Lexington, VA—Home of Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University

Lexington, VA is a town filled with American history!  Settled in the 1730s and becoming the county seat of Rockbridge County in 1777, Lexington was named after the Massachusetts town of Revolutionary War fame. The county name—Rockridge--came from the nearby large stone Natural Bridge, then owned by Thomas Jefferson!  Four American Generals—George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and George C. Marshall—have all played major roles here. The population of Lexington today is about 7000.

Many beautiful late 19th century homes here

Education has been a major theme in Lexington.  Liberty Hall Academy, founded in 1749, moved to Lexington in 1780.  In 1796, the school faced a financial crisis and George Washington stepped in and saved the school with a gift of 100 shares of stock in James River Canal Co. worth $20,000!   In gratitude, the school's name was changed to Washington Academy and later Washington College.  

General Robert E. Lee, became the college president shortly after the Civil War and introduced many innovative programs that brought the college into national prominence. He added a law school, the nation's first journalism program and eventually a school of business administration. Lee also began the college's well known Honor System stressing personal responsibility and integrity. Violations of the honor code mean automatic dismissal.  When Lee died in 1870, the college's name was changed to Washington and Lee University.

Today the beautiful Washington and Lee campus consists of 55 rolling acres in the front campus plus 50 acres of playing fields and 300 acres of open space.  The current enrollment is 2300 students including 430 studying law.  Instruction is personal with a student teacher ratio of 9 to 1 with most classes having around 20 students!  The University's mission is “to provide a liberal arts education that develops student's capacities to think freely, critically and humanely and to conduct themselves with honor, integrity and civility.”

The campus architecture is very impressive.  The Lee Chapel and Museum is must see visitor site. The Chapel was built by Robert E. Lee in 1867 and contains Lee's college president office exactly as he left it before his death in Fall 1870.  The famous 1772 Peale portrait of George Washington is displayed in the Chapel.  The 1875 Recumbent Lee sculpture of Robert E. Lee on center stage of the Chapel is a very moving tribute to Lee.  General Lee and his family are buried in a family crypt under the Lee Chapel.  Interestingly, Lee's famous horse, Traveller, is also buried outside the Chapel! Donations are requested.

Directly adjoining Washington and Lee University is the huge 134 acre Post (campus) of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), the oldest state funded military college in the country, founded in 1839.

Since this is an historic military college, the campus is called “the Post” a term used for Army installations. The illustrious VMI alumni list of General and Navy Flag Officers over all its years totals 270 including its most honored alumnus-- Class of 1901 General of the Army George C. Marshall, who was also Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, President of the American Red Cross, author of the post-WWII Marshall Plan and Nobel Prize winner.  Other prominent names include General George S. Patton Jr. (1907), RADM Richard E. Byrd Jr. (1908) and LTG Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC, U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr.(1935) and 7 Medal of Honor recipients.

 

VMI is most famous for its entire cadet corps fighting in the May 15, 1864 Civil War Battle of New Market and helping the Confederate side win, but with a loss of 10 VMI cadets killed and 47 wounded!  The 10 cadet heroes are honored on the VMI campus with 10 granite tombs under the “Virginia Mourning Her Dead” sculpture housing the remains of 6 of the 10 dead cadets. VMI cadets trained Confederate Army recruits and were called into active Confederate military service fourteen times during the Civil War!

Early VMI instructors were Thomas J. Jackson, a professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy later known as Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson and Mathew Fontaine Maury, who taught physics at VMI, and was a pioneering oceanographer who charted the ocean currents becoming known as “the Pathfnder of the Seas.”  A founding vision of VMI was that it would produce “fair specimens of citizen-soldiers”* and it has continued doing that to this day!

Today VMI has a Corps of Cadets numbering about 1600 with 90% male and 10% female cadets. Women were first admitted in 1997.  VMI is sometimes called the “West Point of the South,” but is more austere than the federal service academies.  All VMI students are military cadets pursuing bachelor's degrees in 14 disciplines in liberal arts, humanities, the sciences and engineering. Participation in Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is required and commissioning into a military service is encouraged but not required.  99% of VMI professors have PhD degrees in their field!  VMI is nationally considered one of the very best liberal arts colleges and the only one with “a framework of military discipline that emphasizes the qualities of honor, integrity and responsibility.”*

VMI has an extremely strict Honor Code that states “A Cadet does not lie, cheat, steal nor tolerate those who do.” * A violation of the Honor Code requires immediate expulsion from VMI by a “drumming out” ceremony.

