V.M.I. Remembers: The Battle of New Market

BOOM! sounded the cannons. Crack! went the rifles. As the smoke settled over the calm greensward of New Market, Va., a ragged gray line of ersatz Confederates marched on the Yankee guns. In accordance with the script, the Bluebellies died in a heap of splendid tragedy. As one mock Union soldier put it: "I'm a Confederate. But there weren't enough real Yankees to man the cannon."

The cannon needed manning for the annual re-enactment of the 1864 Battle of New Market, one of the Civil War's most unusual clashes. The 200 participants were mostly...

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