NF Confederate Cadets

[major bill]

If you want to do a quick read about the various military schools of Confederate states. I can recommend this book.

 

[BillO]

VMI and the Citadel both conducted themselves with honor.

 

[major bill]

Other Confederate Military schools also served with honor. Not all had well known engagements in battle but still did good service.

University of Alabama = Battle of River Hill
South Carolina Arsenal Academy = Shiloh Church
Georgia Military Institute = Atlanta Campaign and defense of Atlanta

But even military schools like the Bastrop Military Academy of Texas, who may not have seen battle, did what ever was asked of them. So even if their assignments did not bring them glory, they never the less they did their more mundane duties with honor.

 

[Cavalry Charger]

"Put the Boys In: Confederate Cadets at the Battle of Newmarket"

'Sunrise gave a clear view of the field, and Breckinridge studied it carefully with his binoculars. Satisfied that the enemy had no immediate offensive intentions, the Kentuckian declared: "We can attack and whip him here. I'll do it." Artillery began barking back and forth as Breckinridge made his final dispositions on the northern slope of Shirley's Hill, out of Federal view. It would be an assault in depth, with Wharton's brigade on the left, Echols's brigade on the right, and the 62nd Virginia Mounted Infantry holding the center. The VMI cadets, whose spruce uniforms had drawn catcalls of "Katydids!" and "Rock-a-bye Baby!" from the amused veterans, formed in reserve, constituting Breckinridge's last line.
Just before the Confederate infantry stepped off, Breckinridge spurred his horse up to the young cadets. "Young gentlemen," he said, "I hope there will be no occasion to use you, but if there is, I trust you will do your duty." Commandant Lt. Col. Scott Shipp ordered the Corps' white battle flag unfurled while the band struck up a jaunty tune as the cadets moved into place down Shirley's Hill. Shipp, at 24, was scarcely older than the cadets he commanded, whose average age was 17. The cadets were armed with Austrian rifles and 40 rounds of ammunition in their cartridge boxes. Two 3-inch rifled cannons from the school's artillery section rattled along behind them'.

"Put the Boys In"
'An ugly gap opened in the Confederate center, directly in front of Breckinridge's only available reserves—the 26th Virginia Battalion and the VMI cadets. An aide, Major Charles Semple, suggested putting the cadets into line. Breckinridge resisted briefly, then conceded the inevitable. "Put the boys in," he said, "and may God forgive me for the order." The cadets swept forward with a wild yell, heading into the orchard below Bushong's Hill. "The fire was withering," recalled Commandant Shipp. "It seemed impossible than any living creature could escape." Private Beverly "Jack" Stanard fell mortally wounded with a shattered leg; his comrade, Private Thomas G. Jefferson, was fatally shot in the stomach. Shipp was struck in the left shoulder by a spent shell fragment and turned over command to senior tactical officer Henry A. Wise. One cadet remembered a regular officer's attempt to rally his shattered command: "I shall never forget his language—'Rally men and go to the front. Here you are running to the rear like a lot of frightened sheep. Look at those children going to the front. Rally and follow those children!'"

Union Major Lang conceded, "I never witnessed a more gallant advance and final charge than was given by those brave boys on that field. They fought like veterans, nor did the dropping of their comrades by the ruthless bullets deter them from their mission." Cadet Wise remembered the moment forever. "The order was given to the cadets to advance upon the enemy, and they moved promptly and most spiritedly," he said, "driving the enemy in their immediate front from the field, capturing guns and prisoners." With the initiative in their favor, Breckinridge's men swept forward again, driving the deflated Federals from the field in utter confusion. An officer in the 12th West Virginia recalled, "It seemed the very gates of pandemonium had opened up."

Sigel mounted a belated counterattack, but the Confederates drove off Stahel's cavalry and smashed in a frontal assault by the 34th Massachusetts, 1st West Virginia, and 54th Pennsylvania. The Massachusetts troops suffered the most, losing half their number in a matter of moments; even their canine mascots were cut down in the charge. The VMI cadets swarmed over the 30th New York Artillery, driving it from the field and capturing a gun. Color bearer O.P. Evans straddled the cannon and exultantly waved the Corps' white battle flag.

Sigel in Full Retreat
The pursuit continued for several miles to the Shenandoah River, where Sigel's rear guard burned the bridge across the swollen stream at Mount Jackson. By the time the sound of gunfire died away at 7 pm, almost 1,400 men were casualties. Federal losses totaled 762; the Confederates lost about 600. The toll was especially large among the VMI cadets. Five were dead on the battlefield: William Cabell, Charles Crockett, Henry Jones, William McDowell, and Jack Stanard. Five others—Samuel Atwill, Luther Haynes, Thomas G. Jefferson, Joseph Wheelwright, and Alva Hartsfield—would die later of their wounds. Another 47 cadets were wounded—nearly one-fourth of the entire number who took part in the battle.

Ulysses S. Grant, stymied by his own troubles at Spotsylvania, bombarded General-in-Chief Henry Halleck in Washington. "Cannot General Sigel go up to Shenandoah Valley to Staunton?" he wired. Halleck immediately wired back that Sigel, far from advancing, was "already in full retreat. If you expect anything from him you will be mistaken. He will do nothing but run. He never did anything else." A furious Grant relieved the German of command on May 21.

The Battle of New Market saved the Shenandoah Valley for the Confederacy for the time being. More than that, it immediately entered into myth. The churned up wheat field across which the VMI cadets charged became immortalized as "the Field of Lost Shoes," since many of the boy-soldiers' shoes were sucked from their feet by the knee-deep mud. Each year on the anniversary of the battle, the entire Cadet Corps musters in while the names of the dead at New Market are read off in turn. As the names are called, a representative of their company steps forward and reports simply: "Dead on the field of honor, Sir."'

Originally Published December 21, 2016

warfarehistorynetwork.com › Daily › Civil War

 

[donna]

Sounds like book to read. Does author mention Kentucky Military Institute?

 

[major bill]

Not really. He does mention one of the officers from there. Although the Kentucky Military Institute is a fine school, because Kentucky never really joined the Confederacy, was it a Confederate military school? With out studying it, I would guess the cadets there joined both sides.

 

[donna]

They did join both sides. I have a lot of information on KMI and need to put it together. My Uncle went there before World War II.

 

[major bill]

I have given some thought of working on Civil War era military school uniforms data base.