On November 11, 1839, the Virginia Military Institute, the first state military school in the United States, was founded at Lexington. This school was located adjacent to the Washington Academy which is now known as Washington and Lee University. The Virginia Military Institute was greatly appreciated because it was no longer necessary for the Southern young men to travel to West Point for military training and discipline. V. M. I. opened originally with twenty-three cadets and two teachers: Francis Smith and J. T. L. Preston, a lawyer who is accredited with having the concept of a state military institute. It became the first normal school in the state because during the first year of its existence, the state legislature passed a law stating that the training of teachers was to be considered as its chief objective. When the War between the States took place, V. M. I. supplied the Confederate forces with many of its military leaders, earning for itself the title, "The West Point of the Confederacy." At the Battle of New Market in 1864, V. M. I. cadets led by General John C. Breckinridge defeated the Union Army by the remarkable capture of a Union battery. From 1822 to 1850 thirteen additional counties had been created: Alleghany (formed from Bath, Botetourt and Monroe Counties and named for the Indian word, "Alleghany" meaning "Lost"), Page (formed from Rockingham and Shenandoah Counties and named in honor of John Page, Virginia Governor [1802-1805]), Floyd (formed from Montgomery County and later, part of Franklin County and named for John Floyd, Virginia Governor [1830-1834]), Smyth (formed from Washington and Wythe Counties and named for Alexander Smyth, Inspector-General of the Army in 1812 and a Congressman), Rappahannock (formed from Culpeper County and named for the Rappahannock Indian tribe which lived along the Rappahannock River which flows in this county), Clark (formed from Frederick and named for General George Rogers Clark), Warren (formed from Shenandoah and Frederick Counties and named for Major General Joseph Warren who died in the Battle of Bunker Hill), Roanoke (formed from Botetourt County and named for the term, "Roanoke," which was used by the colonists to indicate the shell-beads which the Indians used for money and for decoration), Greene (formed from Orange County and named for General Nathaniel Greene of the Revolutionary War), Pulaski (formed from Montgomery and Wythe Counties and named for Count Casimir Pulaski, Revolutionary War Polish Patriot), Carroll (formed from Grayson County and named in honor of Charles Carroll of Carrollton), Appomattox (formed from Buckingham, Prince Edward, Charlotte and Campbell Counties and named from the Indian word, "Appomattox," meaning "tobacco plant country") and Highland (created from Pendleton and Bath Counties and named for the extremely high altitude of this mountainous area).