The Citadel vs. VMI

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Why does the role of the cadets from the Virginia Military Academy (VMI) in the Civil War have such a prominent place in Civil War memory while the role of the South Carolina Military Academy (now The Citadel) is largely forgotten? The SC cadets probably saw more combat than their VA counterparts.

Is it all because of that one dramatic charge?

Or is it because the war historiography has been Virginia-centric while the entire Charleston Campaign is largely forgotten? Despite the length of the campaign, the forces engaged and battles fought were much smaller than those in Virginia or Tennessee/Georgia, and the leaders largely devoid of glory. Glory (the film) and the CSS Hunley were part of the campaign, but seem to be remembered in isolation.

 

[John Winn]

Paging @John Winn , as he might be interested in this - he has an ancestor who fought in the Battle of New Market.

Why, thank you, cousin.

For the record, I don't have an ancestor who fought at New Market; my ancestor - the sister of my avatar John Winn - was the wife of a New Market veteran. And his father was on Jackson's staff. His house still stands in Martinsburg, WV (home town of our founders). After the war he was a senator from West Virginia and took in all three of John Winn's sisters who all lived the rest of their lives in Martinsburg.

I have another familial tie to Jackson in that John Winn's great aunt married a man who was one of Lexington's founders and she and husband attended the same church as the Jacksons. He built my ggg grandfather's house in Charlottesville, VA and also did the brick work at Monticello (ggg grandpa having been a neighbor and friend of TJ). That's where he met his future wife. In addition, her husband was a close friend of the commandant of VMI (their houses were very close; both are still standing and he built both) and so also knew Jackson from that. They are both buried in the Jackson cemetery not too far from Jackson himself.

And Moses Hoge, who was the Presbyterian minister at the church Jackson attended when in Richmond, married my John Winn and his first wife.

So, for me, there's definitely the tie to Jackson that makes VMI more interesting. But I also have direct familial ties to several Citadel graduates - also Confederate vets - so the Citadel doesn't exactly get the cold shoulder.

 

[Tom Elmore]

I suppose one reason is that many of the South Carolina Military Academy (Citadel) students appear to have been retained by the State of South Carolina for more local duties/engagements. Also, given the number of Virginians versus South Carolina soldiers in the Army of Northern Virginia, one would expect VMI to be dominant there. I have identified 26 SCMA alumni who served at Gettysburg, compared to 125 VMI alumni. VMI reportedly contributed 1,200 officers to the Confederate cause, including 21 generals and 100 colonels; I don't have such statistics for SCMA.

 

[MWood1841]

Direct from author and retired Chief Historian from F'burg and Spotsy Military Park - Robert K Krick's 1979 Lee's Colonels -

Lee's Colonels, Field Grade Commanders = 151 VMI Cadets
most out of all colleges or military academies

**Va Military Org (Regimental Series)
VMI proved to be the greatest source for military Leaders commanding Virginia's soldiers as part of the newly formed Army of Northern Virginia. By far the most out of all colleges or military academies, with the University of Virginia being second.
Of the 56 regiments and battalions of infantry and artillery units accepted into Confederate Army service in 1861, 20 were commanded by VMI graduates. VMI Alumni collectively made up 92 Colonels, 64 Lieut Colonels, 107 Majors, 304 Captains and 221 Lieutenants. Of the 1,902 institute matriculates from 1839 to 1865, 1,781 served in the Confederate Army.

 

[MWood1841]

Wasn't a Citadel battery on Morris Island, first technical artillery shots (arguably) of the CW? It fired on the Star of the West trying to deliver supplies to Sumter. Just shooting off memory from a Van Dorn book I read not long ago.

 

[FarawayFriend]

Why, thank you, cousin.

For the record, I don't have an ancestor who fought at New Market; my ancestor - the sister of my avatar John Winn - was the wife of a New Market veteran. And his father was on Jackson's staff. His house still stands in Martinsburg, WV (home town of our founders). After the war he was a senator from West Virginia and took in all three of John Winn's sisters who all lived the rest of their lives in Martinsburg.

