BGuthrie Photos: VA -- New Market -- New Market State Historic Park -- Hall of Valor

VA -- New Market -- New Market State Historic Park -- Hall of Valor:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. VALOR_131005_006.JPG: Died on the Field of Honor Gravestones of VMI Cadets Of the 257 cadets from Virginia Military Institute who fought in the Battle of New Market, ten were either killed outright or later died of their wounds. Their legacy of service and sacrifice has inspired each successive generation of cadets. Since 1866, a commemorative ceremony has been held at VMI each year on May 15, the anniversary of the battle. The Corps of Cadets assembles on the parade ground, and the names of the ten New Market cadets are called. With each name, a cadet in the ranks responds, "Died on the Field of Honor, Sir." The tradition of the roll of honor dates from the French army of Napoleon I, who felt his troops would be inspired by the act of commemorating their fallen comrades. For VMI, the tradition reinforces the ties between cadets of today and their predecessors who fought at New Market. Once this Roll of Honor is reported to the Commandant, a wreath is laid at each of the cadets' grave markers, which lie beneath a statue entitled Virginia Mourning Her Dead. The statue was created by Moses Exekiel, a world-renowned sculptor who fought in the battle as a private in Company C. In 2005, the gravestones of the six cadets interred at VMI were replaced, and memorial stones for the additional four cadets added. The original six tombstones were transferred to the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park and installed here in 2006.
2. VALOR_131005_010.JPG: Cadet S.F. Atwell Born in Westmoreland Co. Va. 1846 Corporal Co. A Corps of Cadets Killed May 15, 1864 At Battle of New Market Va.
3. VALOR_131005_013.JPG: Cadet J.G. Wheelwright born in Westmoreland, CA Nov. 26, 1846 Private Co. C. Corp of Cadets Killed May 13, 1864 at battle of New Market
4. VALOR_131005_016.JPG: Cadet Thos. C. Jefferson born in Amelia Co. Va. Jan 1, 1847, Private Co. B Corps of Cadets. Killed May 15, 1864, at Battle of New Market Va.
5. VALOR_131005_024.JPG: Cadet W.H. McDowell born in North Carolina Dec. -- 1845. Private Co. B Corps of cadets. Killed May 15, 1864 at Battle of New Market, Va.
6. VALOR_131005_027.JPG: Cadet Henry Jenner Jones born in King William Co. Va. March 18, 1847 Private Co. D Corps of cadets. Killed May 15, 1864 at Battle of New Market Va.
7. VALOR_131005_031.JPG: Cadet C.G. Crockett born in Wythe Co. Va. Dec. 3, 1846 Private Co. D Corps of Cadets. Killed May 15, 1864, at Battle of New Market, Va.
8. VALOR_131005_047.JPG: General Wharton at New Market by Mel Gerhold
9. VALOR_131005_055.JPG: George Randall Collins VMI Class 1911 whose devoted interest perpetuates in this memorial the participation of the Corps of Cadets of the Virginia Military Institute in the Battle of New Market 15 May 1864
10. VALOR_131005_064.JPG: Lee on Traveler by Frederick Volk German-born artist Frederick Volk began sketches for this statue as early as August, 1864, while he was employed by the Confederate Bureau of Naval Ordnance. General Robert E. Lee sat for this work, and Volk used Lee's death mask to refine the statue's details. The artist even measured Traveler to assure accuracy of proportions. Volk completed the statue in the mid-1870s and presented it to Virginia Military Institute as a token of esteem.
11. VALOR_131005_076.JPG: The Hall of Valor Stained-Glass Window: One of the most popular and admired exhibits in the Hall of Valor is this 28-foot-long stained glass window, created by Israeli-born artist Ami Shamir. The window was the brainchild of Robert Blood, who designed the Hall of Valor exhibits for its opening in 1970. The initial concept for the window called for clear glass that would permit views of the Allegheny Mountains to the west. However, New Market Battlefield Director James Geary noted that the view was often obscured by summer haze. Mr. Blood strongly recommended an abstract stained-glass window to convey graphic images associated with the Battle of New Market. Artist Ami Shamir had executed a number of similar windows in Israel and Europe. For this project, he included such elements as flowing lines to suggest the Shenandoah Valley and the river of the same name, the flags and seals of Virginia Military Institute, the Confederacy, and the Union, to portray the conflict at New Market. The names of the ten cadets who were killed or mortally wounded in the battle are inscribed as the central feature. Mr. Shamir, with Mr. Blood's input, designed the window and fabricated the three panels in his New York studio. He then oversaw their installation in the Hall of Valor. Mr. Shamir made one small error in authenticity, which he corrected in a unique way. Having used the European spelling "Tomas" for Cadet Thomas Garland Jefferson, he grafted an h onto the T to avoid having to create another glass panel.
12. VALOR_131005_112.JPG: Thomas Jefferson by Sir Moses Ezekiel I ... modeled ... the Liberty Bell, .... And out of this bell I imagined and modeled four figures springing -- Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood, and Justice, the four cardinal virtues of our great statesmen. Moses Ezekiel was a VMI cadet at the Battle of New Market. After the battle, Ezekiel discovered his best friend Cadet Thomas Jefferson mortally wounded. Moses cared for Thomas until the wounded cadet died two days later. Thomas Jefferson was a descendant of the president. After the Civil War Ezekiel studied in Berlin and pursued his sculpting career in Rome. Knighted by the Kings of Italy and Germany, he became one of the most famous American artist [sic] of his era. The statue was commissioned by the City of Louisville, Kentucky in 1899. A copy was placed at the University of Virginia in 1910. The artist donated this model to VMI in 1914. In describing the work, Ezekiel said: On top of the Liberty Bell, crowned with laurel leaves, I placed a very simple figure of Thomas Jefferson in his continental costume holding the Declaration of Independence in his hand. ... Everybody else had always represented Jefferson as an old man, but, as he was about thirty-three years of age at that time, I decided to give him the benefit of his youth.
13. VALOR_131005_168.JPG: The Robert A. Raeburn '51 collection of Civil War Art
14. VALOR_131005_265.JPG: Taking the Oath and Drawing Rations: by John Rogers, plaster, 1865-66 In this popular sculpture, a Southern widowed mother is required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States before receiving food for her young son. A Union officer administers the oath with an air of reverence to the widow, while a young African American looks on. Modeled in 1865, "Taking the Oath" was one of his "most genuinely admired" sculptures, and the one he acknowledged to be "his best work." Its sympathetic treatment found favor with both Northerners and Southerners. Often called the "Norman Rockwell of the 19th Century," Rogers sculpted over eighty vignettes of everyday life and of literary characters between 1859 and 1892. Many of his subjects dealt with the Civil War. He sold thousands of cast plaster copies for twenty dollars or less.
