VMI's History - Just the Facts: "Died on the Field of Honor"

These reprints with commentary are the next in a series examining historic figures, memorials, and commemorations at VMI that now stand at risk of removal, reinterpretation, "contextualization," or erasure by the Institute and the "review" of VMI's alleged connections to the "Lost Cause" by the Board of Visitors (BOV) and others. The purpose is to place original historical materials before readers so that cadets, alumni, and the public may consider the record for themselves and draw their own conclusions from the facts. In his Virginia Military Institute Military (VMI) History published in 1915, Jennings C. Wise documents the accurate history of the New Market Day tradition of the Corps forming and, as the names of the New Market Cadets are read aloud, a cadet steps forward and states "Died on the Field of Honor". The tradition has no link to the Lost Cause other than timing. The tradition began in 1866, one year after the end of the American Civil War. Context for the significance of honoring and commemorating the Battle of New Market comes from an address by Colonel William Couper, Executive Officer and Historiographer at VMI, delivered May 15, 1939, at the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Battle, and from other historic documents. That record matters in light of recent claims by some Virginia Legislators that VMI has honored "traitors and the Lost Cause," and the cadets "committed treason" against the United States at New Market. The VMI BOV is now required under Chapter 1097 (H 1377) to "…further explore and recommend other changes that should be made by VMI to distance itself from the Lost Cause narrative, foster an inclusive environment…" and report back to the Virginia General Assembly with future changes. The events at New Market and the New Market Corps were targets of the previous 2021 Gov. Northam investigation against VMI, as well as the "contextualization" of the New Market monument and changes to the traditional New Market ceremony. The only true context is from those who lived these events. In this case, New Market Cadet John Sergeant Wise, who recounted in his book End of an Era: "'A few of us brought up a limber-chest, threw our dead across it, and bore their remains to a deserted storehouse in the village [New Market]. The Next Day we buried them with the honors of war, bowed down with grief at a victory so dearly bought.'" Jennings C. Wise expanded on the history: The bodies of cadets Atwill, Jones, Jefferson, McDowell, and Wheelright were removed to Lexington in May 1866, and interred on the second anniversary of the battle, May 15th, in the Cadet Cemetery created for the purpose of receiving them. At this time, a traditional custom originated which has been carefully preserved and continued to the present time [1915]. On the 15th of May, the names of the nine cadets who lost their lives at the battle of New Market are called by the sergeants of the roll of their respective companies at every formation during the day, and a cadet, designated in advance for the purpose, steps two paces to the front, salutes, and answers 'Died on the field of honor!' "This inspiring custom had its origin in France. LATOUR D'AUVERGNE entered the military service of France in 1767 and fought with distinction throughout the early years of the Revolution in the Armies of the Alps and Pyrennes. Time and again he distinguished himself in battle, and was offered promotion, but each time he refused it. As a simple captain he led 8,000 grenadiers, known on account of their murderous bayonet charges as the Infernal Column. He left the Army in 1795, but re-enlisted as a substitute for the only son of an old friend in 1799, and fought with Massena in Switzerland. Again he declined promotion, but Napoleon, in 1800, caused him to be officially borne on the rolls as the 'First Grenadier of France.' He was killed on the 22d of June of that year in Bavaria, whereupon the whole French Army mourned him for three days. His heart was embalmed, placed in a silver vase carried by his company, and his saber was placed in the Church of the Invalides. Every Morning until the close of the Empire, at the roll call of his regiment, his name was called and the eldest sergeant replied: 'Mort sur le champ de l'honneur.' The writer regards this ceremony at the Institute on the 15th of May as by far the most impressive and inspiring one he has ever witnessed. It is impossible to estimate the influence it exhorts upon the emotions and the character of the youthful cadet. Having been first sergeant of D Company in his Second Class Year, the writer recalls the rivalry which existed among the cadets of his company for the honor of answering for D Company's fallen heroes. As a captain of that same company a year later, he recalls how he was appealed to by those on the sick list, begging that they might slip into ranks to be with the colors when the anniversary salute was fired by the Battalion over the graves in the Cadet Cemetery. Who that has been a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute but can recall the hot tear that welled unbidden to the eye in response to the fervent prayer of the chaplain on this annual occasion? Is not the memory of Cabell, Atwill, McDowell, Standard, Jefferson, James, Crockett, Wheelwright, and Haynes, indelibly burned into the souls of all old cadets? Who of us but can see, standing there beside those boyish graves, in the soft evening light of springtime, with head uncovered and dampened cheek, the veteran figure of Pendleton, Poague, Cutshaw, or Lee himself, when a resident of Lexington? How distressed many old cadets will be when they learn that the Cadet Cemetery has been abandoned, and that those simple little graves are no longer to be seen in the shady grove where for forty-seven years they remained undisturbed. No monument can be half so imposing as were those little clumps of sod; and one of the most touching features of 'New Market Day' is gone with the graves. In response to the 2021 "Equity Audit," VMI removed most of the New Market history from the Rat Bible, including the names of the New Market Cadets themselves, and Rats are no longer required to learn the names of those fallen cadets. As a result, at VMI today, most cadets do not know the names of the New Market cadets and are taught that Virginia Mourning Her Dead, originally the New Market Memorial, is meant to honor all alumni. Under former Superintendent Gen. Peay, the New Market Day Parade changed to a "VMI Veterans Day Parade," and the names of all VMI alumni who fell in battle are read at Virginia Mourning Her Dead in a marathon session by cadets at a podium throughout the day in front of mostly empty folding chairs. The Battle of New Market is distant, and its traditions arose from that distinction not to celebrate a "Lost Cause" but to honor actions by young cadets that have never been duplicated in any war, in any location, in the world, and in the history of that world. Context for the battle comes from Colonel William Couper's May 15, 1939, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary address, and his remarks are relevant today in light of the