Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography Virginia Military Institute DRAFT January 9, 2021

Memorials and monuments take several forms at VMI: statuary, plaques, portraits, and dedicatory building names. There are over 400 such tributes found at VMI. The survey focuses on those tributes which explicitly or implicitly reflect iconography of the Confederacy. For the purposes of this document, the term iconography is understood to encompass visual imagery as well as other semiotic modalities, such as language.

The purpose of this survey is to succinctly document and provide an overview of those landscape features subject to review by the VMI Board of Visitors Commemorations and Memorials Naming and Review sub-committee.

Several of those honored have multiple dedicatory resources associated with their names; they have been grouped accordingly. The survey includes the following categories: dedicatory building names, statues, paintings, plaques, and monuments. Each entry includes a brief biographical sketch of the honoree, association with the Confederacy, and original intent of the resource by the creator(s), if known.

Until 1900 the Institute consisted of a central barracks for academic activities and lodging, a hospital, a mess hall, and several faculty quarters. Rapid expansion of the physical plant after the turn of the 20th century, and a new master plan provided by Bertram Goodhue, provided several opportunities for monuments and dedicatory naming.

Throughout the 20th-century buildings were named in honor of people who had dedicated their lives to the academic mission of the Institute. Without exception all the main buildings in the central post were named in honor of DRAFTfaculty and senior administrators. In the late 20th-century and early 21st- century several athletic facilities along the periphery of the central post were named in honor of key financial patrons.

No dedicatory name, statue, plaque, or monument is known to have any legally binding obligation of permanency or reversion agreement with any honoree or donor. HONOREE: Francis Henney Smith (1812-1890)

BUILDING: STATUE: MISCELLANEOUS: PAINTING: Francis H. Smith Superintendent Smith Quote in Smith Hall Lobby Francis H. Smith Administration Building ARTIST: ARTIST: N/A ARTIST: Max Weyl DESCRIPTION: Francis Ferruccio Legnaioli DESCRIPTION: H. Smith Hall, completed DESCRIPTION: DESCRIPTION: Heroic Quote attributed to Francis Smith: in 1964, is the main bronze statue and granite Oil on canvas portrait of administration building base. The statue was “He who has obtained the Superintendent Smith at the of the Institute. Named dedicated on June 10, 1931 mastery over himself to meet time of his 1889 retirement. in honor of the first near Jackson Memorial and discharge the smallest superintendent, it is the Hall. In 1979 the statue duty has done much to qualify second building to carry the was moved to the front of himself for the greatest.” name. The first Smith Hall Smith Hall. The statue is a Placed in the lobby in 2009. (1900-1920) was located at contributing resource to the what is now the north west VMI Historic District. side of Old Barracks.

Francis Henney Smith of Norfolk, In 1851 Smith published a small In 1859 Smith published Scientific Virginia, graduated from the United but influential book titled College Education in Europe encouraging the States Military Academy in 1833 and Reform. Here he presented the adoption of the “polytechnical model.” argument for improving higher was commissioned Lieutenant, United The volume was read with great interest education in the nation. States Army. He was assigned to the by educators around the nation. In USMA Mathematics Department. Smith noted that — addition, Smith published a series of Smith was a 27-year old Professor of This is a practical age, college-level mathematics text. the American people are Mathematics at Hampden-Sydney Smith commanded the cadets at the emphatically a practical College when he was approached by execution of John Brown in December people, and while the public John T. L. Preston to consider the demand has been for the 1859. He was the commanding officer superintendency of the new military knowledge of those sciences by of the execution, giving the order for the college in Lexington. Smith, Preston, which labour may be profitably executioner to carry out the sentence. and first VMIBOV President Claudius DRAFTdirected, the agriculturist, the In 1861 Govenor John Letcher Crozet molded the military college into manufacturer, the mechanic, appointed Smith to the “Council of a new model of higher education. and the merchant, must study Three,” along with Matthew Fontaine Latin, Greek, and logic, or he Francis Smith initially served as the must not think of coveting an Maury and Judge John J. Allen to Superintendent, Commandant, and academical degree. advise the governor on preparing the Principal Professor in the nascent institute. Commonwealth for war. In the 1850s Smith served as He taught mathematics, mechanics, president of the Board of Visitors at Smith briefly served as Colonel of moral and political philosophy. his alma mater, USMA. the 9th Virgina Heavy Artillery at Craney Island, Portsmouth, VA.