15. VALOR_131005_286.JPG: The Williams machine gun: A Confederate "secret weapon," the Williams machine gun, which was first employed during the Battle of Seven Pines, May 31, 1862, was the first gun of its kind to be used successfully in battle. It was invented by Captain D.R. Williams, CSA of Covington, Kentucky. The extreme range of this weapon, a half pounder with a bore of 157 inches and a four foot barrel, was 2,000 yards. The firing mechanism was operated by a hand crank (A) on the right side. When cranked clockwise, the breechblock (B) was closed and a cartridge pushed into the chamber (C). A rotating cam (D) on the other end of the crank shaft actuated the hammer (E) which ignited the charge. The caps and self-consuming paper cartridges were fed by hand. As the block slid back, the hammer was cammed out. Sixty-five rounds per minute could be fired. The Williams gun required a crew of three men. The gunner turned the crank and aimed the piece. Simultaneously, the loader dropped the cartridge into the "action" as the breech opened, and the capper placed the cap on the nipple.
16. VALOR_131005_295.JPG: Union Repeating Gun or the Union Coffee Mill: Patented in 1862 by Edward Nugent, the .58 caliber Union Repeating Gun (displayed here with its miniature model) was capable of firing 120 rounds per minute. Dangerously hot when fired, the barrel could be easily replaced with a reserve barrel. President Lincoln was responsible for dubbing the gun the Union Coffee Mill due to its handcrank and hopper. Under his direct orders, 60 of the 61 guns produced were purchased for the Union Army. Only four remain in existence today.
17. VALOR_131005_313.JPG: Flag of the Southern Grays, Company C, 10th Virginia Volunteers: When the Civil War broke out, the Southern Grays, a prewar militia unit, became Company C of the 10th Virginia Regiment of Volunteers. At that time, the unit carried a Virginia flag -- a painting of the state seal on a field of blue. As a show of patriotism, the Virginia militia flag was turned over to a group of ladies in Winchester to convert it into a first national pattern Confederate flag. The seven red and six white strips of a U.S. flag were disassembled and then reassembled into two wide red stripes separated by one wide white stripe. The seal of the old Virginia flag was cut out to make a blue canton in the upper left corner of the new banner, which measured 77 by 50 inches. After the First Battle of Manassas (July 21, 1861), the 10th Virginia flag was sent home to be safeguarded by Miss Nellie Koontz, a daughter of one of the members of the regiment. The flag was restored in the spring of 1995. The work took more than three months, and was funded by private donations.
18. VALOR_131005_333.JPG: The Medal of Honor Awarded to Sergeant James Burns
19. VALOR_131005_345.JPG: The Cloth-Saving Jacket: Almost as soon as Confederate officials formally issued dress regulations, "a short-waisted and single-breasted jacket usurped the place of the long-tailed coat, and became universal," observed one officer who served wit the Army of Northern Virginia. These jackets proved less expensive and easier to order than the frock coat since they required less cloth and every tailor knew how to make them. Confederate officers and enlisted men alike chose jackets as their standard upper garment, a fact that led the enemy to christen the Rebels "Gray Jackets." Confederate officers held prisoner at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River attend a prayer service. The officer standing in the middle of the back row wears the jacket in which he was captured.
20. VALOR_131005_370.JPG: The West Point of the Confederacy: The VMI Cadet Corps was called into the field more than 15 times during the Civil War. Their first duty was to serve as Drill Instructors in Richmond during the first summer of the war. The Cadets were with "Stonewall" Jackson at the Battle of McDowell in the spring of 1862. On most occasions the Cadets were retained in reserve positions, guarded wagon trains or were detailed to care for the wounded. On May 15, 1864, the entire 257-member Cadet Corps was thrust into the center of the main Confederate infantry line at the height of the Battle of New Market. In a driving thunderstorm, the Cadets joined other Confederate regiments in charging across a water soaked wheat field, dislodging the Union position. Ten Cadets died as a result of their participation in the battle; 47 others were wounded. This event marks the only occasion in American history where a student body participated in pitched combat with such casualties.
21. VALOR_131005_384.JPG: In 1904 the VMI Alumni Association commissioned Sir Moses Ezekiel, VMI Class of 1867, New Market Cadet and world renowned artist, to design the "Valor" medal awarded to each Alumnus who had fought in the 1864 Battle of New Market. The example to the left was presented to Cadet Thomas Rutherfoord, who served as a Private in Co. C.
22. VALOR_131005_391.JPG: A Typical New Market Cadet: Benjamin A. Colonna, by James P. Walker, oil on canvas, 1912. While this portrait was created to depict a "typical cadet" of the Battle of New Market, the career of Benjamin "Duck" Colonna (1843-1924) was anything but typical. Born in Accomac County, Virginia, Colonna matriculated at VMI in 1860, and graduated June 27, 1864. He served in several Confederate regiments prior to rejoining the Corps of Cadets for the Battle of New Market, where he was Cadet Captain of Company D. After the war, he worked for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USGS). Colonna compiled comprehensive records of the cadets' role in the battle, as well as precise maps of the action. He is also the principal source of information on the VMI flag carried during the war; a design still used at VMI today. The Walker portrait shows Colonna on the battlefield of New Market, with the Bushong farm buildings in the background. Among the debris at his feet is a stylized version of the bent musket carried by Cadel Charles H. Reed, exhibited in a case to your left. Walker included a figure of a woman (possibly Elizabeth Clinedinst Crim) kneeling next to Colonna in an attitude of prayer. Concluding that she distracted from the main focus of the composition, Colonna directed the artist to paint over the woman's image. Ironically, over the years, the figure's ghostly outline reemerged, and may be seen in the lower left quarter of the painting.
