Editing Roanoke College (section)

===Early years===
[[File:Roanoke College - 19th Century.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Roanoke College during the late-19th century: the John R. Turbyfill Front Quadrangle with (left to right) Miller Hall, The Administration Building, and Trout Hall, all listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]]]
A boys' [[university-preparatory school|preparatory school]] was founded by [[Lutheran]] pastors David F. Bittle and Christopher C. Baughmann.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.salemmuseum.org/guide_archives/HSV9N1.html#death|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617130630/http://www.salemmuseum.org/guide_archives/HSV9N1.html|url-status=dead|title=Guide to Historical Salem &#124; Vol. 9 No. 1|archivedate=June 17, 2008}}</ref> Originally located in [[Augusta County, Virginia|Augusta County]] near [[Staunton, Virginia|Staunton]], the school was named Virginia Institute until chartered on January 30, 1845, as Virginia Collegiate Institute.<ref name="historicmarkers.com">{{Cite web|url=http://ww16.historicmarkers.com/Virginia/Augusta_County_Virginia/Roanoke_College_I11A/?sub1=20220515-0515-29e2-832b-ab15e57445bd|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206032557/http://www.historicmarkers.com/Virginia/Augusta_County_Virginia/Roanoke_College_I11A/|url-status=dead|title=historicmarkers.com – Dead link |archivedate=February 6, 2015|website=ww16.historicmarkers.com}}</ref> In 1847, the institute moved to [[Salem, Virginia|Salem]] which was developing into a center of commerce and transportation in the region; the school moved all of its possessions in a single [[covered wagon]]. The [[Virginia General Assembly]] granted a college charter on March 14, 1853 and approved the name Roanoke College, chosen in honor of the [[Roanoke Valley]].<ref name="historicmarkers.com"/><ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/image/339025222/ Legislature of Virginia]". ''Richmond Enquirer'' (Richmond, Virginia). March 15, 1853. p. 4.</ref> Bittle then served as the college's first president.

Roanoke was one of the few [[Southern United States|Southern]] colleges that remained open throughout the [[American Civil War]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.salemmuseum.org/guide_archives/HSV7N2.html |title=Guide to Historical Salem &#124; Vol. 7 No. 2 |access-date=November 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617122334/http://www.salemmuseum.org/guide_archives/HSV7N2.html#timeline |archive-date=June 17, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=http://ww16.historicmarkers.com/Virginia/Salem_City_Virginia/Roanoke_College_BI11/?sub1=20220515-0515-2939-9539-674785792940|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616160121/http://www.historicmarkers.com/Virginia/Salem_City_Virginia/Roanoke_College_BI11/|url-status=dead|title=historicmarkers.com – historicmarkers Resources and Information.|archivedate=June 16, 2015|website=ww16.historicmarkers.com}}</ref> The student body was organized into a corps of cadets and fought with [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] forces near Salem in December 1863.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwbtmco3-YkC|title=Dear Old Roanoke|isbn=9780865543669|last1=Miller|first1=Mark F.|year=1992|publisher=Mercer University Press }}</ref> The students were outmatched and quickly forced to surrender, but the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] commander [[parole#Prisoners of war|paroled]] them and allowed them to return to their studies.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> The college [[company (military unit)|company]] was formally mustered into the Confederate Army, Virginia Reserves, on September 1, 1864, but the students did not see combat before the war ended.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>