2 Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography In September, 1861, the Commonwealth supported repatriation projects like was re-located to the front of Smith Hall of Virgina ordered the resumption the American Colonization Society to and rededicated on October 19, 1979. of the regular academic schedule at return former slaves to Liberia. VMI effective January, 1862. Smith Original Intent: In the dedicatory VMI first arranged with their famous tributes to Smith it is clear that returned to Lexington and prepared for alumnus sculptor Moses Ezekiel to the Institute and alumni sought to the reopening of the Institute. After provide an heroic bronze statue of the recognize the person who, more the destruction of the Institute during first superintendent in 1916. The aging than any other, is credited with the Hunter’s Raid (June 12, 1864) Smith artist died before more than a sketch of development of the unique educational established the temporary home for Smith dressed in his VMI professor’s model of the Institute. VMI in Richmond. After the war he set uniform holding a Bible and a out to successfully re-build the Institute. diploma could be completed. It was Except for a very brief period at the beginning of the Civil War, Smith At the 50th anniversary celebration on 1928 before the project was restarted. continued in his capacity as chief November 11, 1889, Smith announced The committee selected Richmond administrator and professor of the his retirement. based sculptor Ferruccio Legnaioli. Institute. There is no mention of his Civil Smith owned nine enslaved persons. Smith’s statue was first located in the War service on any of his memorials. Taking a common position of his time, stone niche to the right of Jackson Smith did not think the two races Memorial Hall where it was dedicated could co-exist in an equal society. He at graduation, June 10, 1931. The statue

Major General Francis H. Smith Superintendent November 11, 1839 to December 31 1889 Builder and Rebuilder of the Virginia Military Institute This statue represents him in the act of delivering a diploma to a graduate and memorializes his custom of giving a Bible to every cadet at the DRAFTend of his first class year

The inscription on the base of the F. H. Smith statue.

Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography 3 HONOREE: Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873)

BUILDING: BUILDING: STATUE: PLAQUE: Maury-Brooke Hall Maury House Matthew Maury Dedicatory DESCRIPTION: DESCRIPTION: ARTIST: William Sievers ARTIST: N/A Designed by William Metcalf The Maury House is one of the two of Metcalf and Associates, and remaining original faculty quarters DESCRIPTION: DESCRIPTION: dedicated in 1989, Maury-Brooke designed by Alexander J. Davis in Heroic-scale plaster Anodized aluminum Hall houses the chemistry and 1852. The quarters were burned artist’s model donated plaques recognizing the biology curricula. For the first 20 during Hunter’s Raid on June 12, by the artist in 1928. building honorees of years the structure was simply 1864. After extensive restoration, the Originally located in Maury-Brooke Hall. known as The Science Building. quarters were assigned to Professor Preston Library, the statue Located to the right inside After a major renovation in 2005, Matthew F. Maury who died in the was moved to Maury- the entrance of Maury- the name Maury-Brooke Hall second floor tower bedroom in Brooke Hall in 2013. Brooke Hall. was transferred from the original 1873. In 1914 the structure, along building so named in 1909 (now with the Superintendent’s Quarters, Shell Hall). was moved to its current location as part of the master plan to enlarge and level the Parade Ground. The Maury House is a contributing resource to the VMI Historic District.

Matthew Fontaine Maury Maury charted the route of the first He resigned his USN commission in joined the VMI faculty in 1868 transatlantic cable. He advocated for the 1861 and was quickly commissioned as Professor of Physics after an creation of the US Weather Bureau and in the Confederate Navy, serving internationally acclaimed career the Star Registry. the entire war in England. After as an oceanographer, astronomer, Maury published a series of widely the war Maury resided in Mexico historian, meteorologist, cartographer, used public school text books on world for a brief time at the request of geologist, writer, and United States geography that continued to be used Emperor Maximilian as the “Imperial th Navy officer. He is remembered as well into the 20 century. Commissioner of Colonization.” The the “Pathfinder of the Seas,” “Father of Maury was not a slave owner, but Emperor sought to encourage former Modern Oceanography and Naval he did not believe the races could slave-owning Confederates to relocate Meteorology” and “Scientist ofDRAFT the live together freely. Nevertheless, he to the “New Virginia Colony.” Seas.” As a US Navy officer Maury was seemed to suggest a desire to end the Original Intent: To recognize a instrumental in the establishment of institution. Maury proposed a scheme faculty member with an international by which US enslaved persons might the US Naval Academy. In the 1850s reputation in a significant manner be relocated to the Amazon River he served as Superintendent of the US commensurate to his service to VMI, basin for the purpose of developing Naval Observatory in Washington, the Commonwealth, and the world. DC. There he charted the currents of commerce in that region, and allowing the South (in particular, Virginia) to the oceans, thus revolutionizing world divest itself of slavery. The project did travel and commerce. In the mid-1850s not materialize.

4 Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography HONOREE: Scott Shipp (1845-1917) BUILDING: Scott Shipp Hall DESCRIPTION: Designed by the firm Carneal and Johnston and opened in 1918, Scott Shipp Hall provides dedicated space for the Humanities. Undergoing significant expansions and renovations in1955 and 1958, it is now completing the most ambitious enlargement in its 100-year history. Scott Shipp Hall is a contributing resource to the VMI Historic District.

PAINTING: Scott Shipp ARTIST: E. T. Andrews DESCRIPTION: Although painted in 1904, this 6.5 foot by 9.5 foot oil on canvas portrait depicts the second superintendent of VMI PLAQUE: Scott Shipp wearing the uniform he wore during the Battle of New Market, May, 15, 1864. ARTIST: N/A DESCRIPTION: Anodized aluminum plaque recognizing the building honoree of Scott Shipp Hall. Located to the right inside the main entrance of Scott Shipp Hall.