23. VALOR_131005_405.JPG: The Bullet Never Fired... "The musket was knocked off my shoulder by a piece of shell... I was struck over the right eye and Dr. Ross sewed up the wound immediately in the rear of our line and while it was going forward into the fight." -- Charles H. Read, Jr., VMI Class of 1867, Private, C Co. Cadet Read was carrying the Austrian Lorenz musket you see here early on the morning of May 15, 1864, when the Confederate line crossed over the top of Shirley's Hill. Before he had a chance to fire on the Union soldiers, Cadet Read and his musket were struck by an artillery fragment. The useless musket was taken home by Cadet Read with its unused powder and bullet lodged in the barrel. The unfired .54 caliber Minie Ball (above) was forgotten for 135 years until it was discovered during a safety check and removed in the spring of 1999. Seventeen year old Charles Read was a "Rat," or Freshman, at the time of the battle. After the war he practiced architecture in his native Richmond, Virginia.
24. VALOR_131005_418.JPG: Railroads of the Civil War: The American Civil War was the world's first major conflict in which railroads played a critical role and influenced strategy. This model illustrates some of the military and logistical uses of railroads. Railroad equipment was developed to meet military demands. New mobile forts and armored cars were designed to protect troops and equipment in transit. Reinforced flat cars provided a mobile foundation for heavy artillery, thereby vastly increasing the flexibility of fire power. Most important, however, were the benefits railroads afforded the men of the armies. Whole armies could quickly travel great distances by rail, and yet arrive rested and well fed, ready to do battle. Hospital trains brought complete surgical field stations to the front. When these makeshift medical centers proved inadequate, the speedy evacuation of the sick and wounded by train unquestionably helped to reduce military mortality. Lastly, the War, which dramatized the flexibility of railroads, gave impetus to the vast extension of the American rail system during the years immediately after the War.
25. VALOR_131005_436.JPG: The stage was set for the Battle of New Market when in the Spring of 1864 General U.S. Grant determined to bring utmost pressure on the Confederacy on all fronts -- land and sea. He sent Gen. Franz Sigel south in the Shenandoah Valley from Winchester with 6,000 troops to cut the railroad at Staunton which was supplying Gen. Robert E. Lee's army before Richmond. The Confederate Commander in western Virginia, Gen. John C. Breckinridge, was hard pressed to find sufficient troops to meet this threat. In mustering up an army of about 4,500 men, He [sic] called on the heretofore untested corps of cadets at VMI, probably not intending to use them in actual battle. However, in the course of very heavy fighting during the afternoon, the cadets were moved to the front line and heavily engaged. Their exemplary courage and bearing created a legend. Of the 247 engaged, 57 were wounded, ten fatally.
26. VALOR_131005_444.JPG: Fate decreed that May 15, 1864, should be that day. Under the command of Lt. Col. Scott Shipp, VMI '59, these untried young cadets found themselves in the front line in the Battle of New Market, and at the command, responded as veterans and charged the enemy position. Ten cadets died on that "Field of Honor," and six of them are buried at the New Market Statue, "Virginia Mourning Her Dead." This monument was executed by Sir Moses Ezekiel, a New Market cadet. Forty years after the Battle of New Market each member of the corps was awarded a bronze "Cross of Honor" in recognition of that day of valor.
27. VALOR_131005_448.JPG: In May, 1861 the institute was closed while Major T. J. Jackson marched the cadets to Camp Lee in Richmond to serve as drill masters for the new volunteer army. VMI was reopened the next January in order to train much-needed officers for the Confederate army. Boys form all classes and backgrounds underwent the rigors of the Institute's discipline, and were ready at a moment's notice to do battle for Virginia. They longed for the day when they could go forth as full fledged soldiers.
28. VALOR_131005_454.JPG: Soldiers' quarters and arsenal, 1839
29. VALOR_131005_458.JPG: Col. John Thomas Lewis Preston Col. Claudius Crozet, a graduate of the L'Ecole Polytechnique, former artillery officer under Napoleon and a former professor of Engineering at the US Military Academy at West Point was selected to be the first president of the Board of Visitors. This Board selected Professor Francis H. Smith, a distinguished graduate of West Point as the first superintendent and professor of mathematics and moral philosophy, and John TL Preston as the professor of language and English literature.
30. VALOR_131005_461.JPG: Col. Claudius Crozet This team outlined for the 23 Virginians of that first class which reported for duty of November 11, 1839, a two fold program, -- academic and military -- which would train them as "citizen-soldiers" and prepare them for the varied work of civil life, a program still in effect today.
31. VALOR_131005_463.JPG: Gen. Francis H. Smith Under Smith's guidance the physical plant was expanded; by 1850 a new barracks had been built. An enlarged curriculum required additional instructors. One of these, Thomas Jonathan Jackson (later to become famous as "Stonewall" Jackson) was appointed professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, and instructor in Artillery in 1851. On the eve of the war the total number of VMI matriculates had reached 1084, and nine buildings comprised the physical plant.
32. VALOR_131005_467.JPG: In 1839 the state arsenal and guards' quarters on the outskirts of Lexington, Virginia, were converted into the first state military school in the nation. John TL Preston, a Lexington attorney who had championed this move for several years took the matter before the Virginia Legislature in 1835-36. An Act was passed and the school was given the name The Virginia (a state institution) Military (its characteristic feature) Institute (something different from either college or university).
33. VALOR_131005_470.JPG: VMI in ruins, June, 1864
34. VALOR_131005_489.JPG: The New Market Cadets of VMI
35. VALOR_131005_496.JPG: Manufacturing: At the outbreak of hostilities, only 15% of the nation's factories were located in the Confederacy, and these factories were manned by less than 9% of the nation's labor force. Consequently, the gross value of the products of the South were less than one tenth that of the industrial states of the North.
36. VALOR_131005_499.JPG: Population: The total population of the South (9 million) was less than half that of the North (21.5 million). However, inasmuch as over one third of that total were slaves (3.5 million), the South's effective population was approximately only one fourth that of the Union. The four non-seceding slave states, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, with a population of 2.6 million, contributed about the same number of soldiers to each side.
37. VALOR_131005_504.JPG: Finance: In 1860, Northern states had in circulation a little more than twice the amount of specie available in the South. Moreover, Northern bank deposits were over four times greater than those of the combined seceding states.
38. VALOR_131005_506.JPG: Agriculture: The South grew about a third of the nation's corn, which was the only edible grain cultivated to any extend in that region. This deficiency was offset in part by an annual rice harvest of 187 million pounds. 99.92% of the 1860 cotton crop was grown in the South, which concentrated so exclusively on cotton production that its entire economy had become based on a one crop-export system. As a result of the loss of its foreign market, the South's annual production dropped from 4,500,000 bales in 1860 to a low of 299,000 bales in 1864.
