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Francis H. Smith: Architect of Antebellum Southern Military

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Francis H. Smith: Architect of Antebellum Southern Military FRANCIS H. SMITH: ARCHITECT OF ANTEBELLUM SOUTHERN MILITARY SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL REFORM A Dissertation by BRADFORD ALEXANDER WINEMAN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2006 Major Subject: History © 2006 BRADFORD ALEXANDER WINEMAN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FRANCIS H. SMITH: ARCHITECT OF ANTEBELLUM SOUTHERN MILITARY SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL REFORM A Dissertation by BRADFORD ALEXANDER WINEMAN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Joseph G. Dawson III Committed Members, Charles E. Brooks April L. Hatfield Walter Kamphoefner Zoltan Kosztolnyik (deceased) James S. Burk Head of Department, Walter L. Buenger August 2006 Major Subject: History iii ABSTRACT Francis H. Smith: Architect of Antebellum Military Schools and Educational Reform. (August 2006) Bradford Alexander Wineman, B.A., Virginia Military Institute; M.A., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Joseph G. Dawson III This study examines the historical significance of the Virginia Military Institute’s (VMI) first superintendent, Francis Henney Smith, and his influence not only at his home institution but also on his broader social, educational, and political importance. Historiography neglects to credit or identify Smith’s contributions to the notable expansion of military education in the antebellum South and his influence beyond VMI. Not only did he play a key role in the developing of Southern military education, but overwhelming evidence indicates that the growth of these schools in the South would not have happened without Smith acting as an influential father figure. He provided the structure, ideology and pedagogical models of these institutions and advised, guided and inspired nearly every other Southern military school in the two decades preceding the Civil War. Moreover, his innovations spread far beyond those of military schools as he promoted a new vision for Virginia and the South, one in which independence could be established through intellectual solidarity by creating a society centered on education. As a West Point graduate, Smith structured VMI on the Sylvanus Thayer educational model and sought to promote this system throughout every school in iv Virginia and the South, both in military and non-military institutions. He also created a network of like-minded academics, mostly with alumni from the U.S. Military Academy who launched a movement to encourage a more practical education in the South, focusing on mathematics, engineering and the sciences. VMI graduates would also spread Smith’s academic gospel throughout the state and region as he encouraged them to serve their republic as teachers rather than soldiers. In spite of the popularity of his reforms and ideologies, Smith contended with the challenges of the volatile nature of antebellum Virginia politics as well as the social constructs of his native South, particularly in the forms of honor and masculinity demonstrated by his cadets. The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 temporarily destroyed his dreams improving VMI on the model of the most advanced scientific institutions in Europe as the Institute converted to an exclusively military mission to serve the Confederacy. v DEDICATION To Colonel Leroy D. Hammond ’57 and Dr. Zoltan Kosztolnyik Two scholars who encouraged this project but unfortunately passed away before its completion. Like Francis H. Smith, both were soldiers, scholars and devout Christians who dedicated their lives to inspiring others to learn. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee, the staff and administration from the Texas A&M University History Department for their guidance, support, and patience in completing this project, particularly in their cooperation with my completing it from the other side of the country. I would also like to thank the department for the travel grant that made my research possible. I have to extend an equally warm thank you to the entire staff of the VMI Preston Library, particularly Diane Jacob and Mary Laura Kludy of the VMI Archives, with whom I spent more time than with my wife over the last three years. Many other archival staffs provided wonderful support of this project including those at Washington and Lee University, The Citadel, United States Military Academy, University of Virginia, Library of Virginia, Virginia Historical Society, Norwich University, University of South Carolina, and University of North Carolina. The Rockbridge Historical Society was kind enough to provide me the opportunity to present some of my research to the Lexington community and offered much encouragement throughout. Professors Jennifer Green and Tom Buckley provided vital feedback and suggestions at various stages of my research, my thanks to both of them. It often feels as though the entire VMI community played some role in supporting this project. I would like to particularly thank my mentors and colleagues in the VMI History Department for their advice, perspective and faith during this enterprise and for allowing me to return to my alma mater to make it a reality. Page limits do not permit me to identify their contributions individually but my thanks to each of them for vii having their own small role in shaping this work. My sincerest thanks to Lee Dewald of the Mathematics Department and Alan Farrell of Modern Languages for crucial West Point resources and sage counseling, respectively. In the broader VMI community, I have to thank two individuals who began the original research of Francis H. Smith: Edwin Dooley and Leroy Hammond, who both who allowed me to use their scholarship as a foundation and provided me with many excellent ideas. Two VMI alumni also deserve special thanks: Colonel Alexander Henderson Morrison (’39) and Colonel William Mayo Smith (’38), both great-grandsons of Francis H. Smith who offered me many useful family sources to tell the story of their distinguished ancestor. Most importantly at the Institute, I wish to thank the hundreds of VMI cadets who kept me motivated every day and night while working on this study. Whether they did so out of earnestness or the extra-credit I offered, they have made both me and “Old Spex” very proud of their enthusiasm for their Institute’s history. Finally, no one deserves greater appreciation for making this dissertation possible than my wife, Casey. For enduring all the late nights, early mornings, research trips, lack of social life, lengthy drafts for her editing, an unexpected relocation to Virginia and my “sabbatical” to fight in the Iraq War in the middle of my writing phase, she has demonstrated a patience, dedication and compassion that few married individuals, much less scholars, have ever enjoyed. Her love and support, as well as that of her parents, contributed more to the completion of this work than any toiling in the archives. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT……..………………………………………………………………… iii DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………..… v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………..…… vi TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………...… viii LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………. xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION……………………………………………..….. 1 II SMITH AS PEDAGOGUE AND ADMINSTRATOR.......…..…… 22 III SMITH AS EDUCATIONAL REFORMER…...………………..… 87 IV SMITH AS VIRGINIA REPUBLICAN………………………..…. 158 V SMITH AS POLITICIAN……………………………………..…… 224 VI SMITH AS MASCULINE MORALIST…………………………… 298 VII CONCLUSION: SMITH AS RELUCTANT CONFEDERATE….. 398 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………… 417 VITA………………………………………………………………………………… 441 ix LIST OF TABLES TABLE Page 1 Enrollment by Class at the Virginia Military Institute (Classes 1842 – 1862)…………………………………………………… 168 2 VMI Cadets and Prestigious Relatives, 1842-1862……………………… 273 3 VMI Church Rotation System…………………………………………… 306 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION American military schools have been an object of interest by capturing the public fascination, particularly as they have moved into the national consciousness in the news and popular culture. Movies such as Lords of Discipline (1983), Taps (1981) and Gods and Generals (2003) have brought a rising awareness of military education, particularly its unique culture. The national media also brought attention on the country’s last two state-supported military academies during the 1990s as both admitted women into their formerly all-male Corps of Cadets for the first time. Even television fell to the allure of these unique institutions through cadets participating Norelco razor commercials and reality television appearances. The interest, both positive and negative, on military education, particularly those located in the Southern states, have raised a collective curiosity about why these schools were created, their ideological foundations, and their contributions to society going back to their pre-Civil War establishment. To truly understand the origins and the critical initial years of Southern military schools, one must explore the overlooked importance of Francis Henney Smith (1839- 1889). This dissertation seeks to provide the first comprehensive examination of Smith’s historical significance not only at his home institution of the Virginia Military Institute but also his broader social, educational, and political importance. Historiography neglects to credit or identify Smith’s contributions to the notable expansion of military education in the antebellum
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