On Nov. 11, 1839, 23 young Virginians were mustered into the service of the state and, in falling snow, the first cadet sentry – John B. Strange of Scottsville, Va. – took his post. Today the duty of walking guard duty is the oldest tradition of the Institute, a tradition experienced by every cadet.

Col. J.T.L. Preston, a lawyer in Lexington and one of the founders of VMI, declared that the Institute’s unique program would produce “fair specimens of citizen-soldiers,” and this observation has been substantiated by the service of VMI graduates in peace and war. Professor (later Maj. Gen.) Francis H. Smith, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, was the first superintendent of VMI. During his 50-year tenure, the Corps increased in size, the curriculum broadened, and the faculty grew. The first president of the Board of Visitors was Col. Claudius Crozet, a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and former faculty member at West Point who was the state engineer of Virginia at the time of his election to the board.

In 1851, Thomas J. Jackson joined the faculty, serving until the outbreak of the Civil War. During that war he became a general of the Confederate forces and earned the name “Stonewall” Jackson. He is considered one of the greatest commanders in military history. On May 15, 1863, the Corps of Cadets escorted Jackson’s remains to his grave in Lexington. Just before the Battle of Chancellorsville, in which he died, Jackson, after surveying the field and seeing so many VMI men around him in key positions, spoke the oft-quoted words: “The Institute will be heard from today.”

With the outbreak of the war, the Cadet Corps trained recruits for the Confederate Army in Richmond. The Corps was later reconstituted at the Institute to supply officers for the Southern armies. The Cadet Corps was called into active service 15 times in the Valley of Virginia during the next four years.

On May 15, 1864, the VMI Cadet Corps was engaged in pitched battle at New Market, winning credit for helping turn the tide in favor of the Confederate forces. Ten cadets were killed and 47 wounded. Six of the dead are buried on the VMI grounds. The Corps of Cadets pays tribute to the courage and valor of the New Market Cadets in formal ceremonies held at the Institute yearly on May 15. The event remains the only time in American history in which the entire student body of an American college fought in battle as a unit.

The Institute was shelled and burned on June 12, 1864, by Union forces. The strenuous efforts of Smith and dedicated members of the faculty allowed the Institute to reopen on Oct. 17, 1865.