39. VALOR_131005_510.JPG: Livestock: (cattle, sheep, swine): The South raised nearly half the nation's beef cattle and swine from which it obtained a more than adequate supply of meat. Livestock: (horses, mules): Horses were employed extensively by the quartermaster corp for transporting supplies and equipment. In battle, they provided mobility for the field artillery, and cavalry units were indispensable for reconnoitering and post-battle pursuit. The North's horse-power was 2-1/2 times greater than the South's. The South did have a superabundance of mules.
40. VALOR_131005_513.JPG: Civil War Statistics: The American Civil War was a big war. Its magnitude required contributions from every facet of the nation's fabric to sustain it. Several resources vital to both the North and South are listed below along with the relative status of each at the beginning of the conflict.
41. VALOR_131005_516.JPG: The cost of the Civil War in terms of human life was appalling. In no other conflict has the United States suffered such loss of manpower. Figures for battle and other deaths from the three great wars in which Americans fought are: American Civil War ... 622,000 World War I ... 116,516 World War II ... 405,399 Tragic as these figures are, when they are related to the population of the country during the respective periods, the loss of manpower during the Civil War assumes staggering proportions. During World War I the casualties of the United States, whose total population was approximately 105,000,000, numbered 116,516 or slightly more than one-tenth of one per cent of the citizenry. World War II casualties, 405,399, were three times greater than those sustained in World War I in terms of percentile of the total population; that is, three-tenths of one per cent of a population of 133,000,000 was listed as casualties. During the Civil War, nearly two per cent of the total population of 32,000,000 were casualties. These losses estimated at 622,000 were about nineteen times greater than the casualties of World War I and over six times greater than the losses of World War II as they relate to the population of the country during the respective periods.
42. VALOR_131005_520.JPG: Balloons: Balloons had been used for military reconnaissance in Napoleonic days, but it was not until the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 that effective battlefield use was made of them. A special Union civilian balloon corps utilized their hydrogen-filled crafts both for observation and for directing gunfire. The balloons were equipped with a telegraphic transmitter for relaying intelligence to the ground forces and directly to Washington. During the same campaign, cameras were first used to make panoramic photographs of the enemy's ground emplacements from balloons. A year later, at Chancellorsville, alert balloonists reported Jackson's flanking movement, but were unheeded by the Union command.
43. VALOR_131005_524.JPG: Clara Barton John Ericsson Mathew B. Brady Gabriel James Rains
44. VALOR_131005_527.JPG: Clara Barton -- Army Nurse: At the beginning of the war, male nurses, often with scant training, were the order of the day. It was considered not quite respectable for women to nurse soldiers at the front. A shy spinster from Massachusetts, Clara Barton, along with thousands of other "not quite respectable" female volunteers, North, and South, ignored the prevailing prejudices and the red tape of army regulations to bring much-needed medical care and personal attention to the sick and wounded. By 1865, the female army nurse had become an accepted and useful part of the medical corps. John Ericsson -- The screw propeller: Swedish-born engineer John Ericsson had sold his perfected screw propeller to the US Navy before the war. The economy of its operation, its size, and its ability to produce greater speed made this propeller vastly superior to the old paddle-wheel or four-bladed propeller. In October, 1862, the Federal navy accepted his design for an ironclad battleship which was needed to oppose the Confederate Merrimack, then under construction. The revolutionary feature of his "iron pot" was a moveable turret which could quickly aim the vessel's protected guns in any direction desired. Built in Brooklyn, the Monitor arrived off Hampton Roads, Virginia, only one day after the appearance of the Merrimack. Mathew B. Brady -- Photography: Mathew B. Brady had built up an extensive business as a social photographer by 1860. However, at the outbreak of hostilities, he devoted all his efforts, "to photograph this war." He recruited other photographers, Alexander Gardner, Timothy N. O'Sullivan, and TC Roche, to work as teams, and before the war's end, he had his "what-is-it" wagons in almost every theatre of the war. At the same time, George Cook of Charleston and AB Lytle of Baton Rouge were among many who were photographing the war for the Confederacy. In all, about 3500 pictures were taken, making this the first extensively photographed war in history. Gabriel James Rains -- Land mines: West Point graduate Gabriel Rains of North Carolina became interested in explosives while serving in the Mexican War. During the winter of 1861-62, Brigadier General Rains, CSA, was in command at Yorktown, Virginia. As he slowly withdrew up the Peninsula before the advancing Federal army, Rains arranged shells with percussion fuses in the road so that pursuing Union cavalry detonated them and suffered casualties. At first decried by both sides as unethical, these land mines were eventually sanctioned as an approved method of warfare.
45. VALOR_131005_534.JPG: Railroads: In the Civil War, railroads played a major military role for the first time in history. Throughout the war, they bore an ever-increasing burden, carrying tens of thousands of men and untold tons of essential supplies. Despite the fact that many lines were single-tracked, and no uniformity of rail gauge existed, some 30,700 miles of track proved invaluable military service. Railroads were possible the nobility of huge siege guns, such as the "Dictator," which, was used by General Grant at Petersburg.
46. VALOR_131005_540.JPG: Innovations of the Civil War: The American Civil War was the first major conflict to utilize to any extent many of the scientific and industrial advances of the industrial revolution. War by its very nature fosters further development and refinement of the means at hand, and this war was no exception. The following are some of the innovations of the Civil War: (1) Ironclad naval vessels (2) The screw propeller (3) The submarine (4) Railroads (5) Railroad artillery (6) Aerial observation (7) Breechloading and repeating rifles (8) Photography (9) The army nurse (10) Land mines
47. VALOR_131005_545.JPG: Federal paddle steamers: There were 27 Federal gunboats of the "Sacassus" class. These wooden, shallow-draft paddle steamers were pointed at both ends, had rudders at bow and stern, and could travel in either direction, a decided advantage in narrow waters. 240 feet long and 35 feet wide, they were powered with single-cylinder, direct-acting inclined engines. These gunboats were usually armed with four 9" dahlgrens and two 100-pounder rifles. Vulnerable locations such as pilothouses were armored. The construction of ironclad vessels had been proposed often during the fifty years preceding the Civil War. It was not until 1862, however, that such ships were built and put to practical use. Although the North maintained naval primacy throughout the war, it was the South which first placed in action a steam-powered, ironclad -- the CSS Virginia (Merrimack). It wreaked havoc with Federal ships stationed off Hampton Roads until challenged by its Union counterpart, the USS Monitor, on March 9, 1862. The ensuing battle ushered in a new era in naval history and augured the doom of wooden ships. The first Union ironclad, the USS Monitor, carried its armament in a revolving turret on its hull. Both the turret and the deck were covered with wrought iron bolted onto a heavy wooden backing. Two 11-inch dahlgrens with the turret threw shot weighing 170 pounds. Subsequent monitors were copies of this vessel, and although as a class they were practically invulnerable, their offensive power was extremely limited due to their clumsiness and poor maneuverability. The Manassas: The first Civil War ironclad was the Confederate ram, Manassas, based at New Orleans. Its convex frame of 12-inch oak, covered with 1-1/2-inch iron, was built on the hull of a 387-ton tugboat. 143 feet long with a beam of 32 feet, the Manassas was manned by a crew of 37. Its one gun, a 32-pounder, was fired forward through a hooded section.
