W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1984 Benjamin Stoddert Ewell : a biography Anne W. Chapman College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Chapman, Anne W., "Benjamin Stoddert Ewell : a biography" (1984). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623748. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-2jgm-0708 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. 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Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 8429747 Chapman, Anne West BENJAMIN STODDERT EWELL: A BIOGRAPHY The College of William and Mary in Virginia Ph.D. 1984 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 43106 Copyright 1984 by Chapman, Anne West All Rights Reserved BENJAMIN STODDERT EWELL: A BIOGRAPHY A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department o-f History The College o-f William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Anne W. Chapman 1984 APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial -fulfillment of the requirements tor the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Author Approved, April 1984 Boyd Jr Edward P. Crapol Ludwell H. woluison III ames P. Whittenburg Otha Mary i i Copyright by Anne West Chapman 1984 All Rights Reserved This study is dedicated to Pro+essor M. Boyd Coyner, Jr in appreciation -for his -friendship and sustained belief. i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................viii ABSTRACT ................................................... ix INTRODUCTION .............................................. 2 CHAPTER I. HERITAGE .................................... 8 CHAPTER II. CADET AND ENGINEER......................... 30 CHAPTER III. THE PROFESSOR............................. 52 CHAPTER IV. AN ANCIENT AND HONORED INSTITUTION. 73 CHAPTER V. THE WAR YEARS, 1861-1865 ................. 125 CHAPTER VI. REBUILDING, 1865-1870 164 CHAPTER VII. FINANCIAL CRISIS, 1870-1882............. 201 CHAPTER VIII. THE LAST YEARS, 1882-1894 ............. 275 EPILOGUE ................................................... 311 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................. 315 i v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My deepest gratitude and much o-f the credit -for completion of this study belong to Professor M. Boyd Coyner, Jr., o-f the Department of History, College of William and Mary. As my faculty advisor, he believed in this project from the beginning, and when my energy and enthusiasm waned, his did not. His numerous suggestions, encouragement, and careful editing were of value beyond measure. This account of the life and career of Benjamin Stoddert Ewell required many hours of research in the archives of the college he served for forty years. Miss Margaret Cook, Curator of Manuscripts, and Ms. Kay Domine, College Archivist, at the Earl Gregg Swem Library of the College of William and Mary graciously and unstintingly gave of their time and knowledge over a period of two years. For their professionalism and interest, I owe them an incalculable debt. 1 wish sincerely to thank Professors Edward P. Crapol, Ludwell H. Johnson III, James P. Whittenburg, and Richard B. Sherman of the Department of History, College of William and Mary, for their sustained interest and assistance. I am also grateful to Professor Michael Les Benedict of Ohio State University for sharing with me the manuscript of his forthcoming study of the Grant administration and to the Reverend Cornelius Buckley, S.J., University o-f San Francisco, tor information concerning Williamsburg during the Civil War. I am indebted to Ms. Rebecca Lowndes Scott Paluzsay of Williamsburg, Virginia, great-great-granddaughter o-f Benjamin Ewell, who provided in-formation on the Ewell family and who, during the course of this study, offered her friendship, hospitality, and cooperation. This work was greatly enriched, and in some cases could never have been completed, without the assistance, interest, and enthusiasm of librarians, archivists, and manuscript curators at the following institutions: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville? Huntington Library, San Marino, California? Virginia State Library, Richmond? District of Columbia Public Library, Washingtoniana Division? Jessie Ball Dupont Library, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee? Library of Congress, Manuscript Division? Library of the Historical Society of York County, Pennsylvania? Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia? Washington and Lee University Library, Lexington, Virginia? Library of the University of Texas at Austin? University of Pennsylvania Archives, Philadelphia? Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Division, Washington, D.C.? Preston Library, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia? William R. Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina? Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill? Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, vi Virginia; Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia; Alderman Library, University o-f Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia; Library of the United States Military Academy, West Point, Mew York! Prince William County, Virginia, Public Library. vi i ABBREVIATIONS BSE--Benjamin Stoddert Ewell CWM— College o-f William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va. DAB — Dictionary o-f American Biography LC — Library o-f Congress, Washington, D.C. SHC— Southern Historical Collection, University o-f North Carolina, Chapel Hill. TSLA--Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tenn. USMA--United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y. VMHB— Virginia Magazine o-f History and Biography VMI--Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va. WMQ--William and Mary Quarterly vi i i ABSTRACT This dissertation is a study o-f the life and career o-f Benjamin Stoddert Ewell (1810-1894). A grandson of the first United States Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, and son of an old Virginia family, Benjamin Ewell grew up in Prince William County, Virginia, during the early days of the American republic. Although educated at the United States Military Academy, Ewell rejected the military life for a career in college teaching and administration. After holding faculty chairs at Hampden-Sydney College (1839-46) and Washington College (1846-48), Ewell became, in 1848, president pro-tempore of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. For the next forty years he served William and Mary as professor (1849-54) and president (1848-495 1854-88). Ewell’s years were troubled ones for the colonial college. In the ante-bellum period, financial difficulties and a dearth of students--problems common to almost all nineteenth century college presidents--constantly threatened the college’s existence. In 1859 fire destroyed the main building, and Ewell faced the difficult problems of rebuilding. During the Civil War, in which Colonel Ewell served as adjutant to Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston, the college was burned again, this time by Union troops. Rebuilding after 1865 depleted the school’s endowment, and its location in the inaccessible and economically depressed Tidewater region of Virginia discouraged