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New Market collection

Access and use

Location of collection:: Virginia Military Institute Archives

Preston Library

Virginia Military Institute

345 Letcher Ave.

Lexington, VA 24450-0304

Contact for questions and access:: POC: Jeffrey S. Kozak

Email: archives@vmi.edu

Phone: (540) 464-7516

Phone: (540) 464-7566

Fax: (540) 464-7089

Web: www.vmi.edu/archives

Restrictions:: There are no restrictions
Terms of access:: Manuscript collections in the VMI Archives are made available for educational and research use. The VMI Archives should be cited as the source. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright holders. Materials from our collections may not be redistributed, published or reproduced without permission from the VMI Archives. Contact the VMI Archives for additional information.

Preferred citation:: New Market collection, 1894-1915. MS 0002. VMI Archives, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.

Summary

Extent:: 1.5 cubic feet 3 document boxes and oversized materials
Creator:: Colonna, Benjamin A. (Benjamin Azariah), 1843-1924, Wise, Henry A. (Henry Alexander), 1842-1918, and Shipp, Scott, 1839-1917
Language:: English
Preferred citation:: New Market collection, 1894-1915. MS 0002. VMI Archives, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

The New Market collection consists primarily of reminiscences of the Battle of New Market, Virginia (May 15, 1864) written by participants and other witnesses between 1894 and 1915. Written in response to specific inquiries and questionnaires, these memoirs were collected by various groups and individuals, including the VMI Alumni Association, author/historian Edward R. Turner, Henry A. Wise (VMI Class of 1862) and Benjamin A. Colonna (VMI Class of 1864). In addition to VMI cadet participants, information was received from veterans of other Confederate units, from Union soldiers, and from a small number number of eyewitnesses who were citizens of the town of New Market at the time of the battle.

Some of the responses are very detailed, while others contain little information other than the fact of participation. The accounts collected by Colonna reflect his particular interest in troop movements and positions, and in mapping the battlefield.

In addition to the memoirs, the collection also includes:

Colonna's map of the battlefield and materials relating to the creation of the map
Four documents (1864) related to the 34th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Union Army units at the battle
Printed material

These documents were collected primarily by Henry A. Wise and by officials of VMI. They solicited details about the Battle of New Market and include replies from many New Market cadets.

An account of the Battle of New Market written in 1909 by Porter Johnson. As a VMI Cadet, Johnson participated in the battle as a Private, Company B, Corps of Cadets.

These recollections of the Battle of New Market were collected primarily by Benjamin A. Colonna as part of his efforts to create an accurate map of the battlefield.

One play by John W. Sherman published as "New Market," or "The Boy Heroes of '64."

Biographical / historical:

The Civil War Battle of New Market, Virginia took place on May 15, 1864. The Virginia Military Corps of Cadets participated as a unit in this engagement, and ten cadets were killed or died later as a result of their wounds. The battle was fought in response to Union General Franz Sigel's march up the Shenandoah Valley from Winchester towards Staunton, Virginia. The Confederate force then in the Valley, commanded by General John Imboden, was reinforced at Staunton by troops commanded by General John C. Breckinridge, and by the VMI cadets commanded by Major Scott Shipp. The Confederate troops marched north where the battle took place on the afternoon of May 15. At about 4 p.m., Sigel ordered a retreat and fell back to Strasburg, Pennsylvania.

The individuals largely responsible for compiling this collection had strong ties to VMI and to the battle. Henry A. Wise, the son of John Cropper Wise and Anne Finney, was born in Accomac County, Virginia in May 1842. He graduated from VMI in 1862 and served in the Confederate Army until he was captured and paroled, also in 1862. During the period of his parole, he returned to VMI as a faculty member and tactical officer. Wise was in command of Cadet Company A at the Battle of New Market and took command of the Cadet Battalion after Scott Shipp was wounded. After the War, Wise resumed his career as an educator in the Tidewater area (Virginia) and in Baltimore, Maryland. He died in Norfolk, Virginia on July 11, 1918.

Benjamin Azariah Colonna, the son of John Wilkins Colonna and Margaret Jones, was born in Accomac County, Virginia in October 1843. He graduated from VMI in 1864 and, while at VMI, took part in the Battle of New Market as Cadet Captain of Company D. Following the War, Colonna worked as a surveyor and civil engineer. He maintained a lifelong interest in the battle and was responsible for the accurate mapping of the battlefield. He died in 1924 in Washington, D.C.

Porter Johnson was born on October 19, 1845 in Pruntytown, Taylor County, West Virginia. He was living in Brownsburg, Rockbridge County, Virginia at beginning of the Civil War. He matriculated at VMI on September 1, 1863 and was a Cadet Private at the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864. He resigned from Corps of Cadets on March 6, 1865 and joined the 8th Confederate Battalion commanded by Colonel Garnett Andrews. Johnson was captured in Salisbury, North Carolina on April 12, 1865 and imprisoned. He was paroled on June 13, 1865. After the War he returned to Rockbridge County where he was a farmer. He died on June 9, 1917.

Physical location: