Impacted Ordnance Found in Historic Bushong Farmhouse

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Impacted Ordnance Found in Historic Bushong Farmhouse 12 Civil War News September 2019 Impacted Ordnance Found in Historic Bushong Farmhouse By Lt. Colonel Troy D. Marshall the Bushong farm. Many plowed Cadet’s Cabell, Crockett, and Site Director, Virginia Museum the ground, into a tree, or hit an Jones; another rent the VMI of the Civil War unsuspecting soldier. colors. This year as part of a com- The Union artillery on prehensive rehabilitation of the At the time we passed the house Bushong’s Hill poured a devas- Bushong Farm, the oldest struc- the Federals were directing their tating fire into the orchard and ture on the farm, the 1818 House, fire upon us, and the house was Bushong Farm precinct. Cadet underwent exterior renovations made a sounding-board by the John Howard recalled the jarring that included clapboarding, win- striking of the missiles upon its scene he saw from behind a rail dow casings, and paint. All the sides. – Captain Frank Preston, fence that afternoon: I look back weatherboards from an earlier Lexington Gazette, May 25, 1864 upon that orchard as the most 1960’s renovation were removed, awful spot on the battle field…as offering battlefield staff a rare op- In the spring of 1864, the newly the shot and shell tore over and portunity to examine the exterior minted general-in-chief, Ulysses around us…I saw a cedar tree a walls for construction clues and S. Grant declared, My prima- yard high or thereabout with a perhaps even battle damage. ry mission is to…bring pressure trunk as big as my thumb. Not On April 11, 2019, the park’s to bear on the Confederacy so a very effective defense, but, no site director, Lieutenant Colonel no longer could it take advan- matter, anything from a white oak Troy D. Marshall, carefully ex- tage of interior lines. Control of to a wheat straw was better than 3-inch Hotchkiss canister shot embedded in the wood beam. amined all four sides of the struc- the strategically important and nothing, and I threw myself down ture. Something extraordinary troublesome Shenandoah Valley was determined to force the bat- Scott Shipp directed his battalion behind it. was found in the center of the was a key element in General tle. “I shall advance on him,” of cadets forward and for the first Cadet R. H. Cousins also north wall surface, an impacted Grant’s plan. While he confront- avowed Breckinridge. We can time they saw the full savagery remembered the horrific shock artillery projectile still there af- ed General Robert E. Lee’s Army attack and whip them here and I of battle directed right at them. of coming under fire after 2:45 ter 155 years. It turned out to be of Northern Virginia in the east, will do it. As they advanced, the silhouette p.m. We then went past the house an iron round shot from a 3-inch Grant ordered Major General After brushing aside Union of the Bushong Farm came into and got into the orchard, where Hotchkiss canister round. The im- Franz Sigel’s army of 10,000 men skirmishers west of town, the view and with it, more problems. canister and other missiles were pact zone is slightly elevated and to secure the Valley, and in so do- rebel infantry line came under Shipp quickly surmised a raining like hail. It seemed points north to the western end ing, threaten Lee’s left flank. fire from Federal troops north of solution, dividing the troops in impossible for men to pass through of the Union line on Bushong’s Receiving word that a Union the Bushong farm. half to pass on both sides of the such a storm. Cadet J.B. Baylor Hill. This probably places the army had entered the Valley, Devastating fire on the center Bushong home. Companies A echoed Cousins’ sentiments, We round as originating in one of Confederate General John C. of his line forced Breckinridge and B went right; C and D to were exposed to such a fire…that, Captain John Carlin’s 3-inch ord- Breckinridge pulled togeth- to put in his reserves, including the left. Their destination was if we had long remained in this nance rifles. Carlin’s Battery D, er all available forces to repel the 257 VMI cadets. General a gap in the Confederate center, position, we would have almost 1st West Virginia Light Artillery, the threat. The Virginia Military Breckinridge lamented, Put the directly inside Jacob Bushong’s been exterminated. was heavily engaged during the Institute’s Cadet Corps marched boys in…and may God forgive me fruit orchard. The march was Even the cadet’s command- final phases of the May 15, 1864, from their Lexington classrooms for