PUBLIC "-//Virginia Military Institute::Preston Library::Archives//TEXT (US::ViLxV::vilxv00036::A Guide to the New Market Collection)//EN" "vilxv00036.xml" A Guide to the New Market Collection, 1864-1915 New Market (Virginia), Battle mss 00002 Diane B. Jacob Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Virginia Military Institute Archives © 2002 Virginia Military Institute

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Machine-readable finding aid derived from typescript by rekeying. Machine-readable finding aid created by Diane Jacob. Date of source: 2002 Description is in English Feb 16, 2004 PUBLIC "-//Virginia Military Institute::Preston Library::Archives//TEXT (US::ViLxV::vilxv00036::A Guide to the New Market Collection)//EN" "vilxv00036.xml" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Feb 26, 2004 converted to conform to eadVIVA.dtd by vivastrict.xsl 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the New Market Collection, 1864-1915 A Collection in Virginia Military Institute Archives mss 00002

Virginia Military Institute Archives 2002 Virginia Military Institute Archives Staff Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Archives, Preston Library, Virginia Military Institute Descriptive Summary Archives, Preston Library, Virginia Military Institute New Market Collection, 1864-1915 mss 00002 The collection is filed in three manuscript boxes. English Administrative Information Access

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 Preferred Citation

New Market Collection, mss 00002, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, Virginia.

 Biographical/Historical Information

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. The Confederate force then in the Valley, commanded by Gen. John Imboden, was reinforced at Staunton by troops commanded by Gen. John C. Breckinridge, and by the Virginia Military Institute cadets commanded by Major Scott Shipp. The Confederate troops marched north where the battle took place on the afternoon of May 15. About 4 p.m., Sigel ordered a retreat and fell back to Strasburg.

The individuals largely responsible for compiling the New Market 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 the Virginia Military Institute and served in the Confederate Army until captured and paroled 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 and in Baltimore, Maryland. He died at 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 the Virginia Military Institute 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 New Market battlefield. He died in 1924 in Washington, DC.

 Scope and Content Information

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 1894-1915. 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 battle veteran) and Benjamin A. Colonna (VMI Class of 1864 and battle veteran). 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 Benjamin Colonna reflect his particular interest in troop movements and positions, and in mapping the battlefield.

In addition to the memoirs, the collection includes Colonna's map of the battlefield and materials relating to the creation of the map; 4 documents (1864) relating to the 34th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Union Army units at the battle; and miscellaneous printed material.

 Contents List Memoirs and questionnaire results, 1894-1903 1 - 2

These documents were collected primarily by Henry Wise and by officials of VMI.

 Benjamin A. Colonna material, 1909-1912 2 - 3

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

 Correspondence with Battle Participants, VMI Cadet Corps and Staff Claybrook, Frederick W. (Class of 1864) Faulkner, Charles J.. (Class of 1867) Letcher, Samuel H. (Class of 1869) Minge, Collier H.. (Class of 1864) Pizzini, Andrew (Class of 1865) Shipp, Scott. (Class of 1859/Commanding officer) Tate, Charles B. (Class of 1866) Whitehead, Henry C. (Class of 1866) Wise, Henry A. (Class of 1862/Tactical Officer) Wise, John S. (Class of 1866) Wise, Louis C. (Class of 1866) Woodbridge, Jonathan E. (Class of 1865) Correspondence with Battle Participants, Confederate Army Units Chapman's Battery. Armstrong, D. M. 18th Virginia Cavalry. Pratt, G. Julian 22nd Virginia Infantry. Rand, Noyes 22nd Virginia Infantry. Thompson, J. K. 23rd Virginia Cavalry. Hupp, Isaac 26th Virginia Infantry. Edgar, George M. 30th Virginia Sharpshooters. Family of Otey, Peter J. 51st Virginia Infantry. Bralley, Guy S. 51st Virginia Infantry. Dunford, G. W. 51st Virginia Infantry. Lindamood, F. M. 51st Virginia Infantry. Porter, John A. 51st Virginia Infantry. Sayers, D. H.. 51st Virginia Infantry. Stone, Samuel. 51st Virginia Infantry. Wolfe, Robert E. 62nd Virginia Infantry. Smith, George H. Correspondence with Battle Participants, U. S. Army Units. 18th Connecticut Infantry. Haggerty, James. 18th Connecticut Infantry. Lynch, Charles H. 18th Connecticut Infantry. Richmond, C. H. 18th Connecticut Infantry. Service, John Dupont's Battery. Dupont, Henry A. 1st Maryland Infantry. Jones, James L. 34th Massachusetts Infantry. Adams, John W.. 1st New York Infantry. Berry, Charles H. 15th New York Cavalry. Auer, M. 21st New York Cavalry. Multoon, J. E. 123rd Ohio Infantry. Gilbert, A. J. 123rd Ohio. Park, Abe 54th Pennsylvania Infantry. Bryan, David R. 54th Pennsylvania Infantry. Camp, G. W. 54th Pennsylvania Infantry. Gageby, G. W. 54th Pennsylvania Infantry. Kaufman, J. B. 54th Pennsylvania Infantry. Klingaman, J. F. 54th Pennsylvania Infantry. Yutzy, J. C. 1st West Virginia Infantry. Duff, John T. 1st West Virginia Infantry. Kaler, Andrew 1st West Virginia Infantry. Senseney, C. H. 1st West Virginia Infantry. Sutherland, U. K. 12th West Virginia Infantry. Waddell, J. N. Correspondence with New Market Residents Correspondence, General Battlefield Map Project materials Maps

Maps (9) of the battlefield by Colonna; one sketch of the battlefield by Perry Cook; one U. S. Geological Survey map of the New Market area

 3

Notes, clippings, & other misc. materials

 Other New Market-related items 34th Massachusetts Infantry Documents, 1864 4 items Printed materials & misc.

Includes published play, New Market, or The Boy Heroes of '64,(1893) by John W. Sherman.