One of the first non-Virginians to Scott Shipp served as Commandant Original Intent: To commemorate the attend VMI, Scott Shipp matriculated from 1862 until 1889 when life-long service of Shipp as professor, from Missouri and graduated in 1859. he was selected as the second administrator and superintendent. He immediately joined the faculty as Superintendent. He retired in 1907. Shipp is one of six superintendents Professor of Latin and Mathematics.DRAFTIn the post-war years Shipp served honored by the naming of a building. Like many faculty at most colleges in in the Board of Visitors at the United Virginia, Shipp joined the Confederate States Military Academy and the Army at the outbreak of the Civil War. United States Naval Academy. st He briefly served as a major in the 21 He did not own slaves. Virginia Infantry and returned to VMI in 1862. As Commandant of Cadets, Shipp commanded the Corps at the Battle of New Market (May 15, 1864) during which he was wounded.

Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography 5 HONOREE: Thomas J. Jackson (1824-1863)

BUILDING: STATUE: MISCELLANEOUS: MONUMENT: Jackson Memorial Hall “Stonewall” Jackson Quote in Jackson Arch Jackson Arch

DESCRIPTION: ARTIST: ARTIST: N/A ARCHITECT: Architect Bertram Goodhue Moses Ezekiel, VMI 1866 I. E. A. Rose, VMI 1883 designed the present Jackson Memorial Hall (JMH) in 1916 DESCRIPTION: DESCRIPTION: DESCRIPTION: to take the place of the 1896 Heroic-scale bronze statue Quote attributed to Stonewall Created in 1896 to connect building of the same name atop an Italian volcanic Jackson: the extension of Old Barracks which adjoined The Barracks. In rock base. Dedicated on “You May Be Whatever You to the first Jackson Memorial 1869 the VMI BOV authorized June 12, 1912, the statue is Resolve to Be” Hall (to the left of the arch.) a project to create a suitable a contributing resource to This structure is individually Placed in the arch ca. 1955. memorial to Jackson with a the VMI Historic District. listed on the National Register proposed completion date of of Historic Landmarks and is 1872. Planning and fundraising a contributing resource to the progressed slowly. Economic VMI Historic District. depression and other priorities extended the completion date until 1896 when the structure was dedicated. The first Jackson Memorial Hall was the design of I. E. A. Rose, VMI 1883. JM Hall is a contributing resource to the VMI Historic District.

Thomas Jonathan Jackson prepared for his new position, he including the Cadet Corps, that duty graduated from the United States put into practice a favorite quote he was an extension of his commission Military Academy in 1846 and was had recently read in Rev. Joel Hawes’ in the Virginia Militia. By the time commissioned as an artillery officer. Lectures to Young Men, On the of his death in 1863, General Jackson He served in the Mexican-American Foundation of Character (1851, pg 74): was internationally recognized for his War (1846-1848) with distinction. Acts You May Be Whatever You tactical genius and military leadership. of battlefield initiative and bravery Resolve To Be brought him to the attention ofDRAFT his While the 1860 US Census lists commanders on several occasions. Jackson became a satisfactory, if Thomas and his wife, Anna, as owning It was in Mexico that Jackson first not gifted, teacher. His command of four enslaved persons, documentary demonstrated the tactics and leadership artillery tactics, however, impressed the evidence supports that they owned which would bring him international most ardent skeptic. seven slaves between 1855 and 1863. acclaim during the Civil War. In 1861 Jackson did not resign his The first slave owned by Jackson was a Jackson was appointed VMI Professor position at VMI to become an officer man named Albert, who approached of Natural Philosophy (Physics) and in the forces of Virginia and, later, the the Major suggesting an arrangement Artillery Tactics in 1851. Not well Confederacy. Like all VMI personnel, by which he would be allowed to

