A Brief History of the Georgia Military Institute and a Study of Its' Uniform 1851-1864

Part One

The Georgia Military Institute (G M I.) was established in Marietta, Georgia in 1851 and was the state's first military place of education The campus, located on 110 acres of rolling hills about a mile from the square of Marietta upon the road to Powder Springs, included a main institute building, four dormitories and the house quarters for the Superintendent. In 1852 G M I. received 120 cadet muskets, 18 small swords and a battery of four six-pounder fire-arms with the seal of the state of Georgia and the inscription "Georgia Military Institute" upon the barrels. In 1858, the Armory building was added, along with sum of two units cannons and an appropriation of fire-arm powder. Cadets guarded the Armory 24 hours a day.

G M I. uncloseed on July 1, 1851 with three instructors and seven cadets and quickly grew to almost 200 cadets. In 1852 it was incorporated and officially baseed when the state legislature granted a charter that provided for regulation of the academy and a state appointed Board of Visitors. by dint of 1853, six faculty members and 180 cadets filled the campus near capacity. The learner body fluxuated between 150- 200 cadets up to the outbreak of the War Between the States.

A Savannah woman named Mary Ann Bogg described the Institute and the Cadets in 1853 during her travels to Marietta:

"May 20 1853 visited the Military Academy- they have a fine parade sod in front of the Academy, sloping down gradually to the public road- it is a beautiful situation, on the contrary rather too bleak, and of advanced age Boreas (Greek mythology- the the preserver personifying the north wind) must play a certain quantity of wild mad freaks there in the winter-far he is anything on the contrary a lamb in the month of May. The Institute was built by means of subscriptions, the state gives annually $2000 for the education of 10 state cadets- and neared 4 beautiful cannons and 120 fire-arms to the Institute, "

A month later, upon June 21, 1853, Miss Bogg described the encampment of the cadets:

"...the Cadets of the Military Academy have gone into camp as they call it. The little white portable lodges presented to the Ins 't by dint of the Blues (Republican Blues) and a certain number of other Companies of Sav'h (Savannah) are picturesquely stretched on the outside on the Hill in brow of the Academy... "

The field of studies at G M I. was based upon the curriculum of West Point, as were other military seminarys The four year school emphasized engineering, science and mathematics along with English grammar, composition, language, history and religion. pupils in the first class, and in their senior year, would receive military training in infantry, artillery and ( after 1856 ) cavalry tactics. Cadets began their day with the rigorous curriculum and the daily military drilling. The demands upon the cadets were great and many were forced to leave or dropp on the outside This gave G. M. I. a real high attrition rate which averaged between 50 and 75% pupils fortunate enough to graduate filled a void in the state's demand for engineers, surveyors and teachers.

In April of 1861 G M I. cadets and the superintendent Francis W Capers answered a prayer from Governor Joseph E. Brown to train presents They trained officers and non-commissioned of Phillip's brigade at Camp Brown located four miles southerly of Marietta at Smyrna Camp soil As the demand for training novel recruits grew, Camp Brown was by and by too small to handle the influx of fresh soldiers and it was disbanded. The cadets mov their base of operation during June and July six miles up the Western & Atlantic Railroad to newly established Camp McDonald at Big Shanty where the not away day Kennesaw is located. Here they again provided drill instruction in different arms as well as infantry, artillery and cavalry tactics to one as well as the other officers and non-commissioned officers.

During 1861 the survival of the seminary was threatened as students left to become officers and drill instructors. To complicate matters, upon April 16, 1862, the Confederate Congres passed an act to provide for public safety in the way that young men between the ages of 18 and 35 could be conscripted into service. Governor Brown wrote a alphabetic character of protest to President Jefferson Davis that the pupils in state colleges must be exonerate from the conscription or the seminarys would be forced to shut Although President Davis wanted to secure the various southern military seminarys he refused. In an continued effort to make sure the school's survival, Governor Brown contrived a fresh plan, during the summer of 1863 to exonerate the cadets from conscription. The governor designated them as "The Engineers of the State" and assigned superintendent Francis W Capers to the rank of major and the Chief Engineer of the state of Georgia. scholars attending the Institute were finally screened under this legislative act.

In the spring of 1864 as Sherman's advancing army reached Dalton, Georgia, G M I. Cadets were reassigned and started their service as soldiers in the Confederate army. They were organized into sum of two units companies and designated "The Battalion of the Georgia Military Institute Cadets" or "G M I. Cadets" and were assigned to Walker's Division, Army of Tennessee They received gray jean militia field uniforms, canteens, cartridge boxe knapsacks and 69 caliber Belgian muskets. upon May 27th, they boarded a train and headed to West Point, Georgia to guard the bridge above the Chattahoochee River at the Alabama-Georgia state line. The G M I. Cadet Battalion saw action during the Atlanta Campaign and subsequently was part of the force contesting Sherman's March to the Sea. The G M I. Cadets Battalion disbanded at Augusta, Georgia upon May 20, 1865.