I have another familial tie to Jackson in that John Winn's great aunt married a man who was one of Lexington's founders and she and husband attended the same church as the Jacksons. He built my ggg grandfather's house in Charlottesville, VA and also did the brick work at Monticello (ggg grandpa having been a neighbor and friend of TJ). That's where he met his future wife. In addition, her husband was a close friend of the commandant of VMI (their houses were very close; both are still standing and he built both) and so also knew Jackson from that. They are both buried in the Jackson cemetery not too far from Jackson himself.

And Moses Hoge, who was the Presbyterian minister at the church Jackson attended when in Richmond, married my John Winn and his first wife.

So, for me, there's definitely the tie to Jackson that makes VMI more interesting. But I also have direct familial ties to several Citadel graduates - also Confederate vets - so the Citadel doesn't exactly get the cold shoulder.

I do apologize for having been mistaken on your ancestor but I don't regret having lured you to this thread - what an impressive, fascinating family history!! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[rpkennedy]

Wasn't a Citadel battery on Morris Island, first technical artillery shots (arguably) of the CW? It fired on the Star of the West trying to deliver supplies to Sumter. Just shooting off memory from a Van Dorn book I read not long ago.

It was. A battery of cadets commanded by SCMA's superintendent, Colonel Peter Stevens, fired at the Star of the West.

Ryan

 

[John Winn]

I do apologize for having been mistaken on your ancestor but I don't regret having lured you to this thread - what an impressive, fascinating family history!! Thanks for sharing!!

I still remember us crossing paths in Lexington at the Lee chapel.

Learning all that history took me a very long time but it was worth every second and dollar. My family knew nothing of all of that (or so it seems). That in itself is remarkable; wouldn't somebody know something ? How does an entire family forget all their history in one or two generations ?

These things are the carrots on the stick that kept me interested in genealogy for as long as I was.

 

[bdtex]

I must admit that I know nothing about the service of The Citadel Cadets in the Civil War other than the artillery crew that fired on the Star Of The West.

 

[rpkennedy]

I must admit that I know nothing about the service of The Citadel Cadets in the Civil War other than the artillery crew that fired on the Star Of The West.

Some of the cadets resigned in order to form the Cadet Rangers which would later become Company F, 6th South Carolina Cavalry. Some other cadets would form parts of the South Carolina militia units which would fight against Sherman late in the war.

Ryan

 

[sprog94]

VMI is only 3 years older than the Citadel. Why such a large difference? Just the population of Virginia?

Charleston is my home and I've had friends and family attend both schools, and service academies.
VMI is more than 3 years older than the Citadel.
VMI cadets began class on post on November 11, 1839. The post was destroyed in the Civil War but rebuilt within one year and classes have continued on site ever since. VMI was called into active military service on over a dozen occasions while the Citadel was shut down during the war. The Citadel was "established" in 1842 but started accepting cadets and began classes in Columbia (not Charleston) in 1855. After this, they did 2 years in Columbia and 2 years in Charleston. During and after the Civil War, the Citadel was closed for nearly 20 years. The school operated near Meeting Street for nearly 60 years, then the Citadel was moved and reopened at its current location in the 1960s.
Today VMI consists of 1800 cadets with 65% going into the military.
Today the Citadel consists of nearly 4,000 students. 1900 civilian day/night undergrad/grad/online students and 2400 cadets with 30% going into the military.

 

[RedRover]

Pardon my ignorance, but was there a similar Northern school other than the USMA that all served together? A friend of mine had an older brother go to the Military Academy while he attended the Citadel. Both retired as Ltc. (their father was a Major General, as was their Mother's father, all Academy, Institute or Citadel grads back several generations). I wonder what they would think today?

In the north there was the Norwich University, which was a notable military school in the ante-bellum and wartime period.

At least forty Norwich alumni served in the armies of the Confederacy.

A large number of Norwrich students were in the "Dartmouth Cavaliers" or Company B, 7th Squadron, Rhode Island Cavalry, which took the field in US service in 1862.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Sirs, please see...

Cadets in Gray: The Story of the Cadets of the South Carolina Military Academy and the Cadet Rangers in the Civil War by Baker, Gary R.

First to Fight: Citadel Cadets, the Star of the West, and Fort Sumter by Kullberg, Andrew D.

And for some free reading...

