Initial Union Line and Shell Struck Post

Initial Union Line and Shell Struck Post. The Odyssey of the 34th Massacchusetts. , Time: Morning and Early Afternoon , You're standing where the left end of the Union line was positioned at the beginning of the Battle of New Market. The line, which included the 1st West Virginia, 123rd Ohio, and 18th Connecticut infantry regiments, stretched from here to Manor's Hill., Early that morning, the 34th Massachusetts Infantry regiment was also positioned here, along the street to your left. But the regiment would soon be marched back and forth across the battlefield by orders that reflected the confused decision-making that helped doom Federal hopes during the fighting to come., As the morning began, the men were preparing to make breakfast here, but before they could eat, they were ordered, as Col. William S. Lincoln remembered, "To retire some two miles, and there form a line of battle. This route led us through... soft, sticky mud... nearly ankle deep... Some of the boys lost their shoes in this mud, and thereafter fought and retreated in stockinged feet.", The regiment would be moved several more times and march 7 miles before the battle started - ultimately ending up on Bushong's Hill., The 34th Massachusetts would later find themselves in the thick of the fighting and would be one of the last Union regiments to leave the field., The Shell Struck Post , Early in the afternoon, Confederate Gen. John C. Breckinridge and his staff rode up to the rise in front of you, after leaving the Henkel House in town. As Union cannon fired on this area - answered by Confederate guns to your right - one of the Federal shells struck a gatepost across the street from you, lodging in the wood. Breckinridge and his staff were showered with splinters, but narrowly escaped harm. The post across the street is a reproduction., (Captions):, Members of the 34th Massachusetts in skirmish drill while in camp. , Image courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art., Col. William Lincoln, 34th Massachusetts. Lincoln was wounded and captured during the battle. He would escape captivity and make it safely to West Virginia in July., Confederate Gen. John C. Breckinridge., This marker was made possible through the generosity of Mark and Karen Perreault.