A rich heritage from every era, Pre-Colonial to Current Events :
Robert E. Lee Chapel &Museum
Lee Chapel and Museum, a National Historic Landmark was built in 1867 under Robert E. Lee‘s supervision. Lee and members of his family are buried beneath Lee Chapel on the Museum level. The famous statue by Edward Valentine portraying General Lee resting on the battlefield is located in the Chapel and Lee‘s office is preserved much as he left it for the last time on September 28, 1870. His beloved horse Traveler is interred in a marked plot outside his office.
The Museum houses many items that belonged to Lee and his family. The museum and Chapel are home for a group of portraits called the "Washington-Custis-Lee Collection." The collection includes the famous Charles Wilson Peale portrait of General George Washington and the Theodore Pine portrait of General Lee.
VMI Cadet Museum
The Virginia Military Institute Museum is in the lower level of Jackson Memorial Hall. Jackson Memorial Hall houses the Cadet Chapel and has a large oil painting depicting the VMI Cadet charge at the Battle of New Market in 1864. The VMI Museum contains exhibits that illustrate the history and traditions of the Institute. They include, Professor Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson‘s uniform coat that he wore while teaching at VMI, the bullet pierced raincoat that Jackson wore at Chancellorsville, Little Sorrel (Jackson's war horse), exhibits interpreting cadet life at VMI past and present, a replica of a cadet room in the VMI Barracks, and exhibits from the Henry Stewart gun collection.
George C. Marshall Foundation & Museum
George C. Marshall graduated from VMI in 1901 and served his country as Army Chief of Staff during World War II, Ambassador to China, Secretary of State, President of the American Red Cross and Secretary of Defense. Exhibits in the museum trace the career of Marshall with particular emphasis on the eras of the two World Wars and the Marshall Plan. A 25-minute electric map presentation highlights the significant events of World War II. On display is the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to General Marshall in 1953. Visitors can also enjoy seeing the Academy Award Oscar presented to General Frank McCarthy (a VMI graduate and aide to Marshall) as producer of the movie "Patton."
Stonewall Jackson House
Thomas Jonathan Jackson is known to the world as "Stonewall" Jackson, the Confederate general who earned his nickname for his stand at First Manassas and is best known for his brilliant leadership in the Valley Campaign of 1862. In Lexington, where Jackson lived and taught for ten years before the Civil War, he was known simply as Major Thomas Jackson, a professor of Natural Philosophy at Virginia Military Institute.
The Stonewall Jackson House at 8 East Washington Street is the only home that Thomas Jackson ever owned. It is a modest brick town house, built in 1801, with a mid-century stone addition at the back. Jackson and his wife, Mary Anna Morrison, moved to the house early in 1859, and shared two years there before he rode off to war on April 21, 1861, never to return alive.
Restored in 1979, the Stonewall Jackson House is furnished with many of Jackson's own possessions, as well as appropriate period pieces chosen to match items listed in Jackson‘s 1863 estate inventory. Guided tours, conducted on the hour and half hour, provide information on Jackson's family and early life, and the community in which he lived.
Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery
The Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery began as the burial ground for the old Lexington Presbyterian Church in 1789. General Stonewall Jackson, 144 Confederate veterans, two Virginia governors (John Letcher and James McDowell) and Margaret Junkin Preston, the Civil War Poet Laureate of the South are buried in the cemetery. The statue of Stonewall Jackson was sculpted by Edward V. Valentine and dedicated July 21, 1891. Jackson and his family are buried beneath the statue.
Museum of Military Memorabilia
The Military Memorabilia Museum offers a unique & extensive personal collection of military uniforms and artifacts primarily from Europe. You will find uniforms from Great Britain, France, Germany, the United States Armed Forces and much more. Guided tours are offered.
