The Civil War and the University of Richmond
| Richmond College, like most of Virginia, was devastated by the Civil War years. Most of the students left to enlist in the Confederate military after April 1861. Soon after, Columbia Hall, which housed most of the college, was converted into a hospital for Confederate troops. Not long after the fall of Richmond in April 1865, federal authorities quartered a regiment of troops in Columbia Hall and the other buildings on the campus. The furnishings, desks, laboratory equipment, and library were all removed. Nothing was ever returned, and only 60 or 70 books from the original library were ever recovered, mostly from Richmond College faculty. Richmond College had lost not only its property, library, and equipment, but also its endowment resources. The endowment, which stood at $100,000 in 1861, had been invested in Confederate bonds during the war and was virtually worthless in 1865. Two former faculty members were allowed to conduct a private school on the premises for a year, taking no salaries. With the help of the Baptist General Association of Virginia and a $5,000 initial gift, Richmond College reopened on October 1, 1866. Pledges were made for an endowment, new science equipment, furnishings, and a gift of over 2,500 books towards a new library. Tiberius Gracchus Jones was selected as the second President of Richmond College in 1866. |