the order. Lieutenant Colonel very costly. A single shell killed er, Lieutenant Colonel Scott battle and lost three guns to the to join Breckinridge and his army Confederates. of 4,500 veterans. The two armies On that rainy Sunday after- met at New Market on May 15, noon, literally hundreds of dead- 1864. ly iron missiles rent the air over By mid-morning Breckinridge 1818 House forensic investigation–April 2019 (Impact zone in chalk circle, center, 2nd story) Battle of New Market map. September 2019 Civil War News 13 and the boughs of a large tree… were all stretched out and sway- ing towards us. I believed I was bound to get killed[.] Whilst ly- ing here with the air literally filled with Yankee missiles, each one…seemed to miss me by only a scant sixteenth of an inch. Even the soldiers in Sigel’s army were awed by the destruc- tive power of their guns. J. N. Waddell of the 12th West Virginia Infantry wrote, Carlin’s Battery… Bushong Farm panoramic photograph. was just above us on a knoll and was sending shells over our several Union prisoners and a modernized with clapboarding to Bushong Farm Orchard ca. 1910. heads with terrible effect into the cannon from Von Kleiser’s 30th match the new house. Shipp, recorded the fury in his ranks of these boys. Lieutenant NY Battery. The cost for that vic- For the family whose farm official report, …having passed Colonel William Lincoln, an of- tory was also very high. They had been at the storm’s center, Bushong’s house, a mile or more ficer with the 34th Massachusetts lost five students killed and 47 The Bushong’s mended fences, beyond New Market, and still Infantry, was so impressed by the wounded, with five more dying went back to work, and eventu- to the left of the main road, the Union artillery, he later wrote, We from their wounds in the follow- ally opened a tourist home in the enemy’s batteries, at 250 or 300 poured a rapid and well directed ing days. Six of the fallen cadets 1930’s called Battlefield House yards, opened upon us with can- fire into the enemy; which aided are still buried on the campus of to cater to the increasing flood of ister and case shot…the fire was by the heavy enfilading fire of our the Virginia Military Institute. visitors. Guests stayed in the old withering. It seemed impossible artillery, checked his advance. Life after a storm, whether house, slept on their beds, and that any living creature could es- For a moment he staggered, ap- from a natural source or from bat- were regaled with stories of the cape; and here we sustained our peared to give way, and the day tle, takes time and energy to re- battle over supper in the dining heaviest loss, a great many being seemed ours. pair. The Bushong buildings were room. This ensured that the bat- wounded and numbers knocked Noting the confusion in the tlefield and the historic house sur- down, stunned and temporarily Confederate line, Sigel ordered a vived for another generation, but disabled. counterattack. The infantry charge that future was unsure. One of the most interesting lurched forward, awkwardly and On April 27, 1942, the Bushong accounts of the Union artillery ineffective. Anticipating the re- Farm was sold. This historic prop- bombardment comes from Cadet sult of his failed charge, Sigel be- erty made famous by the battle N. B. Noland, who was in the or- gan to withdraw his artillery. and the VMI cadets seventy-eight chard that afternoon. He wrote, I With his line reinforced and years earlier would need anoth- noticed just in front of my com- Federal cannon fire reduced, er preservation champion, and pany an orchard and a dwelling Breckinridge sensed his moment he would come from an unlike- house…it was about here that the had come. Into the Federal fire ly place. On August 4, 1944, Mr. enemy’s fire was most destruc- marched the gray-clad soldiers. George R. Collins, VMI Class of tive[.] We went through the yard Only a few yards separated the 1911, bought the old Bushong very close to the house [and] armies when the blue line broke. Farm and 120 ¼ acres. His sin- were ordered to lie down behind General Sigel staged a rapid gle estate started the New Market Excavated U.S. 3-inch the remnant of a worm-fence, retreat north to Strasburg, leav- Battlefield State Historical Park Hotchkiss canister with its iron about two rails high. The fire was ing the field and the Valley to and enabled significant resto- canister balls exposed. These furious at this time…I saw piec- General Breckinridge’s army 1818 House. ration efforts at the Bushong canister shot are similar to es of paper caught up and swept and the exuberant VMI Cadets.
