Bernhard Thuersam, Director
Cape Fear Historical Institute
www.cfhi.net
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The Carolina Military Institute in Charlotte
In the suburbs of the City of Charlotte stand the buildings of the Carolina Military Institute. These buildings are large, commodious and substantial. They fully answer the purpose for which they were originally designed. The main edifice is of brick. It is built in the castellated style of architecture – the style that is now almost universally adopted for Military Academies. The appearance of the building is quite imposing, with its towers and turrets, its parapets and battlements.
From the main tower there usually floats a blue flag. It is the banner of the Institute – an emblem of the progress of Education in North Carolina. I wish the banners of this character floated over every town and village in the State! It is painful to behold the educational needs of the boys and girls who are growing up in our land. Whatever tends to supply that great want should receive the encouragement of every patriotic citizen. The year in which Education begins to receive in North Carolina that attention which it merits, will be a year fruitful of blessings for the State.
In these days of progress and enlightenment, ignorance and stupidity will do more to retard the growth and development of our country than anything else. The great need of the times, with us, is educated men for the industrial pursuits, as well as for the forum, the bar, and the pulpit. All the institutions of learning, within our borders, should be fostered and encouraged.
The location of the Carolina Military Institute is singularly advantageous. It is an elevated site, commanding a wide and interesting view of the city and surrounding country. The grounds are particularly attractive. They comprise twenty-seven acres of smooth, green lawns and slopes, shaded by a beautiful grove of oak trees. Thus, ample space is afforded for recreation, and for military and gymnastic exercises. The location is remarkably healthful, being open to the breezes from all sides, and blessed with the purest and most wholesome water. So much for the external appearance of the Institution, and the advantages and beauty of its location.
The period of existence of the Institution may be measured by a few fleeting years. But however brief, it is replete with interest. It was founded several years prior to the late war; in 1858 the corner stone was laid; and was first known as the “North Carolina Military Institute.” I am told that the buildings were originally planned by General Stonewall Jackson, who was then unknown to fame, and ignorant of the glorious future that awaited him. I am further informed that Jackson then entertained an idea of uniting with Gen. D. H. Hill, his brother in law, in the effort to establish a military school at Charlotte – one that would rank with the academies at Lexington, Va., and Columbia and Charleston, S.C. But he finally gave up the idea, and returned to the Virginia Military Institute where he remained until the out breaking of the war.
The Institute was finished in 1859, and the company of citizens who owned it tendered the position of Superintendent to Gen. D. H. Hill, who was then a professor at Davidson College. General Hill accepted the position, and in ’59 opened the school, assisted by General Lane, Col. Charles Lee, and one or two others.
The “North Carolina Military Institute” became one of the most flourishing seats of learning in the Carolinas. The war found it so. The war broke it up. Its brave and patriotic Superintendent was called to a high station in the army. He was among the very first to buckle on the sword and march to the front to fight the battles of his country. Many gallant youths whom he had trained followed him to the field.
Several efforts were made, after the close of the war, to revive the institution, but none succeeded, mainly because of the unsettled and impoverished condition of the country. The buildings remained unoccupied and unused most of the time until the autumn of 1873, when the “Carolina Military Institute” was established by Colonel John P. Thomas, who had conceived the project of founding a school which would embrace within the scope of its aims and influence the youth of both North and South Carolina. Figuratively speaking, it was a union of the Pine and Palmetto. It was designed for both the Carolinas. Hence the change of the name of the Institution from the “North” Carolina Military Institute to “The Carolina” Military Institute – a name which is entirely appropriate.
That Col. Thomas met with many difficulties in the beginning of his enterprise, it is hardly necessary to mention, as it is a well-known and very lamentable fact that educational enterprises meet with little encouragement from the public, in this time of trouble, and distraction, and poverty and hardship. He persevered’ pressed boldly and unswervingly onward; overcame each obstacle in turn, and finally achieved the object at which he aimed.
His labors have been crowned with gratifying success. The first academic year which began October 1st, 1873, and ended October 1st, 1874, saw 102 cadets on the rolls of the Institute. And to-day, early in the second academic year, there are 104 names on the list of boys, now matriculated at the Institution. This exhibit indicates a remarkable degree of success. Few institutions of learning in either of the Carolinas can boast so large an attendance during any one academic year.
The Carolina Military Institute is now established beyond peradventure. It is a permanency – fixed upon a sure foundation, and capable of much larger growth and expansion. It has become the pride of Charlotte, and no doubt the time will come when the people of North Carolina generally will feel an abiding interest in its welfare and prosperity.
