Virginia Military Institute - Bomb Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

Page 16 text:

Cadet Minge, First Captain of the Corps and Commander of tlie Cadet Artillery Section at the battle. Cadet I?. M. Colonna, a typical cadet of the Sew Market Corps, was author of one of the first accounts of the battle. halted by the combined fire of Federal artillery and musketry. This lag in the advance saw the Corps of Cadets in an orchard just beyond a farmhouse named for Bushong, its owner. It was here in the orchard beyond the Bushong House that Federal fire took its heaviest toll of the cadets. Here the Commandant, Colonel Scott Shipp, was wounded and carried from the battlefield. Seeing that the Confederate advance had been blunted, Siegel used this opportunity to launch his counterattack. The Federal troops now advanced through the same fields from which the Confederates had been driven only moments before. They too were exposed to heavy musket fire and were driven back from the very edge of the Confederate positions. The cadets, still in the orchard, held firm against the 34th Massachusetts and finally broke the force of its advance. Then came the moment of the battle for which the Corps has been most widely recognized. Advancing from the orchard across the open field, made treacherously muddy by a sudden cloudburst, the cadets charged the guns which had halted their advance. Charging up the last few yards of hill which separated them from the cannon, the cadets routed, captured, or killed the artil- lerymen and captured two pieces from the Federal battery. Fro m here on the battle consisted merely of the pursuit of the routed enemy. Thus these young soldiers came, suffered, charged, and captured. Their services on the day of battle are obvious, but does commendation, even glorification, for one event cover the entirety of their contribution. We must consider the fact that the availability and eventual employment of the Corps helped to stave off the inevitable Confederate defeat in the Valley. Aside from their achievements in the charge, the Cadets could be com- mended for their discipline as revealed through the march to New Market and through the firm stand against the Federal counterattack. And what of the cadet artillery section? Its achievements were not so spectacu- lar, but no less solid. With the achievements of the Corps in the Battle of New Market in view, a larger question arises. How could a group of young men whose average age has been comput- ed to have been eighteen j-ears, two months, and twenty- seven days have managed to displaj ' a spark that has eluded many a unit? The key to success lay in a system which made these boys a Corps rather than a loose band of individuals. It was the same devotion born of shared

Page 15 text:

struggle for survival. ( Ontciiiporary iiccoiinls l ' ll of almost daily (le])artureN af fori iiiialc cailcls lo join in the armed couflict. ' J ' liis fruslraliou of yonliifiil ciirrf .v caused matters to come lo a lieail in a mass incclinf; of the cadets in the winter of 18(i;5. In I his mccling IIj cadets resolved to offer their services lo llie Confederal Army when and where needed. In April (jf ISOl Ih Superintendent, General Francis IT. Smilh, offered Ih services of the Corps through the j)ro|)er channels. In reply to this offer he was informed of I he Confederacy ' s appreciation of his offer and its preference for the Corps to remain in Lexington. General Lee, it seemed, had theorized that by remaining in training in Lexington the Corps of Cadets would be in a position to llireaten a Federal thrust in western Virginia. This small but ready western force would relieve him of the necessity of de- taching another portion of his own sparse forces to campaign in the Valley. Little did the Corps realize how soon their assistance would be utilized. In early May of 1864 General Brecken- ridge found himself faced by a Federal thrust under General Franz Siegel. In an effort to bolster his insuffi- cient forces, Breckenridge issued a call for the Cadets on Mav 9, 1864. In Ihc carlv niorniiij. ' Iioufi of May ) I, )80J, fjf.-n ' .Tal I5r ' ' ' k.-nrid(. ' r- ' , ord.-r, n-:, -]„; the ' .MJ. The cadets wen- awakcnid and inniii-ilialci. - began prc[jaratiori.s for their njarch np Ihc all -y to meet Sicgel ' s forces. Karly on the morning of the lllh the cadets began their three-flay march lo New Market. ' I ' his march to the battle was in ilscH ' a Irial of the di ci[)lin - and strength of the cadet.s. ' I ' licy were allcrnalcly uarmed by the spring sun and soaked lo Ihc skin by sudden downjjonrs. Finally on May ]4lh the cadets arrival at . w Market and ,s ,-t up camp, not realizing how soon Ihc culmination of their adventure would come. The actual engagement between Federal and Con- federate forces was in three phases: an artillery battle, the advance of the Confederates, and the pursuit of the routed Federal troops. The opening disposition of troops was centered on two liills: the Confederates occupied Shirley ' s Ilill, while the Federals were deployed on Bushong ' s Ilill. In this early stage of the conflict the Cadets were, much to their disappointment, detailed as reserves. After the opening salvos of artillery, Breckenridge, unable to lure the enemy into attacking him, ordered his troops to advance. The Confederate advance was soon Col. Scott Sliipp was Coiiim.indant of Cadets in 1864, and was carried wounded from tile tield at Xew Market. General Francis H. Smith w-as first !5uperii,tendent and Superintendent at the time of Xew Market.

Page 17 text:

experiences which has always made the Corps of f. ' afJcLs a body greater in total strength than the individual contributions of its nieinbcrs woidd pcrinil. ' i ' liis spirit, devotion, and all ' -gian ' r; uhich served the y%i:w .Market r ' adots so well on May l. , I8fi4, is the most precious gift that any system can iujpart, to its members. - -iTSa ' i ' ' - ■ ' a f ■ 1i •C« The hen, ir dead are hoTioreil in Mav l,-,th rerei