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Page 28 text:
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yxyyyyVw V y y y V y jVyyyyyyy General Cocke William H. Cocke was born at City Point, Virginia, September 12, 1874. He received his primary education there, but, at the age of fourteen years, went away to high school in Staunton, when he entered the Institute in August, 1890. General Cocke graduated as first stand man and first Jackson-Hope medalist in the Class of 1894, continuing his military life for three years as Commandant, Kemper Military Academy, Booneville, Missouri. Upon resigning that office he studied law for a year at Washington University, St. Louis, but his course was brought to a close by the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, during which he held a commission as First Lieutenant, 4th Missouri Volunteers. With the termination of the war. General Cocke received his discharge and took up the practice of law in St. Louis, later becoming President and General Manager of the St. Louis (Michigan) Chemical Company. Continually developing a closer con- nection with the chemical industry, he organized the Commercial Acid Company, known as the Southern Acid and Sulphur Company after 1918, and took up the duties of president and gen- eral manager, at which he attained noteworthy success. At the entrance of the United States into the World War, General Cocke was a major in the Missouri National Guard, 35th Division; he was sent over-seas in 1918, resuming his business in St. Louis, Missouri, upon his discharge. The Board of Visitors elected General — then Major — Cocke superintendent of the Virginia Mil- itary Institute in 1924; he assumed the duties of that office and has continued as superintendent for the past five years. 24
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Page 29 text:
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XVXVVVVV5: 5 V y y VXVX A» V. M. I. In Time of War HENEVER the National call to arms has sounded, the graduates of the Institute have responded with a patriotic loyalty which has been always consistent with that part of the motto of their Alma Mater — In Bel ' .o Praesidium. The Mexican war broke oui only four years after the first class had been graduated from V. M. I. Of the fifty- nine alumni who had graduated, twenty-seven served under fire, sixteen of these being volunteers. This number represented a larger service quota than that of all other military institutions combined, the U. S. M. A. alone being excepted. When the War between the States was declared the V. M. I. at once stepped to the front. At this time there were 1,903 living alumni. Of this number, ninety-four per cent served in the Con- federate army, while fifteen men served in the army of the North. One hundred and six ex- cadets were barred from the service on account of physical disability, leaving a record of prac- tically one hundred per cent of the ab!e in the service. The members of the corps of cadets at this time were, as a whole, too young to serve, but rendered a signal service to the Confederacy. Almost immediately upon the outbreak of the war the corps, under the command of Major T. J. (later Stonewall) Jackson, marched to Richmond, where they put at the disposal of the state the military knowledge and experience which they had gained at V. M. I. While in Richmond the cadets drilled and trained over tv ' enty thousand raw recruits and fitted them to become a part of General Lee ' s great Army of Northern Virginia. Despite their lack of years, however, the cadets were repeatedly called from their duties as instructors into active service as the cause of the Confederacy became desperate. In one en- counter — the Battle of New Market, which is inseparably linked with V. M. I. history — the corps from the Institute displayed a daring and courage characteristic of their spirit, and clothed themselves in glory by standing up under the concentrated fire of Federal artillery and musketry with the coolness and stamina of veterans. From this crowd of 279 brave boys, fifty-nine were lost as killed and wounded. At the close of the war, 249 alumni of the Institute were numbered with the dead, and the school itself had been reduced to ruins by the destructive havoc of the Federals. After the war the men who remained, inspired by the everlasting spirit of V. M. I., rebuilt the Institute which a half-century later rendered such valuable service to our country. When the United States entered the World War the Institute, since its founding, had graduated only 2,446 men. Over two thousand V. M. I. men — trained soldiers — answered the call to the service of their nation. Of this number, five were general officers, and 233 were field officers of the regular army. There were also sixty-four naval officers, many who held lower commissions in the army, and a large number of officers in the Marine Corps. At the declaration of war the corps numbered 406 cadets. Those who were of age took up their arms at once, while those who remained served their country by acting as instructors for civi ian and student army training corps. Wherever their lot was cast in time of war, the sons of the Institute gave to their country the recognized and valued advantage of their training and of the Spirit of loyalty, discipline and honor which had been instilled into every one since the founding of their Alma Mater and the days of Stonewall Jackson. 2S
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