Scott Shipp Scott Shipp ( also spelled Ship , born Charles Robert Scott Ship ) ( August 2 , 1839 - December 4 , 1917 ) was an American military figure , Confederate States Army officer , educator and educational administrator born in Warrenton , Virginia . He was the second superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute , briefly the president of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College ( Virginia Tech ) and led the VMI Cadets at the Battle of New Market during the American Civil War . Personal life and education . Shipp was born in 1839 to Captain John Ship and Lucy Blackwell Scott , the third wife of John Ship . Scott attended Mrs . Franklin ' s School , the Warren Green Academy , and Warrenton High School . Shipp ' s father died in 1849 , and his mother moved the family to Boone County , Missouri in 1852 where he entered Westminster College in Fulton . From 1855 to 1856 , Shipp was employed on the North Missouri Railroad as an assistant engineer and rodman . In 1856 , Shipp returned to Fauquier County , Virginia and entered VMI at the encouragement of Robert E . Rodes who he worked with on the North Missouri Railroad , and his stepfather , Dr . Henry M . Clarkson . Shipp entered VMI on August 14 , 1856 . He graduated 4th in his class of 29 on July 4 , 1859 with the rank of first lieutenant of Company B . He accompanied the cadets to Charles Town , Virginia , for the execution of John Brown in December 1859 . He married Anne " Nannie " Alexander Morson , a longtime friend , on August 19 , 1869 and they had three children : Elizabeth Scott , Lucy Scott , and Arthur Morson Shipp . He changed the spelling of his name to Shipp sometime around 1883 . Shipp ' s wife died in 1884 . They are buried at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery in Lexington , Virginia . Shipp was a close friend and colleague of George Washington Custis Lee , son of Robert E . Lee . The two were both professors at VMI before Lee left to serve as President of Washington and Lee College after his father ' s death . Shipp studied law at Washington College before the Civil War and earned his degree and was admitted to the bar in 1866 , though he never practiced . Career . Shipp served VMI as a faculty member from 1859 to 1889 , succeeding Stonewall Jackson as Commandant of Cadets in 1861 and teaching Latin , Mathematics , Military History and Strategy , and Military Tactics . While still serving as Commandant of Cadets he was appointed chair of the Department of Latin in 1876 . Shipp was elected president and appointed professor of mental and moral philosophy at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College , and served from August 12 - August 25 , 1880 , resigning because of a dispute over the organizational authority of the faculty for the college . Shipp was awarded the Doctor of Letters in 1883 and Doctor of Laws in 1890 by Washington & Lee University . In 1890 , he became the second Superintendent of VMI , taking over from the retiring Francis H . Smith and serving with the rank of brigadier general from January 1 , 1890 to June 30 , 1907 . During his tenure as superintendent , enrollment at VMI increased by 60 percent , many construction projects were undertaken and the Institute ' s debts were fully paid . He was a member of the Board of Visitors of the United States Military Academy in 1890 and President of the Board of Visitor ' s for the United States Naval Academy in 1894 . Civil War . After Virginia seceded , Shipp and the cadets were under the command of Commandant Jackson and were sent to Richmond for instruction . Shipp was detached to Rockbridge County , Virginia to recruit a company of soldiers . After a few days , he was called to Camp Lee to serve as assistant adjutant general with the active rank of captain in the Provisional Army of Virginia . He was appointed a major with the 21st Virginia Infantry in June , 1861 . He was with the cadets , serving under William W . Loring during Jackson ' s Romney Expedition in the winter of 1861 . Shipp was detailed to VMI on January 20 , 1862 where he served as Commandant of Cadets from 1862 – 64 and gained the rank of Lt . Colonel . Unofficial sources say he served as a Private in the 4th Virginia Cavalry during the summer of 1863 while on leave from VMI . In November 1863 , Shipp attempted to resign from VMI because he felt guilty for having taken one alcoholic drink , but he was discouraged from doing so . He was well liked and respected by his cadets because of his strait - laced , solemn , yet amiable disposition . His cadets called him " Old Billy " as in billy goat for the goatee he wore . The cadets were at the Battle of McDowell but did not take part in actual combat . Shipp commanded the VMI Cadet Battalion at the Battle of New Market under the command of Maj . Gen John C . Breckinridge on May 15 , 1864 against Union Maj . Gen . Franz Sigel ' s forces . Just as the cadets moved past the Bushong Farmhouse and into the Bushong Orchard , Shipp was struck in the shoulder and face by a spent artillery shell , briefly knocking him unconscious , his cadets fearing him mortally wounded . Shipp said in his report of the battle that the enemy fire was so fierce when he led the cadets into battle at the Bushong Orchard that " it seemed impossible that any living creature could escape . " One cadet commenting on Shipp ' s serious demeanor and physical presence said he was " a large man with close - trimmed black hair and beard , a solemn bearing and a deep voice . Although he was then but twenty - four years of age , I thought he was forty . " After New Market , Union Gen . David Hunter took command of the Valley Campaign from Franz Sigel and burned VMI . Shipp was then sent to Lynchburg , Virginia to aid Maj . Gen . Jubal A . Early in defense of that city , then to Richmond with the VMI Cadets where they served in the defensive trenches around the capital until the Corps disbanded in 1865 . Later life . Shipp retired from VMI in 1907 with the title of " Superintendent Emeritus " and remained in Lexington with his daughter Lucy Scott Huger and her family . His other daughter , Elizabeth Scott Tucker , died in a fire in 1901 . Shipp devoted his retirement to spending time with his family and travelled to Europe . Shipp died at his home in Lexington , Virginia and is buried in Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery in Lexington .