The Post Civil War Era

Post Civil War After the Civil War, several graduates left the Southeast. Many lost everything including their homes, land, and all of their worldly possessions. Some came to Texas and the "wild west" to start over. Texas survived the Civil War largely intact. The only parts of the state affected by the war were a few of the coastal cities. San Antonio and most other large cities in Texas remained intact.

Among those who came to Texas was the distinguished railroad designer and engineer, Edgar L. Heriot, class of 1847. During the Civil War, Col Heriot served as the Chief Engineer, Western Department, and was responsible for all railroads in the Confederate Government that were west of the Mississippi River. From 1866 to 1868 he served as Chief Engineer and Superintendent of the Texas Division of the New Orleans and Texas Railroad. From 1868 to 1872 he worked with the Central Texas Railroad as Locating Engineer and Chief Engineer Waco and North Western Texas Railroad. He completed his most difficult work as an engineer from 1873 to 1874 during the surveys of the Aransas Pass to Laredo Railroad in Texas. A large portion of the route was uninhabited except for "Mexican Bandits" and tribes of hostile Indians. The route was both challenging and dangerous due to the bandits and Indians. A large portion of his other works is now part of the Mexican National Railway. After U.S. Military occupation of The Citadel following the Civil War, the college became stronger and better. Despite the near depression-like conditions in the state after the war, the college continued to thrive with graduates serving in leadership positions throughout the United States.

By the late 1800s, Citadel men served in Indian Wars, and the Spanish American War of 1898. Graduates were accepted to the best graduate schools in the United States. The success of The Citadel as a military college led to a large and unprecedented proliferation of schools for the citizen-soldier especially in the South. The Citadel's record of excellence was a model used by several other military colleges as they emerged in the late 1800's. Nearly all of these schools were Land Grant military colleges. Among them were Clemson Agricultural College (1893), Texas A&M (1876), Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1872), North Georgia College & State University (1873) and many others. Even the smallest of these new military colleges were more than twice the size of The Citadel. Clemson, a military college patterned after The Citadel, had almost 500 cadets in their corps nearly double that of The Citadel. Despite the increased competition for prospective cadets, The Citadel thrived on the challenge rising to the top.

The U.S. Army began to inspect all senior military colleges in the early 1890s to ensure high military standards were maintained. On May 16, 1892 Maj Gen Henry W. Lawton, Inspector General, U.S. Army, completed a national review of all military colleges including The Citadel. Lawton, a highly experienced officer and union Civil War combat veteran, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Gen Lawton praised The Citadel as the premiere state supported military college in the nation. Again in 1894, The Citadel was recognized as the number one state supported military college in the United States and a close second only to West Point. The official report submitted by the Inspector General, U.S. Army stated: "The discipline, military instruction, bearing and general appearance of the cadets, the general care and condition of arms and equipment, and the entire military aspect of the military department of this academy admits of no comparison to any of the colleges with which I have had experience. It is so superior in all its methods, scope, appointments and its distinctive military features that it must be classed alone, and can only be compared to our National Military Academy [West Point]." To help these other Land Grant military colleges, many Citadel graduates held key faculty positions at some of these new colleges. One of the early Presidents of Clemson University was Henry S. Hartzog, class of 1886. Although still a relatively small college, with fewer than 500 total graduates until 1900, the The Citadel thrived as a small and elite military college with an annual graduating class that averaged only 25 men.

US Army Occupation War with Spain and The Great War