chas. P., M. B. 
 
 V 35 
 
 Downing, Col. Samuel, M. B. V. 100 
 Drillmasters, Cadets as... 141, 390 
 Duffie, Gen., attacks Lynchburg 375 
 
 Du Pout's U. S. Battery 310 
 
 Du Pont, Capt. H. A., Hunter's 
 
 Chief of Artillery 353, 356 
 
 opposes vandalism of Hunter 367 
 introduces bill in U. S. Sen- 
 ate 367 
 
 (See his testimony in Appendix D. ) 
 Early, Gen., defends Lynch- 
 burg 373 
 
 Echols' Brigade 294, 295. 302 
 
 Edgar, Col., 26th Va. Batt., 316, 303 
 
 his battalion 317, 321 
 
 Education, need of military . . . 403 
 Eleves of V. M. I. (see Appendices) 
 
 Equipments, etc 187 
 
 Evans, Cadet Color-Sergeant, 
 
 his gallantry 307, 317 
 
 Evans's Raid on Richmond.... 410 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Evacuation of Richmond, Ca- 
 dets in 415 
 
 Ewell, Gen., orders out Cadets 415 
 his Corps moves to Lynch- 
 burg 373 
 
 makes use of Cadets 389 
 
 Ewing's Battery 304, 320 
 
 Exemption, effort to establish 
 for Cadets 176, 386 
 
 Expedition vs. Averell, First 
 
 Raid 239 
 
 vs. Averell, Second Raid .... 254 
 
 vs. Averell, Third Raid 264 
 
 vs. deserters 234 
 
 Ezekiel, Sir Moses, his monu- 
 ment to New Market Ca- 
 dets 337 
 
 nurses comrade 339 
 
 Faculty, first 42 
 
 in 1851 76 
 
 character of Sub 101 
 
 rank of members 117 
 
 enters service 154 
 
 reassembled in 1862 174 
 
 commissions held by ineni- 
 
 bers of 154 
 
 reports in 1865 in Richmond, 
 
 385, 388, 395 
 
 losses of during war 407 
 
 service of 408 
 
 sub-faculty, service of. 
 
 Appendix C 
 
 Fair Oaks 389 
 
 Faulkner, Chas. J., B. V 61 
 
 Federal Cavalry, at New Mar- 
 ket 306, 313, 314 
 
 Federal troops at New Mar- 
 ket 304, 305, 310 
 
 Federal losses at New Market 334 
 
 Fitzhugh, Gen., raid on Rich- 
 mond, opposed by Cadets and 
 Reserves 411 
 
 Flag, for Jackson's grave pre- 
 sented 287 
 
 Flag, captured, presented to 
 Corps by Rosser's Brigade. . 278
 
 568 
 
 Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Flag-Raising at Institute in 
 
 1860 127, 128, 397 
 
 Floyd, Gov. John B 57 
 
 Floyd, Col. B. R., M. B. V 100 
 
 Foreign Battalion of S. C 391 
 
 Fourcay 372 
 
 French Revolution, destruction 
 
 of schools during 372 
 
 officers in 401 
 
 French gmis removed by Hunter 
 
 and returned 369 
 
 French Infantrj', tripping gait 
 
 of 308 
 
 Fulkerson, S. V., M. B. V 100 
 
 "Galvanized Yankees," Cadet 
 
 officers for 391 
 
 Garret, Winder, Cadet, captures 
 
 Federal soldiers 322 
 
 Gauley 376 
 
 General Assembly, creates Insti- 
 tute 32 
 
 increases annuity 52 
 
 makes Institute Normal 
 
 School 52 
 
 again increases annuity .... 56 
 
 makes special appropriation 116 
 
 directs remains of Gen. Lee 
 
 to be removed to Institute 124 
 
 George, Harvey, M. B. V., . . . . 61 
 
 German soldiers in Sigel's 
 
 Army 297, 335 
 
 Gettysburg, Battle of 244 
 
 part of V. M. I. in 251 
 
 Gibbons, Col. Simeon B., M. B. 
 
