by Koby Westbrook
Albert Boggess was born April 23, 1839 to Albertus and Anne (Wood) Boggess at Ten Mile Creek, which is near present-day Lumberport, Harrison County, West Virginia. He was the grandson of an American Revolution veteran and great nephew of James Wood, the eleventh governor of Virginia. Little is known about Boggess’ early life and upbringing, but as with most families of the day, he grew up in a large family. The Boggess family settled in Harrison County, Virginia early in the young republic when his grandfather, Samuel Boggess, purchased over 500 acres of land.
On June 12, 1860, he wrote to Francis H. Smith, the Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) applying for an appointment to become a cadet of the school. A week later, on June 19, Smith replied to Boggess accepting his application of appointment. On July 30, 1860, he was the eighth cadet to be officially matriculated into VMI for the new appointments of 1860. Due to the lack of publishing records at VMI, there is not much known about his first two years as a VMI cadet. After his freshman year (known as their “rat year”), however, he undoubtedly found enjoyment in studying mathematics. In his third year at VMI, he was ranked fifth overall in his class of fifteen, ranking third in mathematics, and having received a mere sixty-nine demerits.
His fourth and final year at VMI is when Boggess’ time with VMI became interesting. Although throughout the beginning of the war, the Corps of Cadets were called into Confederate service to help defend Virginia at various times, Boggess was always kept back at VMI. However, in May of 1864, just a couple months away from graduation, Boggess and the rest of the cadets would face their most notable challenge of defending
Virginia from the invading Yankee army in the Shenandoah Valley. Lieutenant Colonel Scott Shipp, Commandant of Cadets at VMI, received orders from Major General John C. Breckenridge to immediately form the corps and march to Staunton. Shipp formed the corps into a battalion of four infantry companies and one artillery section. Due to being so close to graduation, Boggess was awarded a commission as a Second Lieutenant and assigned to Company C.
On the morning of May 11, the Corps of Cadets began marching to Staunton and arrived in two days and attached to the rear of Breckenridge’s command under Brigadier General John Echols’ brigade. After a few hours of resting, Shipp received orders to march towards Harrisonburg being in the absolute rear. After arriving in Harrisonburg, again after only a few hours of being camped and resting, Breckenridge ordered his command to begin marching at daylight, stopping just a few miles south of New Market. At midnight on May 15, the command marched the final few miles and prepared to face the enemy at New Market. As an important point of reference, the Corps of Cadets marched from Lexington to New Market, a distance of almost eighty miles, in just four days. Undoubtedly Boggess, and the rest of the cadets, most of which have never experienced battle, were exhausted. But their morale, courage, and bravery kept them moving.
Breckenridge made it very clear to Shipp that the cadets were to remain in the reserves and were only to be used as an absolute last resort. After a few cavalry skirmishes and artillery volleys, Breckenridge set up his line to the south of the town, maintaining the highest ground of the area. Yankee units that had occupied the town earlier were pushed out easily and Major General Franz Sigel set up the Yankee lines along the northern part of the town stretching from Bushong Hill. After a couple hours of accurate fire from the Federal artillery on the hill, a hole in Breckenridge’s line was formed and he was forced to use the cadets to fill that hole. Soon after, the Yankees began a charge against the Confederate lines, which were almost immediately repulsed, and thus the command to counter-attack was called. As soon as victory was apparent to Breckenridge, he recalled the cadets in order to avoid further casualties in their ranks.
Boggess and his fellow cadets excelled in their duty as soldiers and saved General Robert E. Lee’s army from an attack in the west and saved the Shenandoah Valley. Unfortunately for the cadets, they suffered ten killed and forty-five wounded. The cadets’ story of heroism and bravery is depicted in the 2014 film “Field of Lost Shoes.” The Corps of Cadets eventually returned to VMI, and although they usually hold graduation ceremonies on July 4 of every year, Boggess and his class graduated on June 27. His studies did seem to falter in his last year at VMI, dropping to rank tenth out of fourteen in his class; however, he maintained his rank of third in mathematics.
After graduation, Boggess officially joined the Confederate Army, commissioning as a Second Lieutenant with Colonel Robert Preston’s battalion of reserves serving as a drillmaster for new recruits. Boggess served in this capacity for the remainder of the war. After the war, he returned home into what had become West Virginia, which was full of union sympathizers. After he examined the havoc that the war had on the area and living in an area where former Confederate officers were not well liked, he moved to Waco, Texas in 1866 to start a new life.
Seeing that he had a talent for mathematics and financing, he joined the faculty at Waco University as an adjunct professor in mathematics. Soon after in 1867, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and was baptized by the President of Waco University Reverend Rufus Columbus Burleson. Throughout his career as a professor at Waco University, he taught pure and applied mathematics and civil engineering. He also served as the Treasurer of Faculty, having saved the university from critical financial burdens in 1872 and 1875.
Beginning in 1885, Baylor University, originally in Independence, relocated to Waco and merged with Waco University. After the merger, Boggess continued teaching mathematics, engineering, and astronomy. He was also appointed as the first chairman of the newly formed Mathematics Department. He also served in a military capacity both at Baylor and in Waco. Small militia units were still common and in 1886, Baylor formed the Baylor Cadets which would be more closely related to an ROTC program today. Boggess served as the commander of the cadets and continued to assist with the program until his death. He was also involved in requesting Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross to help provide uniforms and weaponry to the cadets.
Boggess quickly became a devout Christian, especially with the help of Reverend Burleson. In 1874, he served as a delegate to the Baptist General Association of Texas and also served as the chairman of the finance committee. He also became a very prominent citizen in Waco, especially by helping students attending Baylor by boarding them in his house. In 1877, he married Nannie Elizabeth Shivers in Falls County. She was also a teacher at Waco University where they undoubtedly fell in love. They had seven children together.
Even after his death, Boggess’ legacy continues on both personally and through his family. In 1910, his wife and family set up a scholarship for math students at Baylor which continues today as the Professor Albert Boggess Mathematics Scholarship Fund. Even his name legacy continues today. There is a long line of Albert Boggesses, currently ending with Albert Boggess, IV (although he is the fifth Albert Boggess, as the subject matter Boggess’ son called himself Albert Boggess, Sr.). Coincidentally enough, the long line of namesakes have all excelled academically. Albert Boggess, IV once served as the chairman of the Math Department at the University of Texas and is now Professor in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at Arizona State University.
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