language in the original version of HB1377, which VMI endorsed and lobbied the General Assembly to pass. Despite the change to the current language, the HB1377's original theme that "…the romantic mythology of the Lost Cause was developed to glorify the Confederacy, and nowhere was that mythology more celebrated in the past than at VMI..." continues through diluted language in the final Bill requiring the BOV to identify and recommend further changes to distance VMI from its Civil War History that includes New Market. Col. Couper's presentation to the assembled directly addressed how an article in the time dismissed the cadets' action as part of the Lost Cause and diluted the significance, much as many in Richmond, and to some degree VMI does in the present day, starting with the Equity Audit report initiated by former Virginia Governor Northam. In Couper's words: Setting military prowess aside for a moment, I refer to the remaining item –a thought suggested some years ago by an article in Harper's Magazine entitled The Cadets of New Market (Dec. 1929 – Vol. 160, p. 111): Queerly enough, there was hardly anything in the article about V.M.I. cadets, further than that they symbolized a lost generation. The theme of the author was that these men had led a hopeless existence in a conquered territory and nothing constructive could be expected of them until the coming of the next generation. Interesting! As with the facts surrounding the tradition of "Died on the Field of Honor", Couper's remarks addressed the mischaracterization of the New Market cadets as part of the Lost Cause that is revived in the current controversy and legislation. Couper continued: Yes, but it seemed so widely at variance with the facts that a book showing the careers of the 295 men comprising the New Market Corps was published. The disclosures were amazing. Fifty-seven of the men were lawyers and fourteen became distinguished jurists, and yet the New Market Corps was not half as large as the present corps. Do you think that in the course of time, thirty-five of your number will preside over a court of justice? Five New Market Cadets were ministers in the Christian Church. Will you have twelve? In the Group we find sixteen physicians and surgeons; three college presidents; masters of the palette and chisel; toilers of the plow, counting houses and marts of the world; in fact, representatives of almost every vocation. Some of them lived long enough to take an active part in the larger non-combatant features of the World War, about fifty years later –one representing large nations in a diplomatic way another, as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the Senate, prepared bill appropriating over fify thousand millions of dollars --- the largest sum ever appropriated by a legislative body in any country to that time and an awesome sum even in these days of large deficits. Facts are stubborn things and the record, now an open competed book, compels the recognition that this was no ordinary corps of cadets. Couper's observations carry additional weight in VMI's modern history in light of the fact that today's graduating Corps is over 80% larger than the New Market Corps and is yet to achieve that level of accomplished graduates. Couper's challenge to the Corps and VMI in his address also resonates today: "And what does all this mean to you, young gentlemen of the corps? Do you realize that here is something which money cannot buy? Remember this: 'A reputation is an achievement of yesterday ---to be lived today and guarded tomorrow,' and that is where you come in. With such a military and civic record before you, you cannot; you dare not; you will not fail when your opportunity comes." Another fact is that most of the New Market cadets were Rats. This began, in later years, the tradition of the Rat Mass visiting New Market and charging up the hill to the gun positions together before leaving. VMI banned this commemoration under the previous Superintendent, with one administration official telling Rats who asked to charge up the hill, "This is not a re-enactment." Such a position is partly accurate. The tradition was not a re-enactment, but a commemoration. The significance of the New Market Corps accomplishment in the annals of military history is also not part of the Lost Cause. In his 1912 book, History of New Market, Professor Edward Raymond Turner, Johns Hopkins University, captured the significance of the the New Market Corps as the only student body ever to fight an engagement in a time of war: This charge of the cadets upon the Federal position at New Market is one of the most remarkable episodes of the Civil War, or indeed any war. That a body of youths, ranging in age from fourteen to twenty, should conduct themselves well in battle would in itself have been sufficiently creditable. But that in the first battle in which they had ever served, they should do what they did is almost beyond belief… The Battle of New Market was a small battle, and, relatively speaking, the Cadet Battalion was a mere handful; but what those boys did is comparable with what older troops have done in some of the most famous battles in the world. Today, these events and the Cadets who fought the battle are little more than a footnote in VMI's presented history and on Post. The 2026 Rat Bible does not contain the New Market Cadet names or any details of the battle. Rats are no longer required to memorize the details. The only reference in the current Rat Bible is a general note in the list of VMI's history: "1864 - May 15: The Corps is committed to the battle of New Market: 10 dead, 47 wounded." The 2026 Rat Bible entry "THE FIELD OF HONOR" does not address the New Market cadets, only referring to "... the bravery and sacrifice of the 591 alumni who answered the cal lto service and died on the field of honor, or from their wounds, in the nation's wars." The page lists only 14 alumni names under "GLOBAR WAR ON TERRORISM". The Rat Bible entry for "The VMI/New Market Flag" states: "It is believed the second flag was the one carried into the battle at New Market on May 15, 1864." VMI rebranded The New Market Monument to "Virginia Mourning her dead" under "Inclusive Excellence" to simply a memorial to all VMI alumni who lost their lives, and now subject to further rebranding with a wall carrying the names of all VMI alumni lost so the New Market Cadets become nothing more than names among many. Rather than adding to VMI's history by establishing additional memorials and commemorations of significant VMI history, such as the first Black and women in the Corps and other milestones, the Institute's approach since 2021 has been more subtractive, focusing mostly on the Civil War and omitting history before certain periods. While the BOV study has yet to begin, the Institute leadership and the BOV have already stated their commitment to removing more such commemorations and to "contextualizing" others. Sections from the Rat Bible and other records mentioned are available in the online version of this article at www.cadetnewspaper.com. The Cadet is 100% self-supporting. Please help us continue our work as the voice of the Corps and alumni with a donation at www.thecadetfoundation.org