48. VALOR_131005_553.JPG: River gunboats: River gunboats were shoal water boats and almost exclusively side-or stern-wheelers. Screws were not practical in shallow water where their power diminished and there was chance of damage. Some of these boats were especially constructed; others were existing vessels to which arms and armor had been added. The 2-1/2-inch thick armor was considered sufficient of the gunboats which were referred to as "tin-clads."
49. VALOR_131005_557.JPG: Submarines: In an attempt to offset Union naval superiority, the South built a submarine vessel, the H.L. Hunley, named for its inventor. Twenty-five feet long and four feet wide, the Hunley was constructed partly from an old boiler. It was propelled by manual power, an eight-man crew sitting at eight cranks along the propeller shaft, and could travel four miles per hour in smooth water. It was lighted by candles. After having drowned three crews, the Hunley finally succeeded in bringing her spar torpedo in contact with the Housatonic in Charleston Harbor on February 17, 1864, Both vessels sank. The Housatonic was the first battleship ever sunk by a submarine.
50. VALOR_131005_576.JPG: Wounded to the Rear by John Rogers Just before the Civil War, John Rogers began to experiment with the mass production of plaster or "chalk" cast figures. A small number of his works were cast as bisque porcelain. Although many of his pieces are based on civilian themes, the war provided many evocative subjects for his work. Born in 1839 in Salem, Massachusetts, Rogers studied art in Rome and Paris before beginning his career as a sculptor. His cast statuette groupings proved to be very popular. Rogers' studio would sell over 80,000 copies by the time of his death.
51. VALOR_131005_585.JPG: "A House Divided"
52. VALOR_131005_588.JPG: For more than forty years the nation had been dividing. The issue was states' rights, slavery, and the conflicting goals of an industrial North and an agricultural South. The question was: Would war come? The 1852 anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," helped unite sentiment in the North and to further alienate the two sections. Then in 1859, John Brown raided Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), to instigate a slave rebellion. It failed, but the entire South shuddered at this violent threat. Yet throughout men still sought ways to preserve peace and the Union. A "Peace Convention" called by Virginia, met in Washington in February 1861, with 21 states answering the roll. But 13 were missing. It was too late.
53. VALOR_131005_592.JPG: The election of 1860 had been crucial. Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, whom the South vowed it would not accept. But the Democrats split and Lincoln was elected. Led by South Carolina, seven deep South States had seceded. On March 4, 1861, Lincoln's somber, gloomy inauguration took place under the ominous outline of the unfinished Capitol. He said: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.... You can have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend' it..."
54. VALOR_131005_596.JPG: Jefferson Davis
55. VALOR_131005_603.JPG: The seven seceding states met at Montgomery, Alabama, in early February and named Jefferson Davis provisional President of the Confederate States of America. But Virginia, North Carolina and several border states held back from secession. Davis was one of the most respected statesmen of his age. A graduate of West Point, tall, aristocratic and a seasoned politician, he served twice as a US Senator and as President Pierce's Secretary of War. Said a prominent admirer: "The man and the hour are met." In his inaugural address Davis said: "All we ask is to be left alone." His call for 100,000 volunteers to rally around the new nation's flag was easily met. Then on April 12, the guns sounded at Charleston. South Carolina was determined that Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor would not remain in Union hands. For 34 hours the Union garrison within the fort held out before surrendering. Secession had become war.
56. VALOR_131005_619.JPG: 1st Manassas
57. VALOR_131005_623.JPG: 1st Manassas, July 21, 1861 In May, 1861, the Confederate Capital was transferred to Richmond, only 100 miles from Washington itself. Virginia was thus doomed to become the major battleground of the Civil War. The first of six heavy offensives by the North against Richmond was decisively repulsed on July 21, 1861 at the battle of First Manassas (Bull Run). Youthful enthusiasm abounded as Gen. Irvin McDowell's 35,000 ill-trained Federal volunteers marched southward to the cry: "On to Richmond!" On July 21, at the strategic rail junction of Manassas, McDowell's men assaulted an equally untested Confederate army of 30,000 recruits under Generals PGT Beauregard and Joseph E Johnston. Initially, the Union attacks were successful. Later on that sultry Sunday, however, a stonewall-like stand by the Virginia brigade of Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, plus the timely arrival of Southern reinforcements from the Shenandoah Valley, produced a panic that swept McDowell's forces back to Washington. In addition to victory, the South had found a new hero -- "Stonewall" Jackson. Total casualties in this first major engagement of the war were 4,828 men. It was now apparent that this would be a long and bitter conflict.
58. VALOR_131005_626.JPG: In this war, young Americans fought young Americans; and they demonstrated the fantastic vitality and courage of youth. Numbered among the West Point Class of 1861 were three close friends. Adelbert Ames of Maine, George A Custer of Ohio, and Thomas L Rosser of Virginia. Ames and Custer remained with the Union; Rosser cast his lot with the Confederacy. Yet not even the bitterness of a brother's war could destroy the ties of friendship between these former cadets. The opposing cavalry forces of Custer and Rosser clashed often and bitterly during the conflict; yet in the postwar years Rosser was one of Custer's staunchest defenders. Two month's after graduation, Lieutenant Ames was almost killed at First Manassas. Although severely wounded, Ames refused to leave the field of battle. Instead, he directed his gunners to prop him up on a nearby caisson from which he continued his command. Loss of blood so weakened the stalwart young officer that he had to issue his orders in a barely audible whisper, yet he remained at his post until he lost consciousness.
