Virginia Military Institute was founded in 1839, becoming the nation’s first state-sponsored military college. Initially it occupied the state arsenal on this site, and in 1850 architect Alexander Jackson Davis introduced the Gothic Revival style that created the Institute’s distinctive appearance. The school educates citizen-soldiers through a rigorous academic program within a military framework governed by an honor code, and all cadets participate in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, choosing Army, Marine Corps, Navy, or Air Force, with more than half of each graduating class accepting commissions. Major Thomas J. Jackson, later known as “Stonewall” Jackson, arrived in 1851 to teach Natural Philosophy. During the Civil War, the VMI Corps of Cadets was called into service more than 15 times, and at the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864, the cadets were credited with achieving victory. In June 1864, Union forces entered Lexington and VMI sustained significant damage. Among noted alumni are General of the Army George C. Marshall, Class of 1901, World War II Army Chief of Staff, architect of the Marshall Plan, and Nobel Peace Prize winner; Admiral Richard Bryd, Class of 1908, who received the Medal of Honor for explorations of the North and South poles; and Jonathan M. Daniels, Class of 1961, a Civil Rights activist of the 1960s who was murdered and later declared a Lesser Saint of the Episcopal Church. The Corps of Cadets numbers approximately 1,600 men and women from around the country and several foreign nations.