 V 100 
 
 killed 201 
 
 Gibbs, Capt. J. T., Commis- 
 sary 107 
 
 Gilham, William, selected as 
 
 Commandant 55 
 
 his character 56 
 
 early impression of 96 
 
 his system of discipline 90 
 
 proposes Cavalry 97 
 
 prepares Manual of Instruc- 
 tion for Volunteers 1 14 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Gilham, William, recommends 
 
 G. H. Thomas as professor 122 
 placed in charge of Camp Lee, 
 
 139-150 
 appointed Col. of Volunteers, 
 
 154, 343, 370 
 "Gloria Vietis," Merci6's Statue 10 
 
 Gneisenau 19 
 
 Goodykoontz, Cadet, at New 
 
 Market 335 
 
 Goshen, Corps at in 1863 . .259, 238 
 Graduates, service of in militia 102 
 
 first 52 
 
 in C. S. A. 1861 146 
 
 in Jackson's Army, .... 162, 190 
 
 in C. S. A 179, 216, 399 
 
 at Gettysburg 244 
 
 service of 252 
 
 as officers of foreign troops. . 391 
 in South Carolina troops. . . 391 
 (See Appendices.) 
 Graduating Exercises, 1864 . . . 380 
 
 Graham, Surgeon E. L 107 
 
 Guns, Old French 242 
 
 Guns, captured by Cadets at 
 
 New Market 323 
 
 Guard Book, first 48 
 
 Hainesville, Battle of 162 
 
 Hanna, Cadet Lieutenant, his 
 
 courage 322 
 
 Hardee, Col. W. J., visits Insti- 
 tute in 1860 122 
 
 his opinion 122 
 
 Hardin, M. B., Adjunct-Profes- 
 sor 122 
 
 Hardy, Cadet W. C, 391 
 
 Harman, Col 296 
 
 Harrisonburg, Cadets camp 
 
 near 295 
 
 Cadets entertained in 343 
 
 Hatcher's Run, Battle of 389 
 
 Hays, Gen., at Lynchburg 373 
 
 Hays, Col. S. F., M. B. V 100 
 
 Hayes, Col. Rutherford B 353 
 
 Historiographer, Official 10 
 
 Hill, Gen. D. H., at Lynchburg 373 
 Hill, Capt. A. Govan 352
 
 Index 
 
 569 
 
 PAGE 
 
 History of V. M. I., by Gen. 
 
 Smith 9 
 
 of New Market, by Turner . . 14 
 
 Hill, Capt. A. Govan, wounded 308 
 
 previous service of 332 
 
 Hill, D. H., recommends Jack- 
 son 67 
 
 acquaintance with Jackson . . 68 
 Home Guard, Rockbridge, 
 
 255, 284, 291, 293 
 Horses, for cadet battery, 
 
 292, 293, 344, 348, 357 
 
 Howze, Major 11 
 
 Houdon, his statue of Washing- 
 ton removed 369, 371 
 
 his statue purchased 24 
 
 House of Delegates, Cadets ex- 
 amined before 51 
 
 Hunter, Major-General David. . 352 
 composition of his army .... 353 
 
 his men enter Lexington . . . 360 
 
 conduct of his men ....361, 377 
 
 his own account 364 
 
 his vandalism opposed by his 
 
 officers 367 
 
 operations against Lynch- 
 burg 372 
 
 attack on Lynchburg 374 
 
 retreats precipitately 376 
 
 Hunter's Raid 352, et seq. 
 
 Imboden, Brig.-Gen. J. D., his 
 letter complimenting Corps 
 
 of Cadets 262 
 
 his Brigade, 296, 308, 310, 
 
 314, 315, 316, 339, 341, 358 
 Indian Hollow, at New Market 311 
 Inspection, Military, of 1863 . . . 233 
 Instruction, Camp of, in Rich- 
 mond 139 
 
 Instruction. Military, in 1861 . . 138 
 Instructions from Governor as 
 
 to use of the Corps 241 
 
 Instructors, Cadet 52 
 
 Artillery 145 
 
 Insurrection, servile, in 1858.. 103 
 
 Jackson's Battery 306 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Jackson's Corps, Cadets in ... . 345 
 
