# William Gilham

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**William Henry Gilham** (January 13, 1818 – November 16, 1872) was an American soldier, teacher, [chemist](/source/Chemist), and author. A member of the faculty at [Virginia Military Institute](/source/Virginia_Military_Institute), in 1860, he wrote a military manual which was still in modern use 145 years later. He served in the [Confederate Army](/source/Confederate_Army) during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War), and became president of Southern Fertilizing Company in Richmond after the War.[1]

## Childhood, education, military service

William Henry Gilham was born in [Vincennes, Indiana](/source/Vincennes,_Indiana) on January 13, 1818. his father's family came from [Virginia](/source/Virginia). He was appointed to the [United States Military Academy](/source/United_States_Military_Academy) at [West Point, New York](/source/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](/source/United_States_Army) and fought in the [Seminole War](/source/Seminole_War) in Florida. From September 1841 to August 1844, he was Assistant Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). He served in the [Mexican–American War](/source/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War) in 1846. The degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by [College of William and Mary](/source/College_of_William_and_Mary) in [Williamsburg, Virginia](/source/Williamsburg,_Virginia) in 1852.

## Virginia Military Institute

In 1846, he became a professor at [Virginia Military Institute](/source/Virginia_Military_Institute) (VMI), then a recently founded state military college in [Lexington, Virginia](/source/Lexington,_Virginia). During the next five years, he developed VMI's departments of Chemistry and Agriculture, taught [infantry](/source/Infantry) tactics and served as the Commandant of Cadets. To lighten the load on Major Gilham, in 1851, VMI hired another professor, Major Thomas Jonathon Jackson, later better known as ["Stonewall" Jackson](/source/Stonewall_Jackson), who was also a graduate of West Point, and a veteran of the conflicts in Florida and Mexico.

As a professor, Gilham was interested in geological matters. In 1857, his *Report on the Soil of [Powhatan County, Virginia](/source/Powhatan_County,_Virginia)* was published in Richmond by Ritchie & Dunnavant. A copy of a request he made to the same year for the legislature to fund acquisition of "a complete collection of minerals and fossils for the use of my classes" is in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.[2]

Majors Gilham and Jackson taught together at VMI for the rest of the decade. In November 1859, at the request of the [Virginia Governor](/source/List_of_governors_of_Virginia) [Henry A. Wise](/source/Henry_A._Wise), Major Gilham led a contingent of the VMI Cadets Corps to [Charles Town](/source/Charles_Town,_West_Virginia) to provide an additional military presence for at the execution by hanging on December 2, 1859, of militant [abolitionist](/source/Abolitionism_in_the_United_States) [John Brown](/source/John_Brown_(abolitionist)) following his raid on the federal arsenal at [Harper's Ferry](/source/Harper's_Ferry,_West_Virginia). 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, Governor Wise ordered Gilham to write a manual to train volunteers and militia. Finished in the fall of 1860, it was entitled *Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the United States* and was initially published in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia).

## Family life

According to VMI records, while residing in Lexington, Major Gilham and his wife Cordelia Adelaide Hayden Gilham (1826–1913) had 7 children, 3 born after moving to Virginia. Their daughter [Emma Hayden Gilham](/source/Emma_Hayden_Gilham) (b. 1855) married [William Nelson Page](/source/William_N._Page), a [civil engineer](/source/Civil_engineer) who became co-founder of the [Virginian Railway](/source/Virginian_Railway).[3]

## American Civil War

In 1861, as the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War) broke out, the [Confederate Army](/source/Confederate_Army) had a lot of new recruits. Promoted to the rank of [colonel](/source/Colonel_(United_States)), Gilham became the Commandant of Camp Lee, at [Richmond, Virginia](/source/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.

Col. Gilham briefly commanded a brigade in the field in 1861 and 1862, but returned to teaching at VMI. On May 15, 1864, the VMI cadets participated in the [Battle of New Market](/source/Battle_of_New_Market). Gilham was present, but did not command the young troops during the battle. After Union troops led by [Union](/source/Union_(American_Civil_War)) General [David Hunter](/source/David_Hunter) raided Lexington, and burned buildings at VMI, the VMI cadets were stationed at [Richmond](/source/Richmond,_Virginia) for the remainder of the War. Major Gilham's house, a campus landmark, was later rebuilt to original specifications after the War.[4]

## 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](/source/Libby_Prison) facility near Richmond's [Tobacco Row](/source/Tobacco_Row). One of the company's products, Gilham's Tobacco Fertilizer, was manufactured there.[2]

William Gilham died in [Vermont](/source/Vermont) on November 16, 1872, aged 54.

## References

1. Wise, Jennings Cropper (1915). [*The Military History of the Virginia Military Institute from 1839 to 1865*](https://archive.org/details/militaryhistory00wisegoog). Lynchburg, VA: J. P. Bell Company, Inc. pp. [55](https://archive.org/details/militaryhistory00wisegoog/page/n61)–56. Retrieved June 13, 2009.

1. ["Archived copy"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080915114003/http://vhs3.vahistorical.org/starweb/x.marc/servlet.starweb). Archived from [the original](http://vhs3.vahistorical.org/starweb/x.marc/servlet.starweb) on September 15, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2008.

1. ["404 - - Virginia Military Institute"](http://www.vmi.edu/archives/local%5Fhistory/1860census.pdf)

1. ["Photograph Details"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110720110617/http://www1.vmi.edu/archivephotos/Details.asp?ACCNUM=2673&num=451&rform=list). Archived from [the original](http://www1.vmi.edu/archivephotos/Details.asp?ACCNUM=2673&num=451&rform=list) on July 20, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2008.

## External links

- [Letters Received Year 1846: Gilham, William](https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28637934) National Archives.
- [Confederate Application for Pardon and Amnesty, Virginia: Gilham, William](https://catalog.archives.gov/id/57460631) National Archives.
- [Corpus Christi Texas Library, William Gilham page](http://www.library.ci.corpus-christi.tx.us/MexicanWar/gilhamw.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20051214181935/http://www.library.ci.corpus-christi.tx.us/MexicanWar/gilhamw.htm) December 14, 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- [Stonewall Brigade website, William Gilham: Soldier, Educator](http://www.stonewallbrigade.com/articles_gilham.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20060723095436/http://www.stonewallbrigade.com/articles_gilham.html) July 23, 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- [Online text of Gilham's *Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the United States*](http://47thva.org/gilham/)
- [Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the Confederate States](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TPwlU_S_02YC)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Gilham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gilham) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gilham?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.