Virginia Military Institute (VMI)

The Virginia Military Institute sits adjacent to Washington and Lee, and its gray Gothic Revival barracks and parade ground are unmistakable. VMI is still a functioning military college — students wear uniforms, live in barracks, and observe a strict code of conduct — so visits feel more like an encounter with a living institution than a museum.

The VMI Museum is the main visitor attraction, with extensive collections on Jackson, Marshall (VMI class of 1901), and the cadets who fought in the Civil War, including the famous charge at the Battle of New Market in 1864. The George C. Marshall Museum, in a separate building on the VMI campus, covers the career of the architect of the Marshall Plan and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

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VMI is the oldest state-supported military college in the United States, founded in 1839. Stonewall Jackson taught physics and artillery tactics here for ten years before the Civil War. He was not a beloved teacher — cadets nicknamed him "Tom Fool" — but the same intensity that made him a poor instructor made him one of the most feared commanders in the war. A statue of Jackson stands on the parade ground, and his uniform and other belongings are in the VMI Museum.

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