The history of the South Carolina military academy, with appendixes 1879 by John Peyre Thomas

The history of the South Carolina military academy, with appendixes. By John Peyre Thomas

The Battalion of State Cadets participated in eight engagements during the Civil War. As a result of these actions, the state of South Carolina authorized the flag of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets to carry the following Confederate battle streamers:

Confederate States Army
Star of the West, January 9, 1861
Wappoo Cut, November 1861
James Island, June 1862
Charleston and Vicinity, July–October 1863
James Island, June 1864
Tulifinny, December 1864
James Island, December 1864 – February 1865
Williamston, May 1865

History of The Citadel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Bruce Allardice]

There were a handful in the North (there was one in New Hampshire but its name escapes me at the moment) but it was definitely more common in the South. Just about every Southerm state had one and a few had several.

Ryan

My article "West Points of the Confederacy. Southern Military Schools and the Confederate Army," Civil War History vol. 43 (1997), lists over 90 military schools and schools with a cadet program, in the South prior to the war. There were also numerous northern schools as well, though, as pointed out, fewer in the north than in the South. Norwich is the most famous, but Starr's Military Academy in New York and various ones in the Philadelphia area add to the total.
As to VMI vs. SCMA, the raw numbers show VMI with a much larger yearly enrollment. Just with CSA full colonels, 73 were VMI attendees, dwarfing the number of SCMA colonels.

 

[USS ALASKA]

As to VMI vs. SCMA, the raw numbers show VMI with a much larger yearly enrollment.

Sirs, this might be too esoteric of a question, but could the reason be the VMI had a larger endowment? It could afford to take on more students?

Just spitballing,
USS ALASKA

 

[Pollaco]

Didn't the 4 Cadet guns from VMI, (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), being turned over to the Rockbridge Artillery add some "romantic appeal"?

 

[Tom Elmore]

Military schools and number of alumni (grads/non-grads) represented at Gettysburg (from my personal compilation):

CSA:
Arsenal Military Academy, Columbia, SC - 1
Danville Military Institute (Academy), Danville, Virginia - 3
Franklin Military Institute, Franklin, North Carolina - 1
Georgia Military Institute, Marietta, Georgia - 13
Hampton Military Academy, Virginia? - 4
Hillsborough Military Academy, Hillsborough, North Carolina (aka North Carolina Military Academy) - 2
King's Mountain Military Academy, Yorkville, South Carolina - 2
Norfolk Military Academy, Virginia - 0
North Carolina Military Institute, Charlotte, NC - 4
South Carolina Military Academy (now The Citadel) - 25
U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland - 7 (yes, all were in the CSA army)
Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia - 125
Western Military Institute, Georgetown, Kentucky (merged with University of Nashville in 1855) - 4
Westwood Military School, Lynchburg, Virginia - 2

USA:
Norwich University, Norwich, Vermont - 24
Russell Military Academy, New Haven, Connecticut - 1
Royal Academy of Engineers, Berlin, Prussia (Germany) - 1

Both USA and CSA:
U. S. Military Academy, West Point, New York - 120 (61 CSA, 59 USA)
Kentucky Military Institute, Lyndon, Kentucky - 3 (2 CSA, 1 USA)

Total CSA: 256
Total USA: 86

 

[JeffBrooks]

I believe West Point was it for the north. The state sponsored military academies was a southern thing.

Yes, and I think this is a VERY underappreciated historical fact. The prevalence of private and state-level military academies gave the South a source of trained men to be company and regimental commanders in the early days of the war, which was a crucial advantage over the North. It didn't last much beyond 1862, as Union officers learned on the job, but while it lasted it was pretty important.

 

[JeffBrooks]

I don't remember that the Union burned down the Citadel but didn't they burn down VMI?

Yep. Old David Hunter put the torch to it in 1864. In fairness, it's easy to make an argument that it was a legitimate military target. On the other hand, rather a shame to burn down a school, and such a pretty one at that.

 

[Pollaco]

When Jubal Early sent part of his cavalry off to burn Chambersburg retaliation for Hunter's burning of VMI was more than likely on his mind.

 

[Bruce Allardice]

Sirs, this might be too esoteric of a question, but could the reason be the VMI had a larger endowment? It could afford to take on more students?

Just spitballing,
USS ALASKA

The state of Virginia had a program of state subsidized scholarships, where they'd pay for students to go to VMI so long as the student taught in VA schools after graduation. I think that's a part of it. Plus VA was (and is) a more populous state than SC.