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Description:
As a part of his spring offensive against Gen. Robert E.
Lee’s army, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered Federal Gen. Franz
Sigel to move through the Shenandoah Valley along the Valley Pike
with 10,000 men and destroy the railroad and canal complex at Lynchburg.
At New Market on May 15, Sigel was blocked by a makeshift Confederate
force of about 5,300 men commanded by Gen. Breckinridge. Breckinridge
seized the initiative and attacked Sigel’s numerically superior
force, driving them out of town and onto the hills to the north.
Attacks by Federal cavalry and infantry failed. At a crucial point,
a Federal battery was withdrawn from the line to replenish its ammunition,
leaving a gap that Breckinridge was quick to exploit. He ordered
his entire force forward, including the Virginia Military Institute
(VMI) Cadet Battalion, causing Sigel's line to break. Threatened
by the 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.
Significance:
Sigel’s defeat resulted in his relief of command and replacement by Gen. David Hunter. The Battle of New Market was one of the last major Confederate victories in the Shenandoah Valley and was the only instance in American history where a student body—the VMI Corps of Cadets—participated in a pitched battle. At the center of the Confederate line, the young cadets were steady under fire and exhibited impressive valor on the field.
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