November 11: Veteran’s Day and Founding of VMI
I have been aware of the Virginia Military Institute from an early age. We lived next door to a VMI graduate who served in the US Army and became a general in the Virginia National Guard. He had two sons for whom there was only one option after high school: VMI. They not only accepted their fate but relished the history and culture of the Institute and looked forward to the time they could go. I remember being not so much asked if I wanted to go to VMI but being told I was going by my neighbors.
Later, I had a number of school classmates whose fathers were alumni and they often spoke nostalgically of their time at the Institute. Many stories centered on their time as “rats.” All entering freshmen had to endure what might be called hazing today or as the VMI website describes it: “a physically challenging and constantly demanding environment.” I began to realize that VMI was not a fun place to be but the strict discipline bred close ties among the alumni as they had something in common: surviving the rat line. Men in their fifties still referred to their classmates as “Brother rat.” The alumni viewed the adversity not as traumatic but as an achievement, something for which they could be proud.
I attended Washington & Lee University which is also in Lexington and shares a common property line with VMI. Several of my high school classmates went to VMI and they frequently came over to our fraternity on weekends. They certainly were not enjoying their rat year. No one knew when the rat line would end, sometime in the spring. When it happened, the rats had to go through “breakout” which involved a day or more of harsh physical challenges culminating in climbing a muddy hill where upperclassmen might interfere with reaching the top. We always knew when breakout was occurring because we could hear the muffled roar of male voices in the distance. Today, I hear some of the same sorts of nostalgic sentiments from my contemporaries about their rat year.
Today is the anniversary of the founding of VMI and Veteran’s Day. It seems fitting to write something about the school and the alumni for some of my audience who are not from Virginia. Founded in 1839, VMI was one of the first state sponsored military colleges that popped up across the US especially in the South. The school was barely 20 years old when the Civil War broke out. The cadets trained new recruits to the Confederate Army (as many as 50,000) but did not join the soldiers in combat. VMI alumni though quickly became important to the Confederate cause. Twenty two of the school’s alumni or professors became generals in the Confederate Army, most notably VMI’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. 300 more VMI graduates served as field officers with 500 more acting as company grade officers.
As the war dragged on and the Confederacy suffered an increasingly dire manpower shortage, the cadets began marching out as a reserve as the war came to the Shenandoah Valley. In 1864, Confederate General John C. Breckenridge had the cadet corps in reserve at the Battle of New Market. The Confederate center took withering artillery and small arms fire and two regiments retreated unexpectedly. Breckinridge reluctantly ordered the VMI cadets to fill the gap. Led by the cadets, the Confederates charged across a muddy section of the battlefield with many losing their shoes in the morass. The charge succeeded in breaking the Union line with the cadets capturing an artillery piece. Nine cadets died with 47 more wounded in the Confederate victory. Here, I can claim a family historical connection. My great-great grandfather Augustus McNeer was a private in the Virginia 26th Infantry Battalion on the cadets’ left flank during the charge across the Field of Lost Shoes. Later, the 26th came under the command of Colonel George S. Patton, VMI Class of 1852, and grandfather of the famous General Patton of World War II.*
A month later, Union forces under Union General David Hunter retaliated. On June 11, 1864, Hunter’s men captured Lexington and the following day destroyed most of VMI’s buildings. Washington College (later Washington & Lee) was ransacked by Union troops but Hunter spared the college’s building from destruction due to the statue of George Washington atop the Washington Hall. VMI survived and was rebuilt. The Institute continued producing high quality officers for the US military. In World War I, at least 800 VMI graduates served as officers and 200 more enlisted men in the American Expeditionary Force in World War I. VMI contributed 4,100 officers in World War II including 97 generals. 183 alumni were killed in action.
George Marshall stands out as the most distinguished graduate. Marshall attained the rank of colonel in World War I and by the time of World War II he was the US Army Chief of Staff becoming the first five star general in US History in 1944. In that capacity, Marshall built the US military from a small force of 100,000 to over 10 million. He also chose many of the senior commanders including George S. Patton and Omar Bradley. After the war, Marshall became Secretary of State (engineering the Marshall Plan to re-build Europe) and finally Secretary of Defense. Winston Churchill called the Marshall Plan “the most unselfish act by any great power in history.” Marshall won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 in large part for the plan bearing his name.
VMI has produced thousands more officers since World War II including at least seven four star generals, two Marine Corps Commandants, and an Air Force Chief of Staff. At least 86 alumni have died in combat from Korea to the current War on Terror. The number of wounded is not readily available online but must exceed the killed in action by a factor of at least three or more.
VMI has made a significant contribution to protecting American liberty. So on this Veterans Day, we can take a moment to thank our Veterans and remember their sacrifices. Not only does the school produce soldiers and sailors, it is well known in Virginia for alumni who excel in every field of business and science. Most importantly, they learned a strong sense of honor and integrity. W&L also placed special interest on honor so I have always appreciated the fact that VMI alumni could always be trusted.
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For other Civil War articles, please click on one or more of the links below:
The story of Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley’s historic achievement in becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat and the 149 year odyssey in recovering the Hunley and attempts to discover why it failed to return after its historic first:
Confederate Submarine H. L. Hunley’s Historic Night and the Mysteries That followed
Stonewall Jackson achieved lasting fame and military immortality in 1862 in his Valley Campaign of 1862. This article provides an interactive map of Jackson’s maneuvers and engagements:
Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign
Read more about Ulric Dahlgren’s controversial 1864 raid on Richmond:
Dahlgren’s 1864 Raid on Richmond Generates an Ongoing Controversy
In 1862, Irish dominated Union and Confederate brigades faced off at Mayre’s Heights during the Battle of Fredericksburg with tragic results:
An American Tragedy at Fredericksburg: Clash of the Irish Brigades