"It Is Ever the Spirit That Builds": A Forgotten Story Restored

As a result of the changes forced on VMI and its yielding to social pressures, a great deal of the Institute's history has been removed or "contextualized" to the point where, as one VMI scholar employed by the Institute put it recently, we could walk down Letcher Avenue and stop any ten cadets and find that most could not even name VMI's first Superintendent. Even the names of the New Market cadets are no longer required to be memorized. In response, The Cadet, with the help of VMI's archives, museum, and dedicated alumni, presents this series of historic reprints telling VMI's history from those who lived it. The following article is reprinted from "Echoes of VMI", found in Preston Library's rare book collection. Just who first thought of V. M. I. seems to have been lost beyond recovery. Several people have claimed to know. This reminds me of a remark made by a Marine at the time that the Brigade from Quantico came to V. M. I. in September 1923. They had just re-enacted with the Corps of Cadets the Battle of New Market on the battle-ground before a crowd estimated at more than 100,000, and were on their way to Lexington for the football game set for the Saturday following. The road between Fairfield and Staunton was under construction, heavy rains had been falling for days, the detour was in poor shape, and the trucks of the Marines were continually slipping into the ditch. The Marines were to camp in the rain and mud on the White Farm, one mile North of Lexington, and as they were getting a truck out of a ditch for the nth time one Marine was heard to mutter to another—"Who the ------- thought of coming to V.M.I. anyway?" Lexington was founded in 1778 as the county seat of Rockbridge County. It was named by its patriotic citizens for Lexington, Massachusetts of Revolutionary War fame. There was founded about 1800 a Franklin Society of Lexington, which had for its purpose the discussion of questions of the day. This Society came to be quite a factor in the life of the community, and it has been said that no subject of importance to the town was ever started aright without first being discussed in the Franklin Society. Among others, they discussed, at some of their Saturday night meetings—"Are theatrical amusements prejudicial to morality"—decided Yes. "Would separation of the states be preferable to a limited monarchy"—decided No. "Whether it be politic for the State to establish a military school at the Arsenal near Lexington, in connection with Washington College on the plan of the West Point Academy"—evidently decided Yes, for V. M. I. is the result. Mr. J. T. L. Preston, a young lawyer of Lexington, had brought the matter to the attention of the Franklin Society and also published several articles in the Lexington Gazette over the nom de plume of "Cives" advocating the idea. The Franklin Society continued to exist for many years and the building was still standing in 1915, when I was a "Sub". The proposal of "Cives", Mr. Preston, met with opposition and in an article appearing in the Buchanan Advocate of January 20, 1836, we find the opinion stated that it would not be safe to trust frolicsome, inconsiderate boys with the duty of guarding instruments of death. Who would rest secure if his own life and that of his wife and children were perpetually dependent upon the vigilance and prudence of a boy—especially a Virginia boy—proverbially indiscreet as our youths are? Who would recommend confiding this awful responsibility to boys? "Out of ten cadets appointed from this congressional district to West Point not one remained to graduate, not for want of talent but from the restive spirit of insubordination which so shamefully characterizes our youth. This may be considered a fair example of what the cadets at Lexington would do under the proposed system. Would their high Southern blood delight in the business of scrubbing muskets and sewing up cartridge boxes ?" "They can obtain an education at Yale by blacking boots, running errands, and doing odd jobs. After paying for the plan from the present costs of the Arsenal it is proposed to expend the remainder in educating the poor of the State a most silly expenditure, by the way." Then another article says the Arsenal should be used for a deaf and dumb asylum. "Staunton should have this and not Lexington, for the railroad will come up the Valley to Staunton and bring cheaper food to the inmates of the asylum." Thus the Buchanan Advocate of 1836. Staunton wanted the asylum and got it. Lexington wanted a military school and got it. Both are still satisfied, I hope! The legislature finally adopted a plan whereby Pay and State cadets could both be admitted. A Board of Visitors was appointed and they held meetings in the Franklin Society