Description

William Gilham was an 1840 graduate of West Point who fought in the Seminole and Mexican wars.  Desiring to be an educator, he joined the faculty of the Virginia Military Institute in 1846.  At VMI, Gilham developed the departments of Chemistry and Agriculture, taught infantry tactics and served as the Commandant of Cadets.  He served as a professor along with Thomas Johnathan Jackson, who came to VMI in 1851.  With Gilham and Jackson, the VMI cadets were sent to Harpers Ferry, VA in 1859 to help put down the John Brown raid.  Because of the John Brown raid, the Virginia governor, Henry Wise, ordered Gilham to write a training manual for volunteers and militia.  The manual was finished in the fall of 1860 and was published as a “Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the United States.”  The manual was published in Philadelphia, and with the outbreak of war became unavailable to the Southern soldiers.  As it was an excellent training manual, it was soon published in the South as a “Manual of Instruction for the Volunteers and Militia of the Confederate States.”  It was published in Richmond, VA in 1861 by West & Johnston, 145 Main Street.  It was printed by the famous printers Evans & Cogswell, No. 3 Broad Street, Charleston SC.  The manual was printed again in 1862.

The manual pictured here is the original Confederate printing in 1861.  The manual is in very good, solid condition with wear and spotting to the covers.  The spine has a slight pull at the top and a small hole to the edge.  There is some foxing/soiling to the inside covers, endpapers and title page.  Most other pages with some light toning to the edges.  A very nice copy of a rare and important manual that trained many Southern volunteers.