There is a lot to see at VMI.  Parking is an extreme problem; we visited during the summer break so we were able to park on the campus near the VMI Museum.  Dominating the 12 acre Parade Grounds are the three Barracks buildings, begun in 1851, where the cadets live. The statue of General of the Army George C. Marshall, VMI's most distinguished graduate, is adjacent to the Parade Grounds.  Close by is the statue of Confederate Army hero General Stonewall Jackson, who died after being mortally wounded in the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1864 and was earlier a VMI instructor.   

Next to him is the Cadet Battery, cannon cast in 1848 and used by Jackson in cadet artillery training.  Near the Museum is the New Market statue called Virginia Mourning Her Dead, a memorial to all the VMI cadets who fought at the nearby Battle of New Market and to the 10 cadets killed in battle that day, May 15, 1864.  The statue is the work of Moses Ezekial, a VMI cadet who fought at New Market and later became a famous sculptor. VMI holds an annual “New Market Ceremony” on May 15^th to “commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of the Cadets called to the battle at New Market in 1864—47 wounded, and ten who died on the field of honor—and all of the Institute's alumni who have served our nation.* 

The VMI Cadets charge at the New Market battle

The VMI Museum in Jackson Hall, named for Stonewall Jackson, is very interesting and admission is free.  The ground floor of this large assembly hall is dominated by a heroic oil painting portraying the cadet charge at the Battle of New Market, painted by Benjamin West Clinedinst, VMI Class of 1880. The two floors below portray the history of VMI from its start in 1839 to the present day.  Many personal possessions of Stonewall Jackson are exhibited, including his uniform and the bullet-pierced raincoat he wore at Chancellorsville when he was mortally wounded and the mounted hide of his beloved warhorse, Little Sorrel.  Cadet life is brought to life in a replica barracks room.  General George Patton's cadet uniform and his shiny helmet are also displayed.  The Henry Stewart Antique Firearms Collection is very unique, featuring over 450 rare revolving cylinder firearms on a lower floor. 

The George C. Marshall Museum and Research Library is also on the Post.  It is “a research center for scholars of the 20^th century military and diplomatic history, the library is a memorial to General of the Army George C. Marshall.  Library exhibit rooms are open to the public.”* It was closed the day of our visit.

The Stonewall Jackson House is at 8 East Washington St. in downtown Lexington and is the only house Jackson ever owned.  It has been completely restored to its 1860 condition.  In 2011 it became part of the VMI Museum System and “interprets Jackson's life as a citizen, teacher, church leader and family man during the decade he lived in Lexington.”

The Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery on South Main St. also in downtown Lexington grew around the old Lexington Presbyterian Church constructed in 1789.  General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and his family are buried here in a central place of honor.  The statue of Jackson by sculptor Edward Valentine was dedicated in 1891.  Two Virginia Governors, veterans of the Revolutionary War and at least 296 Confederate veterans are buried here. 

The Lexington Visitor Center at 106 East Washington St. in downtown Lexington, is a friendly and great source of information with exhibits of many Lexington sites and a terrific Walking Tour brochure,  titled “Historic Lexington Virginia—More Than You'd Expect” that we found very useful.  Also they offer free parking while you walk the downtown along with cold water and restrooms!  Many of the town's distinctive homes are also described on the walking tours and shown on the map.  Lexington is a great place to visit and to walk in the footsteps of some very famous people!

The final visit was in the nearby town of Buena Vista, where our county campground, Glen Maury Park and Campground, was located.  Southern Virginia University is situated in Buena Vista and its Main Hall is the splendid, beautifully restored 1890 Victorian resort Buena Vista Hotel (Beautiful View Hotel) sited on a hillside overlooking the town of Buena Vista.  The hotel became Bowling Green Female Seminary then Southern Seminary in 1900.  In 1994 its name changed to Southern Virginia College and became coed. In the early 1990s, the college faced declining enrollment, became financially unstable and lost its accreditation. 

In 1996 a group of LDS members took over and the college has since experienced phenomenal growth.  In April 2001, the name changed again to Southern Virginia University, and it “is the only private four year liberal arts college dedicated to educating Latter-day Saints and those with similar standards and ideals.”  It is not officially affiliated with the LDS faith but 91% of students are LDS members and an LDS Church is now on the campus. There are 12 major buildings on campus with Main Hall as the most visible, containing administrative offices and a residence hall.  The college offers 13 majors and now has 777 students attending.  It's worth a visit just to see the elegance of Main Hall!

* quoted from VMI—No Ordinary College.  No Ordinary Life. brochure.

A statue of a Transformer--no Civil War hero!

Our neighbors on the campground