The Virginia Military Institute is founded in…
November 1839 CE
In the years after the War of 1812, the Commonwealth of Virginia had built and maintained several arsenals to store weapons intended for use by the state militia in the event of invasion or slave revolt.
Lexington attorney John Thomas Lewis Preston, who belongs to a debate club known as the Franklin Society, had made the case to the society in 1836 that the arsenal in Lexington could be put to better use as a normal school for providing education on practical subjects, as well as military training to individuals who could be expected to serve as officers in the militia if needed.
After debate and revision of the original proposal, the Franklin Society voted in favor of Preston’s concept.
After a public relations campaign that included Preston meeting in person with influential business, military and political figures, letters to editors of prominent news sources from Preston writing under a pen name, and many other open letters from prominent supporters, in 1836 the Virginia legislature passed a bill authorizing creation of a school at the Lexington arsenal, and the Governor signed the measure into law.
The organizers of the planned school formed a board of visitors, which included Preston, and the board selected Claudius Crozet, a prominent officer and engineer formerly under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte, to serve as their President.
Crozet was also the Chief Engineer of Virginia and someone whom Thomas Jefferson referred to as, "the smartest mathematician in the United States." The board delegated to Preston the task of deciding what to call the new school, and he created the name Virginia Military Institute.
Preston was also tasked with hiring VMI’s first Superintendent.
He was persuaded that West Point graduate and Army officer Francis Henney Smith, then on the faculty at Hampden–Sydney College, was the most suitable candidate.
Preston successfully recruited Smith, and convinced him to become the first Superintendent and Professor of Tactics.
In an endeavor unique to the United States, Preston, Crozet, and Smith founded VMI intending to create a hybrid of the best characteristics of the United States Military Academy and British Royal Military Academy Sandhurst educational models.
After Smith agreed to accept the Superintendent’s position, Preston applied to join the faculty, and was hired as Professor of Languages.
Classes begin in 1839, and the first cadet to march a sentinel post is Private John Strange.
With few exceptions, there will be sentinels posted at VMI every hour of every day of the school year.
Groups
Regions
Northern North America
View →Subregions