 Jackson, T. J. "Stonewall," se- 
 lection of as professor . . 63 
 
 his record 68 
 
 accepts office 73 
 
 reports for duty 75 
 
 influence and character 76 
 
 anecdotes concerning 77 
 
 impression of in 1858 96 
 
 anecdotes of in 1859 112 
 
 tests Parrott Guns at Insti- 
 tute 118, 119 
 
 "Draw the Sword and Throw 
 
 Away the Scabbard" 133 
 
 his desire for war 127 
 
 in command of Corps 140 
 
 appointed Colonel, C. S. A. . . 147 
 
 at Harper's Ferry 158 
 
 his staff 160 
 
 Battle of Hainesville 162 
 
 at First Manassas 168 
 
 orders Corps to Staunton... 188 
 composition of his army. ... 189 
 compliments Corps of Cadets 203 
 
 at Chancellorsville 211 
 
 death of 223 
 
 his funeral 228 
 
 his marriages 360 
 
 his sword secreted 364 
 
 Jackson, Col. W. L. "Mudwall," 
 opposes Averell 235 
 
 James River Canal, raid on . . 411 
 
 Jealousy of Institute men 
 
 147, 149 
 
 Jefferson, Cadet, killed at New 
 
 Market 337 
 
 his heroism 338, 339 
 
 Johnston, Gen. Jos. E., his 
 views on ordnance 119 
 
 Johnston, Maj. J. Stoddard. . 334 
 
 Johnston, Gen. Peter C, M. B. 
 V 35 
 
 Jones, Cadet, killed at New 
 Market 337 
 
 Jones, Brig.-G«n. W. E., killed 
 at Piedmont 352
 
 570 
 
 Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Jordan's Furnace, Hunter's ad- 
 vance on 354 
 
 Junkin, Miss, marries Maj. 
 
 Jackson 360 
 
 Kellogg, Maj. Horace 305 
 
 Kemper, Col. J. L., M. B. V... 100 
 
 Kemper, Gen 386 
 
 Knox, Gen. Henry, recommends 
 creation of military school . . 26 
 
 Kraff, Prince 20 
 
 Lacy letter 182 
 
 Lang, Maj. Theodore S 20 
 
 describes chai'ge of Cadets . . 328 
 
 capture of guns 328 
 
 Langhorne, John 375 
 
 Latimer, Maj. Joseph \Miite. . 248 
 
 '•The Boy Major" 249 
 
 Lavoisier, murdered 372 
 
 Layne, Gen. D. B., M. B. V 61 
 
 Lee, D. Murray, Cadet, impli- 
 cated in flag-raising 127 
 
 Lee, Fitzhugh, his cavalry, 265, 272 
 
 report of expedition 274 
 
 Lee, Gen. Henry ("Lighthorse 
 Harry" ) . remains to be re- 
 moved to Institute 124 
 
 Lee, Robert E., in John Brown's 
 
 Raid 104 
 
 letter of to Supt. about use 
 
 of Cadets 285 
 
 receives welcome news of New 
 
 Market 339 
 
 letter about destruction of 
 
 Institute 381, 402 
 
 Legislature, thanks Corps of 
 
 Cadets 1864 347 
 
 Letcher, Gov. John, takes meas- 
 ures for defense 117 
 
 his address to Cadets in 
 
 Richmond 144 
 
 falsely accused by Hunter, 366, 370 
 Letcher Battery, guns of re- 
 ceived 243 
 
 Lewis, Cadet William 293 
 
 Lewisburg 376 
 
 Liberty or Salem 373, 376 
 
 PAGE 
 
 '■Liberty Hall" Volunteers 139 
 
 Ligon, Gen. William, M. B. V, . . 51 
 Lincoln, his instructions as to 
 
 burning of private property . . 367 
 
 Lodi, bridge of 21 
 
 Longstreet, Gen., calls on Cadets 414 
 Losses, of graduates, at Gettys- 
 burg 247 
 
