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New Market Timeline

Battle & Aftermath, 1864 - 1865 

1864Typical Civil War era VMI cadet

  • May 11: Corps left Lexington at 7:00 a.m. and marched 18 miles; camped near Midway.
  • May 12:  Arrived in Staunton (18 mile march) and camped south of the town.
  • May 13:  Marched 19 miles; camped that night at Mt. Crawford, near Harrisonburg.
  • May 14:  Marched 15 miles and camped at Mt. Tabor, 7 miles south of New Market.
  • May 15:  Battle of New Market 
  • May 16-17: Caring for the wounded
  • May 20:  Corps arrived Harrisonburg
  • May 21:  Corps arrived Staunton.
  • May 23-June 7:  Corps in Richmond, initially camping at Fairgrounds (Camp Lee); reviewed and addressed by government dignitaries; on May 28 transferred to Carter's Farm & assigned to duty under Gen. G. W. C. Lee, commanding the Local Defense Troops.
  • June 9:  Corps arrived in Lexington by canal boat.
  • June 11:  Union troops led by Gen. David Hunter begin bombardment of Lexington. Corps retreats and camps near Balcony Falls.
  • June 12:  Gen. Hunter orders burning of VMI Barracks and other buildings .
  • June 15:  Corps to Lynchburg; arrived June 16.
  • June 25:  Corps back to Lexington.
  • June 27:  Fourteen members of the Class of 1864 (all New Market veterans) were graduated and the Corps was furloughed.
  • October 1:  Corps assembled at Camp Lee, near Richmond, VA; engaged in military duties in trenches around Richmond, but did not resume any academic work.
  • October 27:  Corps under Lt. Gen. Pemberton; encamped at Poe's Farm as infantry support for nearby battery; under Lt. Gen. Ewell and comprised a part of the Confederate forces of the Dept. of Richmond.
  • December 12-27:  Moved to Alms House, Richmond, a building which had been built about 1861 and was once used as a hospital. Academic work resumed on the 27th.

1865

  • April 2:  Disbanded at the Alms House on eve of evacuation of Richmond by Confederate forces; each cadet responsible for making his way home or elsewhere.
  • April 9:  Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox.
  • October 17:  Academic worked resumed in Lexington.