1861 during the Civil War and was commandeered by the Confederate States of America in 1862, operating as a hospital until 1865. During this time, the campus saw battle during the Battle of Saltville. The hospital was the setting of Lieutenant Smith's murder on October 7, 1864, by Champ Ferguson. After the war ended, the college reopened.
=== Martha Washington College ===
The administrative operation of Martha Washington College, a Methodist-affiliated school for women located in Abingdon, Virginia, was merged with that of Emory & Henry College in 1918. At its November 1918 session held in Johnson City, Tennessee, the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, decided to merge Martha Washington College with Emory & Henry College; all of the property of Martha Washington, including its 8-acre Abingdon campus, would be transferred to Emory & Henry in exchange for Emory & Henry assuming the debts of Martha Washington and operating Martha Washington College as a "co-ordinate woman's college". …