6 Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography purchase his freedom. Jackson When approached to provide the statue Original Intent: Historical agreed. Among the places Albert for VMI, Ezekiel offered to donate records reveal the desire to create worked was VMI. his “fees” and only expected to be a significant memorial to Jackson Jackson’s complex relationship with reimbursed for supplies. Virgina-born almost immediately following his slavery is an ongoing research quest insurance and transportation magnate 1863 death. By 1869 the VMI BOV at the Jackson House. In recent Thomas F. Ryan donated $6,000 for the officially directed that such a project be years contact has been made with creation of the Italian volcanic stone undertaken. descendants of George Jackson, one base, also designed by Ezekiel. The purpose was to venerate the now of Jackson’s slaves. Larry Spurgeon, Ezekiel depicts Jackson on the internationally recognized Confederate senior researcher at the Jackson House battlefield at Chancellorsville, May general who had been, and was at the concludes that Jackson 2, 1863. He appears in a Confederate time of his death, a VMI professor and ...remains an enigma. He was general’s uniform. leading citizen of Lexington. made of flesh, not stone, never As Jackson looked to his left and right When the Ezekiel statue of Jackson was claiming to be anything else. just before ordering an attack on the unveiled in 1912 the 60 page key-note In raising him to a mythic Union XI Corps, he observed former address detailed Jackson’s exploits of status that he did not seek, his VMI students and faculty colleagues his Civil War record. essential humanity has been and declared, “The Institute Will be obscured. In many ways he Heard From Today.” was a walking contradiction - a On December 7, 2020, in accordance lethal warrior who hated war, with a directive from the VMI BOV, an inept professor who became the Jackson statue was removed from one of the most revered the VMI Post to the grounds of the American military leaders, Virginia Museum of the Civil War at a man devoted to a religious New Market Battlefield State Historical class for enslaved people who Park, New Market, Virginia. In accepted their enslaved status addition to the fact that the sculptor as the will of God, a simple Moses Ezekiel, VMI 1866 participated man riddled with complexities. in the May 15, 1864 battle as a cadet, Moses Ezekiel’s sculpture “Stonewall the statue will be in the heart of the Jackson” was dedicated at VMI on geographical region of Jackson’s 1862 June 19, 1912. It is a copy of the statue Valley Campaign which brought him to commissioned by the United Daughters international acclaim. of the Confederacy for the State of West Virginia in 1905. DRAFT

Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography 7 HONOREE: William H. Richardson (1795-1876)

BUILDING: Richardson Hall DESCRIPTION: Completed in 1935 as a chemistry laboratory, Richardson Hall has since served several functions. In 1997 the structure was adapted to house the tailor shop, military store, and laundry facilities. Richardson Hall is a contributing resource to the VMI Historic District.

PLAQUE: MG William H. Richardson DESCRIPTION: 30 inch by 20 inch bronze plaque located in Memorial Gardens.

William Harvie Richardson was for signing and presenting them Original Intent: To acknowledge the a champion of the VMI mission from to Superintendent Smith before key role played in the formative years its inception. Second only to Smith, graduation. In 1844, he delivered his of the Institute and the key role in the Preston, and Crozet, it may be argued son’s diploma to Smith. rebuilding of VMI in the post war that William Richardson is the most Richardson shepherded the years through his senior position in the important figure in the creation and appropriations bill through the General Commonwealth of Virginia. early history of VMI. Assembly for the construction of the A veteran of the War of 1812, he Barracks and other improvements in served the Commonwealth as the 1848. In fact, Richardson may have first State Librarian, Secretary of the been the first to suggest that Gothic Commonwealth, and Adjutant General Revival should be considered for the of Virginia (1841-1865, 1870-1876).DRAFT design. Richardson was a member of the VMI According to the 1860 census. BOV from 1844 to 1876. Richardson owned nine slaves. As State Librarian, Richardson Upon his death in 1876 one-half of his arranged for VMI to receive duplicate estate was bequeathed to the Institute. books from the State Library, thus creating the first library at the Institute. GEN Richardson took a special pride in personally delivering the VMI diplomas to the Governor every year

8 Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography HONOREE: John Mercer Brooke (1826-1906)

BUILDING: Maury-Brooke Hall DESCRIPTION: Designed by William Metcalf of Metcalf and Associates, and dedicated in 1989, Maury-Brooke Hall houses the chemistry and biology curricula. For the first 20 years the structure was simply known as The Science Building. After a major renovation in 2005, the name Maury-Brooke Hall was transferred from the original building so named in 1909 (now Shell Hall).

PLAQUE: John M. Brooke Created by admirers shortly after his death in 1906. Today located in Memorial Gardens.

PLAQUE Lobby, inside Maury-Brooke Hall

PAINTING: Battle of the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor 8’ by 6’ Oil on Canvas by George Walker, ca. 1910. Located in the lobby of Maury-Brooke Hall.

John Mercer Brooke arrived at Resigning his USN commission in Born in Florida to a military family, VMI in October 1865, and began 1861, Brooke became the head of the educated in the north and spending a a career lasting 35 years until his Confederate Bureau of Ordnance career in the USN Brooke avoided a death in 1906. One of the earliest and Hydrography. Here he made sectional view of the nation. His chief graduates of the US Naval Academy, a number of advances in naval biographer suggests it was Brooke’s Booke is considered one of the leading ordnance including the Brooke Gun allegiance to family heritage that oceanographers of the 19th century. He and designed the key features of the required him to follow Virginia into the invented a number of apparatuses for ironclad CSS Virginia (Merrimac). Confederacy. exploring the deep ocean floor, some of John Brooke began what must be John Brooke did not own slaves. His which are still in use today. His work one of the longest family academic position on slavery is not known. helped chart the course of the first legacies in American history. His Original Intent: To recognize a transatlantic cable. John M. Brooke was son, George M., VMI 1896, was a faculty member with an international often recognized for his nationalDRAFT and very involved alumnus; grandson, reputation in a significant manner international contributions to science. George M., Jr, VMI 1936, taught at commensurate to his service to VMI, As commander of the USS Fenimore VMI for 38 years; great grandson the Commonwealth and the nation. Cooper, he charted much of the North George M., III, VMI 1967 carried Pacific Asian coastline. In 1859 he on the tradition and great-great commanded the ship which brought grandson Mercer, VMI 1994 the first Japanese diplomats to the US. continues to teach in the Physics Brooke worked closely with M. F. Maury Department. on a number of projects in the 1850s.

Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography 9 HONOREE: John Thomas Lewis Preston (1811-1890)

BUILDING: Preston Library DESCRIPTION: On April 14, 1939 the VMI BOV voted to name the new main library in honor of founder J. T. L. Preston. Designed by the firm of Carneal & Johnston, the library was dedicated on November 11, 1939 during the centennial anniversary of the Institute.

MISCELLANEOUS: Parapet Wall Inscription DESCRIPTION: Paragraph extracted from a paper written by Preston in 1836 exhorting the benefits of converting the old state arsenal into a new state supported military college.

John Thomas Lewis Preston farewell ceremony at the Presbyterian he served as Lieutenant Colonel, 9th was born in Lexington on April Church for 33 Rockbridge County Virginia Infantry. For a brief period 25, 1811. He attended Washington freed slaves emigrating to Liberia. His Preston served as Aide-de-Camp to College (W&L), UVA and Yale. He was future wife, Margaret Junkin, wrote a General T. J. Jackson. He resumed is practicing law in his hometown when special hymn for the event which stated duties at VMI for the remainder of he became interested in the concept of voyage as a return to a home “where the war. bondage cannot enter... free from all adding the mission of college education After the Civil War Preston returned oppression.” to the function of the state arsenal to his teaching duties at VMI until located on the edge of town. Preston John Preston married Margaret in his retirement in 1882. He continued became the most articulate champion 1857. She was the daughter of the to teach and administer the Colored of the concept. He helped organize the president of Washington College and Sunday School, which tripled in new military college and became its a major 19th century literary figure size during the post war era, until it second professor, serving as Professor known as the “Poetess of the South.” disbanded in 1887. of Languages, Modern and Classical. Margaret’s sister Elinor was the first wife of Thomas J. Jackson. Original Intent: To recognize the During the 1830s Preston engaged in person credited with conceiving the several debates over the questions of J. T. L. Preston helped administer and idea of a state sponsored military DRAFTteach the “Colored Sunday School” at slavery and succession through his college on the grounds of the state membership in the Franklin Society the Lexington Presbyterian Church arsenal. Preston was the second VMI of Lexington. The deliberations of the along with his brother-in-law Thomas professor and acting superintendent in Jackson. According to the 1860 US society were not documented in detail, the absence of F. H. Smith, serving a Census, Preston owned two female but it is known that he believed gradual total of 48 years. There is no mention of and one male slave. emancipation provided the best way Confederate service in his recognition. forward for the state and nation. A An ardent Unionist, but when Virgina supporter the Liberia colonization seceded, Preston sided with his native efforts, Preston participated in the 1849 state. During the summer of 1861,

10 Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography HONOREE: Claudius Crozet (1789-1864)

MONUMENT: Claudius Crozet is buried beneath a granite marker near the building that bears his name.

BUILDING: Crozet Hall was constructed in 1934 to house the corps dining facilities.

Claudius Crozet was born in was considered one of the greatest Island, Portsmouth, in 1861, Crozet France, educated at Ecole Polytechnic engineering feats of its time. was considered for interim VMI and fought as an officer with Labor for the creation of the 4,200 Superintendent, which he refused due Napoleon. In 1816 he came to America foot tunnel came from Irish and to age. Accordingly, he did not serve in to teach at the United Sates Military enslaved Black labor. Historian Mary the Confederacy. Academy. In the 1820s Crozet became Lyons writes that “more than 300 At the time of his death in 1864, the State Engineer for Virginia. His enslaved laborers, along with over a Crozet owned two elderly Black interest in education, engineering, thousand Irish immigrants, worked women. In his will he stated: “As and military service led to him being under Crozet’s supervision to fulfill regards my servants, Phoebe and appointed the first president of the Virginia’s long-term goal of linking Josephine, I desire their situation to VMI Board of Visitors, where he the navigable rivers of the Chesapeake remain as at present as long as they served for eight years. Along with John Bay watershed with the Ohio River live in the Confederacy; but if either Preston and Francis Smith, Crozet and points west.” or both express a desire of going out is recognized as one of the three Crozet made several contributions of it, after admonishing them of the founders of the Institute. to higher education prior to his probable consequences to themselves of taking such a step, they may be As one of the leading engineers of the involvement with VMI. He wrote allowed to remove, to any place they 19th century, Crozet’s contributionsDRAFT several mathematics texts and was one may choose for their future home.” to the Commonwealth are significant. of the first to use black boards in his His primary impact was in the classrooms. Original Intent: To honor a founder development of railroads. When Crozet sought a position in service of the nations first state sponsored he completed the Afton Mountain to the Confederacy directly from military school, nationally recognized Tunnel through the Blue Ridge Jefferson Davis, but was refused due engineer and leader in engineering Mountains in 1858, it was the longest to age. When Smith and Preston education. such structure in North America and briefly entered field service at Craney

Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography 11 PAINTING: Charge of the New Market Cadets The flag depicted in the painting is the When Superintendent Smith Regimental Corps flag, which has been authorized allowing the corps to join carried by the cadets since 1842. Confederate General John Breckinridge on his march to meet the Union Army The artist took great care in depicting in May 1864, the corps was in service the expressions on the cadet faces to the Commonwealth of Virginia at the moment of the charge: fear, and the Governor. Smith did not determination, concern, commitment. have time to request the Governor’s The painting has been described as the approval to allow the cadets to join consummate statement of the “Brother Breckinridge. Smith, alone, assumed Rat Spirit”—the corps doing together responsibility for his decision to do what none could do separately. Cadet so. While actually under the command John Howard described that spirit as of General Breckinridge, the corps the corps moved out of an orchard and remained under the authority of the into a wheat field over a split rail fence: Commonwealth, as they had been since 1839. It was an ordinary rail fence, probably about four feet high, but Clinedinst used his teenaged son as as I surmounted the top­most rail I the model for several of the cadets who felt at least ten feet up in the air and are in the moment of their wounding. TheCharge of the New Market the special object of hostile aim. But When his own son volunteered to serve Cadets depicts the VMI Cadet in clearing this obstruction I was in WWI, Clinedinst returned to VMI Corps as they advanced across Jacob leaving all thought of individuality intent on painting out his son’s face being wounded on a battlefield. The Bushong’s wheat field during the behind. It was the corps forward! culminating moments of the Battle of VMI administration thwarted several attempts by the artist to change New Market, May 15, 1864. The battlefield depicted has become the painting, and it remains The 21’ by 18’ oil on canvas a surrogate for the thousands of as it was originally painted in painting is the work of Benjamin battlefields on which VMI alumni have 1914. This effort conveys the W. Clinedinst, VMI 1880, a timelessness of the human sacrifice member of the National Academy sacrificed through time; the service depicted in Clinedinst’s work. of Art. At the time of its unveiling of the cadets depicted has become the Original Intent: To create a on June 24, 1914, the painting was standard expected of alumni similarly tribute to a singular moment reported to be the largest military called to duty. in American collegiate history: mural in America. Originally, the VMI Corps of Cadets the painting was adhered to the accomplishing a goal beyond anyone’s The Battle of New Market was not the rear stage wall of the 1896 Jackson expectation. Memorial Hall (JMH). The canvas only time that the Corps of Cadets What originated as a painting of was successfully removed from the were called out to the field, but it is the a moment in time has, over the old building and mounted in the 1916 only time they were engaged in pitched generations, become a symbol of VMI battle. Indeed, it remains today the JMH, where it remains today. cadet courage, fidelity, sacrifice, and The cadets are depicted in their only time any American college student duty tested not just on the battlefield standard field duty uniform, that is to body has ever been engaged in battle depicted, but on every battlefield to say, not Confederate uniform, DRAFTper se. under their own command. which VMI alumni have been called.

12 Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography MEMORIAL STATUE: Virginia Mourning Her Dead and the New Market Cadet Graves

Virgina Mourning Her Dead was located in front of The Barracks in 1904, but moved to its current location in 1912. Six cadets who died in the Battle of New Market were buried in a crypt below the statue at that time. Six bronze tablets list the names of cadets and faculty who served at New Market. In the wake of the Battle of New Market Dead I have kept in plaster all these ket” cadets (May 15, 1864) Moses Ezekiel, the first Jew years... the chain mail clad female and provide to attend VMI, discovered his best friend, figure [Virtue, Virginia] is seated cenotaphs for Cadet Thomas G. Jefferson, mortally upon a piece of breastwork and her four others. wounded. Ezekiel cared for Jefferson over foot rests upon a broken cannon The granite the next two days. The young cadet died overgrown with ivy and she holds a markers do not while being held in Ezekiel’s arms as the reversed lance in her hand... include any Jewish cadet read to his Gentile friend from When Virgina Mourning Her Dead was Confederate the New Testament “In my father’s house, moved to its current location, a burial iconography. there are many mansions...” vault housing the six cadet bodies was The statue was After graduation from VMI in 1866, placed beneath the stone base of the statue. not commis- Ezekiel began his studies to become During the renovation of Nichols sioned in the a sculptor. He would become the Engineering Hall in the mid-2000s, traditional first American Jewish sculptor of granite markers were placed behind meaning of international repute. Perhaps to heal the statue for all ten New Market the word. The mental wounds left from his war Cadet dead. Each stone provides basic work filled a experience, one of the young sculptor’s biographical data and, if not at VMI, request from earliest pieces was Virginia Mourning Her the location of the cadet’s grave. VMI to Eze- Dead. kiel: create a Cleveland State University Professor of memorial acknowledging the loss of VMI The same year Ezekiel graduated, the Art History Samantha Baskind states Institute sent a contingent of cadets to alumni during the Civil War. Born out of DRAFTthe statue “mourned the dead from the one sculptor's personal experience in war, New Market to retrieve the bodies of day Ezekiel conceived it, not decades the statue is about the greater, timeless the cadets who had died in the May 15, after the fact. The statue served as a 1864 battle. concepts of service to and loos during salve to wash away the trauma of his one's service to country. In 1893 VMI contacted their now world experiences on the battlefield rather famous sculptor regarding a memorial to than celebrating a single individual What began as one individual’s effort to the cadets who had died at the Battle of with pernicious principles.” deal with the horrors of war has today New Market. Ezekiel immediately offered become a memorial for the 600 VMI the work he had completed 25 years earlier. alumni who have died in service to the Original Intent: nation from 1846 to 2011. My statue Virginia Mourning Her To mark the graves of six “New Mar-

Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography 13 MONUMENT: 1848 Cadet Battery the Potomac River at the Battle of Falling Waters. As soon as better field pieces were available, the Cadet Battery was returned to VMI. They were not taken to New Market. After the Civil War the guns continued to be used as training pieces for the cadets until the advent of breech-loading cannon. The guns then became ceremonial in nature, used to render military salutes through the academic year. Since 1913 four of the remaining five guns of the battery have sat in front of The VMI Barracks. The fifth gun, a 12-pound The Cadet Battery was especially In the 1850s, as professor of artillery howitzer, sets beside Limits Gate. designed for VMI in 1848. Weighing tactics, MAJ Thomas Jackson trained The Cadet Battery is a symbol of the 500 pounds less than regular cannon, cadets with these cannon. A shortage ever ready spirit of the Citizen-Soldier. the smooth-bore six-pounder cannon of regular guns saw the Cadet were designed as drill guns. The Battery pressed into service with carriages were ordered in red to the Rockbridge Artillery, CSA. One designate their special use. of the original six guns was lost in

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MEMORIAL: Little Sorrel Grave Marker

18” by 24” granite grave marker for the cremated skeletal remains of Little Sorrel located in front of the DRAFTCadet Battery at Jackson Arch.

The bones of Little Sorrel were classroom. In 1997 the cremated presented to Frederick Weber as skeleton was buried on the VMI Parade payment for his taxidermy services Ground where, in life, the old horse in 1886. The mounted hide of Little had grazed. The project was funded Sorrel came to the VMI Museum when by the Virginia Division of the United the Richmond Old Soldier’s Home Daughters of the Confederacy. closed in 1941. The skeleton arrived in 1948 and was placed in the biology 14 Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography MONUMENT: Tredegar Cannon down antique French artillery tubes, identical to the ones they now join along the Parapet. In fact, the French guns were sent to VMI to avoid a similar fate. After using the guns in a number of battles around Richmond, the Letcher Battery retired the light weight six-pound guns and sent them to VMI where they joined the French guns. It is noteworthy that, technically, the battery was a state unit and the guns were state property, not Confederate government property. The two far left and far right The battery was commanded by end bronze cannon flanking CPT Greenlee Davidson, VMI 1861, the Revolutionary War French and named in honor of Virginia Guns along the Parapet Wall are governor and Lexington resident Confederate cannon used by the John Letcher. Letcher Artillery and made by the The six-pound smooth bore guns Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. were cast in 1862 out of melted

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Erected in 1952 the plaque commemorates the ten cadets who were dispatched to Harpers Ferry in April, 1861 to take munitions to GEN Thomas J. Jackson.

The cadets stayed on to act as drill instructors. All but one participated in the First Battle of Manassas. In that capacity, Cadet Charles Robert DRAFTNorris, VMI 1864, became the first cadet to die in the Civil War.

Original Intent: The plaque was created to memorialize the Confederate service of the cadets listed. The plaque states that it was erected by Mrs. Adelita Burruss Jordan, daughter of Nathaniel Burruss, one of the cadets listed.

Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography 15 MONUMENT: Ruffin Plaza

Ruffin Gates and Plaza was Edmond was a nationally recognized Original Intent: A gift from the 1989 dedicated on October 13, 1989, a gift agronomist and ardent secessionist generation of the Ruffin family to of the Ruffin family in tribute to the who arranged to stand with the cadets honor their VMI connection through Charles L. VMI 1852, Charles L., Jr, at the execution of John Brown, several generations. VMI 1886, Charles L., VMI 1922, December 1859. Edmund Ruffin is often and David D. Wallace, VMI 1958 and erroneously credited with firing the first Edmund Ruffin, honorary member of shot of the Civil War upon Fort Sumter, the Class of 1859. Charleston, SC.