Recommended publications
  • Report of the Quartermaster- General of the State of New Jersey, for The
    DOCUMENT No. 6, REPORT Qu^rlerm^^Ier-GeDer^I -OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, FOR THE YEAR 18S8. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/reportofquarterm1888newj : REPORT. State of New Jersey, Office of Quartermaster-General Trenton, October Slet, 1888. •} To His Excellency Robert S. Green, Governor and Commander-in- Chief: Sir—I have the honor to lay before your Excellency my report, ^agreeably to the provisions of the act entitled "An act for the organization of the National Guard of New Jersey." The Quar- termaster-General is also required to lay before the Legislature a particular return of all the arms and equipments belonging to the State, the number loaned out, in whose hands, and whether under proper responsibility. Statement A, to which you are respectfully referred, contains an account of clothing, camp and garrison equipage. Quartermaster stores, baggage train, and ord- nance and ordnance stores, serviceable and unserviceable, remain- ing on hand at the State Arsenal, on the Slst of October, 1888. Detailed statements of the daily operations will be found in the appendices, under their appropriate heads; the issues of all ord- nance stores, clothing, camp and garrison equipage to the sev- eral organizations of the National Guard, and the receipts of the same, from all sources, at the State Arsenal during the past year. I have the honor also to submit a financial statement of the disbursements of the Quartermaster-General's Department for the year ending October Slst, 1888, also the strength of the National Guard, and the condition of the arms in its possession.
    [Show full text]
  • Canister Use in the American Civil War: Recreating Spread Patterns of Canister Shot from a U.S
    1 Canister use in the American Civil War: Recreating spread patterns of canister shot from a U.S. Model 1857 Light 12-pounder Gun by William Baehr 16,219 words Battlefield and Conflict Archaeology MLitt Dr Tony Pollard University of Glasgow, School of Humanities, Archaeology Subject Area This dissertation is submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MLitt in Archaeology at the University of Glasgow Figure 1. Firing the Napoleon during the experiment (author photo). 2 This work is dedicated to the men who served the guns and to those who still do. 3 Table of Contents Page Table of Illustrations 4 Abstract 7 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 9 Part I—Experimental Archaeology 11 Chapter 1—Overview 11 Chapter 2—Other experiments using gunpowder artillery 17 Chapter 3—The need for this experiment 22 Part II—The Hardware 27 Chapter 4—The Model 1857 Light 12-pounder Gun 27 Chapter 5—The canister round and its employment 34 Chapter 6—The hardware used in this experiment 39 Part III—The Experiment 46 Chapter 7—Conducting the experiment 46 Chapter 8—The Data 52 Chapter 9—Conclusions 94 Appendix A 98 Appendix B 100 Bibliography 101 4 Table of Illustrations Figure Page Figure 1. Firing the Napoleon during the experiment. 1 Figure 2. Variables of canister shot spread. 11 Figure 3. Table of fire for the Napoleon. 12 Figure 4. A map of canister recovered from Wilson's Creek. 23 Figure 5. A composite map of the Pea Ridge Battlefield. 25 Figure 6. A Federal battery of Napoleons near Chancellorsville, VA.
    [Show full text]
  • Episode 210: Prelude to Cedar Creek Week of October 12-October 18
    Episode 210: Prelude to Cedar Creek Week of October 12-October 18, 1864 When Ulysses Grant took over command of all United States armies, he devised a plan to totally annihilate the Confederacy from multiple directions. While Grant and George Meade attacked Robert E. Lee and pushed him back toward Richmond, William Tecumseh Sherman would invade Georgia, Nathaniel Banks would attack Mobile, Alabama and Franz Sigel would invade the Shenandoah Valley, the Confederacy’s “breadbasket”. The Valley Campaign did not start well for the Union as Sigel’s troops were defeated at New Market in May by a Confederate army that included VMI cadets. Sigel was replaced by David Hunter. Hunter resumed the offensive in early June and pushed the Confederates all the way up the valley to Lexington, where Hunter burned most of the VMI campus. Hunter then turned his sites on Lynchburg, but he was headed off there by reinforced Confederate troops under Jubal Early. On June 18, Hunter withdrew into West Virginia. Robert E. Lee, concerned about the lack of supplies and food that would result from Union control of the valley, ordered Early to go on the offensive. He also wanted Early to provide a diversion to relieve the pressure Lee was feeling from Grant’s offensive. Early moved down the valley with little Union opposition and in early July moved into Maryland, defeating a Union force at Frederick. From there he actually reached the outskirts of Washington, DC, fighting a battle that concerned Abraham Lincoln so much that he watched it in person. Not being able to make more progress, Early withdrew back into Virginia, where he defeated the Union again near Winchester at the Second Battle of Kernstown.