 of Cadets New Market .... 334 
 
 among Alumni 232, 402, 403 
 
 in i"' acuity 407 
 
 Luray Gap 304 
 
 Lyell, Col. J. W., '59, Professor 406 
 Lynchburg, Hunter's attack up- 
 on 373 
 
 Corps of Cadets !\t 373, 375 
 
 rebuilding of Institute in pro- 
 posed 383 
 
 Lynchburg College 383 
 
 Madison, Surgeon R. L 344 
 
 Mahan, Prof. D. H.. on mili- 
 tary education 32 
 
 consulted 56 
 
 Mahone, Gen. William ISO, 183 
 
 Lacy letter about 182 
 
 Manvial of Instruction for 
 
 Volunteers, ordered to be 
 
 prepared 114 
 
 Manassas, First, Cadets killed 
 
 at 165 
 
 influence of Cadets upon re- 
 sult 168 
 
 conduct of Cadet McCulloch 169 
 March, to Staunton in April, 
 
 1861 142 
 
 longest by Cadets, 44 miles 207 
 Marr, Capt. J. Q., V. M. I. '46, 
 
 first Confederate ofiicer killed 152 
 Massachusetts, 34th Reg. of 
 
 Infantry 304, 305, 310, 311 
 
 Massie, Col. J. W., Assistant 
 
 Professor 75 
 
 commands Home Guard, 255, 266 
 
 serves on Jackson's st^ff. . . . 158 
 Martyr-Roll of V. M. I.. Appendix B
 
 Index 
 
 571 
 
 PAGE 
 
 McCausland, Brig.-Gen. John 
 
 B 353 
 
 defends Lexington 354-5-9 
 
 pursues Hunter 376 
 
 Assistant Professor V. M. I. 106 
 McClannahan's Battery ...308, 310 
 
 its position 310, 311, 314 
 
 pursues Federals 333 
 
 McClellan, G. B., recommended 
 
 as professor 64 
 
 his record 65 
 
 McCulloch, Cadet Robert, con- 
 duct at First Manassas.... 169 
 
 McDowell Campaign 184, 331 
 
 McDowell, Cadet, killed, 
 
 31-2, 336, 337 
 McDowell, Gov. James, M. B. 
 
 V 34, 370 
 
 McHenry. Secretary of War, on 
 
 military school 27 
 
 McKinley, Maj. William .... 353 
 opposed Hunter's vandalism 367 
 McLaughlin's Artillery . . . 294, 
 304, 308, 310, 311, 314, 316, 320 
 
 McNeill's Rangers 308 
 
 Meadow Bluflf 376 
 
 Meigs, Lieut. John R., U. S. A., 
 imsoldierly conduct of at 
 
 Institute 378 
 
 his death 379 
 
 Memorial Volume of V. M. I. . . 50 
 
 Mercie, his statue 10 
 
 Merritt, J. L., Cadet, wounded 308 
 
 Messonier 23 
 
 Mexican War, Cadets in 62 
 
 Appendix I. 
 Mezi6res, Engineering School of 372 
 
 Midway, Cadets camp at 292 
 
 Military Schools of Confeder- 
 acy 171, 175 
 
 Military Education 399, 400 
 
 Militia, reorganization of.... 102 
 employed against John Brown 
 
 103, 104 
 Millboro, Hunter's advance via 354 
 Minge, Cadet Capt. C. H 306 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Moffett, J. S., Cadet, killed First 
 Manassas, his conduct .... 165 
 