Building at the corner of Jefferson and Nelson Streets, Lexington. Regulations were adopted, a principal professor finally appointed. Most of the Board were officers, three being General officers. They chose for their President Colonel Claude Crozet, a most happy choice. Let me digress here to give you a brief sketch of Colonel Crozet. Someone has said that it is better not to know so much than to know so much that's not so, or in other words, much that we know about Colonel Crozet is not so. But it is known that he was born at Villefranche near Lyons, France in 1790, and when fourteen was appointed as a cadet to the Ecole Polytechnique. This super school of the French educational system was just receiving the particular attention of Napoleon. Its military features were being made more pronounced. Crozet graduated in 1807 and spent two years at the Artillery School of Application, located at Metz in Lorraine. He participated in the Wagram Campaign, resulting in the capture of Vienna, was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor by Napoleon, and as Captain of Artillery took part in the Russian Campaign under the Emperor, being in Marshal Ney's Corps. Captured by the Russians he spent two years as the guest of a Russian prince. On his return to France, he found Napoleon at Elba and did not rejoin the French Army until Napoleon's return for the "hundred days". The Battle of Waterloo terminated Napoleon's career and Crozet decided to emigrate to America. With letters from Lafayette, his talents were soon recognized and he was made Professor of Engineering at West Point under Superintendent Captain Alden (Allan) Partridge, who soon afterwards was to found Norwich University in 1819. In 1824, because of his health, Crozet accepted the position of Chief Engineer of Virginia, and after a sojourn in Louisiana returned to Virginia. It was during his second term as State Engineer that he was made a member and then President of V.M. I.'s first Board of Visitors. With such a background as he had, the Ecole Polytechnique, Napoleon's Grand Army with its great spirit under the Emperor and his Marshals, West Point teacher, text book writer, practical engineer, builder of canals, railroads, and highways, no wonder his influence is still felt in the Corps and in V. M. I. today. West Point had been founded by the National Government in Jefferson's administration in 1802, and it was on Washington's recommendation that this was done for the purpose of furnishing trained engineers for the Army. Its system of training and its curriculum were adopted so far as they could apply to V. M.I. The regulations were largely drawn from, as well. The Board wanted a West Point graduate for Principal Professor, the then title of Superintendent. In Francis H. Smith, who was born at Norfolk in 1812 and graduated with distinction at West Point in 1833, then after a short service in the Artillery accepted the position of Professor of Mathematics at Hampden-Sydney, they found the right man. West Point was the first and best engineering school of the country, and General Smith afterward said in speaking of V. M. I.'s curriculum that West Point furnished more trained technical men than all the other 120 colleges of the country combined. General Smith had brought the teaching of Math to so high a plan at Hampden-Sydney that no one could fill his shoes except another West Point graduate. V. M. I. and Washington College worked together, cadets taking Latin and Chemistry at College and the Cincinnati students Military Science at V. M. I. Twenty State and twelve Pay cadets were examined in Franklin Hall November 11, 1839 and admitted as cadets at V. M. I. They relieved the Arsenal guard and went to their quarters. In preparation for the cadets a story was being added to the Arsenal Barracks, but the contractor was late in finishing the work and in spite of a heavy snow-fall the cadets were not properly housed, the feeding arrangements were poor and some of the cadets are said to have decided to go home. Happily they changed their minds, submitted to the hardships, and got under way. The first faculty consisted of the Principal Professor, Major Smith, and Captain J. T. L. Preston, the originator of the idea of the Institute so far as we know. Soon a classmate of General Smith, Major Thomas H. Williamson, was added as Professor of Engineering. It was he, who with the help of a cabinet maker, fashioned the figure of Washington on the Main Building of Washington and Lee; and then Major William Gilham, another West Point graduate, was appointed as Professor of Natural and Experimental philosophy and Commandant of Cadets. This band of men in the words of Holy Writ "Whose hearts God had touched" comprised the faculty for the first twelve years. If it is true, as has been suggested, that no