With 6,500 men Sigel had advanced up the Valley to capture Staunton, whence Lee’s army received some of its meager supplies. Before Sigel could get there, however, former U.S. Vice President John C. Breckinridge, now commanding a scraped-together rebel force of 5,000, attacked Sigel at New Market on May 15 and drove him back. This small battle was marked on one side by Sigel’s skill at retreating and on the other by a spirited charge of 247 V.M.I, cadets aged fifteen to seventeen, who were ever after immortalized in southern legend.