 Moltke 19 
 
 Monge 372 
 
 Monroe, President 27 
 
 removal of his remains 97 
 
 Montgomery White Sulphur 
 Springs 383 
 
 Moor, Col., his force, 
 
 295, 296, 298, 305, 310 
 
 Moore, C. W., Cadet, killed First 
 Manassas, his conduct 165 
 
 Moore, Hon. S. McD 370 
 
 Morrison, Miss, 2d wife of 
 Jackson 360 
 
 Motto of Institute, fulfillment 
 of 418 
 
 Mother, patriotism of a Ca- 
 det's 113 
 
 "Mount Airy," Cadet battery 
 in camp at 334 
 
 Mount Crawford, Cadets camp 
 at 295 
 
 Mount Jackson 296 
 
 Mount Tabor, Cadets camp at. . 296 
 
 Munford, Gen. T. T., secures re- 
 turn of trophies 369 
 
 Napoleon 21 
 
 Negro Insurrection, threat of in 
 1858 103 
 
 Negro troops for Confederacy 
 
 proposed 413 
 
 Cadets as drillmasters for.. 414 
 
 New Castle 376 
 
 New Market, Battle of, dis- 
 missed 12 
 
 history of by Turner 14 
 
 account of by J. S. Wise, 20, 21 
 painting of by Clinedinst. ... 22 
 
 New Market 296, 298 
 
 description of town, 298, 299, 302 
 
 battle of 303 
 
 tactics of battle 303 
 
 troops engaged in battle. . . . 303 
 
 fighting in town 306 
 
 Confederate formation 309
 
 572 
 
 Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 New Market, Cadets in town 
 
 after battle 335 
 
 Cadet, traditions of 337 
 
 New York City, Corps visits in 
 
 1883 281 
 
 presents captured flag to city 283 
 
 Nicknames, customary 276 
 
 Niemeyer, Lieut. J. C, his 
 
 heroism at Gettysburg 247 
 
 Norfolk, Corps visits in 1850.. 60 
 Norris, S. R., Cadet, killed at 
 
 First Manassas, his conduct 165 
 Officers, among Institute men 
 
 146, 149, 150 
 
 in .Jackson's army 190, 197 
 
 in C. S. A n9, 216, 221, 229 
 
 at Gettysburg 244 
 
 in Artillery 250 
 
 wounded, about barracks . . . 276 
 Cadet, appointed June, 1864 380 
 Cadets for, in Foreign Battal- 
 ions 391 
 
 in Corps 395 
 
 V. M. I. supplies, numerous 399 
 for negro troops from Insti- 
 tute 413 
 
 furnished by Institute (see 
 Appendix E.) 
 Orchard, the Bushong at New 
 
 Market 316 
 
 Ordnance, at Institute, 1861.. 292 
 
 in 1864 354 
 
 abandoned 357 
 
 captured 359 
 
 removed by Hunter 369 
 
 Otey, Lieut., Ass't. Prof 106 
 
 Oxford College 372 
 
 Palais Bourbon 372 
 
 Parrott, Capt. R. P., demon- 
 strates his field-piece 118 
 
 Parrott Guns, first tested at 
 
 Institute 118 
 
 their first use in battle.... 119 
 
 at First Manassas 137 
 
 at Hainesville 162 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Patton, Col. Geo. S., 22d Va., 
 
 303, 316, 319 
 
 Patton, Col. Waller Tazewell . . 246 
 
 his heroism at Gettysburg. . 247 
 
 Paxton, Col. J. H., M. B. V. . . . 100 
 
 Pendleton, Col. Edmund, V. M. 
 
 I. '42, his account of Institute 
 
 in 1839 45 
 
 Pendleton, Col. "Sandy," of 
 
 Lexington 378 
 
 Pendleton, Wm. N., Rev. and 
 
 Gen 38 
 
 Penn, Cadet J. C 392 
 
 Petersburg, Corps visits in 1850 60 
 
 Lee withdraws from 416 
 
 Peyton Johnston, Lieut., burial 
 
 of by Corps of Cadets 349 
 
 Pickett's Charge, Cadets in ... . 244 
 
 Piedmont, Battle of 352 
 
 Pierpont, Governor, presented 
 
 with Institute trophies 369 
 
 Pizzini, Cadet First Sergeant, 
 
 his gallantry 318 
 
 Poe's Farm, Cadets camp at. . . 390 
 Polytechnic School of Paris.. 372 
 Precedents against Hunter's 
 
 vandalism 372 
 
 Preston, Capt. Frank, delivers 
 
 prayer 300 
 
 account of battle 323 
 
 previous service of 332 
 
 Preston, Col. J. T. L., his con- 
 nection with origin of In- 
 stitute 32 
 
 his character 33 
 
 author of "Civis" 33 
 
 his description of execution 
 
 of John Brown 107 
 
 service on Jackson's staff... 158 
 
 quarters destroyed 359 
 
 proposes use of Cadets with 
 
 negro troops 413 
 
 Preston, Mrs., her diary, 260, 268 
 Prisoners, Cadets capture .... 328 
 received by Cadets in Rich- 
 mond 389
 
 Index 
 
 573 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Professors, Roster of Assistant, 
 
 1842-1863 Appendix C 
 
 Purcell Battery 137 
 
 Psychologj', of war 19, 20 
 
 in discipline 131 
 
 in war 219 
 
 Raid, on Institute rumored... 152 
 
 Randolph-Macon College 383 
 
 Rank, of members of Faculty.. 117 
 Read, Cadet C. H., Jr., wounded 308 
 Reno, J. L., recommended as 
 
 professor 64 
 
 his record 66 
 
 Reopening of Institute, 1865.. 396 
 Reorganization of Institute dis- 
 cussed 382, 383 
 
 Reserve Forces of Virginia, Ca- 
 dets part of 386, 391 
 
 at Lynchburg 373, 389 
 
 at Richmond 412 
 
 Reunion of Blue and Gray at 
 
 Institute 135 
 
 Richardson, Gen. Wm. H.. Ad- 
 jutant General of Va 50 
 
 Memorial Volume of V. M. I. 
 