59. VALOR_131005_641.JPG: Peninsula Campaign
60. VALOR_131005_643.JPG: Peninsula Campaign March-July, 1862 The second major offensive against Richmond was a grandiose scheme devised by the Union's new Gen.-in-Chief, George B. McClellan. It called for the Army of the Potomac (105,000 strong) to be transported by ship to the tip of the Virginia Peninsula formed by the York and James rivers. Supported by seapower, McClellan would then advance westward up the Peninsula and attack Richmond. At the same time, McDowell would strike from the north with another Union army. The small Confederate force was expected to provide little opposition in the face of this pincer movement. A 34 year old professional soldier, McClellan was a splendid organizer but prone to cautious procrastination. Opposing McClellan at this time was the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by 56 year old Joseph E. Johnston, one fo the war's most gifted defensive strategists.
61. VALOR_131005_651.JPG: Just prior to the Peninsula Campaign, the most famous naval battle in the Western Hemisphere occurred when two revolutionary ironclad vessels came face to face at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on March 9, 1862. For five hours, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (formerly the Merrimac) pounded one another with salvoes. Although the duel was a draw, this advent of ironclad warships heralded a new era in naval history. Two months later, McClellan's siege guns reduced the historic city of Yorktown to rubble, as the Grand Union Army advanced up the Peninsula. Johnston's Confederates retreated slowly until May 31, when, only nine miles from Richmond, they suddenly turned and delivered strong assaults on McClellan's left wing at Seven Pines. McClellan's advance was halted, but Johnston war seriously wounded in action. Robert E Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia -- and a new era began. Lee proceeded to turn back McClellan in a series of victories. The second drive on Richmond had failed. Lee quickly formulated plans for a massive attack against McClellan's right flank, isolated by the swollen Chickahominy River. This counteroffensive, known as the Seven Days Campaign, began on June 26 and included bloody fighting at Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, Frayer's Farm and Malvern Hill. By July 2, McClellan had retreated to the banks of the James River. The Peninsula Campaign was a Federal defeat that cost McClellan 15,849 casualties. Confederate losses were higher: 20,614 men but Richmond had again been saved.
62. VALOR_131005_655.JPG: Julian Scott was only 15 years old when he enlisted in the 3rd Vermont Infantry as drummer boy. During the Peninsula Campaign he was cited for gallantry after he "crossed the creek under a terrific fire of musketry several times to assist in bringing off the wounded." This modest lad never considered his actions as extraordinary. He was, he said, "simply doing my duty -- looking after the wounded."
63. VALOR_131005_657.JPG: A leading factor in the Union failure on the Peninsula was the famous military campaign of "Stonewall" Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. From March 23 through June 9, 1862, Jackson repeated victories so alarmed Washington that McDowell's 40,000 troops were held from joining McClellan in order to protect the national capital. With never more than 16,000 soldiers under his command, Jackson defeated 3 Federal armies totaling 64,000 men in 4 pitched battles, 6 large skirmishes, and numerous minor actions. The climax of the campaign came at the June 9 Battle of Port Republic when Jackson sent the last Federal army in the Valley reeling in defeat. He then slipped away to join Lee in the defense of Richmond. In the Valley Campaign Union losses exceeded 8,000 men; Confederate casualties were less than 2,500.
64. VALOR_131005_661.JPG: 2nd Manassas
65. VALOR_131005_664.JPG: 2nd Manassas, August 29, 1862 The Peninsula Campaign was over, but almost immediately a new Federal army under Gen. John Pope moved southward from Washington into Virginia. Lee acted swiftly to strike Pope before McClellan's army could reinforce him. The resulting action was the Second Manassas Campaign, in which the third Union was shattered. The battle took shape midway through August, 1862 when "Stonewall" Jackson led his "foot cavalry" around the Union right flank and destroyed the Federal supply base at Manassas. Pope's men reversed their march, struck out in pursuit of Jackson, and on August 29 attacked the entrenched Confederates. Two days of furious Union assaults could not break the Confederate lines. Jackson's men were nevertheless running low on ammunition when, late in the afternoon of August 30, the remainder of Lee's army -- under James Longstreet -- smashed into the field and routed Pope's forces. The Confederate pursuit of the retreating Federals was checked on September 1, at Ox Hill (Chantilly) where the daring one-armed Union Gen. Philip Kearny lost his life. As murky twilight shrouded the shifting battleline, Kearny suddenly found himself surrounded by Confederates. Rather than suffer the humiliation of surrender, he wheeled his horse around and attempted an escape. Several challenges were followed by the ring of a half dozen muskets. Kearny fell mortally wounded. "So perished," wrote General Longstreet, "One of the most gallant and dashing of the Union Generals."
66. VALOR_131005_672.JPG: Second Manassas, 30 August 1862: Stonewall Jackson's men are holding a position behind an unfinished railroad embankment. Exhausted by six days of forced marching and the previous day's battle. Stonewall's men fight a desperate contest. As Union troops reach the embankment, the Rebels run low on ammunition. Some take up their bayonets and swords and charge down the embankment into hand-to-hand combat. The rest put down their useless rifles and start throwing rocks that have been blown loose from the embankment. They fight on as if possessed. They won't break; rocks against bullets, another kind of stone wall. It holds until Longstreet comes up, charges and breaks the Union line.
67. VALOR_131005_675.JPG: The Confederate victory at Second Manassas temporarily cleared Virginia of major Federal armies. Lee then decided upon an invasion of the North. Carrying the war into the Union had a number of advantages. A northward thrust would relieve the pressures of battle on Virginia, provide an opportunity for the impoverished Army of Northern Virginia to gain supplies, and might result in securing Maryland for the Confederate cause. Most important however, a successful Confederate invasion might bright official recognition -- and badly needed assistance -- from either England or France. On September 5, 1862, Lee's army crossed the Potomac River into Maryland. In order to secure his line of communication, Lee dispatched Jackson's men to seize Harper's Ferry, where they captured more than 11,000 prisoners. The main body of his forces then proceeded toward the hamlet of Sharpsburg, Maryland, situated along an innocent-looking stream known as Antietam Creek.
