This book is based on a speech by John Sergeant Wise, a veteran of the Battle of New Market, Virginia, in which he took part as a Virginia Military Institute Cadet. In this address, made at VMI May 13, 1882, Wise describes the battle in first person, which is subjective, poignant, and even humorous in part. By reading the personal narrative, one can indeed feel oneself on the field of combat as an untried soldier determined to win the day. The address has been supplemented by the editor with footnotes, annotations, and illustrations. Brief biographies of the combatants, John C. Breckinridge and Franz Sigel are given as well as commentary on Sigel’s involvement in the radical European Revolutions of 1848. A list of the VMI cadets in the Battle of New Market is given along with information concerning what happened to them after the war.