"During the war, as was to be expected, several VMI men voluntarily cast their lot with the North. Twelve served as officers in the Union army: one brigadier general, three colonels, one lieutenant colonel, three majors, three captains, and one lieutenant. One alumnus remained a private, and another was a surgeon in the United States Navy. Even though VMI had been in existence only twenty-one years when the Civil War started, it had experienced, fortunately for the Confederacy, a period of expansion and vigor during the decade of the fifties, and the doors of the school were opened for the first time to students from outside of the Commonwealth. Also, Major William Gilham in early 1861, upon instructions from the governor of the state, began work on a drill manual for the militia. During the war this excellent book of instruction was used, at one time, by both the Confederate and Union armies. Another significant development pertaining to the military prior to the outbreak of hostilities was the successful firing on the VMI range of a new rifled piece known as the Parrott Gun. The tests, which ultimately led to the adoption of the gun by both the North and the South, were primarily conducted under the supervision of Major T.J. Jackson, instructor in artillery at VMI. This moody, deeply religious, eccentric figure had joined the Institute's faculty in 1851 as professor of natural philosophy- physics as we know it today. He remained in Lexington until April 1861, when he left to become one of the great commanders in American military history."