May 15 marks the 144th anniversary of a remarkable battle in the American Civil War, one that has had great meaning in Virginia since that day-the Battle of New Market.  Although a small military engagement by the standards of that enormous war, it demonstrated in miniature a number of very American aspects. The commanders, for instance, reflect the nature of country and conflict in very poignant ways. The Union Commander was General Franz Sigel. He represented the thousands of German immigrants who fought in the war, mostly for the Union.  Having fled Germany after being on the losing side in the revolutions of 1848, Sigel settled in the U.S., eventually taking a prominent position in St. Louis, a city with a large German population. Anti-slavery, Republican, and a leader of the German immigrant community, Sigel was a natural for Abraham Lincoln to bring east to command. He had been singularly unsuccessful in his military career but his political connections kept him in service till 1864. New Market would prove to be his undoing.

The Confederate army was led by the former Vice President of the United States, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky. He had finished second in electoral votes in the Presidential election of 1860 behind Abraham Lincoln. By 1864 he had led troops in many important battles, achieved the rank of Major General, and been given independent command to protect the Shenandoah Valley from the enemy forces sent there by General Ulysses Grant. Breckinridge was a bold but sagacious leader and would prove his mettle once again at New Market.

Most of the men on each side that day were veterans who had seen the bloody hands of war up close. Some had been loading and firing for three years. New Market is best known today for a special unit who marched to immortality, the cadet corps of the Virginia Military Institute. With great reluctance, General Robert E. Lee had authorized the use of the cadets, aged 15 to 21, for active service if the circumstances warranted. The 251 VMI men marched 80 miles north from Lexington to New Market, prepared to fight and die for their families, their homes, and their cause.

General Breckinridge had hoped to hold the cadets in reserve but had said to them “Gentlemen, I trust I will not need your services today, but if I do, I know you will do your duty.” The battle commenced in all its fury and Sigel’s men stood their ground well, creating a gap in the Confederate line. With no other troops to call upon, the cadets, led by their own twenty four year old Lieutenant Colonel Scott Ship, climbed a fence by the Bushong house and attacked a Union battery on the other side of a muddy field.  They boys fell as they went into the attack. The muddy field sucked off some of their shoes. They climbed the hill and captured a canon and veterans of the 34th Massachusetts. New Market was a decisive Confederate victory but at quite a cost. Of the 1,380 casualties on both sides, ten cadets died and many more were wounded.

Today there is a beautiful statue at VMI entitled “Virginia Mourning Her Dead” and every year on this day the Corps of Cadets lines up on their parade ground and holds a commemorative ceremony. The role of honor is called. Cadets representing the dead boys of New Market step forward when their name is called and report “Died on the field of honor, Sir!” VMI continues to send its men to the battlefields of the world.

The Battlefield of New Market lies silent along the Shenandoah River. Whenever we pass by, my children ask me to point out the “field of lost shoes.” There is a memorial visitor’s center and the battlefield is accessible for walking. The Bushong farm is well preserved and interpreted. An interstate bisects the battlefield and probably most of the people hurrying by do not know what happened there. But it is worth your time to stop at the New Market field and reflect on the heroism of America’s youth who have drawn the sword and laid down their lives whenever they have been called to the defense of their country.