Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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(!i;nkiial Kiia •IS II. Smith he was, as superiiiteiideiit, diavged with the nrjiaiiizatioii and odvcviiincnt of the iufaiit schdnl, and in additinn acted as conmuunhint (if cadets and iiistnictnr of Tactics. If the linai ' d was furtiinate in secnvinc, ' the services of Professdi ' Snnth, Pro- fessor Smith was still nmre fortnnate in the selection by the linard of his sole coadjutor, John T. L. Preston, one of their own inenibers, a citizen of Lt xiiii ton, a more zealous, faithful, conscientious, loyal coadjntor no man in this world evev had. Professor Preston took charge of the class in lanonage. He was i orn in Lexington, Va., and, having been trained in the best classical schools of the State, was graduated from Washington College and received the degree (if A. I. He then entered the I ' niversitv of Virsiinia, reccivinii ' the usual

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free of charge, in consideration of their niilitarv service. The jDrogram of study, and the mode of training and life submitted to the public by the board and superintendent, proved so attractive that many sought the jDrivileges of the infant iustitution, upon the condition that they should pay their own way and voluntarily assume, under formal written obligations in the nature of articles of enlistment, to render subordination and do the military duties im- ]30sed by law upon state cadets. The restricted accommodations of the old soldier barracks limited the number which could be admitted ; but twelve of these ' olunteers were accepted, who, with the twenty to be maintained by the State, made a corps consisting of one company of thirty-two young soldiers. The conditions of life surrounding these yovmg pioneers were harsh and uninviting. Quartet ' s were cramped, and rooms were crowded, even for the small number of thirty-two, and the fare, while abundant, was rough. There were no proper classrooms, no library, no apparatus of any kind ; and the old flint-lock muskets, caliber .69, were clumsy, heavy, and hard to keep clean. The band consisted of two old negroes, Eeuben and Alike ; one lieat the kettledrum, the other whistled through the fife. The board made a wise choice in the selection of a su]:)erintendent. Prof. Francis IT. Smith, professor of mathematics in the honored old College of Hampden-Sidney, Va. Professor Smith was born in Norfolk, Ya. ; after re- ceiving the usual education taught in the best classical schools of the times, he was appointed a cadet in the U. S. Military Academy in 1S29, and was graduated in 18.3.3. Fpon graduation he was tendered an appointment as an assistant ])rofessor of mathematics and also of artillery in the Academy, both of which he declined, and joined his regiment, the first V. S. Artillery at Fort Turnbull, Conn. After serving with his regiment at various stations, he was ordered to West Point as assistant ])rofessor of moral and political philosophy and rhetoric in October, 1834. This duty he discharged until 1835, when he resigned with the intention of entering civil life. This intention was some- what deferred and he did duty with the V. S. Corps of Topographical Engin- eers, exploring an inland route through the souikIs of North Carolina, between Norfolk and Charleston. While engaged in this duty, he was elected profes- sor of mathematics in ITami)den-Sidney College, which position he acce]itcd September, 1837; while discharging the duties of his chair, he was called to take charge of the Virginia Military Institute as superintendent and professor of mathematics, in 1839. Although the class to be taught in mathematics was small when Professor Smith entered iqion his duties at the IMilitary Institute.,

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certificates of distinction in tlie several schools taken by him. On leaving the University, he entered Yale College to comjjlete the couree of studies marked ont for himself in the profession of law, which he had chosen. He did not, however, remain long at the bar, his inclinations leading him in an- other direction. When the discussion commenced in 1836, in connection with the organization of the Military Institute, his mind was actively at work on this important scheme; so that, when the Institute entered upon its mission in 1839, he was willing to lend the influence of his talents in one of the most important department of instruction, as more in harmony with his own tastes, and as an earnest of his interest in the success of the school. The French and German languages occupied the attention of Professor Preston for the first two years. Subsequently, at diiferent times, he was relieved from instruction of the languages, above mentioned, and taught Latin logic, rhetoric, intellectual philosophy, and constitutional law, never, of course, having all these subjects at any one time. These two, Colonel Smith and ] Iajor Preston, constituted the whole corps of permanent instructors for the first two years. A three-years ' course had been marked out for cadets, and the thirty-two cadets who first entered were all assigned to the third, or lowest class. The next year, when most of these cadets were advanced to the second class, and a small new class had entered to take the places of those who had been for any cause discharged, an arrange- ment was made with the trustees of Washington College by which Professor Armstrong of that college gave cadets instruction given to those students of the College who might desire such instruction. The conditions of education existing in Virginia, indeed throughout the country, and in England, at the time the Institute was organized were pecTiliar. It is difficult to realize and conceive the state of existence of the most highly civilized people in the world, a short four himdred years ago, when few could read or write, even among those of highest social position, and the cost of such hand-transcribed books as existed was almost prohibitive. Of course, there have always been books of some sort, and masters and scholars. Thales and Pythagoras, Zeno and Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, wrote and taught in ancient Greece, hundreds of years before the Christian Era. Even today in ancient Cairo of Egypt in the mosque of Al Azahr, you will find a library of seven thousand volumes, all on the Koran, and many hundreds of grown men from all parts of the Mohammedan world, men from Cyprus and Crete, from Egypt and Turkey, Zanzibar and Xubia, Bokhara and Samarcand, and other remote