On May 15, 1864, Union Gen. Franz Sigel’s campaign through Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley ran into unexpected resistance at New Market. Facing him was a patchwork Confederate force led by Gen. John C. Breckinridge—including 257 teenage cadets from the Virginia Military Institute. Among them: Francis Lee Smith Jr. of Alexandria. Just 17 years old, he survived the cadet charge and went on to become a prominent attorney and Virginia state senator. He is buried in Alexandria’s Presbyterian Cemetery.