Around the BUSHONG HOUSE ... a two-story clapboarded structure, the Battle of New Market took place on Sunday afternoon, May 15, 1864. While Grant and Lee battled in Spotsylvania and the Valley was almost bare of Confederate troops, General Franz Sigel marched from Winchester to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad at Staunton. General John C. Breckinridge, with several brigades, was rushed from Southwest Virginia and joined by 257 cadets from the Virginia Military Institute. The Confederates attacked Sigel here and drove him north of Mount Jackson. The cadets followed the veteran troops and filled gaps as they appeared, capturing many prisoners and guns. Ten lads were killed and 47 wounded. Grant, hearing of this battle, exclaimed, 'The South is robbing the cradle and the grave.'

From THE WPA GUIDE TO THE OLD DOMINION