In the spring of 1864, Union
General Ulysses S. Grant began
a grand strategy designed
to force the Confederacy
into submission and end the
war. Key to this was control
of the agriculturally rich
Shenandoah Valley, so he
ordered General Franz Sigel
and his army of 10,000 to
capture the Valley.
Upon receiving word that
Sigel had entered the Valley,
Confederate General John
C. Breckinridge pulled
together all available forces
to repulse the threat. The
cadets of the Virginia Military
Institute were called up from
Lexington, marching 80
miles in four days, to join
Breckinridge’s army of 4,500
veterans.
In a pouring rain the two
armies met in battle at New
Market on May 15, 1864. The
Confederates advanced first,
after brushing aside Union
skirmishers located west of
town. The rebel infantry line
came within rifle range of a
Union line positioned along
a ridge at a farm owned by
Jacob and Sara Bushong. The
Confederate line reached a
split rail fence on Bushong’s
farm but was pinned there.
Receiving massed fire from the
Federal muskets and artillery,
the center of the Confederate
line gave way. Noting the
opportunity, Union troops
attacked, hoping to take the
field and win the day.
22
Breckenridge knew he must
quickly fill the large gap in the
center of his line or abandon
the field. “Send the cadets in,”
Breckinridge ordered, “and
may God forgive me…” The
257 VMI cadets stepped into
the gap along the fence just
as Union troops started their
attack. They met the Union
charge and turned it back as
the entire Confederate line
pushed forward over the rainsoaked
wheat field. This field
would be dubbed the “Field
of Lost Shoes” because of the
many shoes that were lost that
day in its mud.
Suddenly the Federal line
broke and Confederates swept
through the routed Union line
insuring victory. General Sigel
and his army began a rapid
retreat north from the field
and the Valley, to the delight
of General Breckinridge’s
army and the exuberant VMI
cadets.
The battle was not without
its cost to the VMI Cadet
Corps. Ten cadets were killed
outright or died later of
wounds. Another 45 cadets
were wounded in the fight.
However, on the Bushong
farm, they won immortality.
by Gregory Starbuck