October 2 & 3 - VMI and the Battle of New Market

 

     It was a beautiful but chilly morning as we transited the 12 miles into Lexington.  Driving through the charming little town, we passed by Washington & Lee University and VMI. As we were at the end of town, the choice was reverse direction or drive around the north end of VMI, which we did.  Unfortunately, we ran into a choice of 2 dead ends, driving our 12-ton RV on a bridge rated for 10 tons, or reversing direction.  Choice was easy, and soon we entered the main gate for Washington & Lee University.  The few buildings we passed were beautiful, but then we found we were on the VMI campus which adjoins it.   

     VMI is a starkly beautiful campus, where all 1600 students were uniforms 24/7, and live in the barracks.  We planned on visiting the George C. Marshall research library and museum, but it didn’t open till 1100am.  As it was only 10, we walked around the parade deck and past the 3 dormitories to the VMI Museum.  A note on the three dorms and their respective arches (the entrances) – they are named, respectively, after George Washington, George Marshall, and Stonewall Jackson.  As we were by the Jackson Statue when some “Rats” came out (that’s what they call their freshmen), they all saluted the Statue.

     The Museum was quite nice, and the very helpful lady on the desk gave us all kinds of information on the University and its rivalry with Washington & Lee (they can’t stand each other!).  There are two floors in the Museum, both below street level.  The street level contains the school chapel, built with funds from the Federal Government that were reparations for the destruction of the school during the Civil War.

     One of the first displays we saw was a typical VMI dorm - both then and now!  Hasn't changed all that much since the school was founded, other than modernizing.  Becky noted that Jim could never have gone there.  Note the neat orderly way in which the uniforms are hung (and are always visible!) and even the books are lined up tallest to shortest.  Way too neat!!

     There are numerous displays about VMI and its history, with special emphasis on the Battle of New Market in 1864 in the Civil War.  New Market lies about 30 miles north of Lexington.  When the “Federals”, 10,000 strong under the command of Maj Gen Franz Sigel invaded the Shenandoah Valley, Confederate General John C. Breckinridge pulled together some 4500 troops to stop them.  As the battle was about to commence, he requested VMI send its Corps of Cadets and its artillery battery, 257 strong, to assist them.  What happened at the Battle is a major focus of the museum, and we’ll discuss more about the battle later in this Blog post. 

     There are many artifacts and stories about famous VMI graduates and some famous military men that did not graduate.  Among these are Gen George Patton, who followed 2 previous generations of his family to VMI but quit after his freshman year and transferred to West Point!  Chesty Puller, the most decorated U.S. Marine in history, completed his freshman year and quit to join the Marines so he could get into the fight in WW I. 

 

     Half of one floor is dedicated to an antique firearms collection of 400 rare specimens  donated by Henry Stewart.  The mounted hide of Stonewall Jackson’s horse, Little Sorrel, is also found in the museum.

     Walking around the campus was particularly interesting for Becky, as she was saluted and called “Ma’am” by countless Cadets.  We think they were “Rats”, as not everybody did it.   The Cadets were very impressive in their bearing and appearance, and the training and education they receive (choice of 16 majors) should prepare them well for life after college.  While all 1600 cadets are enrolled in ROTC (Army, Air Force or Navy <which also includes a Marine option>, only about 50% these days enter the armed forces.

 

     We came close to having a disaster with the dogs after leaving the museum.  Jim took them for a short walk after leaving the Museum, and they were walking on a narrow berm on top of a 40-foot steep hill with lots of brush and trees.  The dogs spotted a squirrel that ran by, and Jim was able to hold the dogs in place.  Then another squirrel got daring and ran by, racing straight down the hill.  This time Dudley charged after it and tried to follow straight down.   Rosie angled off to the right, and Jim got pulled off his feet as Dudley slid about 8 feet down the hill and couldn’t move.  Fortunately Becky was within earshot, rescued Rosie and assisted Jim in getting Dudley standing up again.  He couldn’t go up the steep hill, so Jim had to take him down; a few minutes later he started charging down the hill, and made it the last  20 feet on his own going full bore!  Both he and Jim will feel it tomorrow morning! 

