VMI Cadet. May 15, 1959

              VOLUME X LB • -TT^^ VniGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE, LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA, MAY 15. 1959 NUMDBItM
Glee Club To Sing For President
WillActAs
Honor Guard
Corps Faces
Rigorous
Spring Hike
The most comprehensive and
rigorous field training exercise |
ever staged for Virginia Military '
Institute cadets is S'e't for next i
week when the entire Corps moves i
out for four days of maneuvers.
An elaboration of the old Spring
Hike in which the Cadet Corps an-nually
marched 10 to 15 miles into
the country for an encampment
and elementary military exercises,
the field training exercises now
provide a period of rugged physical
and military training.
The cadets leave barracks early
Wednesday — the first group
moves out at 4 a.m. — and return
Saturday after three nights and
three-plus days of intensive exer-cises
in widely scattered training
areas.
This year the 1,000-man Cadet
Corps will be divided into three
elements for the field training.
One contingent of approximately
250 cadets will participate in a
survival course carried out in
an area of rugged terrain
13 miles ^outh of Lexing-ton.
A s'econd group of 125 cadets
plus 35 ca^et cadremen will go
through training in a mountainous
area seven miles west of Lexing-ton.
Serving as instructors will
be eight U. S. Army Rangers from
Fort Benning, Oa. A third group
of approximately 500 cadets will
be split among three other camps
north of Lexington for basic in-dividual
training. The groups will
New Market Day
Rats Elect
Anthony Class
President
Thundering applause welcomed
John Anthony to the stage of Jack-son
Memorial Hall as the newly
elected President of whait will
soon be the class of 1962. Anthony
was elected by his Brother Rats
in a meeting conducted by the
Second Class officers on 14 May.
A native of Richmond, Virginia.
Anthony graduated from Thom^as
Jefferson High School, After leav-ing
high school he entered the
Army to serve for six months. He
is majoring in English at VMI
and has been one of the sitarting
players on the Rat baseball squad.
His father, Colonel James C.
Anthony, was graduated from VMI
in 1925.
The Rats elected Randy Camp-bekl
of Richmond, Virginia, for
their Vice-President. Campbell was
graduat«d from Manchester High
School where he was President of
bis Student Council and also
captain of the football team. Randy
played halfback on the Rt foot-bll
sqUad, and he is majoring in
Ci\'il Englineering.
Mott Robertson, a biology, major
waiS chosen for the office of Histor-ian.
Lynchburg, Virginia, is Robert-son's
home town. He was gradu-ated
from E. C. Glass High School.
He has already distinguished him-self
at VMI but nvaking the I>ean's
List for the first semester and as
a inentber of the executive Com-mittee
of tJie Glee Club. Robrtson
in C Comuaoy.
ForIke
Regimental staff places flowers at the foot of Virginia Mourning Her Dead in
last year's New Market ceremony.
The VMI Glee Club has heem
invited to sing for a banquet ait
which the President of the United
States will be guest of honor and
will make a brief address.
Mr. James Boyd, program matir
ager for the National Association
of Manufacturers in New York,
issued the invitation yesterday
thriJligh Colonel Herbert Nash
Dillard, faculty advisor to the Glee
Club, and Mr. Robert Jeffrey,
publicity officer of VIVII.. The ap-pearance
will be at a dirnieir for
the Federal Housing Adminisitrait-ion
at 7:30 p. m. on Thursday 18
June in the grand ballroom of the
Sheraton - Plaza Hotel in Wash-ington,
D. C.
About fifty members of the Glee
Club will leave their hometowns
separately on 17 June and assemble
that day in Washington for prac-tice.
They will sing the next day
before a very large and ddstin-guished
auience. The cadets and
their conductor. Captain Joseph
C Pearce, will themselves b9
guests for the banquet with other
distinguished guests of the Pederal
Government, the Congress, auai
JMlticAiffiojlc,-. frlimA* jn^nji
of the Federal Housing Admini-stration.
General William H. Mil-ton.
Superintendent of the In-stitute,
and Colonel Dillard are
also invited as guests.
President Esienhower will make
a brief address. The major eaitep-
(continued on page 3)
An old print showing the Cadet line at the Battle of New Market.
Union Troops Bitterly Contested
Rebel Assaults At New Market
The role of the Corps of Cadets Regiment west of the pike, and
at the Battle of New Market has
long been the theme of frequent
dissertations and enthusiastic
panegyrics.
When the Union forces under
General Franz Sigel advanced up
the valley towards Staunton in the
spring of 1864, the Corps joined
the meager Confederate forces
under General Breckinridge, de-feating
the Federals at New Mar-ket
on the fifteenth of May.
After Sigel's advance was haUed,
and his forces were driven from
the town, the Federals took up a
defense north of New Market as-tride
the Valley Turnpike. Here
they heW their position against
Breckinridge's attacks. The Corps,
tlien in reserve, moved to the left
of the repulsed 62iid Virginia
advanced to lie down behind a
worm-rail fence. Here it was ex-posed
to a destructive fire from
Union artillery on their left front.
At this moment the Federals
menaced the Confederate left. The
1st West Virginia, 54th Pennsy-lvania,
and the 51st Massachusetts
moved against the 62nd Virginia,
51st Virginia, and the Corps.
The fire so effectively poured
into the Rebels was returned so
furiously t^at the West Virginians
were stopped in their tracks; the
Pennsylvanians fell back shortly
thereafter. Only 34th Massachu-setts,
under Col. George D. Wells,
pushed on.
The 34th advanced directly on
the Confederates behind the rail
fence, (supported by a murderous
fire.) Suppenly Col. Wells realized
his regiment was no longer sup-ported.
He sought desperately to
stay the charge before it shattered
agains< the rebel line. In his own
word: "I shouted to them to halt
but I could not make a single man
hear me, and it was not until they
had climbed an intervening fence,
and were rushing ahead that
I was able to run along the lines,
and, seizing the color bearer by
the shoulder, hold him fast as the
only way of stopping the regiment.
The wings surged ahead, but, on
losing sight of the colors, halted.
The alignment was rectified, we
faced about and marched back
in Qonimon time. I could hear the
officers saying to the men, and
the men to each other, 'Don't run!"
(continued oo 7)
Over Twenty
Dignitaries
To See Hike
More than 20 high ranking
military officers will come here
this week to observe the four-day
field training exehcise. which will
be carried out by the Virginia
Military Institute Corps of cadets.
The cadets take to the field Wed-nesday
and will be absent from
barracks until Saturday in a
rigorous test of physical comdiitioa
and military preparation. The
exercises will be the most extensive
and probably the toughest ever
scheduled for the Cadet Corps,
Heading the list of visiting offi-cers
are Lieutenant General Her-bert
B. Powell, deputy command-ing
general of the United State®
Continental Army Command, Fort
Monroe, and Major (]leneral Douglas
V. Johnson, director of plan and
policies of the point Chief of Stafif.
Other general officers are Majoc
(Jeneral Rinaldo Van Brunt,
deputy commanding general of tb*
Second Army; Major General Her-bert
J. Vander Heide, command-ing
general of the XXI Corps;
Brigadier General A. T. McAn^
chief of staff of the Second Army;
Brigadier General Perry B. Gri<-
fith, commander of the 83eth Air
Division, Langley Air Force BaM;
Brigadier General A. W. Lytxa,
commandant of the U. S. Amyr
Transportaition School, Fort Eusti8,
Other officers include additional
(continued on page 8)