business is but the lengthened shadow of one man, so for fifty years V. M. I. is but the lengthened shadow of General F. H. Smith. He says that his personality was soon lost in the transcendentally more important history of V. M. I. A teacher, a writer, an executive, an able politician, (in all the good meaning of that word), a fighter, a Christian gentleman of the highest ideals, he is the Builder and Rebuilder of V. M. I. There is an enthusiasm about an infant school that no other period of its existence ever knows, and all the enthusiasm that these young cadets and their very young teachers possessed was needed to help them in those early trying years. V. M. I. has always been becomingly poor. Their troubles with the other schools of the State, the townspeople, and the legislature we will pass over quickly. The cadets settled down, orders were issued for Barracks life. Some incidents are humorous, some pathetic, but they all give us an insight into barracks life that is illuminating. The cadets were issued moss mattresses, forage and dress caps and 'boned' by the officers and cadet officers much as they are today. One cadet was reported for bringing an oven in to barracks for making candy but was excused from the report because he was making Pepper Gargle for his throat. Cadet swords were gotten from the U. S. Ordnance Department. Finally June and July, 1840 rolled around and the cadets were given their Final Exams orally before the Faculty, the Board of Visitors, and invited examiners from either West Point or Yale. Imagine the ordeal. No wonder eight of the thirty-two "bulled" out, six so badly that they were required to repeat the class, two were sent home. Mail went to the post office on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and servants -will go for it Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. "Cadets will not interfere with this tri-weekly mail service." What would the Sweet Briar girls have to say about pre-Civil War service? Cadets were here for four years except for a short time in August at the end of their Second Class year. They camped on the parade ground, then very small. The guard tree of hallowed memory is there, so-called because the guard tent for the camp was pitched beneath its shade. Cadets recite on Sundays to their professors on such sections of the Bible as may be assigned. It was suggested at one time that regular recitations be held on Sunday. Not a bad idea, was it gentlemen? "Tomorrow, December 24, being Xmas Eve suspension until study drum which will sound as usual." Nothing said about Xmas Day. Maybe it was a Sunday. July 3, 1840, an order says, tomorrow being Independence Day, a gun will be fired at daybreak, meridian, and sundown. Nothing said about suspension. November 10, 1851, Holiday Anniversary of Commencement, not Founders' Day. A salute of ten guns was fired. The first drinking pledge on record occurred March 25, 1840. The school had been open four and a half months. Musket and Rifle firing June 27, 1840. "Good flints will be obtained from the Q. M." "Cadets must bathe Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays",—by turn as on ship, I suppose. "They can go to the river swimming three time a week in summer, equivalent to a bath, provided they do not further annoy the females near Jordan's point by bathing too close to the bridge." Apparently a bathing suit was never heard of. "Pocket money is not needed but should you send $5.00 or so I'll give it to your son $1.00 at a time and he will waste it on sweets and fruits." Company inspection every morning. This is in camp. Parade twice daily. Dances—Lancers and Cotillion—no round dances. In composition and declamation it was declared that cadets would be found deficient if their work was not original. Men of the First Class Public Speaking course, please take note. General Smith permitted a society of cadets of V. M. I. to be formed to hold regular meetings and finally two debating societies were formed. Questions of honor came up in those days as now. No cadet's word was ever questioned and the Officer of the Day wrote "Certified" at the end of his report with the same meaning as today. Sentry duty was harsh, and sentries were instructed to salute officers not carrying swords by Carry Arms instead of Present Arms. However officers carrying swords were entitled to a snappy Present as obtains now. In a copy of one of General Smith's early letters we find an order for Bibles with names of graduating cadets and date of graduation inscribed. This custom he continued all his life. We find General Smith getting places as teachers, engineers, officers in U. S. Army, etc., for his graduates and keeping in touch with them much as we do today. Soon he had V. M. I. men scattered over the whole state in various fields. He wrote them of