The Virginia Military Institute launched an educational revolution when it became the first school in the American South to combine classical and practical courses under an effective system of military discipline. It pioneered free schooling for the poor and exemption from tuition and board in exchange for two years of teaching in primary and secondary education. It has furnished fully qualified citizen-soldiers for both civilian and military life since before the Civil War. Who first thought of VMI has been the subject of multiple claims since the school's founding in 1839. This biography of...