Woodson's Missouri Cavalry - New Market VA
N 38° 39.844 W 078° 40.032
17S E 702965 N 4282081
A simple monument commemorating the 1st MO Cavalry who fought under the command of Capt. Woodson stands at the New Market battlefield.
Waymark Code: WMBHBP
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 05/22/2011
Views: 3
In 1862, Confederate soldiers from Missouri were taken prisoner in Mississippi. They were released in Virginia the following year and a group of them formed a cavalry company known as Co. A, 1st MO Cavalry. They were transferred to the Valley District and assigned to the command of Capt. Charles H. Woodson. In the spring of 1864, Union Gen. U. S. Grant sent Maj. Gen Franz Sigel with 10,000 troops into the Shenandoah Valley to cut off railroad supply lines to the Confederate army and secure the strategic Valley Pike. When the Confederates learned of the advance, Gen. John Breckinridge led 4000 troops to meet them. Among them were Woodson's MO Cavalry. On May 15, the armies met at New Market.
During the battle
that ensued, the unit faced heavy fire. Because of the lack of horses, the cavalry fought on foot. While different accounts list conflicting statistics of those killed and wounded, Woodson's men were still one of the Confederate units with the highest casualties sustained during the Battle of New Market.
In 1905, two veterans of the 1st MO commissioned a monument to be erected at their position near the Bushong Farm on the battlefield. Christian Shirley, a local Confederate veteran whose home was nearby, donated the sand, and Jacob Bushong, on whose property the battle was fought, donated the rock. the simple inscription of the square granite block reads:
This rustic pile
The simple tale will tell:
It marks the spot
Where Woodson’s heroes fell.
The Missouri Monument is one of two monuments erected by veterans at the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park.
Also see: New Market Battlefield State Historical Park and Hall of Valor Museum: Woodson's Missouri Cavalry - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites
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