opportunities, gave them timely advice, got them back to V. M. I. as subs, etc. He guaranteed graduates to give satisfaction. I think we can still do this. Cadets were appointed Assistant Instructors and got $5.00 a month for this. If you get 200 demerits you are dismissed. If a cadet officer gets 50 in any quarter, he is reduced. Three is maximum mark; if you don't get 2.5 you are ipso facto deficient This is 8.33 and we think 7.5 is very high. You are not allowed servant, horse, or dog, beard, mustache, or a wife. If you get caught hazing you are dismissed. Some are. You must not send or accept a challenge to a duel. The band consists of two Negroes, black as ebony. A drummer and a fifer, dressed up drunk in red and white with cocked hats. General Smith tries to get a good enlisted band but it does not go through. Finally they hit on our present scheme for bandsmen. The calls and drum beats are the same now as then. I checked up from Gilham's Officers' Manual to see, with the help of Mrs. Anderson at the piano. A rival V. M. I. is suggested for Charleston, Virginia (now West Virginia) to be known as the Armory School. This idea is killed. The Citadel starts in South Carolina and it is modeled after V. M. I. as many schools over the South now are. It is worthy of note that only in the United States do we find Civilian or State Military Colleges. Everywhere else the military colleges are national in character. The Mexican War breaks out and as many V. M. I. men go in it in proportion as West Pointers. At least General Smith thinks so. Although the first graduates have been out but four years, wherever promotions are made and gallantry rewarded V. M. I. men are recognized. The school is full—crowded. He must have additional quarters. Will they build a barracks here or elsewhere? Winchester, Waynesboro, Staunton, Salem are some of the towns examined as a possible site, but the Lexington people and Washington College are so pleased with the school that they all petition to keep it here. This results in a new four-story barracks, 241 ft. long as it is today, with steam heat, the comer stone being laid with appropriate ceremonies in 1850. This is fine because fifty wood fires endangered the old building; it is cold because the cadets leave their doors open on going to the mess hall, and besides some hospitals and lunatic asylums in the North have already tried steam heat and it is thought that it will not only do away with cadets chopping and carrying wood during Call to Quarters but also results in a saving of two or three cords of good oak wood a day. General Smith plans an exact trigonometric survey of Virginia, some cadets to be employed on this the year round. Pity this was not done. Whatever would help the people of Virginia he wanted the school to take part in. The cadets have been to Richmond before, but now they go for President Taylor and do so well he presents them with the six piece battery. They take the town, girls and all. Thomas J. Jackson is invited to the Chair of Experimental and Natural Philosophy to relieve the gallant Gilham of some of his work. Others are tendered the post and still others are considered, but Jackson gets it. The cadets are to get Houdon's Washington copied by a celebrated artist—Hubard. They listen to a very long address by the Governor of Virginia and then a cadet gets up and graciously accepts it in a three-minute speech. The statue is almost melted when the barracks are burned in '64 by Hunter, but fortunately the wind changes. It is taken to West Virginia and later returned. The artist sculptor was killed while experimenting with explosive shells for use of Confederates. In 1854 a law student not connected with Washington College kills Cadet Blackburn at the Presbyterian Church. He is freed. Blackburn gets his diploma. Then in 1850 fanatical John Brown makes his raid on the Arsenal at Harper's Ferry and V. M. I. steps out. General Smith offers his services to Governor Wise. The offer is accepted and the cadets see their first service away from V. M. I. General Smith, Jackson, and 100 cadets go to Charles Town for the execution. A V. M. I. boy, Lawson Botts, was one of the lawyers defending John Brown by order of the judge. A former V. M. I. man is wounded in the fight around the arsenal and several V. M. I. militia commanders are present. Governor Wisehas the Corps return to Lexington by way of Richmond. Colonel Gilham, the Commandant, excites the admiration of everyone for the appearance of the Corps and his own officer-like appearance. Jackson is not impressive but then few men of Destiny have ever been, says the author of John Brown's Body. Witness the greasy poor subaltern who became the Emperor Napoleon and the rakish Roman politician who is known to us as Julius Caesar. Gilham is a forgotten Colonel, Jackson