Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

Page 32 text:

®f| (Korps in Btcfimond. To go, or not to go, was the question anxiously debated first by the Board of Visitors, then by our alumni in Richmond and finally by ourselves, in solemn conclave assembled full many a time and oft. But long before the powers that be had agreed in their august minds as to what was right and expedient in the matter of the corps ' attending the reunion, we of the grey coatee, with a singular unanimity of opinion and a mental alertness not often displayed in the classroom, had solved the knotty problem and decided that out of respect for the memory of Jefferson Davis, for the good of the Institute and the private delectation of our rural friends from Blacksburg, the corps should undoubtedly be allowed to attend the reunion of Confederate veterans and the ceremonies of the laying of the cornerstone of a monument to the one time President of the Confederate States of Ame rica, and, incidentally, that the above-mentioned corps should be on hand to participate in any festivities attendant upon so momentous an occasion. But, unfortunately, those in authority seemed painfully obtuse in seeing the matter in this light, and required long and careful consideration before reaching the conclusion which our keen intellects had attained so readily. But to spare you, O, unwary reader, a tedious discussion, the question was finally decided in the affirmative by all parties concerned and the welcome decision announced in an order from headquarters. The Richmond alumni and friends of the Institute had been untiring in their exertions for us, and it is mainly owing to these that one fine morning in the latter part of June our special pulled out of I,exington and a few hours later into Richmond. The battalion was met at the station by Company B of The Blues, which did the honors and courteously escorted us to our white city on the campus of the Richmond College. The friends of the old school, too, were out to receive her representatives, so that between the inspiring strains of old Dixie and the still more inspiring presence of the fair ones who wore

Page 31 text:

Stiiged a Mob ' s Bcngcance. N the winter of 1 860-61 the majority of the students at the Virginia MiHtary Institute were secessionists, while the people of the town were almost unanimously for the Union. One day two of the students came back to the Institute much worsted in a fight with the villagers, and the whole school resolved on vengeance. Seizing their guns, a large number of the boys started toward the town. On their way they had to pass Professor Jackson ' s house, and he came out just in time to intercept them. Jackson stepped on a horse block in front of his house, and just as the foremost of the students came abreast of him he called out in his most commanding tone : ' ' Halt ! front face ! ' ' Almost instinctively they obeyed, and after waiting for the stragglers to come up, he said, in his mildest tone: Well, young gentlemen, where are you going? One of the men explained, in a very excited way, that two of the boys had been maltreated by the villagers, and they were deter- mined on revenge. Well, said the professor, that may all be very well, but whom have you for a leader? You can ' t go on an expedition without a leader. They had not thought of that, they said. Well, suppose I lead you, said Professor Jackson. Nothing would suit them better. All right, said the professor, but before we start we must get a little better organization. To that end he marched and counter-marched them, wheeled them up and down the road, and, in short, carried them through all the evolutions necessary for his purpose, which was to cool them off. That being accom- plished, he halted them before the horse block, and, ' having lectured them, he wound up by advising them to go back to school and be good boys. And this they did, after giving three cheers for Professor Jackson.— 5a« Francisco Argonaut.

Page 33 text:

THE BOMB. 23 the Institute tri-color, there were few of us in ranks, as we marched up Franklin, that did not think that life was really worth living, and that Rich- mond was the place in which to live it. After confinement in the hot cars, the long, cool rows of canvas under the old trees guarding Richmond College were indeed inviting, and after dress parade we betook our travel-stained selves to sweet repose — which lasted until the baggage had arrived, and we could make ourselves more presentable elsewhere — after which arrival the luckless sentinels were left to enjoy the full beauty of the moonlit scene, undisturbed by any save the corporal of the guard. Camp soon emptied itself, and the boys who had been for ten months shut off from the world by barrack walls, were soon making the best use or probably the worst, according to the waj ' you may look at such things, of their newly acquired freedom, and seemed determined to declare to all concerned that they were very much in town — which thing was done with a noble disregard of the maledictions of such as enjoyed deep slumber in the wee sma ' hours. And thus runs the tale : Guard mounting, dress parade, an occasional review before Governor O ' Ferrall and Staff, then the city by gaslight, or perhaps a dance, or better still — to those who enjoy such things — a tete-a-tde in some dim, secluded spot. When the day for the ceremon}-, with its miles of troops and all-day march arrived, to the corps is assigned the honor of leading the procession, which, after riding through the streets of the city, is to assemble in Monroe park to honor the great Southern statesman. From the park we march to our last D. P., for on the following day the class of ' 96 graduates, the final order appointing the officers who are to rule in their stead is published and the corps is dismissed. Once more all are at liberty to doff the grey and don the long-forbidden attire of the citizen, but it is with a queer feeling that the newly-made graduate casts aside the friend that for four years has certainly stuck closer than a brother. So ends this chapter in the V. M. I. life-history, and an eventful, long- to-be-remembered one it is in that somewhat unique volume. In recalling Richmond and the xvvawy incidents which have made it the Mecca of all good fellows who wear the grey uniform, one memorable night is resplendent with happy memories and is sure to figure in the narratives of those composing the little knot of first- classmen stretched around the guard tree swapping opinions. The night referred to is no other than that of the hop given the