The object and scope of this enterprise deserves a more extended notice than I am able to give at this time, but I will briefly allude to its salient points.
The grand primary object is to educate the cadet, mentally, morally, and physically; to develop the body as well as the mind, and to train and cultivate the moral as well as the intellectual faculties. So that the boy should leave the walls of the college, an able-bodied, learned and virtuous young man, ready for the performance of all the duties of life. The curriculum of academic studies is an admirable one. It is full and comprehensive, logical in order, and harmonious as a whole. It is formed after the most advanced ideas regarding education; and is a decided improvement upon the course already pursued at military institutions.
The judicious combination of the scientific and the esthetic element is especially commendable. The purely military studies, those which relate solely to the art and science of war, are made to give way to the studies that relate to the civil and general pursuits of life. This military element is extensively used, but not unduly magnified; nor is it allowed to infringe upon the scholastic and more essential exercise of the Institute.
The relation of the military to the scholastic features of this Institute, is best explained in the language of the Proprietor himself. In one of his circulars, he tells us that the grand object of the discipline of the school is “to impress upon cadets the idea of duty and responsibility. The military arm is employed not so much to compel an unquestioning obedience to a rigid code as to strengthen appeals to the moral sense and to enforce ethical propositions. Whilst the military power is employed, the usual appeals are made to the moral sense and the whole discipline, though resolute, is considerate and discreet in character.” The military feature when thus properly subordinated and regulated, is always full of excellencies, and benefits.
The studies pursued and instruction given at the Carolina Military Institute are comprised under these heads: Mathematics, Physical Science, History, Belles Lettres and Ethics, Modern Languages, Ancient Languages, Commercial Department, Physical and Military Department. Instruction by lectures, in all the departments, is freely and systematically pursued.
Among the new and progressive features of the Institution are lectures upon all the matters of importance in connection with the history and spirit of the immediate present, and upon all the questions of ethics and duties; and also the practical illustration of the principles of Agricultural Chemistry. It is designed to have a farm in connection with the Institute, where these illustrations may be made, and where the cultivation of the leading products of the South may be scientifically carried out before the eyes of the cadets.
Altogether, the course of instruction is thorough, practical, and liberal in an eminent degree; and the aim of it all is to make the graduate both polished and practical, virtuous and manly, and vigorous in both body and mind.
Col. John Peyre Thomas, the founder of the “Carolina Military Institute,” and its present Superintendent, is a South Carolinian by birth. He was educated at the Arsenal and Citadel Academies of that State. He afterwards was appointed Superintendent of the Arsenal Academy, a position which he filled with credit to himself for many years. The Academy was destroyed by fire at the burning of Columbia, in 1864.
Subsequently to the war, Col. Thomas became prominent in the public affairs of South Carolina, as an editor and a leader of the Democratic party in that unfortunate State. He distinguished himself and won the gratitude of all true people in South Carolina by his zealous devotion to the State’s true interests, and his bold, persistent, and unflinching exposure of the corruption of the Radical party.
The short time he was editing the “South Carolinian” Col. Thomas made a proud record for himself. No man ever exhibited greater daring in journalism. It was not until the bankruptcy of his paper that he ceased his efforts to redeem the fallen fortunes of his State.
Col. Thomas has been an instructor of youth since early manhood. He was always connected with military institutions, during his career as teacher. He is a thoroughly educated man, a ripe scholar, and an enthusiast in the cause to which he has devoted so much of his life. He is an excellent teacher, possessing in a large degree those qualities of firmness, readiness, courtesy, sense of justice, and aptness for imparting knowledge which are necessary in a good instructor.
He is in the prime of his life; full of the spirit and energy and enterprise, and gifted with the fine powers of mind. He is withal an estimable gentleman and a true Christian. Col. Thomas is assisted by an able corps of Professors – Messrs. Lynes, Cain and Hutson. They are each thoroughly qualified for the positions which they occupy, are young men of high moral character and zealous in devotion to their profession.
Under its excellent management, the Carolina Military Institute is rapidly advancing to the front rank of military colleges in the South. Already it takes a high stand among the educational institutions of the country, though it has been in existence but sixteen months. Its brief career so far has been one of remarkable prosperity, and a bright future lies before it.
(The Carolina Military Institute, Johnstone Jones, Our Living and Our Dead, Volume I, Number 6, Official Organ, North Carolina Branch Southern Historical Society, February 1875. pp. 625-628)
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