First Stop: Lexington, Virginia

Lexington, Virginia is truly one of America’s most beautiful places.  Situated in the Shenandoah Valley between the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains, the area is filled with picturesque scenery of autumn colored rainbows and mountain top villages.  We took a drive west toward the Virginia/West Virginia border the past weekend and saw some of the most stunning images I have ever seen, complete with roadside lookouts that provided panoramic views of 18^th Century America. 

Founded in 1777, Lexington is rich in Civil War history and legacy.  The town is home to two of America’s oldest institutions: The Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University.  The V.M.I. was founded in 1839 and is one of six senior military colleges, and the only state sponsored military college in Virginia.  Often considered the ‘West Point of the South’, the V.M.I. has had some very prominent teachers and alumni. 

Stonewall Jackson taught at the V.M.I. previous to the outbreak of the Civil War and used his influence to promote the Institute as one of the Confederacy’s leading academies for commissioned officers.  Cadets at the V.M.I. played an important part in the Battle of Chancellorsville, where they help pushed back an advancing Union army and eventually broke through their lines, handing Lee an important victory.  However, General ‘Stonewall’ Jackson was shot in the arm and hand by friendly fire, and eventually died from his wounds, where he was brought back to Lexington and laid to rest in the local cemetery.  Needless to say, Stonewall Jackson is a bit of a local commodity: one can see his house when he lived here, his grave site along with other Civil War soldiers and a museum dedicated to his life.

The other great Confederate General, Robert E. Lee also enjoys a fine legacy here in Lexington.  After the war he retried to Lexington and reluctantly accepted the position of President to then Washington College until his death in 1970.  Washington College changed their name to Washington and Lee University in honor of its most famous President the following year.  Washington and Lee University had a very distinguished and storied history before Lee took up his post.  Established as Augusta Academy in 1749 some 20 miles outside of Lexington, it began as one America’s first institutes of letters.  Amidst the furry of patriotism during the War of Independence, Augusta Academy’s name was changed to Liberty Hall in 1776.  It moved to Lexington in 1780 and was chartered as Liberty Hall Academy two years later.  In 1796, George Washington gave the academy $20,000 in stock to save it from certain insolvency.  As a gesture of their appreciation, the board decided to change the academy’s name to Washington Academy and then to Washington College in 1813, as it remained until 1870. 

Keeping with its strong military tradition, Lexington is also famous for the George C. Marshall Foundation.  Named after America’s Chief of Staff from 1939-1945, George C. Marshall is one America’s finest military personalities. As a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute, Marshall excelled in soldiery and graduated with the top honors of class captain.  After choosing a life in the Army, Marshall took a post in the Philippines, followed by officer training school at Fort Leavenworth, where also excelled and also graduated with top honors.  Upon America’s entry into World War I, Marshall was assigned to General Pershing’s staff, where he assisted in the Meusse-Argonne offensive of 1918.  After the war, Marshall was assigned to various posts including Command of the 15 Infantry Division for three years in China.  After much work with the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930’s, Marshall was called to Washington as a one-star general.  In 1938, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff and Roosevelt made him Chief of Staff the following year.  His contributions to the war effort in Europe and Asia were immeasurable and command the respect of men such as FDR, Churchill, De Gaulle and Stalin.  He worked professionally and efficiently with John Dill, Alan Brooke and Lord Mountbatten of the British staff and helped ‘win’ the war.

Marshall was adamant about Europe’s economic recovery, to prevent social and political instability.  As Secretary of State to Truman, he championed the Marshall Plan that oversaw economic and material aid to Europe for the assurance of their survival (and to prevent the influence of communism).  He later served as Truman’s Secretary of Defense during the Korean War and President of the American Red Cross.  He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.  Although Marshall is not exempt from criticism, as any one man would be, I believe that he is one of the few people of this era that acted mainly within his judgment. 

So as you can see, Lexington is a military town: rich in history and, therefore, without exception, hypocrisy…more on that later.   As