Michael Hitt's lecture comprises the History of the Georgia Military Institute (1851-1861). Willie Smith of Roswell (Smith Plantation) was at GMI in the 1860s. The Roswell Ivy mill made gray cloth that was used in making GMI cadet uniforms and one of the post war presidents of the Roswell Cotton mill was a former GMI commander of cadets. Mr. Hitt is now the official historian for the current GMI. 

The Georgia Military Institute (GMI) was established on 110 acres in Marietta, Georgia, on July 1, 1851.

Seven students started classes in July and 28 men were in attendance by the end of the first year. GMI operated regularly until spring 1864 when the cadets were formed into two companies and deployed to West Point, Georgia, as a result of the Civil War.

During the Civil War, Governor Joseph E. Brown called upon superintendent Francis W. Capers (pictured here) to provide cadets to use as drill instructors for the Confederate States of America; other cadets volunteered or were drafted. On May 14, 1864, GMI cadets fought in the Battle of Resaca and made contact with the 9th Illinois Infantry Regiment. After this single engagement, the cadets were pulled off the front line.

In addition to fighting in Resaca, the cadet battalion entered active duty against Union men along the Chattahoochee River in July and during the siege of Atlanta in August. They also were reassigned to protect the state capital in Milledgeville from Union cavalry raids and joined militia and convict groups hoping to stop Sherman's March to the Sea.

The empty campus was burned by Sherman’s troops on November 15, 1864. Following the Civil War, Georgia Military Institute was not rebuilt. In its place was founded North Georgia Agricultural College in Dahlonega, as the Military College of Georgia.

Wikipedia and Barton Myers in the New Georgia Encyclopedia