 dedicated to -, 50 
 
 influence of 56 
 
 Richmond, visit of Corps to in 
 
 1842 50 
 
 Corps visits in 1850 57 
 
 Corps visits in 1858 94 
 
 ordered to in April, 1861... 141 
 Camp of Instruction at .... 139 
 firing around heard in Lex- 
 ington 293 
 
 Corps ordered to in 1864 . . . 342 
 Institute reopened in 1865... 385 
 
 evacuation of 415 
 
 Robinson, Dr. C. E., B. V 61 
 
 Robinson, Capt. T. B 388 
 
 Rock-a-bye, Baby, veterans sing 
 
 to Cadets 297 
 
 Rockbridge Alum Springs .... 238 
 
 Rockbridge Artillery 161 
 
 "Rockbridge Greys," 142 
 
 Rockfish Gap, Breckinridge at 358 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Rhodes, Robt. E.. Gen., candi- 
 date for full professorship 68 
 
 appointed professor 121 
 
 killed 407 
 
 Roll of Alumni killed in battle, 
 
 Appendix B 
 Rope Ferry, Cadets ordered to 
 
 hold 358 
 
 Ross, Col. J, D. H 185, 395 
 
 Rosser's Brigade, in camp near 
 
 Lexington 277 
 
 leaves for front 278 
 
 presents captured flag to 
 
 Corps 278 
 
 Rosecrans, W. S., recommended 
 
 as professor 64 
 
 his record 66 
 
 Roster, of New Market Battal- 
 ion Appendix A 
 
 Riichel, quoted 11 
 
 Rude's Hill 298 
 
 Federal position on 333 
 
 Salem, or Liberty 373, 376 
 
 SchafF, Gen. Morris, his tribute 
 to Southern West Pointers.. 135 
 
 Scharnhorst 19 
 
 Schools, Military, Confederate 
 
 171. 176 
 
 need of 403 
 
 Schoonmaker, Col. .J. M., com- 
 manding Cavalry Brigade 
 
 Hunter's Army 368 
 
 opposes vandalism of Hunter 368 
 his affidavit and statements. . 368 
 
 Scott, Capt. Abel S 188 
 
 Scott, Gen. E. P.. B. V 61 
 
 Secession, flag raised 127 
 
 sentiment in Corps 128 
 
 Semmes. Lieutenant Thos. M. 
 
 185, 212. 291, 306, 343. 349 
 Senate Bill, providing reim- 
 bursement, introduced .... 367 
 (See also hearing on. Appendix D. ) 
 Sheddon, Hugh. Esq., of London, 
 presents flag to Virginia for 
 Jackson's grave 287
 
 574 
 
 Index 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Shenandoah lUver 296, 299 
 
 Shenandoah Valley 296, 298 
 
 Sheridan, threatens Richmond 345 
 
 raid on Richmond 411 
 
 Sherman, Gen 413 
 
 Shirley's Hill, 298, 307, 308, 311 
 
 Shipp, Scott 9 
 
 Lieut, and Ass't. Prof 106 
 
 appointed Commandant .... 174 
 
 joins Cavalry in 1863 234 
 
 returns to Institute 238 
 
 speech accepting flag 279 
 
 Shipp, Col., receives orders 
 
 from Breckinridge 305 
 
 begs to go into battle 306 
 
 gives order to mark time, 315, 328 
 
 disabled 317, 323 
 
 previous serA'ice of 332 
 
 rejoins his command 333 
 
 thanked by Gen. Smith 344 
 
 joins McCausland 353 
 
 Shoes, lack of among Cadets . . 343 
 
 Sickness, at Camp Lee 148 
 
 Sigel, Gen. Franz, his plan .... 284 
 
 his movements 288 
 
 indecision 298 
 
 arrival 306 
 
 counter-attack 320 
 
 retreat 333 
 
 Smith's Creek 299 
 
 position across 310 
 
 Smith, Col. A. .J., M. B. V. . . . 100 
 Smith, Gen. Francis H., selected 
 
 as Supt 37 
 
 his character 38 
 
 meets Board 42 
 
 advocates Jackson for pro- 
 fessorship 65 
 
 his ideas of discipline 91 
 
 visits Europe to study insti- 
 tutions 99 
 
 in charge of execution of 
 
 John Brown 106 
 
 Commissioner of Public De- 
 fense 117 
 
 PACK 
 
 Smith, General Francis H., 
 Member of Council of De- 
 fense 138 
 
 opposes opening of Institute 
 
 in 1862 172 
 
 correspondence with .lackson, 
 
 198-200 
 seeks instructions from Gov- 
 ernor 240 
 
 communicates with Gen. Lee 285 
 communicates with Gen. 
 