68. VALOR_131005_682.JPG: Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862 Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac resolved to move quickly across the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg and strike for Richmond while Lee's army was scattered in Northern Virginia. Delays so hindered the Federal advance that by the time Burnside's 113,000 men were ready to cross the river, Lee's 72,500 Confederates were firmly entrenched on the hills south of the city. Undeterred, Burnside attacked in mid-December... and lost... and the fourth Union drive was turned back. Conspicuous in the early stage of this battle was 21 year old Maj. John Pelham, a Confederate artillery wizard. He personally supervised two cannons that played havoc with the first advancing Federal columns. Oblivious to the shells of five Federal batteries that soon concentrated on his position, Pelham continued firing until General JEB Stuart ordered him to safety with the command: "Get back from destruction, you internal, gallant fool!" Pelham was killed in action three months later.
69. VALOR_131005_684.JPG: Fredericksburg
70. VALOR_131005_688.JPG: Burnside's delay in crossing the Rappahannock was due largely to the failure of needed pontoon bridges to arrive on schedule. Confederate sharpshooters inside Fredericksburg then hampered the laying of the bridges until Burnside ordered his artillery to bombard the city. After Fredericksburg was reduced to rubble, the Federals crossed the river. By Saturday December 13, Burnside's huge army was poised for action; and shortly after a cold fog lifted, waves of Federal soldiers charged across an open plain toward Lee's lines on Marye's Heights. In all, Burnside ordered six senseless assaults against the invulnerable Confederate position. Each was repulsed as the battle assumed the characteristics of a slaughter. The open field in front of the Heights became blanketed with blueclad bodies, and Gen. Robert E. Lee was moved to say, "It is well that war is so terrible; otherwise, we would grow too fond of it."
71. VALOR_131005_691.JPG: Federal artillery bombarding Fredericksburg
72. VALOR_131005_703.JPG: Emancipation Proclamation: Lee's setback at Antietam had prompted Lincoln to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which was to take effect January 1, 1863. It proposed to free states in Confederate-held territory. Britain and France, one the verge of recognizing the Confederacy, were now compelled by public opinion to withhold active support. The South's hope for foreign aid -- and victory -- dimmed permanently.
73. VALOR_131005_706.JPG: Chancellorsville
74. VALOR_131005_709.JPG: Chancellorsville, May 2-5, 1863 General Joseph Hooker took command of the Union Army in the early months of 1863. The battle plan that he perfected was the soundest yet devised for reaching Richmond. "Fighting Joe" proposed dividing his replenished army of 134,000 men into two wings, each of which was larger than Lee's total force. Both columns would simultaneously advance southward, outflank and overrun the Confederate defenders at Fredericksburg and then proceed to Richmond. Late in April, Gen. John Sedgwick led one Federal army across the river into Fredericksburg. Hooker, with the main body of Federal troops, pushed into the dense growth of woods and underbrush several miles west of Fredericksburg and then began to move against the Confederate flank from the west. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia appeared to be trapped.
75. VALOR_131005_716.JPG: Outnumbered and in danger of being outflanked on two sides, Lee executed the most daring offensive action of his career. He detached part of his army to check Sedgwick's advance then, when Hooker mysteriously haled his southward thrust, Lee divided his army again. Jackson's 27,000-man corps raced westward and surprised the exposed Federal right flank in a furious assault. Lee thereupon hurled the remainder of his army against Hooker's front. Fighting raged for four days (May 2-5, 1863) as Lee pounded Hooker's army at Chancellorsville, and then hit Sedgwick at Salem Church. The union Army retreated. The fifth drive on Richmond had failed. The Chancellorsville Campaign is often termed "Lee's Masterpiece," but the victory was costly. In addition to sustaining heavy casualties, Lee lost the irreplaceable "Stonewall" Jackson, who died of complications after being accidentally shot by his own men. Without Jackson, Lee now began his second invasion of the North. It would end at a small Pennsylvania market town... Gettysburg. "Jeb" Stuart's Confederate cavalry was to screen the movements of Lee's army from Hooker. On June 9, at Brandy Station, Stuart was surprised by a sudden attack of Federal cavalry. More than 18,000 horsemen participated in this greatest cavalry engagement of the Civil War. For the first time, Federal cavalrymen contended effectively with Southerners who had heretofore been recognized as superior horsemen. Thereafter, Federal cavalry consistently held their own.
76. VALOR_131005_720.JPG: When Stonewall Jackson left VMI at the outbreak of the war he took this stool with him and it served him in the field during his campaigns.
77. VALOR_131005_726.JPG: Grant's Virginia Plan
78. VALOR_131005_729.JPG: Grant's Virginia Plan, Spring 1864 The successes of General US Grant west of the Allegheny Mountains and in the Mississippi Valley convinced Lincoln that this unpretentious but resolute soldier was the best officer to "take responsibility and act" to win the war. In March, 1864, Grant was named General-in-Chief of all Federal armies. His plan for victory called for a "war of attrition" -- total warfare in which constant, unrelenting pressure would be applied to all points of the embattled Confederacy. In the Spring of 1864, Grant ordered four major offenses in Virginia. Gen. Franz Sigel led an army into the Shenandoah Valley; cavalry under Gen. George A Custer slashed through the Piedmont of central Virginia; a third force under Gen. Benjamin F. Butler started up the Peninsula toward Richmond. Grant himself was with Gen. George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac as it plodded into the "Wilderness" west of Fredericksburg in search of Lee. The sixth, and last, drive on Richmond had begun. The Confederate commander used the tangled gloom of the Wilderness to conceal his forces. On may 5, he struck Grant as the Union army struggled through the dense undergrowth. There followed two days of brutal and confused fighting along a twenty-mile combat area. The battle of the Wilderness was the first great confrontation between Lee and Grant. In the end it was another hard won "victory" for Lee. But Grant did not turn back. Casualties -- Union: 15,387; Confederate: 11,400.
79. VALOR_131005_734.JPG: Wilderness
80. VALOR_131005_736.JPG: Wilderness, May 4-June 3, 1864 For Northern armies in the past, defeat had always meant retreat. But US Grant was not a General deterred by setback. He knew the Confederacy would have a more difficult task in replenishing its battle-scarred ranks than he would. Grant resolved to continue hammering at Lee in spite of the cost. Federal troops cheered as Grant left the Wilderness -- and moved south. Three times Grant attempted to turn Lee's right flank and interpose the Union army between Lee's forces and Richmond. Three times he failed. Casualties soared as Grant battered his way toward the Confederate Capital.