    The George C. Marshall Museum and Research Library is quite impressive.  It contains both the personal history of this extraordinary citizen-soldier, and his papers covering the events during his 52 years of service after graduating from VMI in 1901.  A visit starts with a short introductory video of his life, utilizing primarily television news footage. 

 

There is a very interesting display giving the timeline history of World War II.  It is done by way of a huge National Geographic Map of the world, with a narrator discussing all the major events from the first invasions by Hitler to the dropping of the Atomic Bombs.  Lights on the map guide the viewer’s understanding of where each event took place.

     As we went to depart the VMI parking lot, signs directed all over sized vehicles down a certain road, so we of course followed the road.  Turns out the road was the one that prohibited vehicles over 10 tons that we had previously avoided!  We held our breath as we drove over the small bridge, and since we're posting this blog you can tell it didn't collapse!

 

     The next stop on our trip was the Virginia Museum of the Civil War and the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park in New Market.  It’s a beautiful facility with very friendly and helpful staff.  The visit started with a 45-minute film recounting the battle of New Market, utilizing re-enactors to play the roles of many of the participants on both the Union and Confederate sides.  It devotes a good portion of the film to the story of the VMI cadets and how it affected many of them.  The one day battle saw the 4500 Rebels decisively defeat the 10,000 Union soldiers, primarily because of a number of blunders by MajGen Franz Sigel.  The 257 VMI cadets, mostly 15-17 years old, served valiantly.  10 were killed during the battle or died of wounds, and an additional 47 were wounded.  Their heroism is honored every year in May in the town of New Market with a Ceremony and Parade by the Corps of Cadets, and is a very proud part of the College’s heritage.

     The museum “in the round” has a timeline showing all the battles and other activities that took place in Virginia during the war.  It’s very nicely done.

     The battle took place primarily at the site of the museum, in an adjoining field that was a farm owned by the Jacob Bushong family.  They hid in their basement during the battle, and their home and farm buildings have been preserved and are open as part of the Museum admission.  The field where the battle was fought is known as the “Field of Lost Shoes”, as it had been raining for over a day and the field was a muddy quagmire.  It earned the nickname because of all the shoes and boots that came off the soldiers feet during the battle.

     Our evening stay was the KOA Harrisonburg/Shenandoah Valley.  It’s a beautiful wooded campground far away from the highway, and the dogs loved being able to roam off leash in the woods. 

    Thursday October 3^rd 

      It was a crisp and cool morning when the dogs held reveille at 5:45am, and after letting them run free again Jim stayed up and read his Tom Clancy novel.  It was sad for him to hear yesterday that Clancy had died at age 66, as he really enjoys Tom's writing.

     This was basically a travel day, mostly on I81.  Within 90 miles we traveled from Virginia, thru West Virginia and Maryland, and into Pennsylvania.  Must have been a million trucks on the road!  We are staying at a KOA northeast of Harrisburg, and since we were in no big rush we detoured onto US 30 and drove through our alma mater, Gettysburg College.  We’re pretty well “Civil War’d" out, and have been to G-Burg  enough in the past few years that we just drove through the campus and went on.

     While driving on I81 parallel to the Skyline Drive, we felt sorry for the folks who had driven to Virginia to ride through this National Park Road – it’s been closed because of the current Government B.S. shutdown.  We then wondered if the Presidential Libraries were also shut down, as in most cases they are a joint operation between the Park Service and an outside contractor.  Saturday was to be our day to visit Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Museum in Hyde Park, so Becky called them. Yes, it too is closed.  Bummer!  As that was the last “tourism” stop we had planned, we’ll now head home Saturday instead of Sunday.

     As we’ll now be doing a lot of driving over the next few days, we decided to start another audio book.  Having enjoyed a “Rizzoli and Isles” mystery novel earlier on the trip, we choose to start “The Sinner” by Tess Gerritson.  We’re now an 2 hours into it, and already enjoying the story.

     The Jonestown KOA that we’re in tonight is new to their network, and is very nice.  Large, open RV spots, and a huge field nearby that Dudley and Rosie are enjoying.  Internet seems good, so we’re looking forward to a quiet evening catching up on-line and reading.