Pikes in Service

Of the six Founders of Pi Kappa Alpha, three of them – Julian Edward Wood, Littleton Waller Tazewell, and James Benjamin Sclater – were cadets at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) during the Civil War.

As VMI cadets, Tazewell and Sclater both saw active service in the defense of Richmond, where VMI had been relocated during the war. The Founder with the most famous military service was Wood. While still of high school age, Julian Edward Wood was among the first to volunteer for the Confederate Army. As early as June 1861, Wood was serving as a drill master in his native eastern North Carolina. At the insistence of his father, Wood entered VMI on January 9, 1862 and would continue as a cadet for the next two years and 10 months. As a corporal in Company C of the VMI Cadet Corps, Wood participated in the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864 where cadets held a sector of the front lines against an assault by Federal troops. During the battle, Wood was "on the colors," holding the VMI Cadet Corps flag and urging his comrades forward. It is said that Federal troops, upon seeing the unfamiliar flag, thought a foreign country had joined forces with the Confederates against them! After New Market, Wood participated in the defense of Lexington, the Blue Ridge passes, and Lynchburg as a cadet before resigning and becoming a First Lieutenant and drillmaster in the North Carolina troops, a position he would hold until the end of the war.

Although he saw no active military service, Robertson Howard did his part during the Civil War as well. As a Quaker, he did not officially align with either side in the conflict. Instead, Howard worked in hospitals helping wounded and disabled soldiers during the war. Although there is a legend in the Fraternity that Founder Frederick Southgate Taylor also served in the Confederate Army, his family has no record of any military service. William Alexander, the youngest of the Founders, lived in England with his mother during the Civil War.

Learn about the Julian Edward Wood Portrait Photograph here.