81. VALOR_131005_742.JPG: Embroidery hoops, needlework, thimble and reading glasses used by Eliza "Mother Cross".
82. VALOR_131005_746.JPG: Mother of the New Market Corps: "This is to certify that Miss Clinedinst of this place has ever shown to the suffering Federal wounded... the kindest regard... Her person and property should be respected by every Union officer and soldier." -- E. Hall, Assistant Surgeon, 54th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry After the battle, residents of New Market rushed to aid wounded, tired, and hungry soldiers of both armies. This spirit of generosity was well represented by Eliza Clinedinst Crim. Her kindness was recognized by the Virginia Military Institute.
83. VALOR_131005_748.JPG: Grant's 1864 Richmond Campaign produced the heaviest and most sustained fighting of the Civil War. More than 80,000 men were killed or wounded as the Federal army continued pounding Lee's hastily thrown up defenses. At Spotsylvania, on May 12, the fighting lasted fourteen hours and was so intense that an eighteen-inch oak tree near the "Bloody Salient" was cut down by rifle fire. Grant's second flanking movement ended in defeat on May 23 at the North Anna River. Grant still plowed ahead relentlessly. There would be no turning back. On June 2, Grant's army arrived at Cold Harbor -- only to find Lee once again blocking his path. Grant momentarily lost his patience and ordered a direct frontal assault against the entrenched Army of Northern Virginia.
84. VALOR_131005_751.JPG: As Grant fought his way through the Wilderness, Union cavalry under Gen. Philip H Sheridan set out from Fredericksburg for an independent raid on Richmond. Confederate horsemen under Major Gen. "Jeb" Stuart rode hard to intercept this new threat. On May 11, a few miles north of Richmond at Yellow Tavern, the two forces met. Close-range fighting lasted most of the day. At 4pm, the 31 year old Stuart, "the eyes" of Lee's army, fell mortally wounded. The death of this red-bearded, daring officer -- noted for plumed hats, frivolity in camp and audacity in battle -- was another staggering blow for the Confederacy.
85. VALOR_131005_754.JPG: At the time of Grant's drive on Richmond, Union Gen. Franz Sigel entered the Shenandoah Valley with confidence. On May 15, however, his army came under attack at New Market from a makeshift force commanded by Gen. John C. Breckinridge. An immortal charge by the VMI Corps of Cadets was instrumental in routing Sigel's humiliated army. Sigel was soon replaced by Gen. David Hunter, whose men burned their way up the Valley, put the torch to the Virginia Military Institute, and left only destruction in their wake. Cold Harbor was a major Union disaster. Although the Federal onslaught lasted less than 30 minutes, more than 7,200 Union soldiers were killed or wounded. Grant was forced at last to realize that his direct attack strategy was a failure. A month of unsuccessful maneuvers and staggering losses had failed to destroy Lee's army.
86. VALOR_131005_758.JPG: The New Market Cross of Honor In 1904, the VMI Alumni Association presented to each member of the VMI New Market Corps a bronze "Cross of honor." Suspended from a bar bearing the words "For Valor" is a cross on which appears, around the seal of the State of Virginia, "VMI Cadet Battalion, New Market, May 15, 1864." On each token is engraved the name of the recipient.
87. VALOR_131005_762.JPG: Petersburg
88. VALOR_131005_765.JPG: Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865 A determined Grant left the Cold Harbor battlefield, secretly transferred his army across the James River, and headed toward Petersburg, a vital rail junction south of Richmond. Improvised Southern forces managed to defeat the city until Lee's weary soldiers arrived. Grant then resorted to ever-tightening siege operations -- tactics that had doomed Vicksburg, Miss., a year earlier. Lee was locked in his trenches. To leave Grant's front would mean the loss of Petersburg and Richmond. His forces immobilized and subjected to hunger, exposure and continual Federal harassment, Lee was helpless as the Confederate will to resist began to wane. Grant, on the other hand, could sense eventual victory. Time was on the side of the North now, as reinforcements in men and materiel poured into City Point, the major Federal supply depot in Virginia. Grant began a slow extension of his lines to the southwestward so as to stretch Lee's paperthin defenses to the breaking point. Periodic skirmishes succeeded in further weakening of Confederate defenses and morale.
89. VALOR_131005_771.JPG: In June, 1864, Lee, hoping to divert Grant's attention, dispatched a small part of his army under begrizzled Jubal A Early to the menaced Shenandoah Valley. The four-month campaign that followed sealed the fate of the Shenandoah and the Confederacy. Early's men routed the Federal forces of Gen. David Hunter near Lynchburg and then raced northward on a raid that carried them to the outskirts of Washington. When Early retired to the Valley, an aroused Grant took measures to assure that no further threats would come from that region. On August 7, 33 year old Philip Sheridan assumed command of the Federal forces in the Valley. He was to carry out Grant's order: The Shenandoah is to be so devastated "that crows flying across it for the balance of the season will have to carry their own provender with them." During September, Sheridan's army defeated Early at Winchester, and Fisher's Hill. When Early's surprise counterattack on October 19 at Cedar Creek was reported to Sheridan, he made a wild ride from Winchester, rallied his retreating units, and turned pending defeat into a smashing victory. The Second Valley Campaign resulted in the destruction of both Early's army and the Shenandoah Valley.
90. VALOR_131005_772.JPG: Appomattox
91. VALOR_131005_775.JPG: Appomattox, April 9, 1865 For the Army of Northern Virginia, the nine-month siege of Petersburg was physical hardship, disease, filth, trenches, enemy sharpshooters, dwindling morale and tedious waiting for the inevitable onslaught. It came on April 1, 1865, when Federal divisions smashed through the weak Confederate lines at Five Forks. Within three days, the Confederates abandoned their works, Petersburg fell, and Richmond was occupied by Federal forces. For a week the tattered Confederate ranks retreated westward. Lee's last hope was to rendezvous somewhere near Danville with Joseph Johnston's army which was retreating through North Carolina before Sherman's advance. Lee's men fought rear-guard actions at Amelia, Sayler's Creek, High Bridge, and Farmville; nevertheless, on April 8, the vanguard of Grant's army succeeded in reaching Appomattox Court House ahead of Lee, thus blocking the Confederates' last escape route.
92. VALOR_131005_786.JPG: Dueling Pistols with Walnut Case Belonging to General John C. Breckinridge Accessories from the case include four different cleaning instruments, a bullet seater and ramrod, oil can and patch cutter.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Description of Subject Matter: The Hall of Valor is part of the New Market Battlefield State Historic Park. It presents exhibits on the entire Civil War with special emphasis on the war in Virginia. The 1864 Battle of New Market is featured.
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