In the ten years or so, when I was an active Civil War reenactor, I participated in the reenactment of the Battle of New Market twice. My unit did both Blue and Gray, but I think I was Confederate both times for New Market. It's been a while.
It was interesting to read the details of the battle, and discover some were myths. For example, the young student battalion of the Virginia Military Institute is often spoken of as having a major role in the Confederate victory. Wasn't so. They were only put in towards the end. And the author maintains every Confederate unit, save one, contributed to the victory.
But Southern Mythologists like to think these young boys were responsible for whipping the Yankees. Speaking of the "young boys," the author states the average age of the students was one month under eighteen years. One was as old as 25, so it makes sense that some were in their mid-teens, the youngest were 15, and only a few were in their early twenties. However, during the war, many thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers in regular army units were often in their mid-teens. They often lied about their ages and served as fighting soldiers. The fifers and drummer boys each regiment often had, were boys who were even younger, but they didn't hold fighting roles.
One of my favorite TV series as a young boy was Disney's "Johnny Clem, the Drummer Boy of Shiloh."
Early on the author states Jubal A. Early was one of "Lee's best fighting generals." Well, he can think that, but most Civil War historians don't, so I don't know where the author got that. Early is mostly remembered for being one of the strongest vocal founders of the Southern "Lost Cause" Mythology which helped divide the country after the war, and still has that effect in some areas.
However, in this battle, the Confederate troops were commanded by General John Breckinridge, who was a good general. Especially when you compare him against Franz Sigel, his Union Army opponent. He also held the distinction of being a former vice-president of the United States. Breckinridge held many posts during the war, including, at the end, Secretary of War for the Confederacy. It was he, who at a final meeting of the Confederate cabinet after it fled Richmond, basically told Jefferson Davis that the Confederacy had lost the war, and Davis' desire to continue the fight was a pipe dream.
Unfortunately for the Confederacy, New Market was its last victory in the Shenandoah Valley. By the end of that year, 1864, the Valley, the "Bread Basket" for the eastern Confederacy, was devastated from one end to the other by Union forces.
It was interesting to read the details of the battle, and discover some were myths. For example, the young student battalion of the Virginia Military Institute is often spoken of as having a major role in the Confederate victory. Wasn't so. They were only put in towards the end. And the author maintains every Confederate unit, save one, contributed to the victory.
But Southern Mythologists like to think these young boys were responsible for whipping the Yankees. Speaking of the "young boys," the author states the average age of the students was one month under eighteen years. One was as old as 25, so it makes sense that some were in their mid-teens, the youngest were 15, and only a few were in their early twenties. However, during the war, many thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers in regular army units were often in their mid-teens. They often lied about their ages and served as fighting soldiers. The fifers and drummer boys each regiment often had, were boys who were even younger, but they didn't hold fighting roles.
One of my favorite TV series as a young boy was Disney's "Johnny Clem, the Drummer Boy of Shiloh."
Early on the author states Jubal A. Early was one of "Lee's best fighting generals." Well, he can think that, but most Civil War historians don't, so I don't know where the author got that. Early is mostly remembered for being one of the strongest vocal founders of the Southern "Lost Cause" Mythology which helped divide the country after the war, and still has that effect in some areas.
However, in this battle, the Confederate troops were commanded by General John Breckinridge, who was a good general. Especially when you compare him against Franz Sigel, his Union Army opponent. He also held the distinction of being a former vice-president of the United States. Breckinridge held many posts during the war, including, at the end, Secretary of War for the Confederacy. It was he, who at a final meeting of the Confederate cabinet after it fled Richmond, basically told Jefferson Davis that the Confederacy had lost the war, and Davis' desire to continue the fight was a pipe dream.
Unfortunately for the Confederacy, New Market was its last victory in the Shenandoah Valley. By the end of that year, 1864, the Valley, the "Bread Basket" for the eastern Confederacy, was devastated from one end to the other by Union forces.
