Military History of the Virginia Military Institute 600 pages, Illustrated & Indexed By Jennings C. Wise, Published 1915 Requires Adobe Reader 5 or higher to View $10.99 + $1.99 shipping and handling http://cgi.ebay.com/Military-History-of-Virginia-Military-Institute_W0QQitemZ200405719095QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2ea91c9837 On November 11, 1839 the Virginia Military Institute was founded on the site of the Lexington state arsenal, and the first Cadets relieved personnel on duty. Under Major General Francis Henney Smith, superintendent, and Colonel Claudius Crozet, president of the Board of Visitors, the Corps was imbued with the discipline and the spirit for which it is famous. The first cadet to march a sentinel post was Private John Strange in 1839. Except during the Civil War, there havebeen sentinels posted at VMI twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, during the school year, since Strange's posting nearly 170 years ago. The class of 1842 graduated 16 cadets. Living conditions were poor until 1850 when the cornerstone of the new barracks was laid. In 1851 Thomas "Stonewall"Jackson became a member of the faculty and professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy. Under then-Major Jackson and Major William Gilham,VMI infantry and artillery units were present at the execution by hanging of John Brown at Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1859. Jennings Cropper Wise, lawyer and army officer, was born on September 10, 1881 in Richmond, Virginia. He graduated from the Phillip Exeter Academy (New Hampshire) in 1882 and from the Virginia Military Institute in 1902. He subsequently received a law degree from the University of Virginia. Wise spent the majority of his career in the practice of law, primarily in private practice. He was associated with the firms of Pollard , Wise andChichester (Richmond, Virginia), and Munn, Anderson and Munn (Washington, DC). In addition, he taught at his alma mater, the Virginia Military Institute (1912-1915) and he served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the AEF during World War I.In 1915 he published this book on the history of his alma mater. Following his retirement in 1954, he concentrated on researching and writing a book ultimately published under the title Sunrise of the Virginia Military Institute as a School of Arms.. He died in 1968