Conditions Governing Access

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Conditions Governing Access

Manuscript collections in the VMI Archives are made available for educational and research use. The VMI Archives should be cited as the source. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright holders. Materials from our collections may not be redistributed, published or reproduced without permission from the VMI Archives. Contact the VMI Archives for additional information.

Preferred Citation

Marshall McDonald personal papers, 1861-1892. MS 0169. VMI Archives, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Marshall McDonald was born in 1835 in Romney, West Virginia. He graduated VMI in 1860. During the Civil War he was a Confederate Army engineer and ordnance officer stationed at the Selma, Alabama arsenal. From 1866 to 1872 he was a VMI faculty member (chemistry, mineralogy, and geology). McDonald died in 1895.

Scope and Contents

The Marshall McDonald papers (approximately 90 items) include primarily correspondence (1861-1892), notes, scientific reports, and documents. Among the correspondents are several VMI alumni and faculty members and Civil War officers, including: Scott Shipp Francis H. Smith Edward Cunningham Wilfred E. Cutshaw John W. Lyell James H. Morrison Mark B. Hardin Daniel W. Flowerree General Dabney H. Maury Hunter McGuire Correspondence topics include McDonald's service in the Engineer and Ordnance Deptartments, glimpses of Civil War and post-War life at VMI (in the Smith and Shipp letters), and McDonald's professional concerns.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Confederate States of America. Army—Ordnance and ordnance stores
• Correspondence
• Reports
• United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865
• Virginia Military Institute—Civil War, 1861-1865
• Virginia Military Institute—Class of 1860
• Virginia Military Institute—Faculty—Biography
• Virginia Military Institute—History—19th century