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This document was given to President Francis Gaines and transferred to B. P. McCrum by Gaines' secretary.
Preferred citation: [Identification of item], Speech by an unknown student, WLU Coll. 0455, Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
In some cases the citation format may vary. Please contact Special Collections' staff to verify the appropriate format.
This collection consists of a hand written patriotic speech entitled 'On the Military Condition of College' given by an unknown Washington College (Va.) student in the college chapel in February 1861. The orator uses Washington College's three significant historical themes linking it to the American Revolution: the schools George Washington connection, its support by the Society of the Cincinnati, and the raising of the academy's military company, the "Liberty Hall Volunteers," against British officer Banastre Tarleton's threat to western Va. The orator's intent was to inspire patriotism and readiness in response to the 1860/61 political climate in the region, specifically the regional response to the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the subsequent secession of six Southern states.