The Battle of New Market (Opening of the Valley Campaign of 1864)
May 15, 1864

Scenic and serene, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia was the fertile "Breadbasket of the Confederacy." It had thus far avoided the large scale campaigning, with its accompanying devastation, that had been prevalent across the Blue Ridge Mountains in war-torn eastern Virginia for almost three years. The smaller scale battles of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862 and Lee's use of the Shenandoah as a staging area, logistics route, and invasion corridor to Maryland in 1862 and to Pennsylvania in 1863 had left the rich, river-bottom farmlands virtually undisturbed. Southern forces, especially the nearby Army of Northern Virginia, depended upon the Shenandoah - traversed by the strategic, hard-surface Valley Turnpike - for the produce of its light industries, salt and lead mines, and abundant agricultural fields. The loss of the Valley would be a devastating blow to the South's ever-diminishing war effort. Therefore, in the Spring of 1864, as an important adjunct to the ambitious, concurrent campaigns for Richmond and Atlanta, the North's high command intended to destroy the region's war resources while wresting control of the Shenandoah from the Confederacy. The relentless Union Valley Campaign of 1864 opened with the now legendary Battle of New Market on 15 May. In April, the U.S. Army's general-in-chief, LTG Ulysses S. Grant, ordered MG Franz Sigel, commander of the Department of West Virginia, to march south into the Shenandoah Valley. The cautious, slow-moving Sigel, a recent (1852) immigrant and influential spokesman for German-American interests, possessed limited military experience and was unable to gain the confidence of many of his subordinate commanders and of the high command in Washington. Opposing the Federal incursion was MG John Cabell Breckinridge of Kentucky. Breckinridge was the former Vice President of the United States (elected in 1856 with President James Buchanan on the Democratic ticket). He was also a former U.S. Senator (KY, 1859-61), and the presidential candidate of the Southern Wing (representing primarily the Deep South) of the split Democratic Party in the Election of 1860. Although Republican Abraham Lincoln won the election, Breckinridge, carrying 11 slave states, was second in electoral votes and third in popular votes. The South's mission to defend the Shenandoah avoided potential disaster in early May when a second Union column penetrated southwest Virginia from the Kanawha Valley of the Alleghenies. These raiders (6,500 men) were led by experienced Indian fighter BG George Crook - later to gain considerable fame as a frontier campaigner and ultimately a champion of Indian rights. Crook defeated a Confederate force (2,400+ men - BG Albert G. Jenkins and later BG John McCausland, commanding) at the fiercely contested Battle of Cloyd's Mountain (9 May) near Dublin in southwestern Virginia, where he destroyed the South's only rail link to eastern Tennessee. When the victorious Union troops strangely withdrew to West Virginia after Cloyd's Mountain, Breckinridge was able to concentrate solely on the threat from the northern end of the Valley. Sigel's force (8,900+ men) moved slowly up (in a southerly direction - the Shenandoah River flows northeast into the Potomac River at Harper's Ferry) the Valley from Martinsburg, WV while Breckinridge hurried north (down the Valley) from his base at Staunton. While Confederate cavalry (1,600 troopers - BG John D. Imboden, commanding) harassed Sigel's mounted patrols (including 500 man detachments under COL Jacob Higgins and COL William H. Boyd from 9-13 May), the southern infantry was joined on 13 May by 247 eager young men from the South's foremost military school, the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. The rainy morning of 15 May found the opposing forces occupying battle lines north (Union) and southwest (Confederate) of the village of New Market. The Confederates were significantly outnumbered (in total), but the Federal command was tentative, their infantry regiments were widely dispersed, and MG Sigel did not arrive on the battlefield until around noon. Shortly before mid-day, and after Union forces showed no inclination to attack, Breckinridge's two brigades swept aside skirmishers and approached a new, stronger line established by Sigel on a ridge just north of the Bushong Farm. Amidst thunderstorms and lightning the Confederate infantry closed on the defenses, but they began to falter as effective artillery fire took its toll. At that critical juncture a reluctant but hard-pressed Breckinridge gave the order: "Put the boys in...." The V.M.I. Corps (200+ cadets - LTC Scott Shipp, cadet commandant), excited by youthful enthusiasm, surged forward to help stabilize the southern line. A mismanaged Union counterattack failed, and a resurgent Confederate charge carried the field. Sigel's force might have been thoroughly routed save for a timely and masterful delaying action by a single Federal battery (4 guns - CPT Henry A. DuPont, commanding). Breckinridge's quickly assembled command - including the V.M.I. contingent whose courageous charge has contributed to the extensive lore surrounding the battle - inflicted a sharp defeat on the Federal line and temporarily preserved the Shenandoah's resources for the Confederacy. The respite from destructive campaigning in the area, however, was short-lived. Soon the Union Valley Campaign of 1864 would intensify. completely shattering the tranquility of the region. By Autumn the Upper Shenandoah countryside was ablaze between Staunton in the south to above Middletown in the north where a decisive battle would be fought in October at Cedar Creek. Estimated Casualties (New Market only): Union - 841; Confederate - 520, including 57 cadets.

Notes:

  1. Numbers in parentheses reflect estimated strength of armies or units.

  2. Estimated casualty figures are totals for killed, wounded, missing in action, and taken prisoner.

  3. Alternative names of battles and campaigns appear in parentheses.

  4. Military and naval rank abbreviations in text: LT - Lieutenant, CPT - Captain, MAJ - Major, LTC - Lieutenant Colonel, CDR - Commander (Navy), COL - Colonel, BG - Brigadier General, MG - Major General, RADM - Rear Admiral (Navy), LTG - Lieutenant General, VADM - Vice Admiral (Navy), and GEN - General.

  5. Army Organization: Although authorized and actual strength and the rank of the commanding officer often varied, the standard military unit during the War was the infantry regiment (1,000 men, COL commanding) which was comprised of 10 companies (100 men each, CPT commanding). 3-4 Regiments = 1 Brigade (3,000-4000 men, BG commanding). 3 (sometimes 4) Brigades = 1 Division (9000-12,000 men, BG or MG commanding). 2-4 (usually 3) Divisions = 1 Corps (18,000-24,000+ men, MG - North and MG or LTG -South commanding). 2 or more Corps = An Army (usually 20,000-100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding). 2 or more Armies = An Army Group (usually 100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding).

Sources:

Photographs courtesy of The Generals of the American Civil War Website.

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