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- Feb 23, 2013
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Part I - The Battle Opens
The battle that took place at New Market in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley on May 15, 1864, was a part of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's spring Overland Campaign. Grant intended to put pressure simultaneously on Confederate forces all across the Virginia front, from Fredericksburg in the east all the way to the Alleghenies in the west; in the Shenandoah Valley that meant sending a force southward to tie down any Confederate forces here so as to prevent them from sending any relief to the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee in the Wilderness between Culpeper and Fredericksburg.
The little town of New Market became the focus of the campaign because of the eponymous gap in the Massanutten Mountain, seen above from the opposite side of the gap near Luray. The mountain divides the Shenandoah lengthwise for a distance of some forty miles with only this single gap providing communication between the main, or Shenandoah, valley and the smaller Luray Valley to the east. A small body of 500 Union horsemen began the battle here when they were surprised and routed by Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Imboden when they emerged through the gap.
The marker above is one of those placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the 1920's throughout the state to mark significant battle sites, here in the midst of what has become New Market Battlefield State Historical Park. The battle began in this vicinity when the at first outnumbered Union forces withdrew to the north of the town when they were also threatened by Imboden's Confederate cavalry supported by unexpected infantry.
The battle soon degenerated into a frontal slugfest fought in driving rain because both small armies fought on narrow frontages with both flanks securely anchored on natural obstacles. To the west, there is a sharp drop-off to the North Fork of the Shenandoah River ( below ) as seen from the overlook above; the eastern flanks of both armies rested on Smith's Creek, swollen from the rain.
The battle developed in the center along the Valley Turnpike, now U. S. 11, marked above by historical signage placed during the Civil War Centennial. Near here the main Union line rested, with infantry supported by artillery to the west with their cavalry to the east across the road. The leading brigade of Col. Augustus Moor was joined here around noon by Federal commander Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel with most of Joseph Thoburn's brigade. Hungarian-born Brig. Gen. Julius Stahel commanded Sigel's cavalry.
A key terrain feature on this, the eastern side of the battlefield became known as the Bloody Cedars when late in the fighting the 54th Pennsylvania, whose monument is seen above, was savaged here by concentrated Confederate fire, forcing it to withdraw.
The open ground above was between the Union left held by the Pennsylvanians and Stahel's cavalry and the Confederate right flank consisting of two regiments of Virginia troops led by Brig. Gen. John Echols. Stahel ordered his men forward in a charge that was shattered when they were simultaneously fired into by Echols' men from the front and raked by Imboden's Confederate artillery from across Smith's Creek on their left. When the cavalry went forward, so too did two infantry regiments; as they crested the hill on which the monument now stands, they were surprised to see Echols' men standing in the ravine visible in the middle of this field who met them with a withering fire. As Stahel's troopers turned and fled, the infantry was left without support and was also forced back to the cedars in the background.
Next, Part II - The Bushong House and farm.
The battle that took place at New Market in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley on May 15, 1864, was a part of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's spring Overland Campaign. Grant intended to put pressure simultaneously on Confederate forces all across the Virginia front, from Fredericksburg in the east all the way to the Alleghenies in the west; in the Shenandoah Valley that meant sending a force southward to tie down any Confederate forces here so as to prevent them from sending any relief to the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee in the Wilderness between Culpeper and Fredericksburg.
The little town of New Market became the focus of the campaign because of the eponymous gap in the Massanutten Mountain, seen above from the opposite side of the gap near Luray. The mountain divides the Shenandoah lengthwise for a distance of some forty miles with only this single gap providing communication between the main, or Shenandoah, valley and the smaller Luray Valley to the east. A small body of 500 Union horsemen began the battle here when they were surprised and routed by Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Imboden when they emerged through the gap.
The marker above is one of those placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the 1920's throughout the state to mark significant battle sites, here in the midst of what has become New Market Battlefield State Historical Park. The battle began in this vicinity when the at first outnumbered Union forces withdrew to the north of the town when they were also threatened by Imboden's Confederate cavalry supported by unexpected infantry.
The battle soon degenerated into a frontal slugfest fought in driving rain because both small armies fought on narrow frontages with both flanks securely anchored on natural obstacles. To the west, there is a sharp drop-off to the North Fork of the Shenandoah River ( below ) as seen from the overlook above; the eastern flanks of both armies rested on Smith's Creek, swollen from the rain.
The battle developed in the center along the Valley Turnpike, now U. S. 11, marked above by historical signage placed during the Civil War Centennial. Near here the main Union line rested, with infantry supported by artillery to the west with their cavalry to the east across the road. The leading brigade of Col. Augustus Moor was joined here around noon by Federal commander Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel with most of Joseph Thoburn's brigade. Hungarian-born Brig. Gen. Julius Stahel commanded Sigel's cavalry.
A key terrain feature on this, the eastern side of the battlefield became known as the Bloody Cedars when late in the fighting the 54th Pennsylvania, whose monument is seen above, was savaged here by concentrated Confederate fire, forcing it to withdraw.
The open ground above was between the Union left held by the Pennsylvanians and Stahel's cavalry and the Confederate right flank consisting of two regiments of Virginia troops led by Brig. Gen. John Echols. Stahel ordered his men forward in a charge that was shattered when they were simultaneously fired into by Echols' men from the front and raked by Imboden's Confederate artillery from across Smith's Creek on their left. When the cavalry went forward, so too did two infantry regiments; as they crested the hill on which the monument now stands, they were surprised to see Echols' men standing in the ravine visible in the middle of this field who met them with a withering fire. As Stahel's troopers turned and fled, the infantry was left without support and was also forced back to the cedars in the background.
Next, Part II - The Bushong House and farm.
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