By Meredith Lorenz

             The Civil War affected Davidson College’s student body in both expected and unexpected ways.  The call for young men to join Confederate services decreased the number of students, which allowed room for new students, and unexpectedly created lacking diligence in studies.  The Civil War affected the number of students, the make-up of the student body, and the academic atmosphere of Davidson College.

            One effect of the Civil War was the decreased student body and faculty between 1861 and 1866.  Students left Davidson for a variety of reasons, all caused by the war.  In 1861 “the Junior class requested permission as a unit to go into service and permission was granted” (Davidson).  Other students left “to enter the army in compliance with the calls of several Governors of the Southern States; some received orders from their parents to come home and join volunteer companies there organizing; some were called home to take the places of older brothers who had volunteered” (Shaw, 103).  From 1861 until 1866 the student body decreased until 1866 when it had “one junior, seven sophomores, fourteen freshman, and seven preparatory students” (Beaty, 107), down from 112 students in the spring of 1859 (Catalogue, 1858-1859).  As a result, there was only one graduate during the war, a man who graduated in 1864 and went on to become a Presbyterian minister (Davidson).  Likewise, the faculty decreased in size, with only four professors remaining by the end of the war (Beaty, 108). (Click here to find actual class sizes during the war.)  The Civil War affected the student body by decreasing the number of students at Davidson College.

            The decline in students allowed new students to join the student body.  Some of these students were “sons of wealthy families who had hired substitutes . . . to fight for them” (Davidson).  Others “had fled from their native state to avoid conscription” ("Davidson's Early History").  Additionally, the college added a preparatory program for younger students that lasted from the fall of 1862 to spring of 1866 (Shaw, 105).  Also, the college allowed war veterans to attend for free (Davidson), so many ex-Confederate soldiers also joined the student body.  Thus, the Civil War allowed the student body to become a combination of draft dodgers, young preparatory students, and eventually war veterans. 

            The last, and arguably most important, effect of the Civil War was the lacking diligence of the new student body at Davidson College.  This loss of work ethic was caused by many factors.  President Kirkpatrick observed the “decline in . . .  attention to  . . . studies as might be expected” (Shaw, 104).  The young preparatory students caused a “decline in discipline”; the lack of Juniors and Seniors “eliminated . . . [an] element of control over the younger men” (Davidson).  (See actual faculty report of discipline problems.)  Wealthy boys who had a hired substitute in the service were “spoiled and . . . not the healthiest example for the youngsters” (Davidson).  Likewise, the men escaping the draft were concerned with escaping conscription, not receiving an education ("Davidson's Early History").  Some Confederate veterans returned to Davidson before the war ended, having been wounded in battle.  Although these men were usually good students (McDowell, 306-307), their conduct could not make up for the lacking work ethic of the students around them.  These conditions resulted in a less diligent student body, which was one of the biggest effects the Civil War had on the student body of Davidson College.

            In the years after the war, many war veterans that had previously been enrolled returned to Davidson College, while other students joined the student body.  The class size increased with each year, enrolling 121 students by the fall of 1868 (Catalogue, 1868-1869).  Despite the short-lived change in the student body during war times, Davidson College returned to its usual class size and academic standards shortly after the war.