Virginia Military Institute Museum

This museum tracing VMI's history is well worth a visit, especially to see the raincoat Stonewall Jackson was wearing when his own men accidentally shot him at Chancellorsville (the bullet hole is in the upper left shoulder) and -- thanks to taxidermy -- Jackson's unflappable war horse, Little Sorrel. Also here is one of Gen. George S. Patton's shiny helmet liners. Patton graduated from VMI in 1907. The museum resides in the basement of Jackson Memorial Hall, the school's auditorium which was built in 1915 with federal funds paid in partial compensation for the Union army's burning the school after its cadets helped defeat Federal troops at the Battle of New Market in May 1864. Be sure to step into the auditorium, where B. West Clinedinst's oversize oil painting of the cadets' heroic Civil War charge looms over the stage.

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