    [Show full text]
  • German Immigrants in the Civil War”
    “Social Studies / History Activity” “Impact of German Immigrants in the Civil War” Background "I goes to fight mit Sigel" was the rallying cry of Unionist German immigrants during the Civil War. It was in Missouri that ethnic prejudice and political rivalry between immigrants and native-born citizens of the state led to military action. In the 1840s and '50s, many German citizens left their homes in Europe seeking freedom and democracy in America. Thousands began their new lives in St. Louis, where they established a strong cultural identity, founding German language newspapers and social organizations. Yet Germans realized that in order to be accepted by their fellow Americans they would have to assimilate to American (or English) traditions and practices. German Americans also developed strong anti-slavery and pro-Union views, believing that free labor and democracy were in direct conflict with the traditions of the South and the southern desire to expand slavery into the territories. When the Republican Party chose Abraham Lincoln as its candidate in 1860, the politically active St. Louis Germans comprised nearly all of Lincoln's support in Democratic Missouri. Many of their fellow citizens, immigrants from Tennessee and Kentucky, viewed the German immigrants with suspicion. As the Civil War approached, a rift existed between the state's slaveholders who supported the Democratic Party, and the commercially minded German Republicans of metropolitan St. Louis. Labeled as "Dutchmen" (the English corruption of Deutsche) by the non-Germans of Missouri, they were subject to prejudice that would ultimately have significant effects on the course of the Civil War.
    [Show full text]
  • Using Forensic Techniques to Further Archeological Inquiry Into Firearms Use
    Historic Rifling Data Characteristics: Using Forensic Techniques to Further Archeological Inquiry into Firearms Use Douglas D. Scott Adjunct Research Faculty Applied Anthropology and Geography Program Colorado Mesa University Prepared for National Park Service National Center for Preservation Technology and Training Grant P17AP00228 This report was developed under a grant from the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, a unit of the National Park Service. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the National Park Service or the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. September 2019 Table of Contents Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................iii Introduction ............................................................................................................................1 Theoretical and Methodological Background ........................................................................2 A Brief History of Rifling ......................................................................................................4 Data Collection Methods .......................................................................................................12 3D Scanning ................................................................................................................19 Using the Database ................................................................................................................21
    [Show full text]
  • February 2021 Meeting Highlights
    BRUNSWICK CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE MEETING – March 3 , 2021 “SIGEL & BRECKINRIDGE: LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP FROM THE BATTLE OF NEW MARKET” SPEAKER: Sarah Kay Bierle “If your actions inspire others to dream of more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams Some historians and writers make hasty claims about the meaning of battles, the competency of generals, and leadership. They make their statements as if handing down the unvarnished word from on high. Sarah Kay Bierle presented a refreshing change of pace with her conclusions about leadership of Generals Franz Sigel and Breckenridge. In her honesty she admitted that their leadership qualities were those that appealed to her. Her modesty and earnestness earned our trust and her effective use of the Zoom platform our admiration. Much fought over during the Civil War, the Shenandoah Valley drew Sigel and Breckenridge together so that Sigel could deny the Valley’s victuals and soldiers to Lee in Richmond, and Breckenridge could retain the supplies and reinforce Lee. Both men came with a history. Sigel, a German immigrant respected by the German community, came with a German military academy background, a firm belief in education, experience as a writer and recruiter who attracted many soldiers from the German-American community, and experience in numerous battles where he lost, but successfully lead orderly retreats, no small feat in the heat of battle. He could both organize units and lead them in training. Decisive decisions, not so much. He repeatedly lost encounters such as the German rebellion he fought for in Europe, the second Battle of Bull Run, Chancellorsville, and the Valley versus Stonewall Jackson.
