James Markham Marshall Ambler Memorial

James Markham Marshall Ambler, a veteran of the 12th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, attended Washington College under Robert E. Lee from 1865 to 1867, before studying medicine and entering the United States Navy. In 1879, he sailed as medical officer aboard the U.S.S. Jeannette, an expedition seeking to explore the Arctic and reach the North Pole. During the ship’s prolonged voyage, he worked to maintain the crew’s health through sanitation, suitable food, and measures against scurvy.

After two years adrift, the Jeannette was crushed by ice in June 1881. Many of its beleaguered crew undertook a desperate journey toward Siberia. Ambler remained with the party led by Lieutenant Commander George Washington De Long, whose men struggled with hunger, exhaustion, and exposure. On October 9, after one final rescue party was dispatched from the ship, Ambler remained with the immobile crewmates who needed his care. One by one, Ambler and the companions he refused to abandon perished in October and November of that year. In 1884, his frozen remains were recovered and buried at Leeds Episcopal Church in Fauquier County, Virginia.

Ambler’s college friends and classmates commemorated him with a tablet unveiled during Washington and Lee’s June 1885 commencement, with remarks by President G.W.C. Lee. Writing that same year, W. M. Paxton described the University memorial in The Marshall Family and offered this tribute: “He died in the cause of science and humanity, but his heroism will live in history.” The tablet preserved the memory of a former student whose final decision placed his duty as a physician above his own chance of survival.

University officials removed the plaque alongside other memorials from the Chapel sanctuary in 2021.

IN MEMORY OF
JAMES MARKHAM MARSHALL AMBLER,
PAST ASSISTANT SURGEON, U.S. NAVY.
BORN IN FAUQUIER COUNTY, VIRGINIA, DECEMBER 30, 1848,
A STUDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE 1865-1867.
HE PERISHED ON THE BANKS OF THE LENA RIVER, SIBERIA, IN
THE RETREAT OF CAPT. DELONG’S COMPANY FROM THE
U.S. STEAMER JEANNETTE IN OCTOBER, 1881.
HE DECLINED THE LAST CHANCE OF LIFE THAT HE MIGHT HELP
HIS COMRADES. HIS LAST WRITTEN WORDS WERE THE CONFIDENT
EXPRESSION OF HIS CHRISTIAN FAITH. TO HIM “DUTY WAS THE
NOBLEST WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.”
ERECTED BY HIS COLLEGE FRIENDS AND CLASSMATES.

On June 4, 2021, the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees announced plans to rename Lee Chapel and restore its auditorium to an “unadorned design,” physically separating it from the Lee family crypt and memorial sculpture. As part of these changes, university officials removed twenty historical plaques and memorials from the chapel sanctuary.

In a July 21, 2022, update, the university announced that “most of the other plaques [removed from the chapel] will be moved to the galleries in the building or to the new institutional history museum, where they can be displayed with more historical context.” On October 21, 2022, three plaques honoring veterans who had attended Washington and Lee were formally rededicated at the Memorial Gateway, commemorating Kiffin Yates Rockwell, James Howard Monroe, Clovis Moomaw and John Arthur Lingle Jr. At the dedication, Rector Mike McAlevey, ’86, declared, “The plaques belong here; the names belong here. They join the names of our fellow alumni who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country.”

The Ambler memorial was not among the plaques reinstalled at the Memorial Gateway. In its October 25, 2022, announcement concerning the dedication, the university reiterated that “the remaining plaques will be moved to the Chapel Galleries or into the new institutional history museum upon its completion.” When the renovated chapel galleries reopened in June 2026, only six of the seventeen remaining memorials had been returned to public display. The university has not publicly announced plans for the reinstallation or exhibition of the Ambler memorial.

The university has not responded to recent TGR inquiries concerning the whereabouts and future exhibition of removed plaques. However, in September 2026 correspondence with The W&L Spectator, Museum Director Matt Davis stated: “Our storage facility is not open to the public, nor do we make a list of our collections inventory available to the public.” He further explained that “the size and weight of some of these artifacts are not conducive to public viewing.” Regarding their future exhibition, Davis wrote: “It is possible that some or all of these artifacts will eventually be incorporated into temporary or permanent exhibits once the new museum is open, and we hope to have online databases and viewing rooms in the future.”

1. https://archive.org/details/marshallfamily01paxt/page/250/mode/2up

2. https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=RCN18850619.1.3

3. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/ambler-james-m-1848-1881/

4. https://www.wlu.edu/about-w-l/leadership/board-of-trustees/messages-from-the-board-of-trustees/message-archive-2020-2023/the-future-of-washington-and-lee-university

5. https://columns.wlu.edu/update-on-university-chapel-renovations/

6. https://columns.wlu.edu/new-plaques-dedicated-to-the-memorial-gateway/