Georgia Military Institute

The Georgia Military Institute (GMI) was established on 110 acres (0.45 km2) in Marietta, Georgia, United States, on July 1, 1851. It was burned by the Union Army during the Civil War and was never rebuilt.

Georgia Military Institute
Sketch of GMI in 1864
Established1851
SuperintendentFrancis W. Capers
Students100-150 cadets
Location
Marietta
,
Georgia
,
United States
Campus110 acres (0.45 km2)

The current GMI is a reactivation of the name for a Georgia National Guard Officer Candidate School (OCS) curriculum.

History
GMI superintendent Francis W. Capers

GMI was established in Marietta on July 1, 1851. The campus consisted of 110 acres (0.45 km2).

Seven students started classes in July and 28 men were in attendance by the end of the first year.[1]

GMI operated regularly until spring 1864 when the cadets were formed into two companies and deployed to West Point, Georgia, as a result of the Civil War.

During the Civil War, superintendent Francis W. Capers sent cadets to use as drill instructors for CSA, and other cadets volunteered or were drafted.[2] On May 14, 1864, GMI cadets fought in the Battle of Resaca and made contact with the 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry regiment.[3] After this single engagement, the cadets were pulled off the front line.[4]

The empty campus was burned by Sherman's troops on November 15, 1864. Following the Civil War, Georgia Military Institute was not rebuilt. In its place was founded North Georgia Agricultural College in Dahlonega, as the Military College of Georgia.

General Sherman's Advance, View of the Military College near Marietta, Georgia, by Theodore R. Davis

To honor the legacy of GMI, the Georgia Army National Guard named its Officer Candidate School after it in 1961. In 2008, GMI returned to Marietta.[5]

Mission

In January 2010, the Georgia Army National Guard established its OCS Program at GMI. It is based at the Clay Army National Guard Center (formerly NAS Dobbins) in Marietta at the 122nd Regiment - Regional Training Institute (RTI). GMI/OCS is reflagged as Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 122nd RTI under the 78th Troop Command of the Georgia Army National Guard.

Current commissioning programs are available to Army National Guard soldiers in biannual Accelerated and annual Traditional program formats. A GMI graduate will receive both a state and a federally recognized reserve officer commission in the Georgia Army National Guard and US Army, respectively. Coursework is accredited via Fort Benning's US Army OCS curriculum.

References
  1. Marietta Museum of History: History of Marietta Archived 2006-09-29 at the Wayback Machine retrieved April 24, 2008
  2. New Georgia Encyclopedia
  3. James Lee Conrad. The Young Lions: Confederate Cadets At War. Rowman & Littlefield, 1997
  4. Robert L. Rodgers. An Historical Sketch of the Georgia Military Institute, Marietta, Georgia. (1956)
  5. Base's new owners settling in, Marietta Daily Journal, August 26, 2008
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.