    [Show full text]
  • The Battle As Told by Archeology: a Story to Be Continued…
    The Battle as Told by Archeology: by Roger G. Moore, Ph.D., R.P.A., and Douglas Mangum he battlefield at San Jacinto the Mexican camp was long assumed to be an quickly overturned T archeological slate wiped the assumption that clean. It was assumed that what no trace remained of souvenir hunters had not carried away the battle. We were had been covered by Ship Channel more than relieved dredge spoil. Previous archeological and frankly ecstatic work at the site had been restricted to to discover that some the ground disturbance “footprints” chalk marks and of specific projects such as utility smudges do indeed lines and other improvements, and, remain on the slate perhaps critically, none of these of the San Jacinto prior investigations appear to have Battlefield. Our task utilizedA metalStory detectors. Whatever to Beis now Continued… to read these the reason, no first-hand evidence of marks intelligently to the battle had been obtained by these see if they can tell us small survey excavations. In matters anything new about archeological, however, ultimate this critical conflict. 2003 aerial photograph of San Jacinto Battlefield. All photos, unless otherwise noted, courtesy Moore Archeological Consulting, Inc. (MAC) authority rests with what comes Work so far has been out of the ground, and rumors of limited to three general men) at the confluence of Buffalo finds outside the site suggested that areas. A small amount of work has been Bayou and the San Jacinto River. conventional wisdom might be flawed. done in the area of the Texas camp, • The Mexican infantry probes the Texas position in the tree line First Systematic Archeological significant sampling has been done in and is repulsed by artillery fire.
    [Show full text]
  • View of Papers, Hard Line Criticism and Tough Love Have Made Me a Better Person and Scholar
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2014 The Battle of Valverde: Lessons on How to Take a Defensive Position Shawn Erik Bergstrom Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE BATTLE OF VALVERDE: LESSONS ON HOW TO TAKE A DEFENSIVE POSITION By SHAWN ERIK BERGSTROM A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2014 © 2014 SHAWN ERIK BERGSTROM Shawn Bergstrom defended this thesis on September 19, 2014. The members of the supervisory committee were: G. Kurt Piehler Professor Directing Thesis James Jones Committee Member Neil Jumonville Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS One Sunday morning when I was a young teenager I sat with my father watching The Good, The Bad and the Ugly for the first time. I had a working knowledge of the Civil War thanks to Ken Burn's The Civil War on PBS. As I saw Union and Confederate soldiers in the far removed west during the movie I looked at my father and stated that this wasn't true. He assured me that it was in fact true and that there had been a campaign fought in the New Mexican Territory during the Civil War. As he went on to describe the events I was instantly captivated.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of Lead Shot from Fort Motte, 2004-2012: Assessing Combat Behavior in Terms of Agency Stacey Renae Whitacre University of South Carolina - Columbia
    University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations 1-1-2013 An Analysis of Lead Shot from Fort Motte, 2004-2012: Assessing Combat Behavior in Terms of Agency Stacey Renae Whitacre University of South Carolina - Columbia Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Whitacre, S. R.(2013). An Analysis of Lead Shot from Fort Motte, 2004-2012: Assessing Combat Behavior in Terms of Agency. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2479 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN ANALYSIS OF LEAD SHOT FROM FORT MOTTE, 2004-2012: ASSESSING COMBAT BEHAVIOR IN TERMS OF AGENCY by Stacey R. Whitacre Bachelor of Arts Georgia State University, 2008 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina 2013 Accepted by: Charles Cobb, Director of Thesis Steven D. Smith, Co-Director of Thesis Carlina De La Cova, Reader Terrance Weik, Reader Lacy Ford, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies © Copyright by Stacey R. Whitacre, 2013 All Rights Reserved. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A special thanks to my advisors Dr. Steven D. Smith and Dr. Charles Cobb for their patience and encouragement as I wrote this thesis. Their comments and suggestions were both insightful and supportive and this thesis would not be what it is without them.