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MONUMENT: ATΩ Dedicated on June 20, 1939, the ATΩ Alfred Marshall became the assistant Monument was a gift of the fraternity engineer for the Mississippi & Missouri commemorating the 100th anniversary Railroad in Iowa. where he contracted of the Institute. The monument consist yellow fever and died in 1870. of a six-foot granite stone, bronze ...to know no North, no South, no drinking fountain, and dedicatory East, no West, but to know man plaque. The national fraternity Alpha as man, to teach that true men the Tau Omega was founded by three world over should stand together VMI cadets who had fought together and contend for supremacy of good in the Battle of New Market: Otis over evil; to teach, not politics, but Allen Glazebrook, VMI 1866; Alfred morals; to foster, not partisanship, Marshall, VMI 1866 and Erskin Mayo but the recognition of true merit Ross, VMI 1865. wherever found; to have no According to the ATO website, narrower limits within which to Glazebrook conceived of the fraternity work together for the elevation of as a mechanism to heal and help man than the outlines of the world. DRAFTreunite the nation in a Christian – Otis Allan Glazebrook based fraternity. O. A. Glazebrook became an Episcopal Original Intent: To recognize the Priest and diplomat. He was the US role of VMI cadets in the founding of Representative to Palestine during WWI a national fraternity, which remains and later to Nice, France. active today. Erskine Mayo Ross moved to California and became Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the 1920s.

16 Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography MONUMENT: Jackson-Hope Medal Monument Kemper proposed that the remainder be used to create an academic award for the first and second highest academic achievement to two graduating first classmen annually. First awarded in 1877, the gold medallion bears a high relief image of Foley’s statue and the words: Jackson-Hope Medal The Gift of English Gentlemen. In 2003 a monument was erected near Preston Library listing the names of every recipient, a bronze likeness of the medal, and the VMI motto: In Pace Decus, In Bello Praesidium (In Peace, A Glorious Asset, In War a Tower of Strength). Immediately following the death of Scottish sculptor John Foley to execute Thomas J. Jackson in 1863 a group the statue. The statue was dedicated on Original Intent: to recognize all of British admirers determined to the capital grounds in 1875. recipients of VMI’s highest academic honor. create a bronze statue to present to the The funding campaign was so Commonwealth. The group was led by successful funds were left over after the Honorable A. J. B. Beresford-Hope, all expenses were covered. Governor MP, who commissioned the eminent

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STATUE: George Washington (1732-1799) William Hubard completed his into The Barracks, as if observing bronze replica of Jean Houdon’s the development of generations of marble statue of George Washington VMI cadets. in 1856. It was the second successful Original Intent: Superintendent bronze casting of an heroic size Smith sought every opportunity statue in the United States. Hubard to present images of public service planned to make a copy for each associated with the Citizen-Solider of the 13 original colonies. The before the Corps of Cadets. He had Commonwealth of Virginia Washington’s likeness placed on the purchased the first copy for $10,000 Corps flag. The same year he had and presented the statue of America’s a portrait of Washington included Citizen-Soldier to VMI, the state’s in the design of the diploma. Smith school of the Citizen-Soldier. lobbied to have Hubard’s Washington Removed from VMI by the Union placed at VMI as the highest example Army in 1864, the statue was of a Virginian in service to his state DRAFTreturned to its place in 1866. and nation. Washington is positioned looking

Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography 17 PLAQUE: Virginia Historical Marker, Limits Gate and Crozet Hall Placed in 2017, Virginia Highway historical marker I-1 (pictured)located at Limits Gate, Ruffin Plaza, reads: VMI is an undergraduate public college founded in 1839 with the mission of preparing citizen-soldiers to serve in both civilian and military capacities. It is the oldest state-supported military college in the nation. Alexander J. Davis designed its first Gothic Revival buildings, which opened in 1851. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury, and scientist John Brooke served on the faculty. Among its alumni are George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff during World War II and Nobel Prize recipient, polar explorer Richard E. Byrd, Civil Rights martyr Jonathan Daniels, 11 Rhodes scholars, and seven Medal of Honor recipients.

Created in 1989, historical marker I-2 is located near Crozet Hall and reads: The nation’s first state military college, VMI was founded in 1839 on the concept of the citizen-soldier. The Corps of Cadets fought as a unit in the 1864 Battle of New Market. Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson and oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury were among its faculty. George C. Marshall, a 1901 graduate, served as Army Chief of Staff in W.W. II, and later as Secretary of State, devising the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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DESIGN: Official VMI Crest

Designed by the US Army Institute of Heraldry in 1966, the VMI Crest was officially adopted by the Board of Visitors to be worn by all uniformed VMI personnel and the Corps of Cadets. The basic shape and design find roots in the official Seal of Colonial Virginia dating to 1619. The heraldic translation of Consilio et Animis is: By Wisdom and Courage.

The sword and lantern represent the military and academic mission of the Institute, respectively. The description provided by the Institute of Heraldry states that the broken gold chevron in the black upper left canton "is an augmentation of honor; it commemorates the valorous charge of the cadet battalion on 15 May 1864 at the Battle of New Market which broke the dark threat of union invasion DRAFTof the valley of Virginia.”

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18 Inventory and Review of Monuments and Memorials Related to Confederate Iconography