Thomas Garland Jefferson

Thomas Garland Jefferson

Virginia Military Institute Archives

Quick Facts

Significance:

Confederate Soldier

Place of Birth:

Amelia County, Virginia

Date of Birth:

January 1, 1847

Place of Death:

New Market, Virginia

Date of Death:

May 18, 1864

Place of Burial:

Lexington, Virginia

Cemetery Name:

Virginia Military Institute

Thomas Garland Jefferson, age seventeen, was one of ten cadets from the Virginia Military Institute killed during the Battle of New Market. While the cadet's bravery is cemented in historical memory, their sacrifice also offers the opportunity to question Confederate leadership in 1864. Do you think it was appropriate to use teenage students as soldiers? If you were a student at the time, what choices would you have made? 

Patriotic Roots 

Thomas Garland Jefferson was born in 1847. He was the eldest son of John and Otelia Garland, and the great grand-nephew of President Thomas Jefferson. Thomas was raised on his parent’s plantation near Amelia Courthouse. Enslaved laborers harvested cotton and tobacco. 

Virginia Military Institute 

Thomas arrived at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 1863, a state supported military college in the upper Shenandoah Valley. Established in the 1830s, VMI provided trained officers for Virginia's militia units. Local militias played a key role in protecting public safety by guarding against slave insurrections. Virginia militia recruitments increased in the 1830s as a result of the 1831 Nat Turner insurrection. 

Battle of New Market 

Confederate General John Breckenridge called out the VMI cadets for military service in the Spring of 1864. Jefferson, and his comrades, joined a makeshift Confederate army near New Market, Virginia in mid-May. The cadets saw combat during the rainy battle. Jefferson received a mortal wound charging across the Bushong Family farm. 

Care for the Wounded

The civilians of New Market provided care to wounded soldiers. Jefferson was brought to the Clinedinst family house in town. Their daughter Eliza nursed Jefferson until his death three days later. She commented, "He was about sixteen years of age, was blue-eyed, and had golden hair. I will never forget him and his sweet, boyish face. He was shot in the breast, and the bullet was cut out of his back. His sufferings were intense, but he bore up so well and never complained."

Jefferson was initially buried at St. Matthew's Church in New Market. He was later re-interred on the campus of VMI, a symbolic message for current and future cadets.