    [Show full text]
  • Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker, 1811–1881 Part II Kevin Kurdylo
    Volume 19 No 2 • Summer 2010 Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker, 1811–1881 Part II Kevin Kurdylo As the 150th anniversary of the begin- was convinced that the contract of ning of the Civil War approaches, we the Union could not be broken by a will examine the role German-born minority of states,2 and he believed immigrants played during that histori- firmly that each man should take cal era. The first section of this article on Friedrich Hecker (Spring 2010) his place according to his abilities. examines his career in Europe before Because he felt Sigel was the more he came to this country. This section experienced and competent soldier, focuses on his activities in America. he was prepared to do his part as an infantryman if need be. There were ealizing that Lincoln’s elec- others, including some of his promi- tion as president meant an nent German-American friends, end to compromise on the who felt Hecker should lead his own Rissue of slavery, southern states began troops. to secede from the Union in the first In May of 1861, without Hecker’s months of 1861. Propelled by the knowledge (though capitalizing on same strong beliefs he held during his reputation), recruitment had be- the Revolution of 1848, the fifty-year- gun in Chicago for what was called Colonel Friedrich Hecker old Hecker answered Lincoln’s call the 1st Hecker Jäger [Hunter] Regi- to arms, and he crossed the Missis- ment, later known as the 24th Illinois and not enough privates, and a severe sippi River by rowboat to join Francis Volunteers, and Hecker was offered discipline problem, the latter exac- (Franz) Sigel’s 3rd Missouri Volunteer command of this regiment with the erbated by friction between Hecker Regiment—as a private.1 Hecker rank of colonel.
    [Show full text]
  • Report of the Quartermaster- General of the State of New Jersey, for The
    You are Viewing an Archived Copy from the New Jersey State Library You are Viewing an Archived Copy from the New Jersey State Library You are Viewing an Archived Copy from the New Jersey State Library You are Viewing an Archived Copy from the New Jersey State Library Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2009 witin funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/reportofquarterm1891newj You are Viewing an Archived Copy from the New Jersey State Library You are Viewing an Archived Copy from the New Jersey State Library You are Viewing an Archived Copy from the New Jersey State Library Document No. 18. R EPO RT Ouartermaster-General OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, For tKe ITeccr 1891. You are Viewing an Archived Copy from the New Jersey State Library : You are Viewing an Archived Copy from the New Jersey State Library REPORT. State of New Jersey, ] Office of the Quartermaster-General, I Trenton, October Slet, 1891. J lo the Governor and Commander-in-Chief : Sir—I have the honor to submit herewith my report of the operations of this department for the fiscal year just ended. The total number of Springfield breech-loading rifies, calibre .45, the property of the State, including those in possession of organizations of the National Guard, is three thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine (8,959). In addition to the above the State possesses a considerable number of muskets, serviceable and unserviceable, of obsolete patterns. The Senate, at its last session, acting upon the suggestion contained in your Message, passed a concurrent resolution urging our Senators and Repre- sentatives in Congress to use their influence to secure such legislation as would authorize the Secretary of "War to issue, in exchange for arms of obsolete patterns in possession of the several States, Springfield breech-loading rifies of the latest improved model.
    [Show full text]
  • THE ROAD to BATTLE in the Spring of 1864, As a Part of His Coordinated
    Town of New Market, looking south from the crossroads at the center of town, circa 1860. Courtesy New Market Area Library. THE ROAD TO BATTLE HE ATTLE OF EW ARKET AY In the Spring of 1864, as a part of his coordinated offensive T B N M (M 15, 1864) against Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army, Breckinridge attacked Sigel’s numerically superior force, driving them out of town Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered Gen. Franz Sigel to move south through and onto the hills to the north. Attacks by Federal cavalry and infantry failed. At a the Shenandoah Valley along the Valley Pike and destroy the railroad and canal crucial point, a Federal battery was withdrawn from the line to replenish its complex at Lynchburg. At New Market on May 15, Sigel was blocked by a ammunition, leaving a gap that Breckinridge was quick to exploit. He makeshift Confederate force commanded ordered his entire force forward, including Union Gen. Franz Sigel by Gen. John C. Breckinridge. Confederate Gen. the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) John C. Breckinridge “Lions of the Hour” by Keith Rocco, courtesy Tradition Studios Cadet Battalion, causing Sigel’s line to break. Threatened by Confederate cavalry on his left flank and rear, Sigel ordered a general withdrawal, burning the North Fork Bridge behind him as he retreated north to Cedar Creek. “This morning [at] New As so often before, Union forces Market, my command had been defeated and thrown met the enemy, under back in their “Valley of General Sigel, Humiliation,” but events would advancing up the Valley, take a dramatic turn weeks later and defeated him with with the Union victory at heavy loss.” Piedmont and the subsequent - John C.
    [Show full text]