APPOINTMENT OF PROFESSOR OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND COMMANDANT Of CADETS — ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT — APPROPRIATION BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR NEW BARRACKS
Under the instructions of the Board of Visitors I spent some time in Richmond in the winter of 1845-46, in making known the wants of the institution, and appeared before a committee of the General Assembly for this purpose. The subject was taken up at too late a period in tie session to secure definite action at that time; but at the next session a bill was passed adding one thousand dollars to our annuity. This was a further recognition of the value of the Virginia Military Institute to the State, and it enabled the Board of Visitors to make immediate provision for the appointment of a Professor of the Physical Sciences, aiming at the same time to secure such an officer that his duties might include those of Commandant of Cadets and Instructor of Tactics, thus giving relief to the over-burdened chair held by Captain Williamson. The choice happily fell upon Lieut. William Gilham, of the U. S. Army, a distinguished graduate of West Point, who had gained distinction in the army of General Taylor in the battle of Palo Alto and Resaca in Mexico. In the organization of the department of Physical Sciences to be assigned to Major Gilham, the design was to meet the wants of the State in this important field of research. It was also intended to transfer from the mathematical department the course of Boucharlat's [1] Mechanics, which I had taught by way of supplementing the course taught the cadets at Washington College, while, in addition, Major Gilham would teach Optics and Astronomy, and also Chemistry, Mineralogy and Geology. No laboratory instruction had been given to the cadets in Chemistry and Mineralogy, and special care was to be taken in this line. Tim outline of work thus presented to the new professor was a very broad one. It embraced work that might well occupy the time of two or three professors. But a beginning had to be made in the new department, and the development of the courses happily fell upon an officer who was most admirably qualified for it. In command of the battalion of cadets, Major Gilham had no superior. Quick, accurate, and self-possessed, he had a magnetic power on the drill which made the corps of cadets superior even to the cadets at West Point. In the department of Natural Philosophy he was thoroughly a master, for he had been an assistant professor under Professor Bartlett at West Point in this department for three years. But his great work was in organizing and developing tie department of Chemistry and Mineralogy, and although the war interrupted him in the midst of his plans, he had placed his department in such a state of efficiency that his adjunct professor, Major M. B. Hardin (who subsequently filled his chair), was enabled to carry forward this interesting and most important course with unexampled force and distinction. Indeed the claims on the time of Major Gilham in the work to which he was called in the application of his department to the agricultural interests of the State were such that it became necessary to provide a separate professor to take charge of the department of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, embracing Mechanics, Astronomy, and Optics, and to this chair Maj. Thomas J. Jackson of the U. S. Army was called in 1851, as will be more fully explained presently. The messing of the cadets was done by contract, with a steward duly appointed by the Board. When the school was first opened, this was, I suppose, a necessity at the beginning. But the objections to the system were so obvious that as soon as I could see the way clear to remedy it I presented to the Board of Visitors a plan for reorganization. Under the existing system the contractor had the table pretty much under his own control. His interest guided him in his expenditures, and whether he was to blame or not for the fare, there were always those who thought he might do better for the price paid. I think the stewards we had were faithful and honest men; but, in my view, the Institute ought to have absolute control of the mess, as it had of the clothing, and thus be at liberty to improve the fare, if the price for boarding would justify it. Besides, the minute official inspection of the mess hall, kitchen, etc., could not be made when all the time it appeared like encroaching on the private premises of the steward and his family. These considerations led to a change in the system, January 1, 1849, which change made the Institute the purveyor, and a steward was appointed to see that the supplies provided for the mess were of standard quality, and were served in the neatest style.