Virginia Military Institute

Campus Prints of VMI, Virginia Military Institute – Lexington, Virginia

The plans for the original VMI Barracks specified a quadrangle of Gothic design and were the result of a concept developed by the architect Alexander Jackson Davis and Francis Henney Smith, the first superintendent of VMI (1839-1890). The Barracks cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1851. The statue of Jackson, designed and cast by VMI graduate, Moses Ezekiel was erected in 1912. The four guns of the old Cadet Battery stand in front of the Jackson statue and are known as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These names were bestowed as they spoke a powerful message when fired by Rev. Capt. Pendleton’s command during the Civil War. The Jackson Arch, the guns, and the statue are physical evidence of VMI’s veneration of Jackson’s accomplishments on the field of battle.