William Gilham
William Henry Gilham | |
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Born | |
Spouse(s) | Cordelia Adelaide Hayden |
William Henry Gilham (January 13, 1818 – November 16, 1872) was an American soldier, teacher,
Childhood, education, military service
William Henry Gilham was born in Vincennes, Indiana on January 13, 1818. his father's family came from Virginia. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he graduated 5th in the Class of 1840.
He became a lieutenant in the 3rd Artillery in the
Virginia Military Institute
In 1846, he became a professor at Virginia Military Institute (VMI), then a recently founded state military college in Lexington, Virginia. During the next five years, he developed VMI's departments of Chemistry and Agriculture, taught infantry tactics and served as the Commandant of Cadets. To lighten the load on Major Gilham, in 1851, VMI hired another professor, Major Thomas Jonathon Jackson, later better known as "Stonewall" Jackson, who was also a graduate of West Point, and a veteran of the conflicts in Florida and Mexico.
As a professor, Gilham was interested in geological matters. In 1857, his Report on the Soil of Powhatan County, Virginia was published in Richmond by Ritchie & Dunnavant. A copy of a request he made to the same year for the legislature to fund acquisition of "a complete collection of minerals and fossils for the use of my classes" is in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.[3]
Majors Gilham and Jackson taught together at VMI for the rest of the decade. In November 1859, at the request of the
In response to the raid on Harper's Ferry, Governor Wise ordered Gilham to write a manual to train volunteers and militia. Finished in the fall of 1860, it was entitled Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the United States and was initially published in Philadelphia.
Family life
According to VMI records, while residing in Lexington, Major Gilham and his wife Cordelia Adelaide Hayden Gilham (1826–1913) had 7 children, 3 born after moving to Virginia. Their daughter
American Civil War
In 1861, as the
Col. Gilham briefly commanded a brigade in the field in 1861 and 1862, but returned to teaching at VMI. On May 15, 1864, the VMI cadets participated in the Battle of New Market. Gilham was present, but did not command the young troops during the battle. After Union troops led by Union General David Hunter raided Lexington, and burned buildings at VMI, the VMI cadets were stationed at Richmond for the remainder of the War. Major Gilham's house, a campus landmark, was later rebuilt to original specifications after the War.[5]
Post-war
After the War, VMI had no money to pay its instructors. Gilham went to work in Richmond for Southern Fertilizer Company, which occupied the former Confederate
William Gilham died in Vermont on November 16, 1872, aged 54, of undisclosed causes. He was interred at Lexington, Virginia's Oak Grove Cemetery.
References
- ^ "William Gilham". Find A Grave. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- ^ Wise, Jennings Cropper (1915). The Military History of the Virginia Military Institute from 1839 to 1865. Lynchburg, VA: J. P. Bell Company, Inc. pp. 55–56. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
- ^ a b http://vhs3.vahistorical.org/starweb/x.marc/servlet.starweb. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
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: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "Photograph Details". Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2008.
External links
- Letters Received Year 1846: Gilham, William National Archives.
- Confederate Application for Pardon and Amnesty, Virginia: Gilham, William National Archives.
- Corpus Christi Texas Library, William Gilham page
- Stonewall Brigade website, William Gilham: Soldier, Educator
- Online text of Gilham's Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the United States
- Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the Confederate States