 Breckinridge .... 286, 342, 343 
 congratulates Corps on New 
 
 Market 344 
 
 opposes opposition to Hunter 354 
 heroic efforts to rebuild Insti- 
 tute 382 
 
 remarkable address of 396 
 
 Smith, Col. Geo. H., '53.. 201, 299 
 Smith, GustaAOis W., recom- 
 mended as professor 66 
 
 Smith, T. Henderson, Capt., 212, 306 
 
 Smith, Rev. W. A 383 
 
 Snow's Maryland Battery, 
 
 305, 309, 311, 316, 320, 323, 327 
 South Carolina, Foreign troops 
 
 of 391 
 
 Spottsylvania, Battle of 345 
 
 Stahel, Maj.-Gen 306, 313, 314 
 
 Stanard, Cadet, killed. .312. 336. 337 
 Stanton, Mr., Secretary of War, 
 
 returns battery 369 
 
 State Guard 30, 31 
 
 Statistics, Military, of Insti- 
 tute 431, 461, 476, 485 
 
 Staunton, Corps marches to in 
 
 1861 142 
 
 Corps ordered to in 1862 193 
 
 Corps reaches 293 
 
 reception of Cadets in 343 
 
 Steenbergen, Gen. Peter H., B. 
 
 V 61 
 
 Steptoe, Lieut. C. Y 395 
 
 Stewart, A. P., elected pro- 
 fessor 68 
 
 •Stonewall Brigade" 190, 216
 
 Index 
 
 575 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Strategy. Chair of established . . 100 
 Studies, course provided . . . 384, 394 
 
 Sub-Faculty, personnel of 101 
 
 (See also Appendix C.) 
 Superintendent, selection of 
 
 fii'st 37, 39 
 
 Supplies, commissary 292 
 
 Taliaferro, W. B., M. B. V. . . 100 
 Taylor, Pres. Zachary, presents 
 
 battery to Cadets 60 
 
 Corps serves as escort in 
 
 1850 57 
 
 Taunts, of veterans . . .297, 301, 336 
 Terrill, Wm. H., his Union and 
 
 Confederate Sons 136 
 
 Terrill Boys, the 136 
 
 Thiers, quoted 401 
 
 Thomas, Gen. Geo. H., seeks of- 
 fice at Institute 122 
 
 his letters 123 
 
 Thomson, James W., implicated 
 
 in flag-raising 127, 192 
 
 Thayer, Col., of West Point, 
 
 Supt. confers with 40 
 
 Town, Capt. Franklin E 20 
 
 describes charge of Cadets . . . 328 
 Traditions, value of.. 10, 11, 23. 61 
 
 of New Market 337 
 
 Trenches, Cadets in Richmond 342 
 Cadets in at Lynchburg. .373, 375 
 Cadets in on Westham Road 411 
 Cadets in on Williamsburg- 
 
 Road 389 
 
 Cadets in on Charles City 
 
 Road 415 
 
 Trophies, old guns 242 
 
 Trevilians, Battle of 377 
 
 Trueheart, Lieut. Daniel, Ass't. 
 
 Prof 106 
 
 Tunnell, incident of in 1861.. 143 
 Turner, Prof. Edward Ray- 
 mond, his history of New 
 
 Market 14 
 
 quoted, 314, 315. 319, 322. 
 
 324, 328, 332 
 Uniform, origin of Confederate 97 
 Union sentiment in Corps 134 
 
 PAGE 
 
 University of Virginia 372 
 
 Vandalism of Hunter .... 369, 377 
 Valley of Virginia, Grant's 
 
 plans 385 
 
 Sheridan in 385 
 
 Early in 335 
 
 Virginia, builds Arsenals .... 30 
 
 the standing army 31 
 
 Virginia Military Institute, its 
 
 origin 32 
 
 its system and mission .... 36 
 
 original plan 40 
 
 opening of 42 
 
 motto of 43 
 
 record of 6l§ves 43 
 
 physical character of in 1839 45 
 
 first session of 46 
 
 annuity of increased 52 
 
 created Normal School 52 
 
 its record as first 52 
 
 annuity increased in 1850.. 56 
 special appropriation for... 116 
 reopened as West Point of 
 
