About the Book

America's second oldest higher education institution experienced the full violence of the Civil War, with a wartime destiny of destruction compounded by its strategic location in Virginia's Tidewater region between Union and Confederate lines. This book describes the fate of the College and also explores in-depth the war service of the College's students, faculty, and alumni, ranging from little-known individuals to historically prominent figures such as Winfield Scott, John Tyler, and John J. Crittenden. The College's many contributions to the Civil War and its role in shaping pre- and post-war higher education in the South are fully revealed.