Citizen Soldiers of Dixie

While the modern educational system seems like a bleak and useless indoctrination ground for new generations of NPC hordes, a few schools out there still offer some semblance of quality education. The traditional military schools of the United States, and particularly Dixie, have served to produce some of the most successful leaders in our country’s history. The Virginia Military Institute is a prime example of a Southern institution, created by Southerners for its defense, and future success.

Sitting atop a ridge in Lexington, Virginia, VMI began with humble origins, serving as an arms depot, ready and waiting for slave revolts. The off duty soldiers tended to cause a ruckus in the town below, so it was proposed that a school be founded on the site to replace them. A small class of 23 native Virginians served as the inaugural class and replaced the duties of the arsenal guards. VMI was the second military college to be founded in the United States after West Point. Many of West Point’s graduates became its teachers. VMI was founded from the beginning to be not only a school, but an opportunity to train individuals who could be later expected to serve as military officers when needed. 

Fair Specimens 

Founded in service to her native state, VMI prepared Virginians, and later others from across the South, to be citizen soldiers. Citizen soldiers being productive members of society, that could, when called upon, serve as officers in the Virginia Militia. Cadets, or “Keydets” as they were referred by in the heavy local accent, were instructed in several forms of military training in preparation for their duties, including artillery and drill. Academics were focused on the natural sciences. Regular Keydets, those who received state funding, were required to stay in Virginia for two years and serve as teachers. Irregulars, who paid their way through, were allowed to go straight into whatever profession they desired.

After the failed 1859 Raid on Harpers Ferry, the VMI cadets were called up to serve as guards for the hanging in Charles Town, Virginia. 

In 1861, under the command of Thomas J. Jackson, older students were brought into the Confederate military, following the declaration of secession. Serving the purpose for which they had been taught, VMI Keydets assisted in training new recruits in preparation for the impending Northern invasion. Younger students remained behind at the institute. 

When Union General Franz Sigel marched into the Shenandoah Valley, the remaining students marched 80 miles in four days to greet him alongside Major General John C. Breckinridge at New Market, Virginia. Breckinridge proclaimed, “Gentlemen from VMI, I trust I will not need your services today; but if I do I know you will do your duty!” Privately, Breckinridge worried. “They are only children,” he told an aide, “and I cannot expose them to such fire.”  While the 247 Keydets originally stayed behind the lines in reserve, a gap in the line was eventually created and they were called up to fill the gap. As the Union assault was repelled, Breckinridge gave orders to attack. Dashing across the field and separating the two forces, several Keydets lost their shoes to the sucking mud, there being the origin of the name “Field of Lost Shoes.” 47 Keydets were wounded that day, with 10 ultimately losing their lives.

When the Union returned with a larger force later that year, they burned down the Institute in retaliation for their part in the conflict. The remaining students were already absorbed into the nearby forces in Lynchburg. Again, they took part in repelling the Northern invaders under Jubal A. Early, before being transferred to Richmond to help with training, as the older students had done before them. Since its founding, VMI had graduated around 1,800 total students, 848 of which served as officers in the Confederacy, 22 of its students and teachers became generals, almost 300 became field officers, and over 500 became company grade officers. 

The history of the school is long and well established with a strong foundation laying the groundwork for what it is today. The Institute was able to reopen after the war in 1865, and served as an example for later schools to be opened with the same goals in mind.

A Crowd of Honorable Youths

VMI stands today, still true to many of its original principals. A rigorous system, meant to break down individuals and build up the class, called the Rat Line, has existed to introduce new students to the Spartan lifestyle they’ll “enjoy” for the next few years, if they make it that far. “Attrition is not the mission” of the Rat Line (it is), but it exists as a way to not only create unity and prepare you for the rigors of the Institute, but as a way to weed out the softer individuals and those who do not belong. While you cannot “make” someone leave, you can make them want to.  While the poison of the modern world has infiltrated VMI to an extent, the isolation of Lexington, Virginia has largely protected the school from the prying eyes, which so often infiltrate other institutions like the Citadel. 

With the Citadel’s proximity to Charleston, and the openness of their campus, the Citadel has been watered down to avoid offending observers. They’re still leagues above and beyond what little quality you might find elsewhere, but being swathed in urbanization has not allowed them to maintain their culture to the same degree as VMI.

Sportsball, in its many forms, provide the largest source of unwanted infiltration. The largely homogenous makeup of the Corps is alike in comradery, but there are those who come to play sports, with no intention of becoming one with the system itself. These student athletes are often the focus of special attention by the upper-class, to the detriment of the rest of the Rat Line, where the manpower resource is limited. Afterwards, they form their athletic cliques divested from the rest of the Corps, exempted from many of the parades and other daily rituals.

After graduation, they will still try to claim the pride and privileges of those who took real part. The influx of women, after the Supreme Court’s decision to force them down the throat of the Institute, was another unwelcome addition to the formerly airtight corps, which was now forced to assimilate a softer group into its ranks. While not all women or athletes were/are detrimental as individuals, and sports have been integral to VMI for years, many believe that their inclusion has not been beneficial to the school. Regardless of the concessions made for the modern world, VMI has made the best of it. 

Around half the Corps still continues into military service after graduation. The academic programs offered are still steered toward preparing students in all aspects, including leadership and military service, alongside majors in STEM or the humanities.  There is still pressure to find someone you genuinely care about outside of the confines of the structured lifestyle there which prompts several alumni to get married right after graduation. While liberal professor have been able to infiltrate from time to time, mostly in the humanities courses, there is a healthy culture of conservatism intrinsic to the lifestyle associated with living and surviving the rigors of VMI. You cannot rely on daddy or mommy to get you through this. VMI challenges students with an academic load on par with, or greater, than most normal schools. All of this is to produce capable, competent, and honorable graduates. The values espoused here been deeply rooted in Southern values of honor and self sacrifice.

The Honor Code is critical at VMI and is something to be emulated by other schools and us all. Honor is something that has fallen by the wayside for many people, organizations, and schools. Cheating is a common practice in many colleges. The VMI Honor Code is single sanctioned, meaning a single case of cheating, or a simple fib, is enough to sign your ticket home. While more students fall to academics, or the stressful environment, the Honor Code is something that sticks with you everywhere you go.

Noble Emulation

Just as was done before, I believe that the model put forth by VMI is something that we can look upon with pride even in times like these. Since its founding, VMI has produced seven Medal of Honor recipients and 11 Rhodes Scholars. Several prominent alumni have emerged from the Institute, spreading its reach far and wide. The community of VMI graduates is closer than most with alumnus often seeking out new graduates to fill their job openings. 

In a Free Dixie, it is my hope that VMI, and other examples like it, can lead as “objects of honest pride” to their instructors and states. We need schools like this to train the next generation of Southern citizen soldiers to guide and instruct in times of need.