 Confederacy 171-179 
 
 destroyed by Hunter 363 
 
 treatment of by Federal 
 
 soldiers , _ 377 
 
 reopened 3^2 
 
 efforts and plans to rebuild 382 
 reopened in Richmond Alms- 
 house 392 
 
 disbandment of 417 
 
 services of 413 
 
 "Virginia Military Institute 
 Will Be Heard From To- 
 
 (lay" 211 
 
 •■Virginia Mourning Her Dead," 
 
 Ezekiel's monument 337 
 
 Visitors, distinguished, to Insti- 
 tute 122 
 
 to Camp Lee 159 
 
 Von der Goltz n, 19 
 
 Von Kleiser's Battery 304 
 
 witlidraws 306, 310 
 
 new position. 310, 317, 320, 
 
 323, 326. 327, 328, 332
 
 ,576 
 
 Index 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Walker, Reuben Lindsay, at 
 Manassas 137 
 
 Walker, Rev. Chas. D., his 
 memorial volume of V. M. I. 50 
 
 War Faculty, record of 407 
 
 Wartenburg 20 
 
 Washington, his remarks on 
 
 militarj^ school 24 
 
 his remarks on militia 25 
 
 his statue taken to Wheeling, 
 W. Va 369, 371 
 
 Washington College, its con- 
 nection with Institute. ... 53 
 
 connection dissolved 54 
 
 Hunter's attempt to destroy 370 
 
 Washington Monument, laying 
 
 of corner-stone 58 
 
 unveiling of in 1858 94 
 
 Wells, Col. Geo. D 305 
 
 West Point . 10, 11 
 
 influence of 56, 401 
 
 establishment of 400 
 
 West Pointers in Confederate 
 Armies 180, 216 
 
 "West Point of the Confeder- 
 acy" 171. 185, 396 
 
 "West Point nf the South" 58 
 
 Weston, Cadet Cary 391 
 
 Westham Arsenal 412 
 
 Westham Road, Cadets in 
 trenches along 411 
 
 Wharton's Brigade, 294, 295, 
 
 296, 301, 302, 313. 316 
 
 Wheeling, W. Va., Institute 
 trophies taken to 369 
 
 Wheelwright, Cadet, killed at 
 New Market 337 
 
 White Sulphur Springs, saved 
 by du Pont 376 
 
 Whitwell, Capt. J. C, Com- 
 missarv 291 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wiley, Capt. John F., B. V. . . 34 
 W'illiams, Col. Jonathan, First 
 
 Supt. of West Point 27 
 
 Williamsburg Road, Cadets in 
 
 camp on 390 
 
 Williamson, Gen. T. H., second 
 professor and second Com- 
 mandant 49, 370 
 
 Wise, Governor H. A., speech 
 
 of 24 
 
 dedicates barracks 94 
 
 orders Corps to Charles 
 
 Town 106 
 
 orders Corps to Richmond.. 114 
 
 portrait of destroyed 370 
 
 Wise, Capt. H. A., "Old Chi- 
 nook" 14, 188 
 
 succeeds Shipp in command, 
 
 234, 321 
 gives order to charge, 
 
 321, 322, 323 
 
 previous service of 332 
 
 Wise, J. S., his account of New 
 
 Market 21 
 
 description of Lexington .... 289 
 account of New Market. .287, 324 
 Cadet Corporal wounded . . . 308 
 Wood, Maj.-Gen. Leonard, his 
 
 estimate of Institute 479 
 
 Woodbridge, Cadet Sergeant- 
 
 Major, his gallantry 307 
 
 Woodlief. Cadet P. W.. wound- 
 ed 308 
 
 Woodson's Missoiirians ...316, 317 
 Wolfe, Lieut.-Col., 51st Va.... 303 
 Woolwich, British Military 
 
 School 26 
 
 Wynkoop, Col. John E 305 
 
 Yancey, Capt. E. L 184 
 
 Yellow Tavern, Battle of 345 
 
 Yorktovni Road 389
 
 ^^Ai^^wij;! 
 
 4JO 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 0eT0826ef 
 
 50m-l,'63(D4743s8)476
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 AA 000 080 792 5 
 
 if 
 
 y 
 
 i»