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William GilhamWilliam Gilham (January 13, 1818-November 16, 1872) was an American soldier, teacher, chemist, and author. He served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He became president of a fertilizer company after the War. Childhood, education, military service William Gliham was born in Vincennes, Indiana, His father's family came from Virginia. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he graduated 5th in the class of 1840. He became a lieutenant in the 3rd Artillery in the United States Army and fought in the Seminole War in Florida and the Mexican War. Virginia Military Institute In 1846, he became a professor at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia. During the next five years, he developed VMI's departments of Chemistry and Agriculture, taught infantry tactics and served as the Commandant of Cadets. To lighten the load on Major Gilham, in 1851, VMI hired another professor, also a graduate of West Point, and a veteran of the conflicts in Florida and Mexico. The uncommon man with the common name was Major Thomas Jonathon Jackson, later better known as "Stonewall" Jackson. Majors Gilham and Jackson taught together at VMI for the rest of the decade. In November 1859, at the request of the governor of Virginia, Major Gilham led a contingent of the VMI Cadets Corps to Charles Town to provide an additional military presence for at the execution by hanging on December 2, 1859 of militant abolitionist John Brown following his raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry. Major Jackson was placed in command of the artillery, consisting of two howitzers manned by 21 cadets. In response to the raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia Governor Henry Wise ordered Gilham to write a manual to train volunteers and militia. The taunting task, finished in the fall of 1860, was entitled Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the United States. American Civil War In 1861, as the American Civil War broke out, the Confederate Army had a lot of new recruits. Major Gilham became the Commandant of Camp Lee, at Richmond, Virginia, the camp of instruction for thousands of Virginians. Gilham's manual proved to be the ideal book for the training of these young men. Major Gilham briefly commended a brigade in the field during 1861 and 1862, but returned to teaching at VMI. On May 15, 1864, the VMI cadets participated in the Battle of New Market. Gilham was present, but did not command the young troops during the battle. After Union troops raided Lexington, the VMI cadets were stationed at Richmond for the remainder of the War. Post-war After the War, VMI had no money to pay its' instructors. Gilham went to work in Richmond for Southern Fertilizer Company, which occupied the former Confederate Libby Prison facility near Richmond's Tobacco Row. William Gilham died in Vermont on November 16, 1872. He is buried at Lexington, Virginia in the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, just a few yards from his friend and colleague. Gilham, William Gilham, William Gilham
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