During the Battle of New Market, fighting engulfed the streets and terrified the town's residents. Combat first spilled through town on May 13, two days before the main battle, when Confederate cavalry under Gen. John Imboden raced through the intersection to ambush a Union cavalry force descending the mountain gap. Late on May 14, advance elements of the Union and Confederate armies skirmished in and around town, rifle fire crackled in the streets, and by evening cannon fire had begun. Families took shelter in cellars, slept clothed and ready to flee, loaded possessions into wagons, buried valuables, brought pigs and fowls into their houses, and some farmers drove their cattle and negros into town. When the battle began the next morning, artillery fire crashed into the streets, cannon balls and shells rolled and exploded in every direction, and the air filled with dust, smoke, curses, and shrieks. Jessie Rupert and her husband placed their child under the floorboards for protection, while Perry Cook took refuge in a cellar, briefly ventured out during a lull, and ran back when another shell burst nearby. As the fighting intensified, the Confederate 62nd and 22nd Virginia Infantry regiments marched down the street and pushed Federal forces through town, with shots, shouts, orders, and bullets striking the buildings.

Photo: Bradley Owen

New Market, Virginia · USA