a world known Lieutenant General. General Smith wants V. M. I. to help develop Virginia and he sees to it that her graduates do this. He goes to Europe with three V. M. I. men, one of whom stops there. He is studying European Technical Education and on his return recommends three courses after the fourth class year—Agriculture, Civil Engineering, and Fine Arts. These are not gotten under way, and V. M. I. continues its curriculum course in General Engineering until 1887, when Chemistry is split off. Before the war though he says graduates are practical chemists and we find Jackson showing young ladies of the town a brilliant comet through the telescope of this department. Its education was not classical but was to fit men not for war but for the varied practical pursuits of civil life. The school was founded for poor boys and if a State Cadet's parents were found able to send him they were required to do so. Until 1858 only Virginia and what is now West Virginia could send their sons to V. M. I. After this time cadets came in from other states. A fine democracy—any cadet may be the first man in the Corps or he may sink into insignificance. No distinction as to riches or social rank. Thus has the mighty oak that we know as V. M. I. of 1937 grown from the acorn of 1839. We have always insisted on small sections, daily recitations, and interest of teachers in their pupils. This method which has been so effective at the great schools of France, England, and West Point has proved its worth here. Colonel Mahan, Professor of Engineering at West Point, says the character of the work is identical with that of West Point. He is present one Finals as invited Public examiner. V. M. I. has graduated teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, farmers, business men. They are making their mark everywhere. They have been so thorough in their teaching that Virginia now has 2000 college students as against 500 when V. M. I. was founded. Among their number there will be found 9 Governors, 2 United States Senators, 12 College Presidents, 20 Congressmen, 40 Judges, railroad and canal engineers and surveyors in this country and in Brazil. General Smith says the long roll of alumni who are sons of V. M. I. have been at all times its crown and glory. Major Hoge of the U. S. Engineer Corps, a West Point graduate and all-American half-back told me that his hat was off to V. M. I. men for there the cadets paid to go through severe training and at West Point they were paid for it. I have often said that the men of the first and second classes are the best college material in the world and if we do not turn out the best product it is our fault. In Jackson County, Oklahoma, I was inspecting Federal Aid Roads and bridges for the U. S. Government when I wired a young county engineer to meet me to go over a certain road and bridge. When he learned that I was from V. M. I. and Rockbridge County, the homes of Lee, Jackson, and Houston, he said "the ground on which you tread is holy ground". It has been said that we have here traditions as rich as those gathered at Marathon and Thermopylae. It has been said too that the names of the three hundred who fell dead under Leonidas were memorized for hundreds of years by the school children of Greece. Can we not do as much ? If you went into the U. S. M. C. of the 2nd Div. you were told that you were not a Marine but only wearing a Marine uniform. You had first to prove yourself worthy of their uniform. On the retreat from Mons in 1914, a unit of the King's Guards was ordered to hold a certain bridge head to protect a part of the British forces, but the German artillery located their trenches and they were ordered to retire. The young bugler was commanded to "blow" the Retreat but instead he took it on himself to blow the "Charge". The Guard Unit swept down the slope under his inspiration, cleared the bridge-head and saved a part of the forces from being cut off. The young bugler was terribly wounded, received the Victoria Cross, and when asked later by the King, while in a London Hospital, why he dared to blow the "Charge" instead of the "Retreat", he replied "Because they were the King's Guards Sir." Much is expected of you because you wear the uniform of a V. M. I. cadet. At Harvard University, over the entrance to the Hall of Germanic Languages, there is an inscription in German of that immortal phrase penned by Goethe, "It is ever the spirit that builds". So it is the V. M. I. spirit that we can always depend on. In future issues, The Cadet staff will continue to find and present forgotten, neglected, or erased portions of VMI's rich history. Please support keeping The Cadet as the independent voice of the Corps and alumni, and fund this project by donating at: https://thecadetfoundation.org/participate-and-support/